On Jins, Moroccan Names, and the Threat of Evacuation

It's fair to say that during Community Based Training (CBT), I have no life of my own. I wake up at 7:45am Monday though Saturday, head to the Dar Chebab (youth center) at 8:30, have language class until 12 or 12:30, head home for lunch until I need to be back at the Dar Chebab at 2:00, at which point I either have another language class or a cultural lesson, then teach kids at the Dar Chebab from about 4-6pm, head home for dinner, study, and sleep. Without fail. Until I get sworn in as a full-fledged, official, scared-shitless volunteer on March 27th, this will continue to be my life. And even after that, I can't necessarily say things will go back to being "normal." Whatever that even means.

One of the most entertaining cultural session we've had up until this point, however, has been on Moroccan superstitions and jins. Jins can more or less be translated into 'genie', although in American culture genie often comes attached to a connotation of lamps and bottles and a big blue cloud of Robin Williams voice. In Morocco (actually, it's out of the Quran to be more precise), jins were the first inhabitants of Earth. The world is occupied by humans, jins, and angels, and like humans, jins can be good, bad, or neutral. As far as superstitions go, it is incredibly interesting to be an outsider in a culture and hear the superstitions that are believed and sometimes followed. Please read the list below with an open mind, as Moroccan culture is not yours to judge, nor is it mine to judge. Remember, American's have crazy superstitions too (break a mirror and get 7 years bad luck, don't walk under a ladder, knock on wood, black cats on Halloween, etc). While I plan on having much more extensive conversations on jins over the course of my time in Morocco, here is what I've gathered so far on jins as well as superstitions in Morocco (because, as my trainer stated, "Today we'll learn about superstitions and jins. Jins are not superstitions. Jins are real."):

• Jins: 
• You cannot pour water direction from the hot water tap down the drain, you must mix at least a drop of cold water with it, because the jins live in the drains. If you run straight hot water down the drain, you run the risk of the jin coming up and possessing your body. 
• Moroccans use salt in everything. Lots of salt. This was explained finally when we discussed jins, as jins cannot consume salt. Therefore, if you salt your food, the jins will not sit with you at your meal, and the salt will keep you safe from their presence. 
• It is believed that jins have the legs of a goat, but the rest of their body is a mystery and can be any of a variety of combinations. 
• If someone is laying on the floor and you step over them, they'll never grow. 
• If your right hand itches, it is a sign that in some form, money will be coming to you soon. Alternatively, if your left hand itches, you will be losing money somehow in the near future. The list of other left/right superstitions is quite extensive...
• If you hit a girl with a broomstick, she'll never get married. 
• At a wedding, if you drink from the same cup as the bride, or eat from the same plate, you will also get married soon (similar to throwing the bouquet at an American wedding). 

As for Moroccan names, many Peace Corps Volunteers find they are given a "Moroccan name" at some point during their service. This could be for a number of reasons. Maybe you just remind someone of a daughter or friend with a certain name. Maybe your real name has sounds in it that are not common in Darija and difficult to pronounce. Or, in my case, maybe a 3 year old doesn't quite understand the difference in American names and Moroccan names and said the closest sounding Moroccan name he could think of and pronounce. I write this blog currently under the new identity of Malika (not a bad name to be fair, since it translates to 'Queen' in Darija). So far, 3 of the 5 of us in my CBT have been given Moroccan names, although I still hold the pride that the most adorable 3 year old out there gave me mine, even if he has since switched to calling me Monika (this kid is going to be super confused by the time I leave Bouderhem). 

I asked my Moroccan trainer today about using my Moroccan name in a more permanent format, and the implications of doing so. I know other volunteers who introduce themselves to the kids at the Dar Chebab as their Moroccan names, but it is obviously a little strange to take the step to introducing yourself as a different name. I was also a little hesitant simply because my name translated into 'queen' and I didn't want to show up overconfident and cocky and introduce myself as the queen. On the other hand, I liked the idea of giving myself a little bit more anonymity to my students and being able to separate my work and personal life a little bit (and make it so you can't really find me on Facebook...). As my teacher explained to me though, by speaking Darija and introducing myself by a Moroccan name, I introduce myself as a member of the community, having integrated and accepted their culture, rather than being an American foreigner, seen as an outsider. By accepting Malika, I am accepting my new home and culture, and reaching out to my community to be accepted as one of them. By the end of the day today, our entire Dar Chebab knew me as Malika, so I guess step one is a go. 

The other really interesting part of being here in Morocco at this time in life is the insane politics always going on around us. I remember finding out that I was going to be in either Morocco or Jordan, and calling my mom wondering why I never thought to ask for this region before. It is by far the most exciting place in the world right now, with so many changes happening so fast. Unfortunantly, that doesn't always lead to good things. Between Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Mali, I'm definantly in a unique situation getting the chance to live in this region right now. 

Our CBT family

My CBT group has a fairly unique makeup as well in comparison to other training groups. It's made up of: me, the youngest of the total of 95 of us in our entire training staj, Richard, who is 23 from Colorado, Andrew, about to turn 40 from Minnesota, and Barb and Art, who are a retired married couple in their early 60's from Connecticut. Between the 5 of us we bring in some very different viewpoints, covering a few different generations, and essentially covering the viewpoints of the entire geography of the United States, minus the deep south. The last 3 days straight we have managed to end up in some sort of deep political discussion about American politics throughout the world and domestically. It has really added a new level to this experience here in Morocco. I'm finding the more time I spent away from my culture and running from my country, the more I connect myself to it and learn to understand it in ways I never could while I was back in the states. 

But back to the point of evacuation here. Richard and I were discussing one day on a bus ride from Fez to Seffrou what we thought was the potential of being evacuated out of Morocco by the Peace Corps while we are here. For this to happen, some event would have to take place to make Peace Corps feel like it was in the best interest of our safety to no longer remain in Morocco. We would be brought together and flown out to a big fancy hotel in either Paris or Turkey for up to a month while they decide if it's safe to return to Morocco, and sent back to the states or off to other Peace Corps assignments if it remains unsafe. After 9/11, all volunteers were evacuated out of Morocco, and we currently have 2 trainee's in our staj who re-enrolled after recently being evacuated after 10 months in country in Mali when fighting broke out there. 

In my own opinion, I think we have a 50/50 shot during our time here to be either evacuated, or at least consolidated as a precaution at some point during our service here. It's tough to predict though. Morocco is a fairly peaceful country stuck in the middle of an unstable region. However, there are still factions of Al Qaeda within Morocco, despite the Moroccan governments intense efforts to smother them. And with U.S. forces heading into Mali now as well, it adds a new possibility. Ultimately though, it's impossible to know. If anything, it will be an abrupt and traumatic change if evacuation does happen, and I debate on if I think I would join Peace Corps again after going through that process. I really don't know. But I do know that, as much as I joke about it, I still hold that I'm pretty sure I would find out that something happened in Morocco from my parents back home calling to make sure I'm safe after they saw something on the news before I'd find out I was being evacuated. Food for thought I suppose. 

Signing out, 

Malika