...More updates (camels?) from SW Algeria

Thank you, Jeremy, for posting my last update! I will likely have to revert to that method of posting again. For today, at least, my internet connection seems unusually cooperative. I learned from a friend, Bill, who works for Human Rights Watch on Western Sahara, that a link to our blog was sent out as a google news update to the recipients of a Western Sahara news alert. Yikes! Hopefully it goes without saying that what you find written here is indended as a log of my observations, not a news source. What I am experiencing now will take many months, maybe a lifetime, to sort out. Luckily, Bill (or Billy as our Arabic instructor used to call him) is coming for his first visit to the camps in a couple of weeks and it happens to be his job to write up reports on a dime!

I am finding both my Hassaniya lessons as well as my part-time work at an English school here extremely rewarding. I wish only that I had more time to balance out my language work with the important business of socializing. Even in my brief time here, I have had a difficult time negotiating my dual expectations to 1) get a handle on the language and 2) be a responsible, if temporary, member of society here. I am still living with my friend Alice's host family and find myself very busy trying to keep up with all of the family commitments I have inherited through her despite/because of the fact that I cannot effectively speak the language. Every time I try to steal away to study, I feel like I am neglecting some social responsibility (who did I forget to visit? did I stay long enough?). At the same time, I know that I have to learn Hassaniya in order to get to know anybody. I have been keeping all this in mind as I've looked for a host family of my own. On Halloween, I will be moving in with a family, which seems to be very sensitive to the challenge of balancing family and study. My primary host's name is Haha. Appropriately, she has a great sense of humor and two small boys who are already pulling pranks on me.

One of the biggest surprises so far in my trip is how many breaks I have been given because I am married. I have found myself unexpectedly exempted from some of the interpersonal concern and social commentary that surroud unmarried women's behavior and comportment. Married woman have a code of their own, which I am coming to learn. For instance, I am not allowed to make myself beautiful with henna or jewels while my husband is absent. (I am still getting used to the idea of being approachable by other women without consistent access to bathing water, let alone beautiful.) Many women live apart from their husbands (many of whom work in Spain), so our distance does not strike anyone as particularly odd. Naturally, everyone I meet is eager to meet Jeremy and some have suggested we slaughter a camel when he comes. After attending a huge wedding where a dozen animals lost their lives (and after which I was ill for a few days from eating one poor goat's head), I politely declined the offer.