Okay, so LAST weekend, I went to Fes. I apologize for the late blog post...I was just writing a 6 page paper in ARABIC!!!! So yeah, that took forever, and I STILL didn't quite make 6 pages, but whatever.
Anyway, so Fes. Yeah, it was a cool city. I liked it. The medina there is HUGE, so we decided to "rent" a tour guide for the day. It's a good thing we did...we would've been so lost without him.
The adventure starts on Friday at approximately 6:12pm. On the way to Tangier, we were spoiled and had this big open space with tables as our seats. I assumed it would be the same for Fes. I assumed wrong. The train arrived and we were like, fighting people to get on. When we got on, it was compartments- Harry Potter style. However, the passageway wasn't nearly as big as on the Hogwarts Express. It was nice and tight and uncomfortable. And the train was full. So, for the first 2 of the 3 hour ride, I stood/sat in the aisle. Oh, and don't get me wrong, folks. The aisles were packed with smelly men who still haven't quite grasped the concept of a stick of deodorant and the train had no air conditioning. It was so wonderful. And then some creepy guys our age were looking at us and talking and laughing with each other. Okay, bro, I might not speak your language that well, but I know you're talking about me when you stare and then talk to your homies. It's the same in every culture and I'm not stupid.
So we finally got a compartment after a while. It was still hot, but a lot better than the aisle. We finally got to Fes around 9:30 or so, got some bevvies, and made our way to the hotel. It was a nice hotel with air conditioning. I love air conditioning.
So at 10am on Saturday we met up with Ahmed the Tour Guide. We took a little van to King Mohamed VI's Fesian palace and I managed to get a picture of a gate/wall that people aren't supposed to take pictures of. Granted, I didn't know, and there weren't any po-po around to make me delete it. And Ahmed the Tour Guide didn't care, so it was all good!
After the palace, we went to the fortress on top of the city. It was quite pretty. After that, we went in the medina to explore around. I saw a nice little hanoot (store/stand) where they were preparing camel meat. The head was hanging from the ceiling. It was awesome.
We then went to a weaving shop and witnessed a man weaving a blanket. I bought a shirt. I splurged a bit on it, but whatever, I like it. And it was what I'd pay in the US so I don't feel bad :p
We then had lunch and then went to the tannery. Fes has the country's largest tannery. It was big! Basically what they do is dip animal hide into vats full of chemicals (including pigeon poo) and leave them out to dry. After that, they take them to another vat and dye them. I bought some pretty shoes made from goat, camel, and cow.
After visiting the tannery, we walked around the medina a bit more and then went back to the hotel to hang out. For dinner, we went to Café Clock, a restaurant owned by Americans. There, we ate camel burgers. Yes, burgers made of camel meat. I'm glad I did it, but I am in no rush to eat camel meat again. I ate a freaking camel. Badassery at it's finest.
We went back to the hotel, slept in the next morning, and then headed back to Rabat. Thankfully, the train ride back wasn't nearly as bad as the ride getting there.
Fastforward a week...Friday afternoon, we decided to go shopping in the medina to get some last minute presents for people. Fastforward a few years ago...a fellow Irish dancer from Oklahoma named Miranda friend-requested me on Facebook. I accepted the invitation and we've been Facebook friends for a while. A few weeks into my trip, I decided to see what she was up to and I discovered that she was in Morocco!!!! So we met up on Friday and did a little bit of shopping together. It's funny how small the world is...
This weekend, a few of us took a train to Casablanca. A woman in our group, Andrea, actually works for the State Department and is now stationed to work in Casablanca. She graciously invited us to her place, saving us some money! We had grand plans, but ended up lounging around a lot. We went to a restaurant called "Rick's Café" for lunch. It was modeled after the café in the movie "Casablanca". It was a bit pricy, but we got a free postcard at the end of our meal. And the food was delicious.
We went back to Andrea's and napped, then later, we went to an Irish bar.
The next day, we woke up and cooked a nice American breakfast...pancakes, eggs, and BACON!!!!! It was glorious. We napped again. Then we went to the Hassan II Mosque- 1 of 3 in Morocco that non-Muslims can go to. It is the 3rd largest mosque in the world next to those in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, and the mosque with the tallest minaret. The tour was really pathetic, but it was so worth it to go inside. It was absolutely beautiful!
So now I am back in Rabat. I have one more night with my homestay family and then I spend a night in a hotel and fly to France. I can't believe the trip is almost over!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Chefchaouen
I think I can honestly say that Chefchaouen is the most beautiful place in the world.
We arrived in Chefchaouen around 5 pm, after a very windy drive. Thanks a heap, I've now discovered that I have the ability to get carsick.
We stayed in these gorgeous rooms that had canopy beds. We all felt like princesses! (And when I say we, I mean definitely me and my friend/roommate Megan R.)
We then had dinner at a restaurant called Casa Hassan. We ended up eating there for 3 meals. Needless to say, a bunch of us didn't feel so hot after 2 meals there and I now officially hate chicken.
That night, we mainly wandered around the medina and met up with some new friends we met when we went to Tangier last weekend. I ended up conking out around midnight, waking up at 4am, and talking to Megan for about an hour or so. It was fun...it was like a sleepover all over again :-)
The next day, we slept in and explored the medina. I did some shopping and bought a few presents for people. :-) I ended up buying gifts from the same woman twice, so she gave me a good deal AND gave me a keychain as a gift!
A few of us went to a hotel bar the 2 nights we were there. We ended up meeting this British guy named Dylan. He was quite a character. He was a "sound therapist" and was in general, this huge, crazy hippie. His stories were strange, but it was highly entertaining. He suggested that we just randomly wet ourselves and that it's just so relieving to rebel against society telling you where you need to pee. Ok, Dylan, yeah...I'm going to just wet my pants at band camp this year....
On Wednesday morning, we took a bus to Tetouan to a beach on the Mediterranean called Cabo Negro. My sunscreen attracted a ton of bees and I ended up getting stung in the back. Unfortunately, I had to go straight into the water without waiting for it to soak in more (to avoid more beestings), so I got a nice sunburn. Despite this small fact, it was so neat to go to the Mediterranean!!!! The water was cold but refreshing, and it was so clear! We also rented these paddleboats and paddled out a ways and dove off of it. It was really nice! I am looking forward to swimming in it again in a few weeks!!!!
I am proud to report that the ride home was not as stomach-lurching as the ride to Chefchaouen. We did, however, stop at a lovely little gas station to use bathrooms that were still under construction- no doors, no toilet paper, no soap, no running water, no working flushers. It was horrendous. Another thing that is different here is that there are bathroom attendants for public bathrooms and you have to pay them. I was not about to pay some little old biddie a dirham for peeing for an audience, but our program coordinator paid for all of us. Seriously, I should have been the one getting paid....
I am currently blogging from Fez. That, in itself was a fun adventure, but more on that later...
We arrived in Chefchaouen around 5 pm, after a very windy drive. Thanks a heap, I've now discovered that I have the ability to get carsick.
We stayed in these gorgeous rooms that had canopy beds. We all felt like princesses! (And when I say we, I mean definitely me and my friend/roommate Megan R.)
That night, we mainly wandered around the medina and met up with some new friends we met when we went to Tangier last weekend. I ended up conking out around midnight, waking up at 4am, and talking to Megan for about an hour or so. It was fun...it was like a sleepover all over again :-)
The next day, we slept in and explored the medina. I did some shopping and bought a few presents for people. :-) I ended up buying gifts from the same woman twice, so she gave me a good deal AND gave me a keychain as a gift!
A few of us went to a hotel bar the 2 nights we were there. We ended up meeting this British guy named Dylan. He was quite a character. He was a "sound therapist" and was in general, this huge, crazy hippie. His stories were strange, but it was highly entertaining. He suggested that we just randomly wet ourselves and that it's just so relieving to rebel against society telling you where you need to pee. Ok, Dylan, yeah...I'm going to just wet my pants at band camp this year....
On Wednesday morning, we took a bus to Tetouan to a beach on the Mediterranean called Cabo Negro. My sunscreen attracted a ton of bees and I ended up getting stung in the back. Unfortunately, I had to go straight into the water without waiting for it to soak in more (to avoid more beestings), so I got a nice sunburn. Despite this small fact, it was so neat to go to the Mediterranean!!!! The water was cold but refreshing, and it was so clear! We also rented these paddleboats and paddled out a ways and dove off of it. It was really nice! I am looking forward to swimming in it again in a few weeks!!!!
I am proud to report that the ride home was not as stomach-lurching as the ride to Chefchaouen. We did, however, stop at a lovely little gas station to use bathrooms that were still under construction- no doors, no toilet paper, no soap, no running water, no working flushers. It was horrendous. Another thing that is different here is that there are bathroom attendants for public bathrooms and you have to pay them. I was not about to pay some little old biddie a dirham for peeing for an audience, but our program coordinator paid for all of us. Seriously, I should have been the one getting paid....
I am currently blogging from Fez. That, in itself was a fun adventure, but more on that later...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Ouazzane and my Rural Homestay
From July 8-12, I was on an excursion to northern Morocco with my program group. 5 days is a lot to cover, so I'll be breaking this blog up into sections, most likely by city. FYI.
So we left for Ouazzane on Saturday morning at around 8:30 am. We got to Ouazzane a little before noon and ate lunch at the home of our program coordinator, Farah. We all napped and then left for our homestay in Taouniya, a village a few kilometers outside of Ouazzane.
We stopped at a women's NGO outside of what we all thought was the village where we met some members of our family. (My 16-year-old sister, Faiza, came to pick me up.) We then all walked about 2-3 miles to the village to meet the rest of our families.
When I say we stayed in a village, I mean we stayed in Rural-ass, Morocco. There was electricity, but we needed to go to a public fountain for water. The toilet was "Turkish style"- a hole in the ground. A lot of my friends have Turkish toilets in their homes in Rabat, but I have been spoiled with a western toilet. (Yes, it is a HUGE deal.) It was a bit scary and strange, but I now feel like a citizen of the world for having used one! Most of our families were farmers, so we got to spend a bit of time on the farm. It was a lot different than farms in the US. A bunch of the families all shared land (or so it seemed). There were no silos or big barns or tractors. Donkeys were used to help with difficult jobs (such as carrying water and a lot of crops at once). There were cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats, and a few horses. I got to ride a donkey :-)
The oven was made of stone and it was outside of the house. In order to heat it up, Faiza and I took the donkey to collect a bunch of sticks and hay, brought it back, and then put some in the oven and lit it on fire. We made bread for dinner. (I kinda destroyed mine, but it was a valiant effort). The house was a long building that curved and the central courtyard was in direct sunlight. There was a stable for the animals and a tower of some sort.
The families in the village speak only Moroccan Arabic, so it was very difficult to communicate. It involved a lot of pointing, charades, and me following someone. Despite the difficulties in communication, we all became quite close and almost attached to each other.
The next day, we had an Arabic calligraphy session back at the NGO. We all practiced writing our names in Arabic calligraphy, but in the end, our teacher, Mohamed, made us stencils. We cut them out, painted over them, and then had awesome wood blocks with our names on them :-)
The second night, there were 2 weddings in the village. One was the wedding of Chloe's host brother, so she, Laura, and Jeff went to that (Chloe for obvious reasons, Laura to keep Chloe company, and Jeff because the other wedding was only for women). Weddings in Morocco tend to last a few days. It was the first day of the wedding that most of us went to, so it was rather low-key. Regardless, we all looked beautiful in our kaftans! (I borrowed one from my host mom in Rabat.) Beforehand, I was able to shower, which was dumping a bucket of water over my head (much like in Rabat), but I did it in the toilet area (it was a big room). Faiza heated up some water over the stove in a teapot so I didn't freeze, but, again, no running water, so I didn't have the ability to have hot water straight from a faucet. That was okay, I just thought it was interesting :-).
We got back from the wedding at 2:30 am, got up at 8:30, and had a cooking session at the NGO. We made salads. It was epic. Afterward, we went back to our village families for lunch and to say goodbye. As we were making our way back home, we passed by Chloe's house, where there were musicians playing extravagant traditional music. We stopped and danced a little, then continued home.
Saying goodbye to my family was very sad. It will be hard to keep in touch with them because of the language barrier and they don't have internet access. Also, I don't know how much they can read, because most of the people in that village do not get a lot of education. We took a family photo and then an extended-family photo. Jeff and Laura lived in the same "complex" (our families were all related), so we spent a lot of time together.
My feelings about my village homestay are as follows:
~I like donkeys. They're cute.
~Charades go a long way.
~I had a great time.
~I am a better person for living a life WAY different than mine.
~I am thankful for what I have, but glad to have experienced the alternative.
~You never know just how much you have until you no longer have it.
~Appreciate the little things, even if it's out of your comfort zone.
Stay tuned for Chefchaouen.
So we left for Ouazzane on Saturday morning at around 8:30 am. We got to Ouazzane a little before noon and ate lunch at the home of our program coordinator, Farah. We all napped and then left for our homestay in Taouniya, a village a few kilometers outside of Ouazzane.
We stopped at a women's NGO outside of what we all thought was the village where we met some members of our family. (My 16-year-old sister, Faiza, came to pick me up.) We then all walked about 2-3 miles to the village to meet the rest of our families.
When I say we stayed in a village, I mean we stayed in Rural-ass, Morocco. There was electricity, but we needed to go to a public fountain for water. The toilet was "Turkish style"- a hole in the ground. A lot of my friends have Turkish toilets in their homes in Rabat, but I have been spoiled with a western toilet. (Yes, it is a HUGE deal.) It was a bit scary and strange, but I now feel like a citizen of the world for having used one! Most of our families were farmers, so we got to spend a bit of time on the farm. It was a lot different than farms in the US. A bunch of the families all shared land (or so it seemed). There were no silos or big barns or tractors. Donkeys were used to help with difficult jobs (such as carrying water and a lot of crops at once). There were cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats, and a few horses. I got to ride a donkey :-)
The oven was made of stone and it was outside of the house. In order to heat it up, Faiza and I took the donkey to collect a bunch of sticks and hay, brought it back, and then put some in the oven and lit it on fire. We made bread for dinner. (I kinda destroyed mine, but it was a valiant effort). The house was a long building that curved and the central courtyard was in direct sunlight. There was a stable for the animals and a tower of some sort.
The families in the village speak only Moroccan Arabic, so it was very difficult to communicate. It involved a lot of pointing, charades, and me following someone. Despite the difficulties in communication, we all became quite close and almost attached to each other.
The next day, we had an Arabic calligraphy session back at the NGO. We all practiced writing our names in Arabic calligraphy, but in the end, our teacher, Mohamed, made us stencils. We cut them out, painted over them, and then had awesome wood blocks with our names on them :-)
The second night, there were 2 weddings in the village. One was the wedding of Chloe's host brother, so she, Laura, and Jeff went to that (Chloe for obvious reasons, Laura to keep Chloe company, and Jeff because the other wedding was only for women). Weddings in Morocco tend to last a few days. It was the first day of the wedding that most of us went to, so it was rather low-key. Regardless, we all looked beautiful in our kaftans! (I borrowed one from my host mom in Rabat.) Beforehand, I was able to shower, which was dumping a bucket of water over my head (much like in Rabat), but I did it in the toilet area (it was a big room). Faiza heated up some water over the stove in a teapot so I didn't freeze, but, again, no running water, so I didn't have the ability to have hot water straight from a faucet. That was okay, I just thought it was interesting :-).
We got back from the wedding at 2:30 am, got up at 8:30, and had a cooking session at the NGO. We made salads. It was epic. Afterward, we went back to our village families for lunch and to say goodbye. As we were making our way back home, we passed by Chloe's house, where there were musicians playing extravagant traditional music. We stopped and danced a little, then continued home.
Saying goodbye to my family was very sad. It will be hard to keep in touch with them because of the language barrier and they don't have internet access. Also, I don't know how much they can read, because most of the people in that village do not get a lot of education. We took a family photo and then an extended-family photo. Jeff and Laura lived in the same "complex" (our families were all related), so we spent a lot of time together.
My feelings about my village homestay are as follows:
~I like donkeys. They're cute.
~Charades go a long way.
~I had a great time.
~I am a better person for living a life WAY different than mine.
~I am thankful for what I have, but glad to have experienced the alternative.
~You never know just how much you have until you no longer have it.
~Appreciate the little things, even if it's out of your comfort zone.
Stay tuned for Chefchaouen.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Trials and Tribulations
Today, a 50/60-year-old man spit at my friend and then at me. What a loser.
One thing that I've noticed since being here is how protective I've become of my language. It makes me angry when people harass me in English, not only because it is annoying to be harassed, but mainly because I feel like harassers are disrespecting my language, since that is the language they use to be disrespectful. It also ticks me off when people assume I can't speak any other language than English. The other day, I went to sort out a bank issue for my friend with her and the security guard there, although I was speaking fine French, asked if I spoke English and then automatically switched over to that. The thing was, he wasn't that good at English, so to prove him wrong, I responded to him in French. And then in Essaouira, another friend and I were trying to solve an issue at a café. I was understanding and communicating well in French, and then a guy sitting at the bar tried to translate for us. I just find it rude when people try to speak to me in English outside of the United States because it makes me feel like I am viewed as incompetent, and I am NOT okay with that. I don't intend for this to be a complaining entry- everything in this blog is about my observations and experiences. Although I love it here in Morocco, it is not perfect and there have been many trials and tribulations that I have experienced in terms of a lot of different things. However, although I experience some negatives, I take everything to heart and I am thankful that I experience them anyway, because it makes me stronger and braver and more willing to try new things. When I come back home, I will have a new outlook on life and the world. The good thing about the bad things is that I feel like I am still living life, but in another place....I am definitely "experiencing", not vacationing.
On a happier note, we had a little orientation today on our Northern excursion. We will be doing a village homestay for 2 nights in Ouazzane. I am living with a family with 5 kids and 2 parents. My host mom is Latifa, my host dad is Rachid. I then have 2 sisters- Faiza, 15 and Kaoutar, 11, and 3 brothers- Ilyas, 18, Ali, 9 and Houssam, 3. I am excited to live a rural Moroccan life, albeit brief, but at least it's something! And two days is plenty of time to bring back some fun stories :-)
One thing that I've noticed since being here is how protective I've become of my language. It makes me angry when people harass me in English, not only because it is annoying to be harassed, but mainly because I feel like harassers are disrespecting my language, since that is the language they use to be disrespectful. It also ticks me off when people assume I can't speak any other language than English. The other day, I went to sort out a bank issue for my friend with her and the security guard there, although I was speaking fine French, asked if I spoke English and then automatically switched over to that. The thing was, he wasn't that good at English, so to prove him wrong, I responded to him in French. And then in Essaouira, another friend and I were trying to solve an issue at a café. I was understanding and communicating well in French, and then a guy sitting at the bar tried to translate for us. I just find it rude when people try to speak to me in English outside of the United States because it makes me feel like I am viewed as incompetent, and I am NOT okay with that. I don't intend for this to be a complaining entry- everything in this blog is about my observations and experiences. Although I love it here in Morocco, it is not perfect and there have been many trials and tribulations that I have experienced in terms of a lot of different things. However, although I experience some negatives, I take everything to heart and I am thankful that I experience them anyway, because it makes me stronger and braver and more willing to try new things. When I come back home, I will have a new outlook on life and the world. The good thing about the bad things is that I feel like I am still living life, but in another place....I am definitely "experiencing", not vacationing.
On a happier note, we had a little orientation today on our Northern excursion. We will be doing a village homestay for 2 nights in Ouazzane. I am living with a family with 5 kids and 2 parents. My host mom is Latifa, my host dad is Rachid. I then have 2 sisters- Faiza, 15 and Kaoutar, 11, and 3 brothers- Ilyas, 18, Ali, 9 and Houssam, 3. I am excited to live a rural Moroccan life, albeit brief, but at least it's something! And two days is plenty of time to bring back some fun stories :-)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tangier
First of all, Happy Independence Day to all of my American friends and family!
In other news, this past weekend, I went to Tangier with my friends! I almost didn't make it because I was extremely sick on Friday, but I managed to pull myself together. I looked like crap, felt mildly like crap in the early evening when I went to catch the train, but I was NOT about to miss out on a fun weekend at the Strait of Gibraltar with my friends! We got some amazing food at a place called Ali Baba's and I just went back to the hotel and slept...(it was 11pm by the time we were done).
We all slept in really late and got ready to hang out at the beach. We went to a small café for lunch and finally got to the beach around 2. It was really cool because the beach was actually the Strait of Gibraltar- the thin strip of water that separates Morocco from Spain. So I saw Spain from the beach! :-)
I bought a waterproof camera in May and so I decided to take some water photos...but then the screen stopped working! I was really upset and I was afraid it was completely broken, but once I got back to Rabat and charged the battery a bit more, it started working again. But my $10 waterproof digital watch actually did get waterlogged. I am surprised it survived Ouzoud but not Tangier since Ouzoud's water was really cold but the water in Tangier was really warm. Oh well, I can definitely find another watch here :-)
So we did have fun at the beach, but we did encounter hardships- sharks. No, not the actual fish, but creepy Moroccan men who swarmed around us like they were, well, sharks. Literally, the water would be totally empty and we would go in. A minute later, swarms of boys and men would casually go into the water and "accidentally" swim into us. I then decided to coin the term "shark".
Shark (n): A creepy man or men who casually (or not so casually) swarm around a lady like she is a struggling fish. Seem to have never seen a woman before. Generally travel in packs for protection, as the prey could potentially be dangerous in a one-on-one situation. Generally attracted to poor, innocent American lassies simply minding their own business. (Ex: Dude, there's a shark behind you checkin' out yo' biz.)
It was really annoying to be on a little vacation trying to enjoy ourselves when people wouldn't leave us alone. It even got to the point where it was ridiculous. On the bright side, there was a really nice lifeguard who came into the water with us and shoo'ed the sharks away. He was about our age, but he was very respectful to us and made sure we had a good time, without asking for our numbers.
We then left, went back to the hotel, showered, and went to a restaurant. I forgot the name, but there were AMAZING milkshakes. We then parted ways for a little- some people wanted to go to the carnival thing outside the train station, but the rest of us stayed back and bought a birthday cake for our friend Mikaela! When they came back, we all ate cake and then we went to a discotheque. The hotel receptionist was a 22-year-old guy named Anwar, and he finished his shift as we were leaving, so we invited him to come with us! He managed to pull some strings and get us into a club for free! I danced for about 3 hours straight. We went back to the hotel around 3:30, got to bed at around 4:30, and woke up at 8:30 to catch a train back to Rabat.
When we got back to Rabat, we dropped our bags off at my house and then took taxis to the American School in Rabat for an Independence Day party. It was fun, but it was lame that we had to pay a cover charge AND for food when we got in. I went swimming in the pool and it was very refreshing. The people there were really uptight about the party, but we had fun with each other as a group of friends...and it was nice to eat hotdogs and hamburgers!!!!
In terms of school, I am busy as hell. I have to write 2 papers- one in English and one in Arabic. They aren't very long (5-8 pages), but there simply aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done, because on top of that, we have Arabic homework, 4 hours of Arabic class, 1.5-3 hours of lectures in the afternoon, and we only have internet access until 10pm when the café closes. It is getting to the point where all of us are stressed out because we are lacking sleep and we have too much on our plates. The good news is that the staff here are really chill, so they don't get bent out of shape if things get turned in late from time to time.
I haven't really been able to do much shopping....I still have to get stuff for people as well as a few things for myself :-P. I got myself the scarf in Marrakech and some shoes, but that's about it. Other things on my personal shopping list include:
1. a dress
2. a djellaba
3. a Moroccan flag
4. some other clothes since I am running low/things are easily getting destroyed
I HAVE bought a lot of postcards...I just haven't written many! :-/
This upcoming weekend, we will be going on our second group excursion to the north. This one will be a little bit longer than the first...and I'm excited to explore some new cities!
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