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!