So hello all...I am back and the pics are here. I am still in Rabat because of a dental appointment so I still have internet. I am now an official volunteer and I feel great! The ceremony was awesome there were many important, "official" people there. Also, yesterday we had a nice catered lunch that did involve turkey and it was soooo good, they even had ranch dressing! So reality has struck and I am ready to get to site and begin my service. Next week I am already going to a craft fair to see what the markets are like here in Morocco and the different qualities and designs of products. My artisans weave and they produce rose water but they are not going to this craft fair. But I still need to go to have a better understanding of the market I will be working in. I am going to run now but I hope to be back soon, hope you enjoy the pics! Also, to my family enjoy some turkey and pumpkin pie for me! Wish I was there with you...Love you all! Also, Congratulations to Maddox on earning his yellow belt and to Leila for moving up a level in gymnastics!
Ok, so this is the morning of Leid Amqran, Kbir, Axtar...it can be called many different things depending on the dialect...but I say Amqran first because that is the dialect they use in my training site. So that is my dad walking the sheep from the neighbors to our house to prepare for the slaughtering. In the morning everyone walks around to eachothers houses to wish them happy, "mbruck," Leid. So all morning people were walking around in their new outfits or jellabas, in there best dressed. Jellabes are the long gown things that men and women wear here. They are expensive and the good ones are "tailor" made. I chose to sit outside and watch all the people passing. Some other volunteers stayed in their homes and saw how the people literally stop by for a glass of tea and cookie and go on to the next one. By 10:30am everyone is back to their homes to do the slaughtering. They all wait for the king to do his slaughter, which is broadcasted on TV, and that is the cue for everyone to do theirs, then the feast is on...
That is my dad on the left holding down the sheep while a "certified" person cutting the throat. I have heard different takes on this, but only certain people are able to do the actual slitting of the throat and I think it has to do with the religion and if the man is "holy." Also, they can only take 1 slit, 2 if necessary, because the sheep is not to feel any pain. The man next to my father is wearing a jellaba as I mentioned in the previous caption.
As I said, once the King does his slit...it is a cue for the rest and every direction I turned there were sheep and blood. Yes the village was a river of blood. Even days later you had to watch where you stepped because many did not clean up their messes.
One of the first steps is skinning them and the tradition is to slit a hole and blow into the sheep to make it easier to skin. Really sanitary huh? My sanitation basically has no existence at this point...it started to vanish when I arrived in Morocco but I think it is gone now.
There is my dad's mom helping him with the skinning. Ya that is the bucket I wash my clothes in! There were times they could have used my help holding a leg but I just couldn't touch raw meat knowing I would only be able to rinse my hands after!
Ok so after the skinning the first thing they do is cut it open and take out the insides and they eat everything!! That is my grandma cleaning out the intestines...yes pushing the poop through. Not to mention she is using the skewers to do so that you will see in the next pics.
So those are piles of fat you see there preparing to be wrapped around liver. The liver has just got done being boiled so the house smells pleasant at this point. They were eating the liver as they wrapped it in the fat on the skewers I pointed out in the past pic. So of course I was offered a piece of the liver, only boiled, and as I started to chew it was so bad I couldn't get it to go down, couldn't chew...needless to say it was stuck in my mouth until I could take a breathe, without puking, and swallow.
That is my sister with the finished product, liver wrapped in fat, ready to be put in the inferno over the fire. The inferno is what is used to heat the room. Also, this was lunch so I tried the liver again thinking the fat would give it a different flavor...no! So we realized at this point I would only eat meat. Mind you I was open to try this stuff but I just don't like it. So they made 3 skewers of "meat" for me...which was really good but I knew it tasted a little off but they promised me it was meat, as my sister sat and chuckled quietly. Sure enough later I found out it was heart! But it was good and they weren't lying saying it was meat because they consider it as that.
This is the salon room which has not been used since I lived there, besides when my married sister was in town with her mother-in-law and they slept there. But now it is where the sheep is being stored until it is devoured. Again that is the bucket I do my laundry in!
So they can't always eat all the meat quick enough so they wrap in in fat, soak it in salt and sun-dry it....yummy! This preserves it for the future. Also, that is not all meat, I think some insides are included!
They also preserve fat...it is yellow from the seasoning, the same seasoning that colors my meals every night and doesn't provide much flavor. Also that is the clothesline my clothes hung dry on...as you see some in the background.
Anyone hungry for dinner? That was my dinner the night of leid. They have to eat the insides first because they don't last long. Doesn't this look like an illustration out of "Goosebumps", the scary storybooks we read as a kid? So I dipped my bread into the sauce to give it a try but that was the end of that. But also, pay attention to the illustration, that is the bowl I eat dinner out of every nite and that is how I grab my food, with bread!! (That is not my hand, it is my sisters) They tease me because I would always use small pieces of bread each time a go for food. But if I didn't I would eat half a circle of bread at each meal, which is a custom here in Morocco.
Ok so this is called Bujlud...it is where the boys and men of the village dress up in freshly slaughtered sheep skin, as is. They go around scaring/entertaining the children. Not all parts of Morocco are familar with this so we're lucky to see it. As you see, the kids all run when the bujlud comes. But there actually is a pupose. They go around asking for meat, sugar, money,etc...and with what they earn they have a feast for the village they are representing and any left over money goes to the mosque.
So here is the bujlud up close...more come out at night but one guy decided to start early. As I said the skin is put on as it was taken off the sheep. Also, he walked up and shook my hand with a hello and many "how are you's" which is common, side note...greetings in Morocco last for a minute, it is not just a simple hello, how are you. But the reason I commented that he shook my hand was because he definitely had blood all over his hands from putting on the sheep skin...as I said before my level of cleaniness and disinfectation has basically vanished.
Look closely at his his hands...
So this is over in a village where my moms brother lives and after our time with the family there we walked to see their bujlud. Well they were a little "aggressive" with me becuase they didn't know me and they say money written all over me. In fact he is telling me not to take the picture in this pic unless I give him money. They made my mom mad...you can see her watching...that is her in the black and white.
This is all the children taunting the bujlud. The girls stay back but the boys are up there taunting until the bujlud comes out and they run...then they bujlud hides and the boys taunt some more.
This is at night back in my village and you can see the boy running from the bujlud.
So there is the train of Bujlud at night walking around the village performing in there drum line, dancing, dressed up, in front of houses hoping to get some donations. That is a camel you see on the right where they used the blue tarp.
Just pictures to see the different costumes...and that is the camel again...
...more
Ya they let me get a pic with them...they all hide their faces and change their voices so no one knows who they are.
This is my sis on the way out to my grandmas house on one of our last afternoons together. I love this picture...but check out the background...this is a land of few people and it is surreal. My dad's mom lives out in the middle of nowhere!!
That is my grandma and my dad's brother's children and Sabah.
So this was at a gathering of all of our host families...that is my fam!! Mom, Rabha, dad, MoHa, sister, Sabah, brother, Adam.
There is my sister dancing along with my LCF...you can see my mom in the background and my bro looking around her to see what is going on.
That is my home that I lived in until now! Ya that is Sabah...she was always on my hip...I was so lucky to have her!
And here is my LCF, basically my crutch since I have been in Morocco...I said goodbye to her yesterday! Her name is Malika...her hometown is only 4 hours from me so I will hopefully see her often!
Just wanted to add this in...these were found at Souk on the second hand tables by my LCF and I swear they came from my hometown...lol. But honestly it is a small world...those where my school colors and the leopard paw we used!
Ok, so this is the morning of Leid Amqran, Kbir, Axtar...it can be called many different things depending on the dialect...but I say Amqran first because that is the dialect they use in my training site. So that is my dad walking the sheep from the neighbors to our house to prepare for the slaughtering. In the morning everyone walks around to eachothers houses to wish them happy, "mbruck," Leid. So all morning people were walking around in their new outfits or jellabas, in there best dressed. Jellabes are the long gown things that men and women wear here. They are expensive and the good ones are "tailor" made. I chose to sit outside and watch all the people passing. Some other volunteers stayed in their homes and saw how the people literally stop by for a glass of tea and cookie and go on to the next one. By 10:30am everyone is back to their homes to do the slaughtering. They all wait for the king to do his slaughter, which is broadcasted on TV, and that is the cue for everyone to do theirs, then the feast is on...
That is my dad on the left holding down the sheep while a "certified" person cutting the throat. I have heard different takes on this, but only certain people are able to do the actual slitting of the throat and I think it has to do with the religion and if the man is "holy." Also, they can only take 1 slit, 2 if necessary, because the sheep is not to feel any pain. The man next to my father is wearing a jellaba as I mentioned in the previous caption.
As I said, once the King does his slit...it is a cue for the rest and every direction I turned there were sheep and blood. Yes the village was a river of blood. Even days later you had to watch where you stepped because many did not clean up their messes.
One of the first steps is skinning them and the tradition is to slit a hole and blow into the sheep to make it easier to skin. Really sanitary huh? My sanitation basically has no existence at this point...it started to vanish when I arrived in Morocco but I think it is gone now. 
There is my dad's mom helping him with the skinning. Ya that is the bucket I wash my clothes in! There were times they could have used my help holding a leg but I just couldn't touch raw meat knowing I would only be able to rinse my hands after!
Ok so after the skinning the first thing they do is cut it open and take out the insides and they eat everything!! That is my grandma cleaning out the intestines...yes pushing the poop through. Not to mention she is using the skewers to do so that you will see in the next pics.
So those are piles of fat you see there preparing to be wrapped around liver. The liver has just got done being boiled so the house smells pleasant at this point. They were eating the liver as they wrapped it in the fat on the skewers I pointed out in the past pic. So of course I was offered a piece of the liver, only boiled, and as I started to chew it was so bad I couldn't get it to go down, couldn't chew...needless to say it was stuck in my mouth until I could take a breathe, without puking, and swallow.
This is the salon room which has not been used since I lived there, besides when my married sister was in town with her mother-in-law and they slept there. But now it is where the sheep is being stored until it is devoured. Again that is the bucket I do my laundry in!
So they can't always eat all the meat quick enough so they wrap in in fat, soak it in salt and sun-dry it....yummy! This preserves it for the future. Also, that is not all meat, I think some insides are included!
They also preserve fat...it is yellow from the seasoning, the same seasoning that colors my meals every night and doesn't provide much flavor. Also that is the clothesline my clothes hung dry on...as you see some in the background.
Ok so this is called Bujlud...it is where the boys and men of the village dress up in freshly slaughtered sheep skin, as is. They go around scaring/entertaining the children. Not all parts of Morocco are familar with this so we're lucky to see it. As you see, the kids all run when the bujlud comes. But there actually is a pupose. They go around asking for meat, sugar, money,etc...and with what they earn they have a feast for the village they are representing and any left over money goes to the mosque. 
So here is the bujlud up close...more come out at night but one guy decided to start early. As I said the skin is put on as it was taken off the sheep. Also, he walked up and shook my hand with a hello and many "how are you's" which is common, side note...greetings in Morocco last for a minute, it is not just a simple hello, how are you. But the reason I commented that he shook my hand was because he definitely had blood all over his hands from putting on the sheep skin...as I said before my level of cleaniness and disinfectation has basically vanished.
Look closely at his his hands...
So this is over in a village where my moms brother lives and after our time with the family there we walked to see their bujlud. Well they were a little "aggressive" with me becuase they didn't know me and they say money written all over me. In fact he is telling me not to take the picture in this pic unless I give him money. They made my mom mad...you can see her watching...that is her in the black and white.
This is all the children taunting the bujlud. The girls stay back but the boys are up there taunting until the bujlud comes out and they run...then they bujlud hides and the boys taunt some more.
This is at night back in my village and you can see the boy running from the bujlud.
So there is the train of Bujlud at night walking around the village performing in there drum line, dancing, dressed up, in front of houses hoping to get some donations. That is a camel you see on the right where they used the blue tarp.
Just pictures to see the different costumes...and that is the camel again...
...more
Ya they let me get a pic with them...they all hide their faces and change their voices so no one knows who they are.
This is my sis on the way out to my grandmas house on one of our last afternoons together. I love this picture...but check out the background...this is a land of few people and it is surreal. My dad's mom lives out in the middle of nowhere!!
That is my grandma and my dad's brother's children and Sabah.
So this was at a gathering of all of our host families...that is my fam!! Mom, Rabha, dad, MoHa, sister, Sabah, brother, Adam.
There is my sister dancing along with my LCF...you can see my mom in the background and my bro looking around her to see what is going on.
That is my home that I lived in until now! Ya that is Sabah...she was always on my hip...I was so lucky to have her!
And here is my LCF, basically my crutch since I have been in Morocco...I said goodbye to her yesterday! Her name is Malika...her hometown is only 4 hours from me so I will hopefully see her often!
Just wanted to add this in...these were found at Souk on the second hand tables by my LCF and I swear they came from my hometown...lol. But honestly it is a small world...those where my school colors and the leopard paw we used!
OMG.... It's crazy how different things are. The things we are afraid to even touch they dont even think twice about ~ You are adjusting so well alot better then I ever could!!! Im glad to see you had a good Thanksgiving Dinner it all looked yummy! Keep it coming love reading your updates! Miss you
ReplyDeleteHey Riss! Chizzad just droppin into say hey, and sorry it's been so long. A lot has gone on these last couple months but was thinkin about how ya were and got your address from JK. They have the best with you being over there to help them. Miss ya here Rita and get it get it babe.
ReplyDelete