OK, so not much happened on the second night! There was a bride, which was a plus in my opinion. The groom also attended, you'll be happy to know! The two arrived in a car in the courtyard of the hotel and were escorted, with lots of cheering, to two throne-like chairs under a beautiful metal canopy. There was a band, and lots of dancing. Some women danced and some chose not to. My host sisters were among those who did not, as they believe it is shameful (hshuma) to dance in the presence of men. Some women actually danced with men though! Whoa! But mostly the genders stuck to themselves.
At certain intervals the bride stepped out from the canopy, sat in a small cage, was lifted and carried throughout the dancing crowd. She waved a little like Princess Di. When she was set down, the groom was c
arried around. He actually stood up and did a little impromptu dance. Then they both left the courtyard and she came back in a new dress. Depending on the wealth of the family the bride will change clothes up to five times, sometimes more. What I remember most is that there was a lot of orange involved, and that it was too cold for me to sit out there the entire night. I understood why people danced despite the hshuma. However, I did get a couple of good pictures of my host family out of it. The first one is of my host mother, Zahara, with my host niece, Fedwa, and the second is of my with my host sister, Habiba. I couldn't have asked for a lovelier family.Speaking of really lovely people, I also recently said goodbye to all of my new Peace Corps friends! On November 26th we all swore in as volunteers in Fes. Yay! But sad that we had to leave one another. There were definitely some moments when I wanted a little "alone time" but mostly I feel like my fellow volunteers are my family away from home. Here are a few pictures:
This is Jackie, my roommate for three months. She was the very first person I met upon arrival in Philadelphia, and she was an invaluable source of insight and support.
This is my CBT group from Ait Benhaddou! Mia, me, Mahri, Amina (our LCF), Megan, Kate and Anny. I miss them so! Every morning we debriefed about all of the wacky things that happened the night before. We struggled through Tashlheet together, and hiked the kasbah as often as we could. Reunions are definitely in the making.
I'm not sure I can say enough about these two incredible men, Matthew and Brian, so I won't try in this forum. Just know that I'm always safe and protected when I'm with these two.
The next two months will be spent living with my host family, implementing some development tools, collectively known as PACA, searching for a house of my own, and meeting the volunteers in my region. I'll also try to get back to answering all of the questions you've sent me. Happy holidays and lots of love from Morocco!
