Goodbye, Morocco - To Newfound Friends, Family and Home

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. I leave for America in the morning and I could not have more emotions running through me. While I am obviously excited to see my friends and family, I am also unbelievably sad and depressed. I have waited for this semester abroad for as long as I can remember, and I cannot believe it is already over. These past three and half months have been some of the best months of my life. I can honestly say that living in Morocco has done more than just cultured me, it has changed who I am. I am now more confident, laid back, open to change and a thousand other things that probably won't hit me until I am back in America. Everyone always says studying abroad is an unbelievable experience, but you don't REALLY know what that feels like until you have experienced it first hand. I don't even have the words to describe how I am feeling right now and I only imagine it gets worse once I am actually back in America and have something to compare it to. The past few days have been extremely nostalgic, but tonight it really hit me that I am actually leaving, for good.

Saying goodbye tonight was one of the harder things I've had to do here (and I have had to do some challenging things). The 19 of us on IES Rabat became more than just good friends, we became a family. Each person brought something unique to the group and truly made it special. We have been though everything together; we've had our ups and our downs and seen each other at our best and definitely at our worst. We had a goodbye dinner tonight at a fancy restaurant downtown and it was filled with toasts, speeches, tears and laughter. It was amazing to hear about how much we all grew in these past three in a half months and how much we have learned about ourselves and about each other. In the beginning, I was nervous when I saw there were only 19 kids on the program. After facebook stalking the majority of them, I was unsure what I had gotten myself into and doubted I'd make any great friends. I kept telling myself that I needed to go in with an open mind, but I was doing this for the experience and being with friends wasn't a priority. I never thought I'd walk away from this chapter in my life with a whole new group of best friends that I KNOW I will keep in touch with and see again. I have met some of the most amazing people and already can't wait to reunite back in the states. While saying goodbye was difficult, none of us really felt it was goodbye because we knew we'd be seeing each other again soon. Some of my best friends are actually going to come down to NOLA and stay with me for Mardi Gras, so that's only, what? 3 months away?

The next goodbye was with my other Moroccan family, my host family. I came home from dinner and we all took pictures and sat around talking in the kitchen. They helped me stuff my last minute things into my suitcase and hugged and kissed me lots. However, after our 8th "goodbye" they all just decided they are going to come to take me to the airport tomorrow, so we still have one final goodbye in the morning:) My siblings are definitely going to be the hardest to leave behind. My mom and dad were amazing, but my siblings and I have an unbelievable connection. Kawtar and I have been close since day one, but more recently Oussama and I have really bonded. Lately, he has come into my room more and more; he comes in and just sits on my bed and hangs out with me. Today he came in, saw my packed bags, and stormed out. He then came back in a minute later and said "la, la, la... Becca LA tmshee, LA" (no no no, becca you are NOT leaving, NO) and started to UNPACK my suitcase. Kawtar, meanwhile, is convinced she is going to jump into my suitcase at the last minute and come back to America with me. When I told my host mom this tonight she said "good, take her!". She is definitely going to be the hardest one to say goodbye to. We have truly become sisters and I am going to miss her more than anyone. The other night she stayed in my room until almost one a.m. and completely opened up to me. She told me things that she said she has never told anyone before. She even downloaded skype the other day so we could continue our chats face-to-face once I am back home.

 It is after midnight and I have to get up at 5am to begin my 19-hour journey home. I am sure in those 19 hours I will get bored and write another post about how much I already miss Morocco though, so don't worry!

Things I Will Miss about Morocco (or not)

• Cats everywhere
• Trash everywhere
• 3 homecooked meals a day
• Not being able to walk down the street without getting talked "at"
• Berber/yodeling music
• Hearing the call to prayer SIX times a day
• Mint Tea and Chobz
• The hospitality
• The ridiculously crazy driving
• my stomach never FULLY getting used to Morocco
• Everyone assuming I speak French, even when I speak to them in Arabic
• Paying to use the bathroom/for everything
• Squat toilets/no toilet paper
• Medina sandwhiches (chwarma+frites/omelete)
• Watching more T.V. shows than I did in the U.S.
• The T.V. being on constantly
• Music swaps
• Juice
• Our Arabic names
• Jellabas
• Malaui
• Morrocan meals in general (tagine and couscous)
• Eating with my hands/out of a communal dish and cup
• Henna
• Being uncomfortable when I see too much skin
• The hand of Fatima
• Minarets on every corner
• The Moroccan greetings "Salam, Labas? Hamdullah"
• Inshaalah
• "The Jewlery Store"
• Everything being super cheap
• Motor bikes
• Mancafs

Hanukah BASH

lighting the candles

oil menorah

Last night I had a really incredible experience. I celebrated Hanukah with majority of the (very wealthy) Jewish community in Rabat. Jeremy and I were invited to the Toledano's house for a Hanukah party, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into (like most of the experiences I have had here in Morocco). We came over early to make latkes and then 50+ of their closest friends came over to celebrate the holiday. Apparently they have this fancy party every year and this year they were nice enough to invite us to come as well. I felt like I had entered a different world; I did not even know that many Jews existed in Rabat, let alone met more than a handful. There were servants, butlers, fancy "Jewish" Moroccan food, and there was even a bar! Everyone was so nice and friendly and happy that we were there. One thing I found fascinating was that very few of them actually spoke Arabic. Everyone there spoke French (the "elite" language) and some actually spoke English, but very few spoke Arabic. They were all educated either in France or in French schools here in Morocco and in their high class community, they had no use for Arabic in their everyday lives. We got a ride home with a woman and her family and struggled to communicate with our lack of French and her lack of Arabic. After singing Hanukah songs and lighting the candles we shmoozed and met different people, including the U.S. ambassador and his wife - who are both Jewish! The food was beyond delicious and it was a really special night to be part of something like this.

their house

latkes that we made for everyone!

Pictures from last few weeks

Thanksgiving/Fam/Essouria Pics

Essouira

This weekend three of my friends and I traveled to a quaint little beach town called Essouira. It is in southern Morocco and is a hot spot for Moroccan's to vacation. We left after Arabic class on Friday and took a bus to Casablanca and then another bus to Essouira. We didn't get there until 10:30 at night and we walked around aimlessly attempting to find our riad. Eventually, after asking a few police officers and wandering a bit farther, we somehow stumbled upon Riad Dar El Pacha. The riad was adorable and had a room that fir the four of us. Lucy and I slept in a queen bed lofted up a set of stairs, while Caroline and Veronica slept in single beds in the bottom floor of the room. We hadn't eaten dinner, but none of us were particularly hungry so we all cuddled up in the queen bed and watched some episodes of Law and Order SVU.

The next morning we got up and began our long day of shopping. Essouira is an adorable little place with a small medina right on the water. It is not a place with any monumental touristy-sites, but it has a great beach and great shopping. We shopped the morning away and then walked around by the ocean for a while. We got some fried fish (their specialty), got some DELICIOUS gellato (legit best I've had in Morocco) and came back to our riad to hang out and watch a movie. The next morning we got up and took the bus back to Casa and then back to Rabat. Although it was a very long ride there and back, the trip was very worthwhile. Not only did I get to see an adorable little town that I had heard so much about, but I also got to spend one of my last weekends away with some of my best friends. I am starting to get really sad about leaving. I am obviously excited to see my family and friends back home but I love it here and my time here flew by way too fast. It took a little while to really feel at home and comfortable here but now that I feel that way I am not ready to go back to America! When we pulled into Rabat tonight my friends and all breathed a sigh of "thank god, we're home". It's funny how Rabat has actually become home for us. All in all, it was a great last weekend before the cramming for finals week begins.

On a side note - when I got home, the first question my sister asked me was "what about Hanukah?!" I told her that I was away so I didn't light the candles those nights but that I would be lighting tonight if she wanted to join me. She told me that of course she did, she wanted to light every night with me:)

Chanukah at Home

Kawtar's first Chanukah!

I just celebrated the first night of Chanukah with my sister and cousin! I sang them the blessings, told them about the history/meaning behind Chanukah, and then we lit the candles! Katwar told me she was going to celebrate it with me every night!! (disregard how gross I look - I went running and had yet to shower..)

Thanksgiving Weekend/Fam Part 2

Last week went by pretty fast since I really only had three days of school. Wednesday night we had a thanksgiving potluck dinner at our IES center. We were all supposed to make something but since I don’t know how to cook in America, let alone in a foreign country, LUCKILY my aunt just happened to have brought two loaves of pumpkin bread from home that she made for Jeremy and I and she let me bring those to our big dinner. They were a huge hit, seeing as we did not have much that was really “thanksgiving-esc”. We did, however, have a Turkey and mashed potatoes (thank god!). Other people tried to get creative and brought fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries and apricots, chips, guacamole and salsa, cheese and crackers, attempted sweet potatoes and pumpkin cheesecakes (which were really sweetened-potatoes and squash cheesecake) and some wine and champagne. Although we missed out on some stuffing, gravy, etc, it was still a really fun night and some of our teachers and host family members even came to celebrate with us!

The next morning I went in to take my Arabic test and then I took a train to Marrakesh to meet back up with my family! The train ride took most of the day but I had almost the whole first class compartment to myself and I just relaxed, listened to my ipod and read my book. At around 4:30 I arrived in Marrakesh and aunty Beth had asked the bus driver to come get me. As I was walking out of the train station I was attacked by taxi drivers begging me to get into their taxi, one guy made eye contact with me so I thought it was our driver, Alall, but it turns out he was just trying to get me into his cab. I saw the tour bus out of the corner of my eye down the street and briskly walked toward it. I noticed a man was following me so I kept turning around and saying “la shukran” (no thank you), when I reached the bus, the man finally had caught up to me, held out his hand and said “Salam, Alall”. I felt so bad and had to explain to him that I thought he was just another one of the annoying taxi drivers! Once I got in our bus, he took me to the gardens to meet the rest of the family. Vikki and Matt had arrived earlier that morning and it was great to see everyone all together. That night we went to our tour guide Jamal’s house for “thanksgiving dinner”. The night before (while I was having my potluck dinner) the rest of my family decided to take “Eid” to a new level and bought a live turkey…and slaughtered it. Then they cooked it the next day at Jamal’s house, along with stuffing and mashed potatoes. They showed Jamal’s wife how to make American food and she showed them how to make couscous and tagine. That night, for Thanksgiving, we ate the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes as our appetizer, and then had lamb couscous and chicken tagine right afterwards for dinner! Although it wasn’t thanksgiving at home, between the IES potluck with my friends and dinner at Jamal’s with my family, it turned out to be a pretty good thanksgiving after all!

marakesh synagogue

The next day we visited lots of Jewish sights in Marrakesh. We walked around the Mellah (Jewish quarter) and saw a synagogue and cemetery. We also went to the Bahia Palace and then on the way home stopped at this extremely fancy hotel called La Mamounia (which had the pool where Sex and the City II was filmed!) and got lunch. That night we went to a different Jewish synagogue for Friday night services. It was an orthodox temple (there are really only two kinds of Jews in Morocco: Orthodox, or non-practicing) so the women had to set separate. This was my first time experiencing this and it felt a little weird. There was only one other women there, from Paris, and we felt very excluded and could barely see what was going on. After services, we went to a Jewish family’s home for Shabbat dinner. The family was a man, Yitzchak, his wife Gloria and their 6-year-old daughter. They had 5 other kids but they were all grown and married. The man, Yitzchak, was a character. Although he did not speak English, between me and Jeremy’s Arabic and Jeremy and Adam’s Hebrew, we managed to communicate throughout the night. We started and ended the night singing and it was a lot of fun. The one thing that shocked me, however, was his view on Jews and Muslims in Morocco. They do not really feel that Jews are ever safe here and have a place to go in Israel for if/when things get rough. They also do not let Muslims eat in there house and do not let their children eat food cooked by non-Jews. The six year old goes to an Arab school with Muslims but is not allowed to go over to eat at anyone else’s house and therefore she does not leave the house except to go to school. Both Yitzchak and Gloria were shocked to learn that Jeremy and I lived with (and ate at/with) Muslim families, they told us “shame on you”. Other than that, he had some pretty strong views about Jews and Israel and it was very interesting to hear his opinion and about their way of life. The food, during all this, was of course delicious: a Shabbat dinner with a Moroccan-flare, just the way I like it. On the way home, however, right after we were told that the Jews were not particularly well liked in Morocco (by Yitzchak- who had is own opinions about everything) we heard what sounded like gunshots. Marissa freaked out and got on the floor of the bus. It turns out it was just a bunch of punk-kids throwing rocks at the bus but Marissa screamed “it’s cause they know we’re Jewish!” She was just joking and apparently stuff like this happens all the time, but it was kind of funny and kind of not funny at all at the same time. The bus driver got out to assess the damage, which wasn’t too bad, and we called the bus company to make sure our poor bus driver did not get blamed for the incident.

berber home

Saturday morning was raining, which put a damper on things, but we set off to see a Berber village in the mountains. We first went to a Berber house, much like the one I stayed at back in October. There we met the family, and were served tea and bread with homemade butter (from their cows), olive oil and honey. They had a cow, rabbits, chickens and a few other animals around the house and it reminded me (and showed everyone else) how the Berber people live. The house was built of clay and buried deep in the High Atlas Mountains. Then we went into an herbalist corporative and were probably scammed but bought tons of Argan Oil and other “Berber” herbs and oils that are said to cure anything and everything. We did, however, each get a 3-minute massage with argan oil, which was fantastic! Jamal took us to a tomb where a the only Jewish man left in the mountains lives taking care of this tomb where a famous rabbi was buried. We went in and turned on the lights (we forgot that it was Shabbat) and this old 79 year old man came in and started SCREAMING at us in Arabic. After Jamal calmed him down and apologized profusely for us, he insisted on “blessing” Jeremy and then Adam. We felt pretty bad and were about to leave when Jamal put some money in his hand as a donation. The man, again, began to scream at us in Arabic. Aunty Beth immediately assumed that he was upset we were trying to give him money on Shabbat and told Jamal to quickly take it back. Jamal, however, told us that no, this man did not care about money on Shabbat, he did not think we had given him enough and was demanding more! Aunty Beth, along with most of us, were pretty appalled and upset by the situation. If he couldn’t turn on the lights, then he definitely couldn’t take money. In hindsight, however, I realize that that is just the “Moroccan way”. That type of situation has happened to me dozens of times before with Moroccans, and it was only the fact that he was Jewish that gave everyone a bad feeling about it. This is Morocco, not America; things like this happen all the time and its just something you learn to deal with. We then went to see another Berber home and then had lunch in a tourist trap in the mountains. Despite the fact that our tour guide continued to take us to the most expensive restaurants (because that was where he got a cut), in this one the food was pretty decent and at least we got an incredible view out of it!

getting argan oil massages in the mountains!

Later that day we came home and went shopping in the rain. I bought some scarves and a tea set and was satisfied with the day. The haggling was mildly entertaining but got kind of annoying after the millionth time going:

Store Owner: 800 dirham
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): No, no, no that is ridiculous! Very expensive! 100
Store Owner: 100?! That is insulting, what’s your real offer?
Jeremy or Me(in Arabic): 100!
Store Owner: Okay, Okay, 700, final offer.
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): That’s too much, I’m leaving. (start to walk away.. wait 3 seconds…)
Store Owner: (comes running after us) Okay, Okay, 400 final price
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): 120!
Store Owner: okay, okay 200, here (starts packing up the stuff)
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): nope, sorry 120
Store Owner: Give me a little more, come on, I’m a poor store owner, I need some profit..
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): I’m a poor student from Rabat, I need money to take the train home, 120 – final offer
Store Owner: 150, sold
Jeremy or Me (in Arabic): 130
Store Owner: Fine, here! (this is just an example, sometimes it takes much longer)

…and that is how it is done ladies and gentlemen!

On our way home, I was feeling very successful when it was pouring rain and the worst happened: I GOT RUN OVER BY A MOTOR BIKE. There are motorbikes everywhere is Morocco and they speed by you like it is nobody’s business. My friends and I always joke that we don’t know how none of us have ever gotten run over by one, and that was the first thing aunty Beth said when she got to Morocco, but oh, wait, it happened to me. I have a bruise on my leg and my arm but otherwise I’m fine and was really lucky I wasn’t seriously injured. Those things are dangerous!

That night was our last night in Marrakesh and we had a lovely dinner at the hotel. Each night we ended the night on the terrace with some wine (we rented out the whole riad) and played Banana-Grams (my new favorite game). It was a lot of fun to spend time with my cousins and experience Morocco with them.

Casablanca Synagogue - 1 out of 28

Sunday, Marissa, Adam, Vikki and Matt all left early in the morning to go back home. Aunty Beth, Uncle Michael, Jeremy and I went to Casablanca on our way back from Rabat. We got a tour of Jewish Casablanca (there are 28 synagogues and 6 Kosher butcher’s in Casa!) and even ate at Jewish Club (which was essentially like Willowbend in New Seabury). We had a great meal and got a real feel for the Casa Jewish life. It was a great end to the week and I am sad to be back at home working on research papers and studying for Arabic quizzes!!

Family in Morocco - Part 1

Last Thursday at around 2:30 p.m., Jeremy and I waited anxiously at the airport in Rabat for the arrival of his family (Aunty Beth, Uncle Michael, Marissa and Adam). Once they arrived, we had to take two taxis back to the Riad in Rabat because they had so much luggage. We arrived at their Riad, put their bags down and went to say a quick hello to Jeremy’s family. They were so warm and welcoming. Then we walked around for a little while. We then went to the Toledano’s (big Jewish family in Rabat) for a drink and then out to dinner.

The next day Jeremy and I took everyone around Rabat. We tried to shop in the medina but everything was closed because of the Eid. We stopped over at my house for a little while so they could meet my family, then we toured Oudaya and then made our way to Jeremy’s for lunch. We had delicious couscous with Jeremy’s family and then came back to the Riad to rest before we were picked up by Brahim’s brothers (Sylvia - our cleaning women’s- husband’s family… long story). Since there were so many of us they picked us up in two cars. They decided to split up Jeremy and I since we were the ones who spoke Arabic. I actually surprised myself by the amount of Arabic I could communicate with. We got to their house and were immediately greeted with a warm welcome. There were probably 12-15 members of his family their in total and each one smiled at us and treated us like royalty. A few of them spoke English but again, I mostly had to communicate in Arabic. One of the women (I still cannot figure out how she is related) loved me and kept holding my hand and telling me that I needed to come back and see them. Because of the language barrier, we were not quite sure if we were just having tea there or if we were staying for dinner. We decided to play it by ear. They first served us tea with an incredible assortment of cookies. They made us each take 3 or 4 cookies so we were sure that tea was the only course they were serving us. However, after they cleared the table, the began to put down napkins and informed us that dinner was on its way down. From upstairs, the women brought down two plates, each with three WHOLE chickens on them. It was our family’s first “Moroccan-Eat-With-Your-Hands” experience and they thoroughly enjoyed it. After we ate up, they took away the chicken and before we could even say that we were stuffed they brought out a large lamb tagine. Everything was delicious but one meal was already enough and the thought of eating another whole dinner just seemed daunting. Somehow, though, we made it through. After the tagine they brought out lots of fruit (they seem to switch appetizers and dessert here). Aunty Beth had made her famous chocolate that she calls “trash” as well, so we were all bursting at the seems by the time the night was over.

 

The next day we went to Fes and stayed in a PALACE. It was a beautiful riad-hotel with huge rooms, great food, VERY comfy pillows, and great service. It was amazing. The first night we celebrated Marissa’s birthday by going out to a fun belly-dancing restaurant. It was lots of fun and we all got some time up on stage with the belly dancers. Aunty Beth arranged for a cake for Marissa and brought party hats, plates and noisemakers for the occasion. The next day we walked around a lot, saw the Mellah (Jewish quarter), a synagogue, an old Koranic school and the same ceramic factory I saw last time I was in Fes. All along the way we shopped and bargained in the Souks. The entire time Marissa kept asking “It’s my Birthday.. Can I have a discount?!” The highlight of my day was going back to “Café Clock” (My favorite wifi café in Fes) for a camel burger and some iced mint tea! That night we had a lovely dinner in our hotel. We ordered tons on appetizers for the table, including pigeon pastilla (which was delicious). I was supposed to go home Sunday night but the pillows in the hotel were just too comfy to waste on ONE night only, so I decided to stay, sleep in, and head back to Rabat Monday morning! All in all, it was a great weekend; it so nice to be around family, especially right around Thanksgiving time. I am back at home now, but will be meeting up with them again on Thursday in Marrakesh – I can’t wait!

iced mint tea!

the boys belly dancing!

True Life: I just witnessed 2 sheep and a goat getting slaughtered… in my house.

goat goin down

mmm..delishhh

EID MUBARAK SAID! Happy Eid! I just witnessed one of the most brutal, horrifying things…ever. I woke up early this morning to lots of music and my family running around getting ready for the Eid (holiday). I went upstairs only to find two sheep and a goat tied up on our deck. They, just like me, had no idea what we were in for. Then some cousins came over, we all ate a delicious breakfast filled with cookies and cakes and pasteries..and then the slaughtering began. My host dad went first. He took his sheep, and slowly took his knife and cut deep into the sheep’s throat. We watched the sheep seize as blood spurted out every which way across the porch. It took about 10 minutes for the sheep to actually die, aided with some deeper cutting and twisting of the head. Then once he had the head off and it was officially dead, my host uncle helped my host dad hang the sheep. They then began to cut off the limbs, one by one. After all of the limbs were off they begun to cut off the skin, which took the longest amount of time. Oussama, my host brother helped my dad while my uncle began to slaughter the second sheep. Same deal, I have never seen so much blood in my life (except maybe on Grey’s Anatomy)! Meanwhile, a bunch of the little boys and I “played” with the goat on the next deck; although in reality, they were torturing this goat so much I wondered if we killed it before the slaughtering even began! We had the goat on a leash and they were pulling it around and picking it up and throwing it to each other! In the meantime, downstairs the men were still hard at work. Once all of the skin was off, the men began to cut into the insides. I saw more organs … it was disgusting. At this point I was beginning to get a little nauseous. My host uncle thought the whole thing was hilarious and even took out a little brown ball from the inside of his sheep and said “Look, chocolate!” The two sheep’s took at least two hours to fully slaughter. Afterwards, the two men moved on to the goat, which by this point we had named “Atrus” (we spent the majority of the time playing with it all morning, so we thought it deserved a name). The goat, which was much smaller, did not take as long to kill; but the process was just as brutal. Usually we just have sheep but their grandmother has cholesterol issues and the sheep is too fattening for her… thus the goat. I now have three animal heads staring at me, along with all of their limbs hanging up on our deck. Next to the limbs is a bucket of guts. It is quite the sight. The women on the other hand spent the majority of the morning cleaning up the blood on the floor. They mopped and scrubbed until the floor was as good as new. Later, my uncle began to barbeque the heads. I was informed that we had the stomach today, we eat head couscous tomorrow, shoulders Friday, and slowly but surely we will finish off these animals. Today’s lunch consisted of Brochettes (lamb skewers) with the fat wrapped around them for extra good flavoring (they told me not to eat the fat..thank god). To go along with our brochettes we had an assortment of other dishes such as rice and corn, eggplant, green pepper dip, etc. Lunch was delicious, so I just tried to ignore the fact that only and hour or two earlier I had been watching this sheep get slaughtered!

Finished Product!

just some limbs hangin out..

Uncle Said BBQing a sheep's head!

ALL the pictures

ESPAÑA

This weekend I went to Cordoba and Granada SPAIN! It was the trip of a lifetime. We left early Friday morning at 7 a.m. When the bus picked us up, however, Mohammed (our director) informed us that late Thursday night he found out that his visa had expired..and that he couldn’t come with us. Fouad, our other semi-director, also did not have a visa (and was never planning on coming), so we were on our own. It ended up working out for the best, however, because we met the IES Granda director when we arrived from the Ferry in Tarifa. His name was Javier, and he was amazing. It was a 4 hour bus ride from Rabat to Tangier, then a 45 minute ferry to Tarifa, Spain, and then another 4 hours or so to Cordoba. We arrived in Cordoba around 7 p.m. and relaxed before a large Spanish dinner at the hotel. The first thing we noticed when we got off the boat was how drastically different Spain was from Morocco. Everything was clean, modern, SPANISH; it had a completely different feel. We kept joking that it was weird not seeing trash all over the streets, not having men cat-call us every time we walk ANYWHERE, not having random stray cats on the streets, etc. It was also very difficult to switch over from Arabic to Spanish. I have taken Spanish for many years, but I constantly found myself saying “shukran” instead of “gracias” and “Salamu Alaykum” instead of a simple “Hola”. Arabic just seemed to come right out, and it was a true example of how much we have learned.

That night we went out for tapas and some drinks with Javier, but we were all pretty tired so went home at a reasonable hour. The next day we met up with a tour guide (even from across the Straight of Gibraltar Mohammed took excellent care of us) who took us around Cordoba. We went to Alcazar (the castle for Christian monarchs), an old synagogue (which has now been turned into a church) and the Mezquita (a mosque that has been turned into a church). Everything we saw was unbelievably beautiful. Each stop was more beautiful than the next. The architecture in some of these places was truly incredible. A lot of what we saw actually had a very Moroccan feel, which I was not expecting. Because it is so close to Morocco, many arabs used to occupy areas of Cordoba. We also took a tour through the old Jewish quarter and learned all about the Sfardic Jewish population that no longer exists in Cordoba. That afternoon we went to a Tapas place for lunch, got some delicious sangria, and headed off to Granada.

That night we met up with some IES Granada kids who took us out and gave us a real taste of Spanish nightlife. Needless to say, it was a blast. The next morning, bright and early at 8 a.m. we met up with an IES Granada professor who took us to the Alhambra. The Alhambra was quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We saw everything from the fortress that overlooks the city to the beautiful gardens. We were often blown away by the amount of tourists and their extremely modern clothes, forgetting that we were no longer in Morocco. After spending a good 4 hours in the Alhambra, it was time for a siesta (Spanish nap). My friends and I grabbed a quick bite to eat (a real DELI sandwich, very exciting!) and went back for a nice, long nap. At 4:30 we met another tour guide who took us on a walking tour of Granada. We went to a cathedral where Isabella and Ferdinand were buried, along with other Spanish kings. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures in there, but everything was lavishly decorated. We saw their large, carved and detailed tombs, and an art museum inside, as well. There were paintings on the walls of Jesus, John the Baptist and other important Christian figures and everything was in real gold and so intricate and detailed. Words cannot describe how beautiful it all was. Then we walked all around Granada and ended up at this place with an incredible view overlooking the Alhambra. By this time it 3 or 4 hours later and it was freezing (us Moroccans are not used to the cold weather). We were all ready to get back to our nice warm hotel. That night some people went out a tetaria, while others (like my friends and I) got into our warm beds and had pillow talk (girl gossip session).

View of the Alhambra

I feel like this trip was so amazing for multiple reasons. First of all, it was our first time out of Morocco and it really gave us a chance to appreciate where we are and what we have. On our walk home from the Alhambra, a bunch of us were talking about how incredible of a semester it has been so far and how lucky we are to be able to experience everything that we have experienced. We were all saying how happy we were that we chose Morocco and what an incredible and unique cultural experience we were having. Spain was beautiful and a lot of fun, but it was no Morocco. Being there allowed us to take a step back just reflect on what we have been through thus far on our journey. As soon as the boat landed in Morocco, the air just had a different feel about it. However, it wasn’t until I went to the bathroom in the ferry station where there was no toilet paper and the door didn’t lock that it truly felt like home.

Furthermore, the trip was a really incredible bonding experience. I feel like I got 10 times closer with my friends over the course of these four days. I don’t know if it was the trip itself or just the amount of time we spent together, but I now know I have made friends that will last a lifetime. I cannot believe I only have a little over a month left; it feels like yesterday I was living with my host family in Fes and just getting the feel of Morocco. When I walked into my house tonight my sister came up and kissed me three times of the cheek (Moroccan hospitality); they made me drink some tea and tell them about my travels. She couldn’t stop telling me how much she missed me and I was happy to be home.
Spain Pics - part 1
Spain Pics - part 2

Moroccan AAERS (engagement party): luxury edition

So this weekend I decided to stay home and relax, assuming I wouldn’t have much to blog about but the everyday-life of my family. Boy, was a wrong. Today when I woke up, I got a text from my friend Lucy asking if I wanted to go to an engagement party with her at 2. I figured it might be fun and I should really get out of my house more, so I said sure. My family was eating lunch at 2, but I assumed that there would be lots of food at this party so I did not eat with them. Lucy told me to wear my jellaba and meet her at her house at 2; we both assumed that we’d be home within a couple hours.

PSYCH.

2:30 – we get picked up by her friend (Moroccan, but speaks English) and her mother in a VERY nice car.

3:00 – we pick up the girl’s sister from the salon, who happens to be the bride. Her hair is in a gorgeous up-do with tons of curls and some pearl clips embedded into it. She looks amazing.

3:30 we get dropped off in Sale (outskirts of Rabat) at a huge house and are told, “not to be shameful” (whatever that means?) and make ourselves at home. We walk in and a plethora of Moroccan women dressed in their fanciest jellaba attire greet us and welcome us graciously. They take us up several flights of stairs and we finally are told to sit in this large, beautiful room they call “the third salon”. We are introduced to a few girls around our age and then sit and wait another hour or two while more and more people come into the room. Many of the women are from Casablanca and after spending only a half an hour or so with them they invite us to their homes in Casa “whenever we wish”. They tell us we must come and “not stay in a hotel”. Everyone is super nice and Lucy and I are having a great time. By this time, however, we are absolutely starving. I woke up and had some Malawi for breakfast, and then went for a run…and did not eat afterwards. Lucy did not eat lunch either. It is now 5:30 and the party has not even begun. We are enjoying the company of all of the Moroccan women but are also tired and anxious to get the party started! At around 6:00 we are told to “yala!!” (get going) and we all go outside to greet the bride. We could tell the family was very well-off by the insanely decorative and luxurious house, but they also had hired camera men, two “singing” groups (which means a very different thing in Morocco than in America) and lots of help.

6:00-10:00 The first group was all male; they dressed in yellow robes with white hats and played different tambourines and drums. While yelling (chanting?) and singing in Arabic. After a couple of minutes a black car drove up and the bride-to-be got out dressed in a sparkly white and gold robe with a crown on her head and a veil behind it. Lucy and I looked at each other and simultaneously thought, “did we miss something? Is this the wedding?!” Indeed, we were not mistaken; we were later told that this was “part one” and the wedding was “part two” – I think they put equal weight on the two parts. After lots of singing and chanting and dancing and yelling at the bride and groom, we all went upstairs back to the parlor and sat around the couple. The second group (all female) began to perform – this time more yodeling than tambourine-ing – and everyone got up to dance. The night continued in this fashion: switching off between the two groups of performers and lots and lots and LOTS of dancing. By 8:00 we were wiped, and extremely hungry. When we thought we couldn’t go on any longer, servants brought up tea and every type of sugary delicious cookie you can imagine. Man after man came up to each person with a new tray of cookies and eventually we had to refuse (not only was I completely sugar-ed out but I also wanted to save room for dinner – the tagine smelled amazing all the way from the 5th floor!) After a few more rounds of dancing we decided to head home. Although we felt bad we didn’t stay for dinner, it was already almost 10:00 and we had told our families we would not be gone for more than a few hours. We exchanged information with a few of the girls and were told multiple times that we had to come to visit them in Casablanca. As we were walking out, in true Moroccan fashion, a woman came running out with a plate with A WHOLE CHICKEN ON IT and told us to take it for the road. We also got two whole platefuls of cookies. Although we tried to tell them we were full and going home for another dinner, they refused to take back the food. As we sat on our way home, chicken in hand, we just laughed at the day we had just had. Who knew a “little engagement party” would turn into a 8-hour luxurious affair. At least we were dressed appropriately!

Marrakesh

First of all I would like to preface this by saying that I spent the weekend lost in the souks where Sex and the City II was filmed. It was filmed in Marrakesh NOT Abu Dhabi. Marrakesh is like the Disney world of Morocco. Although it is extremely touristy, it is a lot of fun. The souks of the medina are incredible. There is some of the best shopping I have seen in Morocco thus far. That being said, prices are a little more expensive, storeowners are very pushy and grab you off the streets into their stores and women are constantly grabbing your hands, attempting to paint some henna on you. The food section smells incredible but everyone is yelling every which way at you to

 come to their food stand and eat with them “for the best price!” We shopped as soon as we got there on Friday night and pretty much all day on Saturday. Although many of the shops are repetitive, it is so much fun just to wander around and discover the magic of Marrakesh. There are street performers, horse rides around the city, snake charmers, and stands beyond stands of fresh fruit, dried fruit and nuts, fruit juices, etc. One thing that really struck me as I walked around was the amount of white people in sight. Almost everyone spoke at least some English and people were wearing some very culturally insensitive outfits. I understand it is not Fes or even Rabat, but I saw women in short shorts and tank tops and it was so shocking to be around that after living in djellaba nation over in Rabat. There were also just SO MANY people, it was crazy. Between the music, people and atmosphere it definitely did not feel like the same Morocco I had just come from.

courtyard at the school

me popping my head out a window on the second floor of the school

Our hotel was right outside of the main square so it was very easy to get to and from. On Saturday after hours of wandering through the souks and buying way too many things, we saw an old Quranic school, which was one of the most beautiful sights I have yet to see in Morocco. Every detail of this place was so intricate and beautiful. We spent a while in the school taking pictures and just soaking it all in while we lied in the courtyard and looked at what was around us. We then went into the art museum next door and were even more blown away. There we found not only some incredible exhibits but also, again, every detail of every windowsill, door crevice and corner were some of the most beautifully hand crafted work we had ever seen. The museum was huge and open and truly an incredible sight.

art exhibit main room

After hours of being on our feet, we got a big, late lunch (chicken shwarma and frites with my favorite “ju de peche” - which is basically a delicious peach smoothie). Then we went back to the hotel to rest up before a night out on the town. That night we went to “Pasha” which is the biggest nightclub in Africa. We went fairly early so there was no cover charge but it was a n extremely nice, legitimate, nightclub. Although we were by far the youngest people there (definitely a 21+ crowd), we had a blast. The next morning we woke up just in time to grab some fresh Malaui bread from outside our hotel and caught an 11:00 a.m. train back to Rabat. It was such a fun weekend and definitely a place I cannot wait to return to in November.

Life in the Maghrib - Culture 101

It is hard to believe that I have already been here for six weeks. It seems like just yesterday I was in the Paris airport - nervous, excited and jet-lagged - not knowing what to expect for the 4 months ahead of me. Now, as I sit here in my room (which I now truly feel is home), I cannot believe all of the amazing things I have done. I have written about my travels, classes and friends, but I have yet to talk about many of the cultural activities that go on during the weekdays. We have had a number of formal "cultural activities" as well as a number of informal cultural experiences. I will start off with a few activities that IES has planned and set up for us.
First of all, we have had 2 or 3 "meetings" with university students here in Rabat. Once we actually went to Mohammed V University and met with a professor, the dean and some students. We got a quick tour and were told we were welcome to come use their library whenever we wanted to. We then sat down (around tea of course) and chatted with 3 male university students about their/our studies and what we would do with our degrees in the future. They were very nice and open to talking with us about anything. A few weeks later a [different] group of university students came to the IES center and talked with us as well. This was a more informal discussion and we learned a lot about Moroccan teens and what their lives are really like. The conversation turned from "what's your major?" to "where do you go out at night, what do you do for fun?" We learned a lot from them and are planning on hanging out with them again.

Last night, we had a cooking lesson. We learned to make my FAVORITE Moroccan food: Malaui Bread. We all went to one of the host home's to learn how to make this delicious bread. Before the lesson, however, we were each given our own gigantic piece of malaui with kon fitur (jam), asl (honey), and zebbda (butter). Needless to say, it was delicious. After tea and malaui, we all stood around a table and made our own. The ingredients did not seem too difficult, but the "needing" process definitely takes a pro. Luckily, the woman teaching us was definitely a malaui expert. We all took turns attempting to need the dough, and eventually made our very own malaui!!


Today, for my "Gender and Society in North Africa and Beyond" class, we took a field trip to a woman's organization here in Rabat. The organization was formed as a union in 1983 and legally approved in 1987. The organization promotes women's human rights, literacy among women, works for gender equality and serves as a battered women's shelter. We were able to hear from the head of the organization and have a discussion about women's rights in Morocco with her afterward.  Women's NGO website


In terms of other cultural experiences I have had..

I have been hanging out a lot with my family and am definitely getting better at communicating with them. My brother called me down last night to watch a scary movie with him because no one else was home and he wanted company. We then had an arm wresting match/tournament (which I won by the way). Our house is also undergoing construction right now so tonight my sister, brother, mother and I went up to hang out on the terrace and just sat up there talking/horsing around overlooking their amazing view of the city. My sister and I are also getting really close which is really nice. On Sunday she took me to the Hamam in Rabat. It was definitely a sisterly bonding experience; although we stayed there for almost TWO HOURS. It takes me 10 minutes MAX to shower at home, I honestly cannot even tell you what we did in there for so long. I was so bored that I started zoning out (which obviously did not go over well with all of the naked women in there who thought I was staring at them). The Hamam was fine, but I think I prefer to take my short showers at home, thank you.

FOOD. For those of you that know me well, you know how much I enjoy my food. That being said, la mekla maghribia (moroccan food) is one of the best parts about my living with a Moroccan family. Breakfast, the smallest meal, consists of tea or coffee with some bread (often malaui) with jam, butter, cheese or nutella. As much as I enjoy malaui, however, I have actually started eating my own cereal (special K I bought at the supermarket) for breakfast once I get to school because bread really doesn't fill me for breakfast (not to mention it is going to make me gain 500 pounds before I leave here..). If I am done with classes for the day, I like to come home for lunch with my family. Both my sister and brother (like everyone else that goes to school here) have two hours off in the middle of the day for lunch. Lunch here in Morocco is the biggest and most important meal of the day. If I make it home, I share a large tagine or couscous out of a communal dish with the rest of my family. We often have other family members or friends stop by for lunch as well (The doorbell here is ALWAYS ringing!) On most days, however, since I have class until 6:30 p.m. my mother packs me lunch. She usually makes me a sandwich, often accompanied by fruit and/or yogurt. My favorite sandwich to get is a chicken and veggie stir-fry sandwich. Every morning I wake up to the delicious smell of my mother cooking my lunch (no offense mom, but that's more than you ever did for me.. just saying). When I come home at 6:30, we have tea. "Tea" looks a lot like breakfast, we have bread, tea, coffee and then sometimes croissants, cake or cookies as well. When I say tea, I am referring to the delicious Moroccan mint tea. I was never a big tea drinker at home, but here I feel like that is all I drink. (Although my mother taught me how to make it the other day when I saw how much sugar she put into the tea pot I almost had a heart attack...although it's no wonder it's so delicious!) After tea I usually go up to my room to do some homework/relax because it is not until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. that dinner is served. Because we often eat a lot at "tea" dinner is often smaller and less substantial. It usually consists of a rice or pasta dish, a soup, or egg, cheese and spam sandwiches. Regardless of the meal, it is always delicious.

One of the not-so-great aspects about Morocco is the hassling from the men. Although it is definitely not as bad here as it was in Fes, the other day I had an experience I will not forget. Now, I go running a lot here but it is often right after arabic class, in the mornings when their are not a lot of people out. I usually get a few catcalls but I have my ipod in and I usually just stare at the ground and ignore everyone around me. Last Friday, however, I went running at 4:30 p.m. I do not know if it was just because it was Friday afternoon or what, but I almost had to stop running from all the distractions/hassling. Almost every male I ran by made some obnoxious comment to me. I got everything from "Ohhh, spicey giiiirl" to a group of boys who legitimately ran (mockingly) next to me for a good 30 seconds. I almost had to stop and turn around because it was so distracting.

Another thing I find annoying is the public restrooms here. First of all, most are squat toilets. Second of all, you are lucky if there is toilet paper. Third of all, there is usually a "bathroom attendant" a.k.a a woman standing at the door waiting for you to pay her a dirham or two before you leave. This is especially annoying on our long bus rides where we all get off at a gas station or rest stop to use the bathroom and have to remember to bring our wallets in every time. While it is quite annoying, I guess i understand having to pay at a rest stop. On the other hand, when I am out to dinner at a restaurant and see a bathroom attendant in the bathrooms, I get quite aggravated. I am already paying for the food, the least you can do is let me use the damn bathroom for free! So if anyone is planning on traveling to Morocco: always bring toilet paper AND money with you into the bathroom, wherever you are!

Oujda Pictures!

36-Hour Excursion to Oujda!

This weekend I joined my cousin Jeremy on his trip to Oujda. He is doing an independent study research project on Jewish migration from Morocco, and Oujda used to have a huge Jewish population so we went their to do some research. We left Rabat on Friday night at 10:25 p.m. and took an overnight train to Oujda (the eastern most city in Morocco, on the Algerian border). The cabins were really cool, they were small but somehow managed to have a little bench, sink, trash, mirror and on either side there was lofted beds. The bed’s were pretty comfy and had sheets, blankets and pillows already on them. They even gave us a little kit of toiletries. There was a personal attendant that woke us up in the morning when we arrived in Oujda (all of 7:00 a.m.) and brought us coffee and croissants. It was a really interesting experience, but smooth, and easy nonetheless! We arrived in Oujda early in the morning and walked around for a while exploring the city while we attempted to find out hotel without a cab. We ended up walking way too far since our hotel turned out to be practically next to the train station, but we got a nice tour of the city in the meantime. We were allowed to check in right when we got there which was nice so we were able to put our bags down and relax for a while before some more exploring. An hour or so later we were out exploring the medina. I have noticed that the medina’s in all of the cities I have been to so far have all had similarities and differences about them. This medina was pretty and reminded me more of a flea market than the others. It was not too big but it was lively and exciting nonetheless.

Jeremy had gotten the name of a Jewish woman named Sara in the city who he was told we should
contact with questions. As we were walking, he realized he forgot her phone number back at the hotel; we only had her address. After much debate, we finally decided to just knock on her door. Two women (who we later found out were not even Sara) let us in after Jeremy explained how we got Sara’s name. They spoke not a word of English, so luckily Jeremy is pretty great at Arabic and got us by. We sat and talked to these two women for over an hour before they brought out tea (accompanied with cookies, crackers and bread) and invited us to stay for lunch. We were stuffed from our huge breakfast, but we kindly accepted the invitation. Jeremy asked them a number of questions about the Jews in Oujda and we learned some amazing things. First of all, there used to be thousands of Jews in Oujda and today there are eight. We met four of them during our visit to this house. After a little while a boy came home with a woman, whom we later found out was actually Sara; and she brought along some friends. One thing that I found amazing was that Sara came home with a women and her son (both Muslims) and they joined us for Shabbat lunch and participated in the conversation about Oujda/Moroccan Jews.

Everyone was SO nice and welcoming and even though I spoke barely any Arabic (and Jeremy spoke a good amount) we some how managed to get by and have some amazing conversations. Afterwards Sara showed us a Muslim school that is currently under renovation but used to be a Jewish school (where they studied Torah, Tanach, Hebrew, etc). She then took us into the Synagogue (which has not been used in years). Jeremy and I were amazed by what we saw. In the midst of this very Muslim-dominated town, was this enormous synagogue.  It was obviously a bit decrepit and run-down but it was beautiful on the inside. There were gorgeous stain-glass windows, beautiful tiled
floors, a beautiful bimma, and tons of different rooms used for different ceremonies (marriage, circumcision, etc.). The chapel itself was huge and there were multiple floors. Since it was one of the largest synagogues in the area, people would travel from all over for services and there were chambers upstairs for guests to stay overnight! We also got to see three torah’s that had not been touched in years but were still there in the arks. Overall, it was an amazing experience. Although there are only eight Jews left in Oujda, they still have their roots. Sara’s family even keeps kosher and gets their meat delivered from Fez every week! Sara, her sister, her mother and her son were all so welcoming and gracious that we came over. They asked for our phone numbers and emails and want us to send them the pictures we took/keep in touch. It was such a lovely day and we felt right at home!


We decided that we had seen enough of Oujda (it was not a very touristy place so there was not much to do besides walk around the medina) and took the train home that night. We arrived back in Rabat this morning (Sunday 10/10/10) by 9:00 a.m. and went home to our families to spend a nice relaxing Sunday.