September 17, 2008 Brotherhood

This morning I got to chat with a Moroccan businessman for about half an hour. He had seen me with “Kareem”, another PCV, and asked if he was my boyfriend.

(Tangent: I used to see these kinds of questions as prying and personal, but the more I learn about the centrality of family and relationships in the lives of Moroccans, the more I accept them. The people who ask if I’m married, or how many kids I have, or if [insert male here] is my boyfriend, are just trying to fit me into the only framework that is meaningful to them.)

I laughed and explained that we work together. As the conversation progressed, though, we came back to the topic of Peace Corps Volunteers, and I mentioned that they’re like family. My new family. And that Kareem is like a brother to me.

I hadn’t really put it that way before, even to myself, but it’s pretty much true. I grew up with a sister, so this whole “brother” thing is kinda new to me, let alone having about 30 brothers, but … I like it.