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