Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease

Yesterday my Regional Manager, who is a Peace Corps staff member, came to my site, that is, the town in which I live down here in the Sahara. She was here to do a site visit for my site mate David, the other PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) who also lives here in town. She also visited the site of another my fellow PCVs, Ariana, who lives in a village about five kilometers south of here. She came here to help each of them as they adjust to living in their sites.

My fellow PCV in the nearby village called me and let me know that our Regional Manager would be driving her up here into town. I went and met them at the post office, since I have been holding the key to the post office box which I have been sharing with each of these two other nearby PCVs. I retrieved the envelope from the post office box which had arrived for my fellow PCV.

Then our Regional Manager went with us to the electricity company office. My fellow PCV still hasn't received an electricity bill, even though she's been living in her apartment for a few months. I also asked the electricity company employee behind the counter when the bills would be delivered since I hadn't yet received one, and since usually I have already received one by this point in the month. The electricity company told us that the electricity bills would be delivered soon. He asked me where I lived here in town, trying to confirm his belief about where I lived. I confirmed his perception of where I lived.

Today I received my electricity bill under my door. I didn't intend to try to get my bill delivered more quickly, but I suspect that it might have arrived more quickly because I was in the office and asked when it would be arriving!

Electricity and Running Water

I count electricity and running water among the blessings I have in my apartment. Knowing that not all PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) around the world have electricity and running water, I feel grateful.

When the water or electricity goes out, it's usually only been for a day or two at a time, at least thus far during my time here in my town. And that's only happened a few times since I've been living here. So I essentially always have electricity and running water, virtually without interruption.

Most of Morocco has potable water. Indeed, one of the places I go to pay my water bill is the ONEP office, or the "Office National d'Eau Potable," which is French for the "National Office of Drinkable Water." I also sometimes pay my water bill at the same place where I pay my electricity bill, at Espaces Services, a company which processes payments of utility bills.

Either my neighbor, Ahmed, or I pay our water and electricity bills. I have only one neighbor in my apartment building; Ahmed is a French teacher here in town. He also lives on the first floor, right across the hall from me. Ahmed and I split both the water bill and the electricity bill, so we each pay half of each bill.

Last week, I went to pay the electricity bill at the Espaces Services office. By now, I've started to get a little bit better at positioning myself when I go to buy something at a store or pay a bill at an office. When I went to the Espaces Services office the other day, there was another guy standing in the office, and the woman working behind the counter had a few bills in her hand which it appeared she was processing. I walked right up to the window, rather than standing behind him, to avoid the risk that someone else would walk in past me up to the window. When another man walked into the office, I stuck my bill in through the window, so that he wouldn't stick his bill in through the window, so I wouldn't have to wait until he had paid his bill.

It has taken me a little while to get used to this practice of not forming lines in stores and offices here in Morocco. Not what I would do in the USA, but, obviously, I'm not in the USA!

Capital Improvements and Construction of Churches

I live on a short unpaved street; thus, it's a dirt road. When I walk out of the front door of my two-unit apartment building and turn left and walk a few hundred feet, I reach the second most prominent street in my town; it has many shops, including hanoots (Darija, or Moroccan Arabic, for "grocery stores") on it.

Last month, when I left my town to go to IST (In-Service Training), the town was preparing to pave that road. When I got back from IST, they had finished paving the road.

Although I've seen the workers using a steamroller when they are finishing a paving job here in town, the road isn't completely smooth once they're done paving. There are some loose bits of gravel on the road, which eventually make their way to the edges of the road. Even then, the rest of the road isn't completely smooth, because the bits of gravel which are molded to the road aren't completely flattened into the road. The more prominent road in my town, the main road, is paved a little more smoothly, since it's part of the road system which you see on a map of Morocco.

Earlier in the year, the town had ripped up certain roads and was making improvements to the sewer system. Once they had made the improvements to the sewer system, they then paved those roads.

In sharing these developments in my town, I'm led to point out some things about countries in which the Peace Corps places PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers). Since some of you at times have sounded surprised about the level of development and infrastructure in Morocco, keep in mind that the Peace Corps sends PCVs to developing countries which are at different stages of development. Consequently, some countries in which PCVs work are more developed than some of you might expect.

Also, remember Morocco's history, which has in large part been influenced by its geographical location. Being at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco has long occupied a strategic spot. As a result, many peoples over time have tried to occupy and colonize Morocco. The Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans invaded Morocco. The Phoenicians established the port cities of Tangier and Essaouira, as well as Tetouan. Roman ruins remain at Volubilis in northern Morocco. Arabs also migrated to Morocco, bringing Islam with them in the 7th century. And of course, much later, the French colonized Morocco, resulting in the Treaty of Fes in 1912, which made Morocco a French protectorate until Morocco gained independence in 1956. Over time, 100,000 French nationals settled in Morocco. In the 20th century, the French built their "villes nouvelles," or new districts, in many Moroccan cities, in which the French lived. The French also made significant changes to the infrastructure of Morocco, installing electricity, paving roads, laying railways, and establishing Casablanca as a major port. So when thinking about the level of development in Morocco, remember the historical context in which this development is occurring.

Also, when noting that there are churches in Morocco, remember the historical context in which these churches arose, and who built them. European colonists set up churches in Morocco for their own use. These churches remain in many cities in Morocco, among them Tangier, Tetouan, Fes, Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Essaouira, Marrakech, and Ouarzazate. However, they are overwhelmingly attended by tourists and other non-Moroccans living in Morocco.