3/10/10 Word of the Day: rizzo

As has been the pattern for the past few weeks, I never get to have all three connectivity keys – electricity, internet rizzo, and cell phone rizzo – at the same time. Right now, I have electricity but neither network, so I’m typing this entry into my laptop in hopes that I’ll be able to post it sometime soon. Soonish. Well, whenever, really. =/

So what is this “rizzo”?

It’s actually one of the many words that Tam has borrowed from Darija (Moroccan Arabic), which in turn stole it outright from French.

Originally, the word was réseau, meaning network. But as wireless technology has leapfrogged landline technology out here, as it has in so many third-world countries, rizzo has taken on new shades of meaning. Moroccans will ask if there is rizzo the way an American would ask a friend if they have “signal” or “coverage” – that is, if there are any bars of connectivity visible on their cell phone.

Is illa rizzo? Is there rizzo?

Eyyah, illa shwiya. Yeah, there’s a little. (ie, I have two or three bars out of five)

My internet connection runs through a dialup connection, but I don’t actually have a phone line. I have a small phone that’s not plugged into anything (well, except the wall, for electricity). It has a built-in antenna that sends a signal to the radio tower perched next to the cell phone company’s tower, on the hill just east of town. If the antenna from my “landline” (now there’s a misnomer) can see the radio tower, and if the radio tower itself has electricity, then that tower sends a signal up to a satellite, and just like that, my little lappy can talk to the outside world. I have “internet rizzo”.

Similarly, if my cell phone can talk to the cell tower, and the cell tower has enough electricity to talk to its satellite, my little snickers bar cell phone can talk to the outside world. (Or even to the cell phone of my friends next door.) I have cellphone rizzo.

Both towers have power generators, so sometimes they work even when there’s no electricity. And my phone, laptop, and cell all have their own batteries, so sometimes I can still be in communication when the power is out.

But this past few weeks, possibly because of the incessant wind/snow/wind/rain storms (and yes, I put wind in there twice – the winds have been at least twice as powerful and twice as common as precipitation in any form), none of the three – electricity, cell rizzo, or internet rizzo – have been dependable.

Oh, and the cycling of the powerouts appears to have zapped my laptop’s battery for once and for all. My lappy is now insisting that it doesn’t *have* a battery, which is a worrying sign, to say the least…

Ooh, hey, cell rizzo just came back! OK, I’m off to shoot a message to a buddy… Bye!

3/9/10 Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie

I haven’t tried this one on Moroccans yet, but I’m guessing it’ll be a hit, unlike most western food – it has nothing they don’t like, and lots of things they do, like meat and pastries.

2-3 C flour

1 C butter or margarine

2 C chicken broth

2 large carrots

1 large onion

1 C peas (canned, frozen, fresh, whatever)

½ kilo chicken, roasted or boiled (produces about 1 cup of cooked meat)

Crust:

Mush together flour and butter in a roughly 2:1 ratio. (For a two-crust pie like this, you want about 2 C flour and 1 C butter.) Add a generous pinch of salt. Combine them, squishing thoroughly between your fingers, until the butter is well-hidden in the dough. Add a splash of water – just enough to incorporate the last crumbles into a sphere of dough.

Split the dough in two. Roll out the first doughball into a nice flat circle. If you don’t have a rolling pin – and out here, really nobody does – you can use a smooth-sided bottle, mug, teacup, etc. Ease the circle into your pie pan. It should cover the bottom and sides.

Press it firmly against the sides of the pie pan.

Cook for a few minutes in a warm oven. (In America, aim for 350. Here, just make sure it’s lit and hot.) When the crust is crispy, pull it out.

Filling:

Heat in a saucepan:

2 C chicken broth

1/3 C flour, made into a roux

In a frying pan, sauté together

2 large carrots, cubed

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves garlic

When they are softened, pour the onion-carrot mix into the chicken broth mixture.

Assembly:

Into your cooked pie crust, layer:

1 C cooked chicken, cubed (or just pulled into thumb-sized bits)

1 C peas

Filling

Top with the remaining half of the dough, rolled into a flat round just large enough to cover the pie with a little bit on the edges to pinch up into a crust.

Cook in your hot (~350, if possible) oven for about half an hour, or until the crust is flakey and the filling is sizzling.

To enjoy it Berber-style, set it in the middle of a small table and attack it from all sides with spoons. (It’s more fun, requires less clean-up, and besides, there’s no neat way to serve it, Western-style.)

Feeds 3-4 hungry people.

3/4/10 Internet, Sweet Internet

You only realize what a Net junkie you’ve become when you lose access. ;)

Over the past week, I’ve had powerouts, loss of cell phone coverage, loss of phone coverage (and therefore loss of DSL internet), sometimes overlapping, sometimes not. The upshot of it is that I’ve been home with my lappy but without teh intarweb, which has been odd for me. Even when the internet connection has reestablished itself, it has vanished again within minutes or hours - usually, this week, minutes. Frustrating.

But when I had power, but no connection, I typed up a bunch of blogs, about COS Conference and my post-COS-Conference trip down to my CBT village. Now that I have a connection (and it's held steady for 20 whole minutes! Woohoo!), I'm posting them up. Enjoy!

2/19/10 Early COS? What’s up with that?

So you’ve referred a couple of times to “Early COS”. What’s the deal? Doesn’t everybody serve 27 solid months, unless they ET or get AdSep’d or MedSep’d?

PCVs are expected to honor their full 27-month commitment, this is true. But under special circumstances, the Country Director might choose to grant “Early COS” status. (COS = Close of Service – finishing your service as a Peace Corps Volunteer)

This is different from ETing. You can ET at any time, for any reason. But ETers don’t get all the benefits of finishing their service. Early COSers do.

There are two categories of Early COS: 30 Days Early and 31-90 Days Early.

30 Days Early COS

Discuss your plans with your Program Staff. Submit a written request 90 days before your scheduled COS date outlining *exactly* how all your projects will be completed by your requested COS date. If your Program Manager approves the request, he/she will forward it to the Country Director. If the Country Director approves, you’re done.

31-90 Days Early COS

This is a much bigger deal, and much, much less frequently granted. You have to do everything as above, PLUS:

If the Country Director approves your request, it’s forwarded to the Regional Director. If he/she approves, it’s forwarded to Peace Corps Washington. If *they* approve it, then you’re good to go.

How often is Early COS granted?

Personally, I’ve never heard of anyone getting to COS more than 30 days early. But 4 people from my stage will be COSing two to four weeks before May 19th, when the rest of us (inshallah) will Stamp Out.

2/20/10 COS Timeline

For the past two years, my service has been ticking forwards. Now, everyone has started counting backwards – counting down till we Stamp Out on May 19^th, 2010 (inshallah).

T-90 Days:

• Last chance to change your Home-Of-Record address
• Last chance to request an early COS date
• Last chance to request an extension of service

Within the last 90 Days

• Final Language Proficiency Test
• COS Physical Examination (usually referred to as “COS Meds”)
• Exit Interview with Country Director

T-81 Days

• Description Of Service (DOS) Initial Draft due to Program Manager

T-75 Days

• Last chance to change your Home-Of-Record address

T-50 Days

• Description of Service (DOS) Final Draft due to Program Manager

T-3 Days

72-hour checkout begins

Final Medical Clearance

T-0 …Ignition…Blastoff!

We stamp out. Our service officially ends. Welcome to RPCV status.

T+30 Days

CorpsCare Health Insurance, as provided free by Peace Corps, runs out. If you want health insurance after this, pay up.

T+60 Days or whenever you return to US soil, whichever comes first

Peace Corps Life Insurance expires. (For those folks who signed up for it, and had a few bucks pulled out of each month’s readjustment allowance to pay for it.)

T+90 Days

Peace Corps Passport expires. (Not legally – it’s good for years – but officially, we’re supposed to return them to PC/Washington. I’m not sure why, exactly. What’s wrong with letting RPCVs travel on a perfectly valid passport?)

T+18 months

CorpsCare Health Insurance expires

T+forever

Continue Goal 3 work – sharing Moroccan culture with Americans.

2/16/10 COS Conference

Three months and three days.

In three months and three days, my stage will close our service. We will have a short ceremony, sign our names and stamp a book, and with this “Stamping Out”, as it’s called, we’ll transform from PCVs to RPCVs. (Even though most of us will take our time returning to the US.)

Our replacements have been notified, and are packing their bags, saying their goodbyes, and preparing to begin this cycle again. Some of them may even be reading my blog, having discovered it in their preparations to come to Morocco. (Hi!)

I’m in Rabat, where we’ve assembled for our COS Conference, as it’s called. A three-day series of talks and workshops and discussions to prepare us to finish our terms here. Of the 60 of us who arrived in Morocco 2 years (less two weeks) ago, 44 are still here.

We’ll trade stories from the past two years: our successes, our failures, our funniest moments, our fondest memories – as well as the things we wish to forget.

We’ll hear from RPCVs living in Morocco, and learn about the paths their lives have taken since their own service, whether here or elsewhere.

We’ll get career advice and tips for managing “reverse culture shock” – that jolt from returning to America and seeing it again with new eyes.

It’s time to shift our focus from our service in Morocco to the rest of our lives. How will we take everything we’ve learned, experience, shared, and lived over the past two years, and use it to further the mission of the Peace Corps – world peace and friendship.

The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things…

2/17/10 Peace Corps Health Care

While you’re a PCV, all health care costs are fully covered. Medications for pre-existing conditions [as long as you have it documented on your Peace Corps application!], visits to PCMO or any other doctor/dentist in the country (as long as PCMO OK’s it first), even airfare back to the US if you need to be MedEvac’d – whatever. It’s all covered during your service.

The fine print, according to the official paperwork:

A comprehensive immunization, prevention, and health maintenance program. Health support in country, including all necessary care for new conditions and accepted pre-existing conditions that are exacerbated or aggravated by Peace Corps service. [Footnote: Peace Corps provides initial care for all medical cnditions. Trainees or Volunteers with pre-existing conditions not disclosed to Peace Corps as part of medical clearance process are subject to medical or administrative separation. FECA benefits may not be available for these conditions.]

Emergency medical services anywhere in the world at any time.

Short term care for diagnosis and stabilization prior to medical separation when the Volunteer will be unable to return to duty within 45 days of a medevac or when the condition can not be accommodated overseas.

But what happens after you COS?

There’s a two-fold answer.

1) For the first six months after COS (or after you’re MedSep’d or AdSep’d or ET):

Peace Corps Health Benefits Program AKA127c Care AKA Seven Corners AKA Humana Choice Care [because it’s provided through the Humana Choice care Network]

This covers evaluations, testing, and lab work for Peace Corps related injuries/conditions, including dental, optical, counseling… The idea here is that any lingering issues that were caused by your service are covered just as fully as if you were still in-country.

The catch: You really really really should get it diagnosed in-country. PCMO will give you a form – a 209B or 127c form – that says, in effect, “Yup, this happened here, and she needs continuing attention in the US.” Without a 127c, it can be bloody hard to get it paid for. Even crazy things like parasites and diseases that don’t even exist in America, if not diagnosed before your return, can be hard to get covered. The health care money folks whine, “But maybe you caught it after your return!” That’s why Peace Corps gives us a *thorough* medical during our last 90 days in-country, including final screenings for TB and AIDS and a few other nasties on our very last days in-country (aka “72-hour checkout”).

Be sure to bring your 127c form (or 209B) and your Peace Corps Health Benefits Program Insurance Card form. Note to newbies: You get this your very firstest day in-country. DON’T LOSE IT. It’s a little piece of paper, not even laminated, but if you lose it… I keep mine with my passport.

Contact info for PCHBP:

1-800-544-1802

P.O. Box 3370 Carmel, IN 46082-3370

www.peacecorps.sevencorners.com

But this only covers evaluations. The fine print:

PC-127C Authorization: Evaluation only of medical and dental health conditions related to Volunteer service. Must be used within six months of close of service.

But wait, you say, only evaluation? What about, y’know, treatment?

That’s covered under Parts 2 and 3.

Part 2: FECA aka Workers’ Compensation aka Department of Labor Claim aka ACS

FECA = Federal Employee Compensation Act

Treatment and ongoing care for anything diagnosed in-country or at your 127c referral visit is covered by FECA, via the Department of Labor.

(What does Peace Corps have to do with the Department of Labor? Got me. Is this confusing you yet? Yeah, that’s why I’m writing it all out – this is for my reference as much as anything else. When a PCV buddy emails me in six months and says, “Hey, what did they tell us about health care stuff at COS conference?” and I’ll say, “Um, wait, there was the six month thing, the 18 month thing, and, um …” and then I’ll look here.)

Be sure to bring your Case File Number and your Acceptance Letter.

Contact info: Billing & Authorizations: 1-850-558-1818

www.dol.gov

http://owcp.dol.acs-inc.com

This covers ongoing treatment for whatever lingering medical concerns you have, forever…but the fine print says “contact the Post Service Unit for details”. So…maybe forever.

Fine print:

Treatment of most medical and dental conditions related to Volunteer service and conditions incurred or contracted while abroad during service are provided by FECA. Claims must be filed within 3 years of close of service or within 3 years of recognition that a health condition is service-related.

[[Note from me: My RPCV buddies tell me that this is the real sticking point. If it’s not diagnosed in-country, you have a wretched time trying to get them to “recognize” that it’s “service-related”.

Part 3: CorpsCare AKA Clements International AKA First Health [because it’s part of the First Health Network]

This is your post-Peace Corps health insurance, if you want it. Peace Corps will automatically pay for your first month. And that’s by the 30 days, not the calendar month. I COS on May 19^th, inshallah, so Peace Corps has paid my premium through June 19^th. If I want health insurance after that, I either have to find a plan on my own or continue paying for this one. If I stay with this one – as most of us do, at least for a few months – it’s $158/month [[as of February 2010. I’m really sure that this number will change.]] We get up to 18 months of coverage; after that, you’ll need to have a job or be in grad school or COBRA or something.

One neat thing – you can buy coverage before you COS, using your readjustment allowance money. Six months, nine months, whatever. And if you find a job with benefits before that time runs out, Peace Corps will cut you a check for the remaining months. In other words, don’t worry if you don’t have a bank account waiting for you back home. You can still afford your health insurance. :)

CorpsCare covers your pre-existing conditions, your non-service-related injuries/illnesses, regular well-woman / well-man visits, etc. Regular old health insurance.

You’ll get a CorpsCare Insurance card that you’ll need to bring with you to appointments.

Contact info: 1-800-605-2282

P.O. Box 863 Indianapolis, IN 46206

www.clements.com/corpscare

Fine Print: Non-service-related medical problems are covered by CorpsCare. Specifically:

* Most pre-existing conditions not covered by FECA;

* Conditions that arose that are not covered by FECA, e.g., while in the U.S. on vacation, home leave, emergency leave, or medevac;

* Health problems that arose after Volunteer service.

Peace Corps pays one month’s premium for all Volunteers. Volunteers may purchase up to 18 months of additional coverage.

Important Note: Both FECA and CorpsCare are under the general auspices of the “Post-Service Unit”, aka the folks in PC/Washington responsible for taking care of RPCVs. Their contact info: 1111 20^th St, NW 5^th Floor Washington, DC 20526

1-800-424-8580 x 1540 option 7

Fax: 202-692-1541

psu - at - peacecorps - dot - gov

…and that’s a division of the Returned Volunteer Services, Office of Domestic Programs. Same street address,.

Phone: 202-692-1430

rvs - at - peacecorps - dot - gov

www.peacecorps.gov/rpcv

You’d think this info would be on the Peace Corps website, but most of it isn’t. Which is why your friendly wide-eyed innocent is typing it all up for you. :)

* RPCVs = Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. What they call us after we COS. “Peace Corps Veterans” works for me, but the acronym would be confusing. :)

3/2/10 RPCV Info

Feel free to skip this one, folks; it’s straight-up reference information that I want to know I have access to, wherever I am. (Well, assuming I have internet access, which is mostly a given in the US, right?)

The Returned Volunteer Services staff in Washington are all RPCVs and have lots of post-Peace-Corps resources and other stuff I’ll want to have access to:

• Hotline Jobs Bulletin – A semimonthly bulletin of career, educational, and reentry information and opportunities. www.peaceorps.gov/rpcv/hotline
• RPCVnetwork Listserve – A daily listserv for PCVs and RPCVs only, with career, volunteer, and educational opportunities around the world. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpcvnetwork/
• Career Events – For a calendar of upcoming in-person and virtual career events, visit www.peacecorps.gov/rpcv/events
• Career conferences – Hands-on workshops, employer visits, and a career fair help RPCVs plan their professional development. Held in Washington, DC, 3 times a year.
• Online career workshops – Free web-based sessions offered 3 times a year.
• Employer information sessions – Hosted by organizations interested in hiring RPCVs to promote their missions and opportunities.
• Resource Guides – Publications focused on grad school and professional opportunities. www.peacecorps.gov/rvs/publications
• Job Bulletins – RPCVs can request free online passwords to six job bulletins. For passwords, email rvs - at - peacecorps - dot - gov. Specify which job bulletins you would like to receive and include your name, country, and dates of service.
• International Career Employment Weekly
• Environmental Career Opportunities
• Public Health Jobs Worldwide
• Alliance for Conflict Transformation
• Ethical Jobs
• InterAction
• Self-Assessment Software – Peace Corps-licensed SIGI3, a tool designed to help assess your work-related values, interests, and skills. To request an account, email rvs - at - peacecorps - dot - gov and include your name, country, and dates of service.
• Career Centers – A career center with job postings, resource books, computers, etc are available at the recruiting office in Rosslyn, VA, and in other regional recruiting offices throughout the US. Call 1-800-424-8580, x1, to reach any regional recruiting office. RPCV Career Center 202-692-1433 rpcvcareercenter - at - peacecorps - dot - gov

They can also hook me up with copies of:

• My Description of Service
• My W-2s
• My Peace Corps medical records
• Information about medical coverage
• Career-Development Resources
• Information about Non-Competetitive Eligibility (NCE) for federal employment

How to reach them:

Returned Volunteer Services, Office of Domestic Programs

1111 20^th Street NW

Washington, DC 20526

202-692-130

rvs - at - peacecorps - dot - gov

www.peacecorps.gov/rpcv

2/23/10 Always-Funny Berber Jokes

One thing that I love about this culture is the … permanence …. of the humor. If something is funny once, it will always be funny. The western idea that a joke is only funny the first time, or at least becomes progressively less funny with each retelling? Totally doesn’t exist here. You’ll get exactly as big a laugh every time you tell a story. It does make it easier for folks learning the language, though – learn one or two funny stories (usually laughing at yourself), and you’re set for two years.

One of my classics:

“Ah, boorgh.” Oh, I’m too old to get married. I’ve missed my chance.

So simple, and yet every time I say it, I get a big laugh. Every time. What? You’re not married? No, I’m too old to get married. Hahahahahahahahaha.

Every. Time.

And then there’s the story of the drunken idiot who kept me waiting 45 minutes - in the cold - for a transit that he knew had left an hour earlier. That’s always good for a laugh.

Or the pun on the word “turkey” – bibi in Tamazight – and how the baby – bebe or mumu – is “A baby, not a chicken!’ which has been funny for about 20 months now…

And now we have the story of how I couldn’t find the house I lived in for three months.

If I return to Morocco in a few years (as I hope and expect to) and visit both my host families again, I fully expect to hear all these stories, surrounded with genuine laughter.

2/22/10 Chillin’ With Host Fam #1

Two years ago (almost exactly!), I came to Morocco. After a week or two of introductory stuff, they sent us to live with our CBT host families. (CBT = Community-Based Training, aka stage, aka Peace Corps with training wheels). Today, two weeks later, I’m back in my CBT village, visiting my first host family.

Journal Entry:

Hanging out with host fam tamzarut [the first]. Plus ca change… Here we all are, sitting around the little round table in the family room, writing stuff down...I'm not doing homework for language class, this time, just journaling, but my little sibs are doing their homework, and it just feels...right. :)

My little brother is now in the 7^th grade (7^th! Little munchkin’s in *middle school*!), but still illiterate in French. My little sister is in sixth grade, ready to head off to collège, and in the same unfortunate boat. They say that the French teacher here just gives them heads-down time during “French class”. She has a vocabulary notebook (“Just like yours!” she pointed out with a grin), full of misspelled words from where she couldn’t read her teacher’s handwriting and wasn’t allowed to ask for clarification. I fixed some of them, and helped her with tonight’s homework, but one evening’s tutorial feels a bit like filling the Marianas trench with a teaspoon. Are there Barney or Sesame Street DVDs for Arabic speakers, teaching French? Maybe a Baby Einstein immersion thing? They have a DVD player, but wouldn’t understand anything English based…

When I arrived in town, we hiked in from the main road, which we never did in stage – one perk of taxis over transits! I knew which direction to go from the path, but still managed to walk right past my house. The next hosue – blue door, white decorations – didn’t look right, though it did look familiar, and neither did the one after that. I finally tapped the Small Boy Network (our gaggle!), and asked for my little siblings by name. That got me to the right place. Turns out I’d been confused because of all the changes. Either from the funds Peace Corps provided in exchange for their hosting me, or from my older brothers’ work in the nearest big city (where one does construction and the other does cabinetry work), the family has done some major renovations. The door is on what was the back. The courtyard is a good 50% larger. The roof is now finished and accessible by stairs. The big empty lean-to room where the ewes went to have their lambs is now a fancy, plastered, wall-sconced room with big ponjs and carpets. From barn to zween entertaining hall in 21 months.

Hahah…Just now, I excused myself to go to the bit l-ma hashek (the bathroom). My little sister, who’d heard the story of how I couldn’t find their house from her brother and three other friends already (gotta love the gossip power of the Small Boy Network) asked, “Do you remember where it is?” I laughed. “That’s still in the same place, right?” (Fortunately for my bewildered sense of direction, plumbing is hard to move, even rudimentary plumbing.) She laughed, and I laughed. Ah, the always-funny Berber jokes. :)