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!