FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!

I love food. Yeah yeah yeah, I know that is no shocker to my family and friends but this may be: I am increasingly eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. Actually, more vegetables than fruits but it sounds better when I group them together.

A large reason for this is all the fresh food available to me. This is, in addition, to the high cost of meat. A kilo of kefta is 80 dirhams vs. a kilo of chickpeas at 12 dirhams or a kilo of potatoes at no more than 5 dirhams. Since the majority of my food comes from souk, its fresh, local, and I like to think, organic. And what a difference freshness makes!

I have always enjoyed cooking but, here, because there is no such thing as sauce mixes, microwavable food, or take-out Thai :(, I have to cook almost everything I eat. Shortly after arrival in-country, Peace Corps gave each volunteer a cookbook. Of all the manuals I was handed, this is the only one I have devoted a significant amount of time too. While several of the recipes require tweaking, it has a significant repertoire of yummy food recipes—alfredo, lentil soup, hummus, fajitas, falafel, quiche, and so much more!

As Peace Corps countries go, Morocco is tops in food. I am not being smug or presumptuous. Marrakech was rated as the number one food destination of 2009 by The New York Times. One of my favorite things about this country is the plentiful spices. Let’s face it, I live in spice heaven.

The longer I live here, the more my palette increases. The more I like, the more options I have to cook. As a result, my cooking skills have improved significantly. And it is easier to cook when dealing with fresh garlic, peppers, and onions.

This is all a roundabout way to talk about my recent food adventures. I spent last weekend in Bri’s site. Bri is a great cook and, recently, started a food blog. Well, Bri found some spinach (!) and cooked a delicious spinach lasagna, focaccia bread, scones, and cake. So much of my excitement here revolves around food--for good reason. Food has such a healing power. It is amazing how rejuvenating a good mac and cheese or homemade pizza can be.

The Numbers Game

In Peace Corps Morocco, it’s all about numbers. At one time or another, we have counted down until our COS date, days in site, dates until special occasions, etc. The simple act of counting gives me a little bounce. So here are some of the numbers rumbling around in my head at the moment:

Days until I Become an RPCV: 226
Days I have Been in Country: 576
Cost of a kilo of chickpeas yesterday: 10D
Number of shampoo bottles I have finished in country: 1 (just last week and if this doesn't say something about my hygiene habits here, I don't know what does)
Number of times I showered last week: 4!
Unlistened-too podcasts: 40 (I got lots of catch up to do)
Days until I see my family in London: 80

Put On Your Running Shoes

"So do you all want to run in the 5K race for women tomorrow?"

This proposition was given to me and other volunteers when we arrived in Meknes two weekends ago for spring camp. We looked at each other and exclaimed, "yeah!"

So on Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to the registration area at the appropriate time. In true Moroccan fashion, the run did not start until 2 hours later. No matter though, we moved around trying to stay warm and dry as it had started to drizzle. Soon enough, the banner was waved and off we went. Some of the girls were hard-core runners. I was impressed but most were like me—just happy to be out exercising.

The opportunity to participate was a pleasant surprise and running through Meknes with other women and girls was a great feeling.

A 5K run is one of the big city pleasures that I enjoy and was the best way to kickoff a very successful English camp!

 

Note: Even though, my camera battery is out of commission—it froze—other volunteers have been kind enough to take photos for me. I have lots and am in the process of uploading them to Flickr. Happy viewing!