My Least Vulnerable Spot

FES

I spent the last weekend in Fes, the city with the oldest and largest Medina in Morocco!  In fact, the Fes medina is the most populated pedestrian city in the world.  It feels like a giant maze, and at times, you don't think that you can ever find your way out. 

The Fes medina is also known for its leather tanneries.  Pictured below is the largest tannery in the medina.  The leather starts in white buckets (not pictured) and is softened with pigeon poop.  The tanneries buy copious amounts of poop from pigeon poop collectors; a job I hope I will never have to do in my life.  Then it is soaked in the die and set out to dry. 

Fes Tanneries 

Islamic New Year

I celebrated the Islamic New Year with my Morocco family when I returned from Fes.  Specifically, we celebrated the 10th day of the new year, the day of Ashura which mourns the death of marks the anniversary of the Battle of Karbala when Imam Hussein Ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the forces of the second Umayyad Caliph.  To celebrate, people light bonfires in the streets and set off firecrackers to recreate the battle.  You usually eat the butt of a sheep on this night, but my family decided instead to eat the tongue of a cow.  And its head for good measure.  They didn't want to buy sheep meat when they still had so much cow leftover from when they (personally) slaughtered it for Eid (the biggest Moroccan holiday of the year that occurs the first week of October and involves sacrificing and animal and eating every part of it). 

Up Next:  Agadir and Paradise Valley, I'm journeying to the South of Morocco! 
P.S.  I don't know how to undo the white highlighting that I accidentally clicked on

I Never Make Plans that Far Ahead

In very un-elle fashion, I decided to take a last minute trip to Chefchaouen - a small, beautiful, "city in the sky".

And by last minute, I literally mean last minute!  I decided two hours before the bus left to go!  My friend and I jumped on the bus as it was pulling out of the station and we spent the next 5 hours on it giggling about how adventurous we are.

We were greeted by the most beautiful view I've seen in Morocco

This beautiful mountain town in the north of Morocco is called the "city in the sky" because it is painted completely in blue and is at a very high altitude.  I fell in love with it immediately!  Perhaps it was the good ol mountain air, or all the fresh goat cheese our hostel gave us at breakfast.  We spent the day hiking in the mountains (in order to snap that 1st beautiful picture in this blog), and came back to a refreshing meal of Moroccan pastilla and fresh squeezed orange.  Our afternoon was spent wandering the sprawling medina and shopping in fragrant soap shops.

I reluctantly left the next day for Rabat, our short one day/two night visit was such a tease, I wish I had time to return. 

The most difficult part of that weekend was returning to studying for my Gender and Sexuality midterm the next day.  Throughout the semester, I've read dozens of articles in that class about the reflection of the patriarchal society in Morocco's laws and religious practices.  My Moroccan family, in an effort to help me study, asked me to discuss my readings with them.  I could barely get the first sentence out - "well, we're learning that since men are the ones who interpret the religious texts, the laws concerning women reflect their will" - before my host brother swiftly cut me off and said "No, that is absolutely wrong.  You cannot interpret the Qu'ran, it is not like Christianity.  The words of the Qu'ran have never been changed.  Everything that is written in there is law."  I tried a different angle, and asked the mother why she veils herself if it is not obligatory in Islam.  My mom was quick to correct me and say that it is in the Qu'ran that women must be veiled at all times.  Mohammed himself has said that "women must be veiled" and you cannot argue with the prophet.  At that point, I decided not to point out that the only time Mohammed said women should be veiled was so that you could tell your Muslim wives apart from your slaves... Logically speaking, if slavery ceases to exist, then women technically aren't obligated to the wear the veil.  I purposely did not engage in argument with my family because I did not want to offend them so early on in our relationship.  

But, there is so much that I still wanted to say!  I wanted to tell them that the Morocco prioritizes family structure above the rights of women, and this is due to the fact that men interpret religious texts and canonize their own ideas into laws. Up until the massive restructuring of the family law in 2004, women legally had to obey their husbands.  Girls who were raped had to marry their rapists so they wouldn't disrupt the harmony of their communities (god forbid an unmarried virgin be allowed to walk the streets...).  Anyone who housed an abused female refugee could go to prison for up to 5 years.  I could give more examples, but the point is clear. 

After dinner, when my host brothers and father retired to the television, my Moroccan mom talked to more about gender roles.  She said that there is a fundamental difference between males and females, so they cannot have the same rights.  She believes that Islam allows for women's rights, but feels uncomfortable discussing reasons for their rights outside of the Qu'ran.  My mom falls into the Arh'ari school of thought; those who believe that justice, human rights, and women's rights can be found in religious texts, and are allowed to exist if textual evidence exists as well.  In the Mu'tazili school of thought; the notion of justice is innate and based on independent rational.  You do not need religious texts to determine basic human rights.  My mom went on to joke with that the only bad thing about having only sons is that they aren't obligated to help her clean or cook.  She said this in a lighthearted, "haha, oh well" sort of tone, but I took it more seriously.  My mom works as a nurse five days a week, and comes every night to cook dinner and clean all the dishes without help.  She uses her lunch break to come back and clean the apartment.  Every Sunday she does a huge apartment clean that takes her 10 hours while the rest of her male family sits in cafés.  Yet, she is totally fine with this because "that's how life is" according to Islam. 

All in all, it was an enriching and eyeopening conversation to hear my relatively liberal family talk about their conceptions of gender norms.  I'm looking forward to more rich conversations. 

Morocco Part 2!

As of two days ago, I have officially "restarted" my Moroccan experience.  I have a brand new homestay and am ready to start in a new chapter abroad.

To be politically correct, my old homestay family and I just didn't click.  They were older, had no children, and lived in the richest area of Rabat.  It wasn't exactly the vibrant and culture experience I expected.  After some other catalyzers, I finally moved out.

I feel so much better now that I have!  I live in L'Ocean, an area very close to the bustling city center.  In the week that I've moved in, I have already taken many trips to explore the Medina, walk along the beach, drink tea in the beautiful Kasbah (only google pictures available right now... I'm really missing my phone)

This is where I live now

The Historic Kasbah (with a beautiful ocean view on the other side)

My new family is amazing!  They have two very nice boys my age, a mom who always hugs and kisses me, a dad who is constantly laughing, and a DOG.  This is so rare for Rabat!  They have a one-year-old 85lb mastiff who guards their house and loves to play.  It's only been three days in the family , but I already feel so much more comfortable than before.  I know this was a good decision, albeit a hard one, and I'll profit so much more from the country this way. 

In non moving related news, I've finished my midterm exams!  These are officially the first college exams that I have felt absolutely no stress for...  It's been a much needed break from academic stress. 

Internship NEWS:

I think this is the first time that I've talked about my internship... but it's going really well!!  I work at Transparency Morocco, an organization that aims to expose corruption in government and private enterprises.  I am helping them create of an english version of their french website by translating everything currently on their webpage into English - which also helps my language skills.

In the month of November, I'll be traveling every single weekend.  

Week 1 - Fes

Week 2 - Agardir/Paradise Valle

Week 3 - Tangiers 

Week 4 - Fes/Sahara Desert/Marrakech with my FAMILY

Stay tuned for much more exciting updates to come!

 

We'll Always Have Paris (and Budapest and Vienna)

One more day to go!  The vacation has been amazing so far; although I'm more tired than when I started.

Paris:

Thursday night: The three of us walked out of the Charles de Gaulle metro stop and onto Champs-Élysées at 1am after our flight and immediately faced the Arc the Triomphe and the Eiffel tower (both beautifully lit up).  This breathtaking view immediately instilled a love for Paris in me that increased exponentially throughout our trip.  We jumped in a cab and made it to our adorable apartment in the 13th district, popped open a bottle of wine, and felt very sophisticated.

Friday: We got the day going with a walk from the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs, next to the Seine and ending in the Garden of Tulleries.  In typical Moroccan fashion (or maybe just as ignorant tourists), we attempted to J-walk across the round-about encircling the Arc.  After a couple close calls with death, we realized that there was an underground passage for foot traffic.  Whoops.  We took a hot chocolate and macaroon break in a beautiful (and freaking expensive) café called Angelina's.  We left with pretty extreme sugar stomach aches, but happy none the less.  We continued down to the Notre Dame and Saint Michel square.  We ducked into the Shakespeare and Company bookstore (heaven for my mom, wish she had been there) before meeting up with Flore and Margot from high school (as told in my previous post)

Saturday: After a late start (no thanks to our pub crawl), we went immediately to admire the Eiffel Tower and then walked along the Seine to the Musée D'Orsay to see the impressionist paintings by Monet, Manet, and Toulouse Lautrec.  After that, we hopped on a boat on the Seine with some wine and took a cruise around the city.  After a café dinner that left the boys still hungry, we picked up some (more) wine, cheese, bread, and meat for an après dinner munch.  It was an early night for us to prepare for the day in Versailles!

Sunday: We got to Versailles early in the morning with a bike tour and a fun guide from Los Angeles leading us.  We first stopped in the market outside of the palace in order to pick up fresh baguettes, meat, cheese, and of course: wine.  We biked with our picnic baskets through Marie Antoinette's village and then through the grounds. We stopped on the canal for a delicious picnic before heading up to the palace.  The tour guide fruitlessly attempted to tell us more information about its history over the jokes of the drunk Canadian couple who probably did not need to finish their last glass of wine.  Thanks to our tour we got to saunter past the switchbacked line of people waiting to enter and cut straight to the front.  The rooms were gorgeous as I remembered from when I visited 4 years ago, and still crowded with just as many tourists.  We took a quick stop to the café after the tour and sent Jeff to grab coffee.  Unfortunately he took a little too long to grab it and he came back to this:

No shame

The nap and the coffee did the trip and we spent the rest of the day in the gardens.  We returned to Paris and met up with Sophie (the cousin of my Moroccan friend!) for dinner.  She took us to a nice place in front of the beautiful Opera house and we had a wonderful time with her before we returned to our apartment to pack for Budapest!

Monday: We arrived in Budapest and were awestruck by its beauty!! We went for a run alongside the Danube and marveled at the beautiful Parliment, Buda Castle, and other miscellaneous buildings.  We grabbed a bite to eat in the neighborhood and made our way to a famous rune bar for a beer before bed.  Although the bar was cool, the giftshop in the middle of it made it feel less authentic.  We stopped telling ourselves we "discovered" the place once we saw that... 

Tuesday: More walking!  The cheapest way to see the city for students on a budget!  We made our way from Pest over to Buda and toured the Fisherman's Bastion, Buda Castle, and Matthias Church.  We stopped for a lunch of goulash soup, chicken gnocci and cherry cake before walking back to Pest to see the Iron Shoes; a memorial dedicated to the Jewish people who were lined up and shot into the Danube.  We had dinner at a café outside of our apartment and went to bed early in preparation for Vienna the next day. 

Wednesday: We successfully made it onto the 7am bus to Vienna!!  We met up with Hannah!  It was so nice seeing her again.  It's truly unbelievable that she made it to Morocco to see me and I made it to Vienna to see her.  She took us around to the gorgeous Belvedere Castle, and then lunch in an open air market.  We walked around the city, did some (a lot) of shopping, and had a late afternoon coffee with apple strudel at a famous café where we marveled at Vienna's beauty.  The buildings look impeccable and pristine; the entire city is clean.  It was such a treat to spend the day there.  Hannah then took us out to "Vienna-fest" (a smaller Oktober - fest) where we had a couple beers and sausages and watched a lot of drunk Viennese people in Lederhosen stumble around in attempts to find more beer. 

Thursday: We made it back to Budapest and immediately went to the thermal springs in the most famous bath in the world.  A staggering yellow palace enclosed eight different pools filled with minerals and sulfur (at least, that's what they said that yellow stuff in the water was... a handy excuse if you ask me).  We walked around the city park and admired more of the fantastic architecture before we all realized how truly exhausted we are.  We subsequently got burritos and wine and spent the night in the apartment watching Good Hill Hunting.

Tomorrow we head to Paris!  We have Friday afternoon to hit up the last important things in Paris before we return to Rabat, Morocco on Saturday!

BTW, I wish I had an easy way to post pics, but due to the theft of my phone, it was hard to get them.  I will put more pictures in when I have a chance! 

Are you sure this place is honest?

I have felt tremendously welcome in Morocco.  So welcome, in fact, that I became a little too comfortable.

I left my friend's apartment at 10:30pm in order to grab a cab home.  While it's highly recommended (especially for a girl) to be with another person at all times, I decided that since I would be in front of the apartment under a street lamp in the safest neighborhood, I could walk out alone.

.... I was wrong.  As soon as I stepped outside, I heard my friend's mom yelling from the 5th floor out the window "ELLE", I looked up and waved thinking she was saying goodbye.  In that moment, a man came up on my side, ripped my purse from my shoulder, scooped it up from the ground and ran away in the night.

I started screaming "ARRETE" (stop) and ran about four steps after him before the panic hit.  And then I promptly turned back and ran into the apartment.

Luckily, before leaving for my friend's house I had misplaced my passport and wallet in my own room.  All that was in my purse was my iPhone and taxi money.  The best of a bad situation.

Unfortunately though, I now know how I react in pressure situations.  I scream, run, cry, and then call my parents.  This shouldn't surprise me, as this is how I deal with all stress in my life (my parents can testify).


BUT, I fortunately have the beautiful city of Paris to distract me from that.

We kicked off our journey with a 1.5 hour bus from the suburban airport in the center of Paris.  I started talking to a French couple on the bus, explaining to them that I choose to study in Morocco because (direct quote from me) "no Moroccans speak english."  At which point, a plethora of voices on the bus pipped indignantly and said "I'm Moroccan and I speak English."

Thank goodness Jeff, Logan, and I are very social and friendly people.  We came back from that one and ended up becoming great friends with them.

Now, we are staying a beautiful flat in the up-and-coming hipster 13th district.  We spent yesterday on a walking tour of the city and ate ourselves sick on macaroons.  Last night, we met up with my french exchange students from 10th grade in high school (!!) Flore and Margot!  They took us to a wonderfully cheap and delicious dinner, and then we did the french pub crawl.  Which ended with us crawling into bed at 3am...

More adventures to come!

The Conversation is a Trifle-Onesided

I have returned from a five day trip to the Atlas Mountains!  It was almost too much to process!  I'm including many beautiful pictures in this bloodspot in order to due justice to the breath-taking beauty of Beni Mallal, Zawiya Ahansal, and Marrakech.

First Stop:  Beni Mallal

Photo Cred: Kristin Licciardello

Beni Mallah was first stop on the way to the high Atlas Mountains.  This city boasts beautiful views and an impressive university.  Not much can be said for its history though.  After we visited the beautiful Kasbah and park, we learned that they had both been recently constructed in an effort by the city to create a history for itself.

We spent the afternoon at the university and dialogued with several Moroccan students.  In our discussion we learned the difference between Beldi (traditional, rural) and Romi (modern, western).  Depending on your background, each carry a different connotation.  In a big city such as Rabat, a person labeled Beldi would be considered dirty and uneducated.  And in the mountains of Zawiya Ahansal, a Romi person would be considered untraditional and european.

Next Up:  Zawiya Ahansal

Photo Cred: Carly Jean

After a nail biting 5 hour drive through the winding roads of the High Atlas Mountains, we reach Zawiya Ahansal; the largest Berber commune in Morocco.  The Amazigh (Berber people) are originally tribal people who lived in the rural areas of what is now Morocco.  While many have integrated into modern society, the majority remain in rural regions and stay in communes.  The Amazigh tend to be thought of as dirty, uneducated,  and not "true" muslims by most Moroccans.  It was only recently that the Moroccan government officially recognized Berber as a language and acknowledged parts of their culture.

View from the Sheik's House
Photo Cred: Carly Jean

Our guide for the weekend was an American woman, Chloe, who has lived in the rural commune for 11 years after she visited it on her honeymoon.  She took us to the sheik's guesthouses where we had the opportunity to with the sheik and ask him questions about the village.

The Most Interesting Things I Learned:

• There are no policeman or law enforcement personnel for the 10,000-15,000 inhabitants.  There hasn't been a need for them because crime is so low
• The population fluctuates by 5,000 twice a year when the nomadic people migrate 
• The nomadic people usually cause a traffic jam of camels when they arrive in the Spring 
• Most children stop going to school by 6th grade and work with their parents in the fields 
• Usually the oldest son in the family will leave the village to work in a larger city and send money back to the commune.  Other than him, most people live their entire lives never leaving Zawiya Ahansal 
• Diabetes is a HUGE issue because the people aren't educated about nutrition
• The average family consumes 18 kilos of sugar per month in that village (family size ranges from 6-12)
• For lunch one day we were served bread, plain couscous, white pasta, rice, and potatoes. This is considered a balanced diet in the village 

The most pressing question in my mind after learning all this was the protection of women's rights.  Chloe and the Sheik are very proud of the fact that there is minimal crime in the village, but I couldn't help but wonder if certain crimes were just being kept under wraps.  After pressing them more for information, I learned that certain women's rights groups come into the village every now and then to educate women on their rights.  Ever since the 2004 amendment to the Mudawana (family law), the status of women has significantly improved.  Chloe and other members of the commune said that they respect many of the new laws.  The majority of families wait until their daughters are 18 (as the law demands) before marrying them off.  They additionally stated that due to the poverty of the region, they simply cannot afford to put men on a higher pedestal.  Men and women have the same jobs on a daily basis.  But, after talking to Chloe more privately about the issue, I got the sense that issues such as domestic violence aren't talked about or even acknowledged as a problem.  And due to the lack of police, there isn't a resource available for women to report such issues.  

That night, the Shiek's cousin came to give us henna tattoos, and we joined a traditional Berber dance circle.

Photo Cred: Sreya Vaidyanathan

Photo Cred: Sreya Vaidyanathan

I was one of the few students who made it the full two and half hours in the dance circle.  Chloe told us that usually dance circles go for the entire night.  8 hours of chanting, drumming, and moving slowly in the a circle to your right. 

I also fell in love with the Sheik's child:

Last Stop Marrakech:

Marrakech was short and sweet, we were only there for the night and the morning.  It was enough time to explore the square, shop in the souk, and play with a monkey.  While I loved the city, it was clear that this is solely a tourist destination.  The people in this city are presenting that Morocco they want us to see.  The monkeys and snake charmers and horse drawn carriages serve no purpose except to entertain foreigners.  I am much more excited for Fes, which I have been told is supposed to be the "real" Morocco. 

Until next time! 

Moroccan Hospitality

This weekend I learned a lesson about Moroccan hospitality.

Saturday

On Saturday, I went with a group of friends to the Oulmes Valley to find "la source" - the source of water for the popular brand "Oulmes" in Morocco.  Six of us squeezed into a small taxi and drove three hours up a mountain.  The four hour hike was hot, but beautiful.  At the bottom of the valley the boys surprised us with pb&j sandwiches they had prepared the night before.  We arrived back at the hotel sweaty, tired, and satisfied.  After we drank traditional moroccan mint tea and ate biscuits with honey, we decided it was time to hail a cab and venture back to Rabat.

Oops.  No cabs were leaving that night.  It was too late for them to make the three hour journey to the bottom of the mountain and drive back up the same day.

Desperate, I sought out the only man who had spoke to us in French when we arrived (every one else spoke only Arabic in this rural town), and explained our predicament.  To my utter surprise, he told me that he coincidentally was returning to Rabat that night and would drive the six of us down the mountain.

Talk about hospitality!  The military boys weren't so sure this convenient solution could come with no strings attached.  Armed with the cheap knives we brought to cut fruit and sandwiches, they sat behind our driver - knife in one hand, cell phone with our program director dialed in the other.

The man explained to us as he drove that he worked in Oulmes, and lived in Rabat.  His brother is the King's chef and his family lives in the palace.  Hence why he prefers to live in Rabat and commute every day to work.  We stopped for tea on the way down, of course he treated; he was almost insulted that we tried so hard to pay.  By the time we finished our journey, we were fast friends with the man.  He gave us his cell phone and said to call him anytime.  Again, he refused to accept any money from us for the ride.  True Moroccan hospitality.

Jeff and I overlooking Oulmes 

Sunday:

I spent Sunday morning with my mama.  We went running to the beach at 7am, swam in the freezing cold waters, and then lounged in the sand.  She fervently talked about the importance of exercise in life as she pulled out chocolate filled croissants and jam.  "Because we ran!" she tried to defend herself.

After that, I left for lunch at Maha's house (the girl I row with).  I left at 11:30am, and told my mom I would be back in the afternoon to finish my homework.

Oops.  Moroccan lunches are the biggest meal of the day.  And they aren't served until 3pm.  I spent the first three hours meeting everyone in the family - mom, dad, cousins, grandma, aunts, uncles - and sharing stories from home.  I spent the next hour at lunch timidly trying to convince the family I had eaten enough as they heaped more couscous on my plate.  After that they insisted that I come to the beach with them.  After the beach, I told them that I really should be heading home.  "Ok" they said, "but first we go to our Aunt's pool, she lives so close it will be rude not to."  At 7pm at the pool, I finally told the mom I absolutely needed to go home.  "Ok" she said, "but first we take tea with our Aunt.  We used her pool, it would be rude not to."  A little frustrated at this point, I tried to be pleasant for the next two hours of tea with the family.  Maha tried to reassure me that my Moroccan mom would not worry for me, no one is on time in the country and it is normal to be late when you are out with family.

Finally, they dropped me off at my house at 9:15pm.  The "lunch" had taken 9.5 hours.  As Maha had predicted, my mama was not upset that I was late.  She explained that it is Moroccan hospitality to invite one's guest to spend the entire day with them.

.... But are you Hammam close?

Wednesday: I went to my first hammam (baths) with some girls on the program!  It was definitely culture shock... but in a good way.  Women in Morocco go to the hammam weekly to cleanse and socialize.

When we arrived there, we stripped naked (no room for bodily qualms in this hammam) and were taken by two naked women into the hottest room of the hammam.  There, they bathed up in hot water and soap.  And then they scrubbed.  And it was pretty painful.  But also amazing.  They scraped all the dead skin off our bodies - it fell off in grey clumps - until we were bright red and literally in new skin.  They washed our hair, massaged our feet, and sent us our way to the cooling chamber where we sat around and giggled about we had just been through.

Thursday:

I went rowing with a girl on the high school national team at her rowing club today!  There was a nice breeze luckily which made rowing is spandex pants more bearable.  It's still hard to see shirtless men in tiny shorts run around while I'm sitting in insulted pants and a thick tshirt.  

I risked death by crocodile as well while rowing.  Apparently a male and a female crocodile climbed into the inlet some years ago and now basically keep to themselves.  Sometimes there are spottings, other times it is just boys who shout "crocodile!" to make the girls scream.  Regardless, when I heard those shouts I went into panic mode and rowed as fast as I ever had away from that area. 

More home stay observations:

•  We have a communal water glass for dinner.  Aka I don't drink anything at dinner and wait until I'm in my room to chug water
• Monday and Thursday dinners are the BEST because my homestay parents fast every week on those days.  My mama spends her whole afternoon in the kitchen cooking a fabulous meal for us.  Unfortunately I do not fast on Mondays and Thursdays so I just end up eating a ton of food those days. 
• The water my mom gives me at night tastes different because she infuses it with Argan oil to help my nail and hair strength.  Thanks Mama Omnia! 

Twice the Usual Suspects

Today I made Moroccan friends!  The first girl, Maha, is on the high school national rowing team.  She talked to her coach today and told me that I'm welcome to come to their boathouse whenever and take out a single!  I'm so excited, she said I can practice with the team too if I want.

My next "friend" was assigned to me by the program, but I'm sure we will become natural friends soon enough.  Diyae is 19, studies international relations and english, and super nice.  Her best friend also rows at the same club as Maha so I'm going to meet even more friends!!

I've had some more quality moments.  Here are this week's....

OBSERVATIONS  

• I've noticed a pattern that every time I see my home stay father in the kitchen, he subsequently lectures at dinner about how a woman's place is in the kitchen and men do not cook at all. 

• Both my home stay parents have decided that the best way for me to learn Arabic (a language of which I do not even know the alphabet) is to randomly change from French to Arabic and hope that I can pick it up from context clues.  So far, not successful. 

• Classical Arabic is never spoken in Morocco except at prayer times.  Everyone speaks Dirya, a french influenced dialect.  The students on the program have been instructed in classical arabic, and some like to think that they are more equipped to communicate with Moroccans than I am with my French.  Today I was with a group of friends and we needed to ask for directions.  I went to ask a shopkeeper in French, but Jeff insisted on asking (in Arabic) instead of me.   The shopkeeper looked at him confused, and responded in French, "I don't speak English, ask me in French or Arabic."  Jeff, highly embarrassed that his classic arabic was mistaken for english, turned to me and said "can you ask him for directions?".  A little smugly, I asked the man in French for directions and talked with him a longer than necessary in order to really make my point. 

Homestay Breakthrough!!

Wow my weekly posts are turning into daily posts - but there are so many new things happening that I want to share with everyone!

I had a huge breakthrough with my home stay today.  My french is now conversational and comfortable (after only 3 days!).  At dinner, we talked about sports, classes, and most of all languages.  I asked if the family would help me with my Arabic and they lit up immediately!!  I brought them my notes and for 40 minutes they went through every single phrase I learned and made sure I pronounced it perfectly.

After that, my (real) family skyped in to say hi because my homestay family wanted to practice their English.   It was a broken conversation, mostly filled with smiles and laughs more than words, but everyone was happy.  My parents brought the cats in to Skype hello, my home stay father started teaching them Arabic, and my mom squeaked out a couple sentences in french to the great delight of the family.

Tomorrow I go to Casablanca for the weekend with some friends!  Abroad is heating up!

A Franc for Your Thoughts Or Maybe A Dirham

Today was the "Rabat Challenge!", a scavenger hunt-esque assignment designed by my program in order to make the students explore the city.  6 hours of walking later, I feel much more comfortable with the city than I did before.

Assignment #1: Visit the home of each student in your group.

I brought my group of three to my house, where my home mom Omnia welcomed us and and showed us around the apartment.  Her husband came out as well and quickly engaged in conversation with a guy in the group about the impressive swords on the wall.  After some obligatory snacks, we left Agdal and took the tram to l'Ocean.  The differences were immediate.  As Agdal is the wealthiest area of Rabat, the streets are lined with commercial clothing stores, sit down restaurants, and banks.  In L'Ocean, a less wealthier area and referred to by some as the "real" Rabat, the town was bustling with street vendors selling fish, carts kicking up dust, and women fully covered head to toe.

We went to Meg's home stay first - her family is more traditional than mine as I soon learned.  They, as most traditional Moroccans do, insist that you wear "clean shoes" around the house.  But, the clean shoes are not clean enough for the carpets.  So you must remove the clean shoes when you approach a carpet, carry the shoes across the carpet and then put them back on when you reach carpet-less floor again.  After some polite conversation and more obligatory snacks, we left her family and went to Logan's house.

Logan's family is very similar to Meg's (they observe the clean shoe thing too).  Both of their apartments burst with vibrant color in the most traditional Moroccan way.  My apartment has the typical Moroccan furniture but had a very bougie, frenchy feel.  The colors are muted with white as the theme.  This, and not having a clean shoe rule, seems to be the norm in Agdal.  Logan's mom, Mama Nezza, welcomed us in eagerly and showed us around the apartment.  She gushed to me in French about how polite and nice her "new sons", Logan and Jeff are (both attend West Point).  I told her I agreed with her and that if I was a home stay mom I would want to house the military boys - you never have to worry about making their beds.

Assignment #2: Explore the Medina

The Medina, the old city, was PACKED with people, vendors, fruits, tents, etc.  We wandered aimlessly and explored the small shops.  We stopped for tagine de viande et legumes - beef and veggies - and I finally got some green beans.  We got harassed by many beggars, but we found that they will immediately go away as soon as you say "Allah Ysehhal", or "If God wills it, you will have it."  In on instance, after Logan responded to a female beggar with that, the women thanked him for his cultural sensitivity and went on her way.  In another instance, a man laughed hysterically in response to that saying - we did not realize he was trying to sell us hasish, an illegal drug, and not begging for money.

Once I got home, I ate an enormous meal with my family who had been fasting all day.  In fact, in addition to Ramadan, they fast every Monday and Thursday to be healthy.  My house mom had prepared a "salad" of figs, dates, bread, olive oil, and cheese.  She also brought out the jam I gave to her (shout out to Brooke's family who made it for me), and her and husband loved it with their delicious homemade bread.  After the salad came soup, then kefta, more bread, and finally cake.  During the dinner, the husband told me (in the nicest way possible) that it is the women's job to cook the food.  In response to which I told him my dad likes to cook with my mom, and I do not cook at all.  He seem perplexed by that, although not as much so as when I told him that I was one of two girls - no boys in the family.

This weekend I travel to Casablanca!  More Adventures to Come!

Round Up the Usual Suspects...

Wow, what a jam packed first week.  After a five day orientation, I have been released to my home stay!  My family lives in the most liberal part of Rabat, near the Amideast campus.  I am living alone with my Moroccan mother and father; their children have all moved out and they are calling me their "new" daughter.  For our first dinner we had brochettes de poulet, mini pizzas, and lentil soup.  To my despair, they informed me that tagines - the classic Moroccan dish I have been eating every day - are greasy and fatty.  They assured me they will make it occasionally for me as a treat.


Week 1 Observations:

•  As Agdal is the most liberal area of the city, I often see women with their arms exposed, smoking cigarettes, and walking without a man (shocking, I know).
• If you have to show skin, show your arms.  NEVER show legs - men are included on this one.
• A/C is not a thing. 
•  Bread is a HUGE part of the diet and many Moroccans regard it as healthy.  Meat is present at lunch, and sometimes at dinner.
•  French fries are "in" right now
•  Spinach does not exist in this country (It's been a week since I last had a real vegetable - I'm sorry mommy)
•  If you clean your plate, Moroccans will just put more food on it.  
•  Everyone is pleasant, friendly, and eagerly engages you in conversation
•  ... Especially the beggars.  Do not make eye contact with the beggars. 

Elle-sa Goes to Rick's

Hello to who ever is reading!

I am safe and sound in Rabat, Morocco - with all my bags!  I will be here for the next four months and will try to keep this blog updated weekly with anecdotes, pictures, and a summary of my time here.  

Feel free to share this link!

Elle

P.S. In case you can't tell yet - my mom is helping me fill this blog with quotes from the movie Casablanca.  Enjoy!