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!
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
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!
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!
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
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!
P.S. In case you can't tell yet - my mom is helping me fill this blog with quotes from the movie Casablanca. Enjoy!
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