Food, Spices, and the Sacred Grain

 I didn't know as I was learning about this trip, how varied and healthy our meals at the homebase would be. At lunch and dinner there is soup and some kind of pasta, sometimes with a light sauce, sometimes not. The entrees might be chicken with a pastry noodle, eef with apricot meatballs with egg and cheese. At lunch and dinner usually a hot vegetable dish and one or two salads (remember there are 20 of us here). Dessert here is always a delicious serving of fresh fruit (watermelon, honeydew, and some un-identified yellow melon that our house staff only knows the Arabic name for). Unlike at home, I am not the cook. I can just relax and enjoy...and learn

We have been asked to help with the dishes so there is a rotating cleanup schedule. Everyone pitches in cheerfully, carrying dishes to the kitchen and scraping their plate.

Dishes are flavorful, but not as salty as in the US--seasoned differently that I am used to. During our afternoon today we learned to make Chicken Tangine (a Tangine is a specially dome-shaped casserole dish). Besides the usual onion and garlic, there was tumeric, ginger, cumin and a hearty dose of fresh parsley and cilantro.

We have been asked to separate any food dish made with flour, from the other garbage. Khadija, the house manager at homebase, explained that flour is sacred and is not discarded, it is set aside and recycled or used to feed animals, or other uses.

In the evening we plan our work for the next day, arts and crafts for those of us who work with the kids, lesson plans for our English teachers. We are gradually venturing out into the neighborhood, to the convenience store, the neighborhood "mall," and the supermarket. There has been a lot of planning about how we will spend the weekend. Some are taking day-trips to some scattered cities, some are taking a weekend trip to Fez (the spiritual capitol of the country), Meknes and Volubilis.

It seems like we have been here forever and it has only been 4 days. We have our meals together. We share stories about the people we have met and the conversations that we have had at our placements and we share ideas.

In short, having a great time...wish you could be here!

Pictures: Rabat Medina and View of Rabat (city)