New Face, New Fun

Ok so I'm a dog person through and through, but Spotticus is pretty darned cute!

10/06/09

So today Amrita, Barbara, and I all started belly dancing class! It is so much fun and another crazy shock in this culture. The women have the complete garb with all the little bangles and the crazy little bra tops, they can do unbelievably provocative movements, yet the windows and doors in the room are completely covered with drapes so nobody can see all the ladies shakin it. It's really great to be in a dance class where having some meat is desirable and actually makes the dancing easier. Barbara, who is a tiny little Asian chick, is so cute to watch because of course she hasn't an ounce of fat or any hips and kind of looks like she's on a bumpy roller coaster ride when she tries to shake her bum. The things that these women can do with their hips are uncanny. It requires so much isolation! I can kind of do it, but not with the precision they can - I still have to move my knees a little bit to get my hips to do anything, but these ladies seem to be standing with their legs completely straight....it's wild. It's strange the same way the Hammam is strange. What I'm learning is that the women here are not afraid of their sexuality the way you might think they are...they just don't display it for all to see. I dont know...I'm still so confused on my thoughts of womens' roles here.

So at our weekly Tuesday social event was at our house this week. After our belly dancing lesson Amrita, Barbara, and I all rushed to the house to meet everyone (I ran upstairs and changed out of my nasty sweaty clothes). We had some really tasty cookies and pastries and the a la menthe (traditional Moroccan mint tea) and had lots of fun playing with all the kittens (Fabienne, Chloe, and me spend most of our free time at the house playing with Spotticus, Caramel Cream, and the others which we haven't named yet).

There were tons of new volunteers to meet! Max is from Austria and he works with me in Takadoum in the mornings and teaching English in Sale in the afternoons. His Mom is American and his sister goes to FIT in New York. Michael is Nigerian but he lives in New York now. He's also teaching English in Sale. Julia (pronounced Yooliya) is German, the third super tall German chick we've had (Viola and Laura being the other two), and works with Chloe at the maternity clinic. She only speaks a little English and even less French, but luckily there are several German speakers here she can communicate with, including Chloe. And it's not like she speaks no English, so she should be fine. Claire is a lawyer from Seattle and is my new running buddy! She is working on the Human Rights project here. Both Claire and Julia are going to join us in Belly Dancing class. Philippe is much older than the rest of us (about 60) and he is from Belgium...I don't know how well he will fit in - he seems a little distant, but he is nice enough. He works with me in Takadoum.

Laura, Friederike, and Titi are all gone now. Friederike has gone on to Togo with her next Projects Abroad placement, Laura is on her two weeks vacation after ten weeks of working here, and Titi is back with his wife and children in France. Au revoir!