photos

this is azrou. the rug shop on the left side belongs to a really nice man that invites all us peace corps volunteers over for very good tea.

this is what my site looked like a few weeks ago before they harvested all the wheat.

i went to sefrou with my host mom to help her out at the craft fair and this is the giant djellaba at the craft fair entrance. on the last day of the cherry parade they sat me on a parade float which carried this djellaba and i found myself in the whole parade. haha.

Death in the Family

Mmt is the word for death in the tamazight language. A couple of weeks ago I learned what happens when a community member dies. I was getting dressed for breakfast one morning when all of a sudden I heard a lot of women wailing. I went outside to see what was going on, only to be told that my nieighbor (also my host uncle) had just passed away. At that point I had no idea what the mourning procedures would be like so I just followed around my host sister. I had no idea what to say to people when they came up to me and told me that their relative had died. All I could say was "i'm sorry" and stare blankly.
My host mom spent the next three days at the dead man's house preparing meals for all the mourners frequenting his home and my host dad was somehow mourning the death of his brother. I didnt see them much for those three days, for people didnt really want me going to the dead mans house because there were too many people crying. I had dinner there on the last or third day of mourning. They slaughtered sheep to feed the guests and also had couscous.
It wasnt until I met with my language tutor that I got some clarification about what had happened on those three days. According to him it is customary to mourn for three days. They also bury the dead within hours of their death; as was the case with this man who died at 7am and was buried by 10am. Interestingly enough the women are not allowed to go to the cemetery for the burial because "they cry too much." Also the widow wears all white. And even now, three weeks later, I still see her walking around in all white clothing.
Theres many details which I am sure I have forgotten about, but I was really just terribly confused when this was happening.