Becca in'a Jellaba! ..and new glasses!

My host mom came in last night and told me to put on a jellaba to show my family at home... so here's me in my jellaba!

Kawtar and I (host sister)

Kawtar and I in the Salon

Me in my NEW glasses!

Weekend in Tangier!

amazing view from our hotel

 I spent this past weekend in Tangier, Morocco (pronounced "Tanjah" by the locals). Tangier is the northernmost city in Africa that lies on the Straight of Gibraltar and is the main port for Spanish cruise ships in Africa. It is about a 4 hour train ride from Rabat. 16 of us on my program went to Tangier for the weekend. We took the train from Rabat right after our Arabic class ended on Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. The train ride was a breeze. First of all, it was extremely nice (for Morocco) and I was shocked at how easy the whole ordeal was (speaking the little Arabic as I do). We bought first class tickets because we were told that you are not guaranteed a seat in second class and with all our luggage we did not want to be stuck standing for 4 hours. The seats were large and comfortable and the service was fantastic- I was very impressed. Once we arrived we dropped our stuff off at our hotel. The hotel was not the nicest place, but it was cheap and got the job done. We had a working/flushing toilet AND hot water in the shower! We also had an INCREDIBLE view from out window which overlooked the entire city. We could even see Spain in the distance. After we had dropped our stuff at the hotel we went to the Tangier American Legation Museum. The museum is where the American Embassy used to be before Rabat was the capital of Morocco. Morocco was the first country to recognize America as an independent country and this museum was dedicated to that. We saw pictures of famous American's who have been to Morocco, letters from George Washington and the Paul Boles room (an American writer who lived in Morocco). The people who worked at the museum actually spoke English and enjoyed talking to my friends and I. One thing I noticed about Tangier was that it is a lot more modern (I gather because it is so close to Europe). We found multiple people who spoke Spanish (due to its proximity to Spain) and even some who spoke pretty good English! The dress code is also a lot more liberal there. Many Europeans take the ferry over to Tangier for the day so there were a ton of European tourists. We walked by the port where the ships dock and got to walk along the beach and see the beautiful Straight of Gibraltar. After we went to a restaurant called "Restaurant Africa" where our waiter spoke a mixture of English and Spanish. I got a delicious beef and prune tagine. At night we walked around for a while and hung out at the hotel bar.

Gran Socco

The next morning we got up fairly early and headed to Cafe Paris (which apparently is some famous cafe because it is where a car got blown up in the movie Borne Ultimatum? I'm not a move buff - but other people thought it was cool). We got a typical French breakfast (pan au chocolat and cafe aulay). Across the street was the French Embassy, which we walked by on our way out. We then headed over to the Gran Socco which is a beautiful circle in town at the entrance to the Medina. It had a large fountain in the middle and tons of cafes around it. It was a beautiful day and there were people flooding the streets. We sat on some benches while we waited for some others in our group to meet us and I could have sat there forever. It was so beautiful. We spend the remainder of our morning shopping and sightseeing the Medina. I was able to communicate a little bit in Spanish too! Walking around Tangier felt very European. The Medina was a mix between the Medina's in Fez and Rabat. It was crowded like Fez but modern like Rabat. The streets were also much wider and spacious than any Moroccan city I have yet to visit. It felt very open and much cleaner too! We had pizza for lunch (not surprising, since we could only find pizza places!!! Everywhere we looked there was a sign that said "Pizza"... it was crazy). After our large, delicious pizza's we went back to take a nap; we were all exhausted from all that walking around. That night we saw TANJAZZ which is an annual jazz festival hosted in Tangier. After seeing some great music, we went to a not-so-great restaurant with horrible service - but I was still full from lunch so I didn't really care. After we went to some clubs in the city but I went home early with my friend because she has a cast on her ankle and was in pain.

Some friends and I - Tangier in the background

 We woke up fairly early this morning and took the train home. This train was a little different because we were assigned boxes. I felt like I was on a train to Hogwarts. There were compartments of 6 chairs and men would come by with carts of food to serve us. I was with one of my friends in compartment "four" and we happened to be sitting next to a couple from Australia who had been trekking through Europe and were fresh off the boat from Spain. We talked to them for almost the entire 4 hours about our experiences thus far in Morocco. Although is was a short weekend I feel that we definitely got the taste of Tangier. It was our first time traveling alone (without the program) and it was a lot of fun. I can't wait for our next adventure!
Tangier Pictures

Class, Class and More Class!

Map of Northern Africa

I just finished (almost) my first full week of classes. My first class is my arabic class, which I have every day. I am really enjoying learning arabic but right now we are learning the script and I feel that the class is moving very slowly. I am picking up rather fast and the more time we spend on the alphabet, the less time we spend learning how to speak (which is what I need right now to communicate with my family!!) But we had our first quiz yesterday and I got a 100% so at least I am doing well! I really like learning arabic and am hoping to like it enough by the end to maybe take it back at Tulane in the spring. My second class is called "North African Politics". In this class we are studying the political regimes and history of the "Maghrib" (northern africa) which consists of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. So far we have looked at Morocco and Algeria and it is interesting to learn about how different their political systems are and the differences in their political histories due to their differences in colonization. Algeria was colonized in 1830 by the French and did not gain independence until 1962, whereas Morocco resisted and was only colonized from 1912-1956 (therefore they are much less influenced by the French). I find it really interesting to study this area because it is so relevant to me right now. While I am spending my semester solely in Morocco, I was able to see Algeria from one spot in the Sahara and knowing how close we are makes it all the more relevant to me. My professor seems like an amazing guy who has worked everywhere (so it seems) including D.C. He seems to know very author that wrote articles in our "textbook". I have already learned so much from this class and am excited about taking it. My next class is called "Contemporary History of North Africa" which so far, has been very similar to my politics class (since so far we have just covered basic history in politics). I have only had one history class so I cannot make any real comments yet but I will keep you posted! My last class is called "Gender and Society in North Africa and Beyond". Today was my first class and it was great. My professor is a Moroccan native who earned her Ph.D from Surrey University in the UK. She is involved in many women and gender organizations nationally and internationally. Today we talked about the differences between tradition and religion when it comes to Women here in Morocco as well as abroad. We discussed the differences between gender roles in America versus in Morocco as well as how globalization and modernity affects gender. This class also seems like it is going to be extremely fascinating. As with all of my classes, we have a 10-15 page research paper to do throughout the semester. For this class we get to choose our own topic and I am thinking I will write about the differences in the way women dress and the religious reasoning behind Muslim women dressing the way they do with their headscarves and jellabas. All of my classes seem great but they all required a lot of work. I have a ton of reading, a 10-15 page research paper, a midterm and a final exam for each class. We also each are assigned a week in which we present on the assigned readings. Every class seems to follow this same format. Some classes (such as my gender class) also have field trips planned.

Tomorrow I am heading to Tangier (which is about 4.5 hours away from Rabat) for the weekend with some people on my program. We are leaving right after Arabic tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday. I will update then!

Trip to the Sahara!

So this weekend I spent in the Sahara region of Morocco. On Thursday morning we left Rabat at 8:00 a.m. The ride there was very interesting (despite it’s length – 11 hours total). We stopped on the way many times for bathroom breaks but one of the times we stopped to see some monkeys! We got to feed and play with them, which was a cool experience. Watching the terrain change as we drove was fascinating. I saw men herding hundreds of sheep (which I thought only happened it the movies)! We also saw more cows and donkeys grazing in the grass than I have ever seen in my life. We had to go through the mountains to reach the desert so we drove along these extremely windy roads that were legitimately on the edge of cliffs. I had to stop looking out the window because I was so nervous we were going to drive off the edge. We stopped half way for lunch at a hotel in Midelt. We got a huge 4 course meal their which was delicious (it only took about THREE hours in total for them to bring everything out). Then we got on the road again for another 5 or 6 hours to Xaluca. We stayed at this hotel called Hotel Xaluca which was amazing. It had a beautiful outdoor pool with lights and live music, an indoor pool, a hot tub, a spa, a mini golf course, basketball court, a disco, a bar and beautiful rooms and dining facilities. We were in heaven. As soon as we got there we changed into our bathing suits and went night swimming (by this time it was about 7:30 pm). Afterwards we had dinner and went to the “disco” because it was a girl on my trip’s 21st birthday. We had a blast singing and dancing to the Moroccan music.
The next morning we got up bright and early to start our day. We first went to a museum called the Center of the Alawites Studies in Rissani. We learned about past kings and different important artifacts in Morocco. It was only about 104 degrees in the room, however, so I really couldn’t pay much attention to what they were saying. We then stopped at a place to buy the traditional blue scarves to wear in the desert to protect our faces from the intense wind/sandstorms. After that we went to an NGO that provided a place for women and children in a not so fortunate village. The women worked to make scarves while the children had a place to go to stay off of the streets. The day we were there they were giving the children each a backpack so we got to help hand them out to the children. The children were BEYOND excited to see us. Apparently they rarely see anyone outside of their village so they looked at us like we were celebrities. Afterwards we got to have lunch with the NGO members. They made us an extravagant lunch and explained to us that they need more help from people in the U.S. We found out that they only have websites in French and Arabic so we decided that we (as a program) are going to create a website for them in English! After lunch we drove another hour or so to Hotel Tomboktu in Merzouga where we rented a room to leave our bags for the night while we went out to sleep in the desert. After putting our bags in the room, we went out back and were wrapped in our blue scarves by some Berber natives. We then got on our camels and rode for 2 hours into the Sahara Desert. We arrived at our destination (berber tents in the middle of no where) at around 7:30pm so we got to ride camels into the sunset. I actually felt like I was in Lawrence of Arabia; it was hands down one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. It was an amazing sight to see the sun setting over the doons. Once we arrived at our tents we ate a traditional Berber meal and listened to Berber music. I got to play the drums and dance with them while other people on my program were adventurous and decided to climb one of the huge doons in the dark. The night was surprisingly very chilly in the desert and although we were given a light sheet, I was not prepared for the cold and spent most of the night awake and FREEZING. We were supposed to wake up to see the sunrise but when one of my friends woke me up at around 5:45 a.m. the sun was pretty much already up and all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. At about 6:15 a.m. we got back on our camels and rode back to the hotel. This time, although the camel ride was cool, it was not as pleasant because I was in SO MUCH PAIN. I’m convinced my inner thighs have permanent bruises from bouncing up and down on that camel for so long. After the fourth hour of riding Waldo (I named my camel), I was ready to be done.

berber tents we slept in!

me with my blue headscarf on Waldo:)

We got back to the hotel at around 8:15 a.m. and everyone went to eat breakfast (except for me because it was Yom Kippur and I was fasting). On a side note, riding Waldo as the sun was rising on the morning of Yom Kippur gave me a chance to reflect on my life and my sins (because it was the day of atonement). It definitely was not a traditional Yom Kippur but it was a once in a lifetime experience that I will always have to look back on and appreciate.

While everyone else ate breakfast I took a shower in the room and charged my Ipod for the long ride home. This time however we only drove half way home because we stopped at the same hotel in Midelt (where we had lunch the first day) to spend the night. Once we got to the hotel I just hung out in my room while my friends had another feast. Then, out of nowhere, a huge storm flew in and the power went out! It was pitch black in the hotel and they went around and gave everyone candels. We all went out to the lobby and told ghost stories and drank tea (well, I didn’t). But it definitely got my mind off of the fasting. I explained to my program director that I was fasting and he arranged a typical Ramadan Ftur (breakfast) for me at 6:30 when the sun went down (it goes down super early here). A couple of my friends came with me to the dining room while I got a FEAST full of Ramadan food. I got the traditional harira soup, dates, hard-boiled egg, BREAD, fruit and other traditional foods that I do not know how to say. It was very nice of them and I really appreciated it. After my Ftur we went back to the lobby and our director had brought in a traditional Berber band to entertain us. They sang and danced all throughout the night. The power came back on sporadically but we spent the majority of the night in the dark. The next morning we got up early, had breakfast and then took off for Rabat! When I went in for breakfast this morning, however, the manager came up to me and said “no Ramadan today?” I laughed and explained to him that I was fasting for a different holiday (I didn’t specify a Jewish one..but he got the jist). In the Islamic culture women are not aloud to fast while they are menstruating so they have to make it up and fast for 6 or 7 days after Ramadan is over…I assume that’s why he thought I was fasting but I told him my holiday only had one day to fast and I was off the hook! Over all, it was a great 4 days and I feel like I really got a chance to bond with the people on my program.

Orientation in Fez pics

Sahara pics!

The past few days with the family have been great! The only thing is that I need to get over this hump of not understanding them. I want this immersion to work immediately! I love the girl Kawtar she is super nice but it is still really difficult with me to communicate with the parents. Even if I can figure out how to say something or ask a question the chances of me being able to understand their response are slim to none. A few days ago they had a bunch of family over for tea (including every pastry and type of bread available in Morocco). There were 2 girls around my age and one of them spoke some English (she actually lives in Germany now) so it was cool to actually be able to communicate with her. They also have a little baby cousin named Melka who was THE MOST ADORBALE CHILD EVER! She loved me and kept jumping on my and talking to me (even though I couldn’t understand a word she said) but the family was enjoying watching me play with her. They laughed every time she said something to me because they knew that I actually had no idea what she was saying. That evening my family gave me an Arabic name – Sumilla! Sometimes they call me that now though and I do not respond because I usually think they are just saying something in Arabic that I do not understand.

Yesterday was my first day of classes, but all I had was Arabic. I went running up and down the streets of Morocco after class, which was neat, and then I came home and had lunch with my family. The mom is an AMAZING cook. We have gourmet meals for lunch and dinner every night (which I think is tradition in Morocco) but I swear my host mom is one of the better cooks. After lunch they usually all watch tv and hang out for a little while. Today after Arabic I came home again for lunch but I had to go back at 4:30 for my “Politics of North Africa” class. I really like the professor (he reminds me a lot of my dad and I feel like they would be friends). He is a journalist now in Morocco but he spent a couple years in Washington, D.C. working for the state house and now is the editor of a journal in Morocco that focuses on politics in the region. Although there is a TON of reading for the course I think it will be really interesting and I am excited about it. I still have two more courses that I haven’t had yet but I will not have them until next week because tomorrow at 8 am I am going to the Sahara!!! We have a fun 4 days planned and I will definitely be blogging about my adventure when I return to Rabat on Sunday.

I am officially in love with Rabat. Not only are the people welcoming and hospitable but also the atmosphere is really growing on me. As I did my 30-minute walk home from class today through the Medina I started to recognize things and really feel at home. Walking through the Medina in Rabat is a truly unique experience. The colors of the clothes hanging from the sides of “stores”, the lights at night, the men preparing fish on a table, the butchers, the leather jackets and purses hanging from every which way and all of the people around you (mostly women dressed in jellabas, wearing head scarves and men standing around chatting) make Rabat so special. It is nothing like walking down the streets of Needham, Massachusetts and I’m always baffled when I take a step back and remember that this is real, everyday life for so many people. The walk to and from class everyday gives me a chance to really fit in here and not look like just another American tourist. It helps remind me that I am not simply on vacation, but that I live here now, too.

Back to Rabat..For Good!

Today we had our CMA arabic final in the morning, and then we took off for Rabat! We stopped at the ancient ruins Volubilis and the city of Meknes on our way. The ruins were cool but it was the hottest it has been yet in Morocco and we were all SWEATING!!! Anyway, the best part of my day was definitely coming back to Rabat. I met my new host family which I already feel will be better than the first. There is a 16 year old girl who speaks a little bit of english (which is GREAT) and an 11 year old boy who is in Casablanca right now but I will meet him on Tuesday. The parents were also both really nice and the grandmother and aunt joined us for dinner. As soon as I got to the house the family was extremely welcoming and helped me carry my heavy bags up the stairs to my room. Once I got settled we had lots of food, tea and coffee (atay w qehua!). This was around 7:00pm. Then Kawtar (the 16 year old) asked me if I wanted to go out with her and her aunt and grandmother. We went shopping in the Medina. The Medina in Rabat near their house is a lot calmer than Fes. It was not only less crowded but everyone just seemed more relaxed. In Fes I couldn't even glance at a shop without the owner harassing me into buying something. Once we came home I unpacked and then watched some Moroccan game show with the family. I didn't quite understand what was going on but everyone was cracking up the entire time so I assumed it was funny? Then we had dinner; BRISKET AGAIN! I was pumped. This time it was brisket with french fries, an interesting combination. We watched the rest of the game show during dinner and then I came up to my room only to find out that my house has Wifi!!!! I could not be more excited. Kawtar seems awesome, and she said they have hosted a few time before so they know what they are doing. She said she hosted a girl named Esther last year for 3 months and they are super close and still talk so I am hoping to have a similar relationship with her. I also like it because since she is 16 and her brother Oussama is 11, it is like having Rachel and Benji here...they're just missing Joanna! I have my own room upstairs which is great and already feel more at home than I did in Fes.

Rosh Hashana – “I mean Ramadan” – in Fes

9/10/10

Today is the “Eid” which is the end of Ramadan. We were not sure if it was going to be today or tomorrow because it has to do with when they see the moon, but it was in fact today. We found out last night after our typical family fTur (breakfast) at 7pm. We always watch the same show (which I call the “Hedi Show” because it has a very catchy theme song that repeats the word “Hedi” – meaning “this” - about 80 times) every night during Ramadan. They have certain shows that they play only during Ramadan, and this is one of them. After the show concluded at 7:30 a picture of the Hassan mosque (the one I visited my first day in Rabat) with a man blowing a horn came on the screen. My host father informed us that every year he blows this horn to announce the Eid. The family exchanged hugs and kisses and proclaimed “Barak l Eid” to one another. Mohammed (the head of our program) called us all to say classes were cancelled for today. This morning we slept in and then had a lavish fTur consisting of special breads, pastries, cookies, dried olives and Sula (the nutty mixure we have every night that looks like chocolate flour). During the fTur we watched different call to prayers on the tv. We watched an orchestra from Rabat that has an annual concert on the Eid as well as the King’s speech. After an hour or so, the little boys (Mohammed and Ziad) put on their jellabas and red hats and went to the mosque with their father. Jamal (my host dad) was dressed in a fancy white jellaba and when I looked out my window I noticed that all the men on the streets were wearing white as well. Fadwa (my host mother) stayed home cooking lunch. In the mean time, some family and friends stopped by to say hello and wish everyone “barak l Eid”. Today my roommate and I wore the jellaba’s we bought. We were very excited about them but when we showed the family they told us they were lovely but that we were not allowed to wear them out of the house. I’m not sure if this is because we are not Muslim, or because the one’s we bought were for the house only. I was a little disappointed, but at least I got to wear it for a little!

It is weird for me because today is Rosh Hashana and normally I would be spending the morning in temple. Although I am obviously not in temple (or celebrating with other Jews), I still feel like I am celebrating it. The chanting of the call to prayer that I hear 5 times a day around town and what I heard on tv this morning sounds a lot like the chanting of the cantor in synagogue (and since I don’t understand Hebrew either, it sounds very similar to me). One of the breads we had this morning was a challah-like bread with the egg paste on top. Additionally, since we do not have classes and are just basically relaxing today, to me it still feels at least a little bit like Rosh Hashana because it is a break in the normal schedule.

We just had lunch, and now I am convinced it is Rosh Hashana. We had BRISKET! I’m not sure if that’s what they call it, but it was definitely brisket. Although instead of carrots and potatoes it had dried plums (I think, not really sure). They tasted like blueberries to me but they were much bigger and all shriveled up in the tagine. The broth was also a lot lighter than typical brisket marinade; it had more of a chicken soup broth consistency. Regardless, it was delicious.

They way they eat here is so interesting. We had the big plate of brisket in the center, and used bread as a utensil. We ate either with our hands or with bread as a spoon. There were no plates and no drinks (luckily I had my water bottle). But I got food all over the table/all over me…woops. I clearly have yet to master the art of eating with my hands!!

In the afternoon, we went to our host mother’s mother’s house to “visit with family”. However, this really just consisted of four older, fairly plump women sitting around a salon. They kept their distance from each other by sitting with a few feet between each of them, talked occasionally (in Arabic which I did not understand) and watched some Moroccan soap opera. Then we came home and relaxed for a while. Dinner wasn’t until 11:00 and it just mainly consisted of bread (once again, I am actually on carbo-load here..all we eat is BREAD). All in all it was a lovely, relaxing holiday (whichever one I choose to call it).

Last night our whole program went to a café called “Café Clock” to meet with Moroccan university students. At first it was kind of awkward after we all introduced our selves but then we started talking about stereotypes and politics and our different lifestyles and I found out some really interesting things. I talked a lot with this one girl named Sansous who was getting her masters in English and Gender Studies. She was telling me that she is one of a minority of women in Morocco that do not wear the veil. She said because she is more educated and modern she can make more of an informed decision, whereas those who are less educated/poor just wear the jellaba’s and the veil out of tradition without really understanding the roots or the religious background. She aspires to go to Boston University to continue studying. She was really nice and already friended me on facebook! It was a great experience and I hope we will get to have more experiences like that one.

Today we had our first Arabic quiz! I think I did well; I actually really enjoy learning Arabic, and I have started to use it with taxi drivers, store clerks, etc. Today after class a few girls and I went into the Medina to buy jellaba’s. I got to practice my Arabic and could even tell them what I wanted, ask how much it cost, bargain it down the price I wanted, and thank them afterwards – I’d say that’s pretty good! I got a beautiful (“zweena” in Arabic) pink jellaba with gold embroidery for 70 dirham (which is around 7 or 8 dollars!) Everything is super cheap here, we take a taxi every morning to class and it is 7 dh each way (which comes out to be less than one dollar.) I also have only been drinking bottled water because I was told that the water in the Fez medina would definitely give me a stomach ache but a 1.5 liter bottle (very big – “kbhira”) is only “chamsa dirham” (5 dh.. aka like 50 cents).

Yesterday we had a lecture on Islam and today we had one about the linguistic situation in Morocco. They were both really interesting and helped give a better understanding of the Moroccan people and families.

I don't have internet at my house so I write on a word doc at night and when I have a little bit of time at school I will post what I can:

9/4/10

Today was a long day. We got up at 7:30, ate a traditional Moroccan breakfast (bread, bread and more bread- I’m on carbo overload.), and then went to the ALIF center where we started learning Arabic. We had 2 teachers who were great. It was 4 straight hours of Arabic with only a 10 minute break in between so I was exausted when it ended. I do feel like I have already learned a lot though and I am excited to be able to practice with my host families. After that we had another orientation in the afternoon and then were picked up by our host families.

Tonight is my first night at the house in Fez (where I will be staying for a little over a week). The father (Jamal) picked up my roommate Taylor and I at our riad at 5:00. We had to walk for almost ½ mile to get to his apartment. It was way too hot and of course I had too many bags to carry myself (as did my roommate) but unfortunately our host father got into a car accident and was using a walker.. so we struggled all the way to the apt and then up the 4 flights of stairs..quite an adventure. Our host father is very nice, he speaks just a little English though. His wife, Fadwa speaks only Arabic so we haven’t really been able to communicate with her yet. They have two boys, Mohammed is 7 and Ziad is 3. They are adorable and Mohammed was helping me with my Arabic this afternoon. For dinner, we had 2 long baguettes, croissants, some type of Moroccan soup, dates, some other type of dried fruit (figs?) with sesame seeds on them.. some spice that was kinda like cinnamon (that they literally ate spoonfuls of) and these pancake type things. They also have a different kind of orange juice that I do not really like and milk already poured…which I also don’t like. I’m not really accustomed to the food yet and I am a little picky so it’s been difficult but I’m trying here. Oh and I can’t drink the water in Fez so I literally just came back to my room and chugged a bottle (I didn’t know if it was rude to bring it to the table because it is the big bottles like in Israel). Our room is really small, and I have 3 bags to unpack so I’m not really sure where all of that is going to go.

This place is very different in so many ways and will take so much getting used to. The bathroom here is small, there is no shower curtain, and the whole family shares it. I just showered and since there was no curtain, got water all over the floor. They also use just the shower head with no place to hold it up..so you have to hold it while you are washing yourself..it is quite the process and will take a while before I am accustomed to it.

Hopefully things will get better here; I’m a little homesick tonight being at a house and not being able to communicate with them at all.. but I know it takes time. I really think that by the end of my 30 hours of CMA during this orientation I will be okay its just hard when all I know how to say right now is “Hi, my name’s Becca. I am American. I am from Boston. How are you? I am good. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10” I am so tired and still jet lagged so I am heading to bed soon… but I will update more tomorrow and hopefully have a better time with the family to share.


9/5/10

This morning we woke up to a plentiful breakfast consisting of bread, bread and more bread. Then we took a taxi to our center and started our second day of Arabic. I am picking up Arabic pretty fast and really enjoying it!! After our four hours of Arabic were up we took a brief lunch break. My family made me a Tagine sandwich (typical chicken, vegetable stew thing on a baguette). Then we went on a tour of the Fez medina with a Moroccan guide, which was really cool. He told us it is the biggest Medina in the world (and after 3 hours of walking through it I believed him!) A medina is kind of like a flea market but this flea market was intertwining streets and NEVER ENDING (so it seems). We saw some really cool places. We went into the back of a place that makes the traditional Muslim head scarves and saw men making them on the looms. We all got to try them on and take pictures. We also went to the biggest tannery in the Medina, which was huge. It had tons of bags, shoes and other things made of leather. We went into the back and looked out of a window to see the men working at the tannery below us and got to see how the leather is made. The tour was cool but I had my laptop with me (because we don’t have internet at the house I was hoping to have time to use it at our school..but I didn’t) and was using a shoulder bag so after 3 hours of walking through the Medina it’d be an understatement to say I was struggling. We finally made it back to our house and were exhausted.

Today was better with the family. The little boys are adorable and were climbing all over me and playing with me in my room for a while. The older one was helping me practice my Arabic and the younger one is just adorable. I try to use my Arabic with the father at dinner but I think he is trying to practice his English cause he always responds to me in English. I also am getting better at taking showers here. I finally successfully showered today without getting water everywhere! Oh and I definitely appreciate the fact that they have a western toilet here at my house because I had my first experience with an eastern toilet today… and it was dreadful. Basically an eastern toilet consists of a hole and in the ground. And that is it. It was bad.

pictures after only two days... almost 200.

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Day 2 - Rabat, Fez and Belly Dancing!

We arrived in Fez this afternoon, after a morning orientation and lunch in Rabat. We had lunch at one of the host families’ houses. It was a huge house, but a huge house is Morocco is not measured by width but by length (meaning its so high it goes up like 5 stories). The ceiling (which I hear is common in Moroccan homes and hotels) is open, so I’m not too sure what happens when it rains. We were served at two round tables and given one large pan full of couscous, chicken and vegetables all boiled together. We each got a large spoon and were told to dig in. There were no plates or other silverware, so we literally took spoonful’s of chicken.  For dessert we were given a large bowl of fruit (different melons) in the same fashion. After we went into another room (which we had to take our shoes off before entering) and were given mint tea. THERE IS TEA EVERYWHERE. I’ve already had tea like 5 times and I have been here 2 days.. it’s like their thing. So anyway we had tea and crackers in front of the television (which is also common here). I also experienced my first non-western toilet. It was a hole in the ground of a tiled floor and there was obviously no toilet paper (so luckily I came prepared with a pack of tissues).

Then we got on 2 hour bus ride to Fez. We are currently staying at a beautiful “riad” which is like a villa. Our room is beautiful. It has decorative windows, lamps, tables, chairs, and a beautiful bathroom (although the shower is only a faucet). 13 of us went out into the Medina here to check it out…which was QUITE an experience. First of all it was very difficult to stay in a group of 13 when the walls are so narrow and the streets are so crowded. We literally could not take 2 steps without some guys coming up to us and cat-calling us. We were followed by so many men trying to take us to their tannery or “show us the way home”. A little 10 year old boy stayed with us for 35 minutes trying to get us to come to his fathers tannery. The shops and stuff were cool but it was so crowded and hot that we all just wanted to get out of there after the first 10 minutes. It took us another hour before we made it out. Luckily one girl on my program spent the summer in Fez on another program so she knew where we were going. The streets are also extremely steep so we were walking in a group of 13 girls, uphill, in the 95-degree heat and crowded streets getting touched and catcalled at…for over an hour. By the time we found our Riad I had never wanted to sit down so much in my life. Luckily my room as A/C (which is rare in Morocco)

Now I am full as can be. Just had the most amazing Moroccan meal at a real Moroccan (but kinda touristy) restaurant with lots of music and belly dancing!! We had 5 courses, which of course ended with tea. We ordered Moroccan wine which I think is much better than American wine..and now I am about to pass out!

First Day - Medina

I arrived in Morocco at around 1:30 and found out that we didn't have anything planned until 8:30 so a few of us went into the Medina..which was really cool. We saw tons of people selling different breads, croissants, pastries and different fruits like dates and such. There were also little shops with traditional moroccan clothing. We got whistled at a few times and got a few "Hey there sweety" 's but other than that we were not really harassed. The variation in dress was something that really amazed me because you have the older women covered from head to toe, and then you have the younger girls dressed in pretty modern clothing (I even saw a little girl wearing a skirt and a tank top!). We walked through the Medina (the old city) which is surrounded by these huge walls. Since it is Ramadan, nothing is open right now and I am STARVING! But apparently they have a break fast at alot of restaurants tonight so we will go to that to experience a typical "ramadan break-fast meal". Tonight we are staying in a hotel in Rabat, and tomorrow we go to Fez and meet our host families for a week and a half.

Paris at last!

Hi all - I finally made it to Paris (where I have a FIVE hour layover - so lots of time to write)! The flight itself was fine, although I did sit next to two fairly smelly and annoying french people that wouldn't shut up. I watched the movie Just Wright (great movie by the way - mom, you'd love it!) and then fell asleep with my eye mask on for the rest. Oh and I also started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book which is really good already. Once I arrived in Paris, however, the issues arrived. The flight was huge so the line to get through immigration took FOREVER and then once I got on the other side I had no idea where I was supposed to go to pick up my luggage (for my next flight which was on a separate airline... they wouldn't let me check it all the way through from Boston to Rabat). Once I got my luggage (which I had a lot of trouble carrying on my own.. I think I have a permanent cramp in my left shoulder) I had to go through customs - or so I thought - but I kinda just walked right out of the airport..and found myself on the streets of Paris. So then I had to find a shuttle bus to take me to the terminal I needed to get to.. and I needed help lifting my heavy bag onto the shuttle so of course that was a process. (I secretly wanted to go into the city and shop for a few hours but I had all my bags and I could barely carry them across one end of the airport to another). Then there was too much traffic at 2F (the terminal I needed to be at) so they dropped me at 2E and told me to find my way to 2F. Luckily, I found an underground electronic walkway thingy that took me there. However, since it is only 10am here now (it was 915ish when I got to 2F) my flight was not listed on the board - which of course took me a couple minutes to realize so I panicked when I did not see Rabat on the departures list. But I asked an information desk and they told me where to go and I went through security and all that again.. and now I am finally in and settled. The paris airport is cool, I had to take an elevator to the "toilettes" and the toilet seats were pink (so naturally, I felt at home). I am currently sitting in some cafe and once I finish writing this I will go get myself a chocolate croissant:)

There is so much french around me my head is already spinning.. god help me when I actually get to MOROCCO. I have another 2.5 hours here in this airport so if i'm REALLY bored and have a good story to tell I may update this again, but for now- that's all folks! Wish me luck because in 5 or 6 hours (I can't figure out all these time changes) I'll be in MOROCCO!!!!