November 21, 2008

 

I believe last time I updated was just after the election; since then, I've actually been relatively busy, which is always good.

 

The weekend after the election, I went to my friend's site, which is only about 15 k away. She hosted a group of Americans (and one Canadian) during their gap year between high school and college on a Global Labs program. This was a lot of fun, and it's another great organization. I never thought that working with Peace Corps, I'd learn a lot about American organizations that I also believe in.

 

There were 9 young adults in the program, and they spent two days in her town. The first day, we met up with some English-speaking middle and high school students and had a very interesting cross-cultural conversation. Some tribal rivalries came up, which was something I didn't expect: my site is made up of only one tribe, not two tribes with an unfriendly history. After the activity where we discussed things like wedding traditions, the role of women, movies, music, tribes, the American dream, and education from both perspectives, they broke into two groups, mixed American and Moroccan, and planned out two murals that we would later paint as a group on the wall of the girl's boarding house.

 

After a group lunch at my friends' house, we all went to the local elementary school, where the volunteers and Moroccan students and a few PCVs broke into groups and did a toothbrushing and dental hygiene in every classroom. It was great seeing the Moroccan students take over after the first lesson or so, and I think the American volunteers had fun helping the children brush their teeth.

 

Night came, and the PCVs and Global Lab's fearless leader relaxed at home. I might add that cooking was also rather intense during this time: the night before everyone came, a friend of mine who was also there cooked fish Moroccan style… which meant that she sat in front of a bucket of bloody, bone-ridden water deboning and filleting large sardine-like fish for a few hours.

 

(They were delicious though, and I actually tried something similar tonight. When we bought the fish that first time, they said they would clean them for us, though we didn't do that. I asked them to do it today when I bought a single fish that was about ½ kg. I didn't know what kind of fish it was, but I figured they'd hand it to me in little filets. However, I was running short on time, so as the fish-seller was de-boning, I ran other errands, then came back and picked it up. When I got home, it was there, spine and head and all. Thank God Zika was willing to eat the parts I couldn't figure out how to debone. I ended up deep-frying a few strips, and rather than stuff it with the filling, I made it almost like a Moroccan salsa on top of the fried fish filet strips: minced cilantro and parsley, garlic, salt, diced onion, and lime juice. Fantastic. Really. I'll make it at home.)

 

Other food adventures included a rather easy sandwich lunch for 13 or 14, spaghetti for that many, and homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. I will never again eat Campbells tomato soup when it is so easy and delicious to make it from scratch.

 

The next day we actually painted the murals, then continued the health education lessons. It all went much smoother than I could have hoped for, and I think overall my friend was happy with how it went.

 

The next week, it really started raining, I got a cold, and I want to say I did something else important, though I can't think of what it was. That Thursday, however, I was off to the provincial capitol for our province-wide training of medical professionals project.

 

In short, 24 nurses and doctors working in rural areas throughout the province attended a continuing education conference that we worked on with the Ministry of Health and Peace Corps. Education topics included: a session on Peace Corps and what we do, basic hygiene in various arenas and the role of the medical professional, information and discussion regarding how to provide health care for pregnant women in rural areas, STIs/HIV/AIDS, and how to be an effective communicator and educator. There were pluses and minuses, but all in all it was a success. If anyone ever asks me why I studied French in high school, I have to say if it was for nothing other than this weekend, it was worth it.

 

I've pretty much spent the last week recovering and collaborating on the final report, as well as trying to be social in my community. Today was a great but crazy day…

 

I started off by going to visit a woman who had given birth three days previously. Last night, I was coming back from visiting a friend (the electricity had gone out, so we sat around telling stories in the dark), a few women in town who I talk to occasionally told me I should go this morning and that if I came and knocked on one of their doors, they'd take me. Okay, no problem. We went, I had the obligatory perfume sprayed liberally all over my jacket, politely denied eating the bitter walnut bark and herbs for the hair, palmed the 5-dirham coin and slipped it to the new mother, oohed and ahhed over the baby… then was taken upstairs to eat taam and udi.

 

As soon as I think I "know" something, even as simple as traditions when a baby is born in my town, I'm proven wrong. Evidently, every time a baby is born, for a week when people come visit the mother, the family serves taam and udi every morning. Since I had never been in the morning and have always visited in the afternoon, this was new to me, and everyone laughed at my surprise. A few women I haven't seen since the election told me "Mbrook rais!"—congratulations on your new president! And then I headed out, because I've been trying to talk to the principal of the local elementary school for over a month now and we keep missing each other.

 

On my way, I stopped in the neddi and saw all the women weren't working on normal projects, but were spinning wool into yarn. I wish I had the time to stop and try; I'll have to go back another day soon. Just as I was about to enter the school walls, one of "my" girls came out with a paper for me. "My teacher told me to give this to you." I understood the paper—it was announcing a celebration to accompany the opening of a middle school in my town. The building isn't there yet, but students are meeting with new teachers in the neddi until the building is completed. This is fantastic, because until this year,  anyone from my town who wanted their children to have an education past primary school had to send them to a boarding house or to live with family in a bigger town.

 

I ended up setting up a meeting for next week with the mudir (principal), and headed to a friend's house, who promptly invited me on a picnic/hike next week. Fantastic. Those are always fun, and with a small group of people I know and like, it should really be a great time, if cold. We went out to a sedaqa—a Friday tradition where families will occasionally give "charity" by cooking big plates of couscous for the neighbors. I don't know in my town how much is charity as much as it is just tradition to get together, but they're always fun, and certainly not just for poor people. After the sedaqa, we played soccer with the neighbor kids. I was pleasantly shocked that my friend—a 23-year old unmarried girl—played along.

 

At 2, I hopped on the afternoon bus into my souk town, hoping to talk to the Pacha's (mayor) office about doing a World AIDS day table at the weekly market next week. I had my letter printed out literally weeks ago, but I kept either running out of time, or showing up when the person I needed to talk to wasn't in. I decided, on a whim, to stop in the Centre de Sante (clinic/hospital) in my souk town to see if they had any suggestions. They did, they corrected my letter, and then put me in touch with a local women's association who might want to help participate, and we set up a joint meeting for all of us on Wednesday. Next week is looking ridiculously busy, which is, as I say, fantastic: meeting with mudir on Monday, hike/picnic on Tuesday, meeting in my souk town on Wednesday, and, if we are able to pull off the AIDS day booth for next Monday, I probably will have to travel back to the provincial capitol on Thursday or Friday to pick up brochures… of course, making it back to my friends' site for the weekend for Thanksgiving and a birthday celebration.

 

Back on the bus at 4:30, and now I'm at home, listening to podcasts, doing dishes, and cooking the delicious fish, dehydrating bread crumbs on the stove for stuffing, and packing for Thanksgiving #1 tomorrow night. I love days like today.

 

A few recent recipes:

 

Apple-Fennel Salad: (In season right now: apples, fennel, mandarin oranges)

 

4 small apples, preferably yellow or green

1 medium to large bulb of fennel

4 Tbsp olive oil

5 mandarin oranges 

1 lemon or lime

pinch of fennel seed 

pinch salt

 

Wash fennel and apples well. If good with a knife, slice apples and white and light green part of fennel in thin, uniform slices. If not, do what I do and dice them uniformly. Section three mandarin oranges and dice; juice remaining two mandarins and lemon, toss with salad, mixing in olive oil. Divide among four plates, sprinkle fennel seed and finely chopped fennel fronds on each plate. Garnish with one large fennel frond.

 

 

Orange-Fennel Pepper Stir-Fry

 

1 red bell pepper, cut in strips

1 yellow bell pepper, cut in strips

1 small to medium bulb fennel, cut in strips (slice in ovals, cut ovals in half)

1 medium red onion, cut in strips

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 mandarin oranges (3- juiced, 1- save skin, 1- separated into segments)

Vegetable oil for sautéing

2 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted

1 tbs sugar

pinch salt

pinch ginger powder (or if available- pinch ginger powder and sliced fresh ginger)

Sliced green onions

 

Heat vegetable oil in wok, frying pan, or sautee pan. Add garlic, onion, and fennel, sautee until almost tender. Add pepper, juice of 3 mandarin oranges, sugar, salt, ginger powder, and peel of 1 mandarin orange. Sautee until pepper is crisp-tender, add sesame oil, soy sauce, mandarin segments, and sesame seeds, heat through, serve. Garnish with additional fennel seeds, sesame seeds, and sliced green onions.

 

 

Moroccan-Style White-Fish

(not my recipe)

 

Filets of small fish; can use sardine or fish bigger than sardines (I have no idea what kind of fish I used or that my friend used, to be honest)

Flour

Vegetable oil for frying

Salt

 

Filling/topping

 

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 bunch fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic

Juice from 2 limes

Diced small red onion

 

 

Filling:

Finely mince garlic and fresh herbs, add to diced onion and mix with salt and lime juice. Set aside.

 

Fish:

If using small fish, each fish should have two equal-sized filets. Spread filling thinly on one side of filet; place other filet on top. Coat with flour; deep fry or pan fry until lightly browned.  Serve with extra topping.

 

 

Seared Filet Mignon with Demi-glace

(What, you didn't believe that my pseudo-vegetarian self would ever cook and enjoy steak? When the U.S. economy is doing what it's doing and I can get filet mignon for under $3.50 a pound, you better believe I'll take advantage of it!)

 

½-1 kilo filet mignon*

Real butter, softened

4 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

Rosemary

Small amount of crumbled bleu cheese

 

Rub raw garlic cloves on both sides of each filet. Slather each filet with softened butter on each side; not too much is needed. Lightly rub in salt, pepper, and rosemary. Slice garlic cloves and add a few thin slices on each side of filet.

 

Sear for about 2-3 minutes on each side on Teflon pan or grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until you reach the desired doneness. Just before taking off heat, sprinkle thin layer of bleu cheese on one side. Finish for a minute or two in oven on medium heat. Drizzle plate with demi-glace, place filet, and garnish with sprig of fresh rosemary.

 

Demi-glace:

 

This recipe makes more than needed, but demi-glace can be frozen for months. If you have a freezer, pour remaining demi-glace in ice cube trays, and pop them out as needed for soups, meats, or anything else that used demi-glace. I'm new to demi-glace, but "Sidi Google" will help with ideas. 

 

4-8 cups of beef or lamb stock (or boullion/Knor cubes with water)

2 cups red wine

1 bay leaf

Tsp pepper

Tsp salt 

Tsp sage or thyme or both

3 cloves garlic

As much butter as you dare to use, depending on desired fat content

 

Bring first 7 ingredients to a boil, then simmer until reduced to the point where it will coat a spoon. Just before serving, add butter to portion that is going to be used for the night's meal; freeze the rest for another day without the butter.