Morocco wrap-up

Things I will miss about Morocco:

1. Linguistic disorientation. Never quite knowing which language (English, French, Arabic) I will hear when I turn the corner, or which language will come out of my mouth when I order a coffee, ask for directions, etc.

2. Smells and tastes. Especially mint tea, olives, dates, freshly squeezed orange juice, and those cornbread cake things that the cafeteria serves for breakfast.

3. Sounds. Mainly I'm thinking of the call to prayer, but in a strange way, I'll also miss the Arabic music videos playing in the cafe or on the radio in taxis. And this relates to #1 up above, but I'll also miss the sound of Arabic, spoken just slightly too fast for me to follow along.

4. Company. The warmth and hospitality of the Moroccans that we encountered from all walks of life. Plus, the summer-sleep-away-camp dynamic of the Georgetown group -- 14 complete strangers who ended up being pretty cool. :-)

5. Colors. Turquoise tiles, white-washed stucco, green shingles, and rust-red sand -- those are the colors that float into my mind when I think of Morocco.

Things I will not miss about Morocco:

1. Being harassed on the street. I know I tend to be a little paranoid, but I really do believe my blonde hair attracted more attention than some of the other girls in our group. It was a little disconcerting to feel a group of men staring at me as I walked by, yet be unable to understand what they were saying. And it was more than a little disconcerting to actually be grabbed -- twice -- by one of them.

2. Constant dehydration. You really can't replenish your water supply fast enough in that kind of heat, and it takes a toll.

3. Worrying about getting sick from food on the road, and even in the school cafeteria. And on another food note, having to resort to eating meat on a daily basis due to lack of other available options.

4. Those creepy earwig-esque bugs with the pincers that always invaded the dorm rooms.

5. The photos of H.M. Mohamed VI hanging in every public building. I'm sorry, but I find it a little creepy. Very "Big Brother is watching" and all that.

Overall, this program was an incredible experience for me. At the risk of sounding cliche, I even dare to say that I learned a lot about myself in the process. Morocco is a country of extremes: extreme beauty, with its deserts and mountains, that you don't always appreciate right away; extreme wealth, in terms of cultural heritage and the personal income of the privileged few; extreme poverty, in terms of the opportunities available to the vast majority of the population.

I am not a very extreme person. I like adventuring and exploring, within limits, but I'm cautious. I like to know that I have somewhere safe and comfortable to go at the end of the day. Although this experience was very sheltered and supervised in many ways, in others it pushed me past my comfort zone. I don't know if I will end up back in Morocco as a Peace Corps volunteer a few years from now, the way I once imagined a few years ago. I'm not sure if my temperament is suited to that. However, over four weeks I think I was able to come to appreciate the strange, extreme sort of beauty that is Morocco. It still holds a fascination for me, a sense of wonder and mystery. I hope someday I'll go back.

Meknes and Marrakech

It's the final stretch! I am back on campus after our last field trips/site visits last week, and now there are only 4 days, 2 finals, 1 night in Paris, and one transatlantic flight standing between me and HOME. But before I write any more about that, here's a quick summary of the past week's travels:

On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Meknes, which is about an hour away from the university. I think this may be my favorite city. It reminded me a lot of Fez, but it wasn't quite as overwhelming -- or as touristy. It has an interesting history, too: it used to be the imperial (capital) city of Morocco. We got to visit the palace complex and royal neighborhoods, which take up more space than the rest of the city combined. We also had some free time to wander through the medina on our own. I bought an entire kilo of dates, in addition to a bottle of locally grown olive oil (Meknes is known for its olives). I may or may not be allowed to bring these back through customs...I should probably look into that!

On Friday morning, we left for our last weekend trip, this time to Marrakech. I still can't decide exactly how I feel about the city. It was certainly the most cosmopolitan (read: Europeanized) of the places we've visted, and in some ways that was a much-needed break. We stayed in a nice hotel with a beautiful swimming pool, and we ate dinner at a fancy restaurant, complete with belly-dancers as entertainment. However -- and maybe this makes me a snob -- I wasn't as thrilled with the experience as a lot of my friends because somehow it didn't feel authentic to me. I guess it was similar to my reaction to the camels in Tafilalt. It felt like we were being catered to as Westerners, that the Morocco we encountered was a slightly skewed interpretation based on what the tourism industry thinks people want to see and experience.

That's not to say that I didn't have a great time. It was definitely the most "fun" and relaxing trip, sort of like a mini vacation. I enjoyed the places that we visited on Saturday: the Sa'adian tombs, a beautiful madrasa, and the ruins of the Badi'a palace. We had lots of time for shopping in the medina that afternoon, although I can't say I'm a fan of the snake charmers in Jama' al-Fna, the main square. On Saturday evening, we went to a Moroccan folk music festival that was held in the ruins we had visited earlier in the day, and the concert was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. So all in all, I had a great time, but I guess it just didn't feel like the "real" Morocco (insofar as I am qualified to judge what that means) to me.

So now I am back on campus, trying very hard to stay focused for just a few more days until I make it through my exams. Tomorrow is my last day of class, which means that I have all day Thursday to study and pack. Friday I have my exams in the morning and the afternoon to say goodbye, before I leave for the airport in Fez on Saturday morning!

I should probably get back to that studying I keep talking about, but just in case you were wondering: I am planning to make two or three more posts before I officially conclude this travel blog. One to wrap up Morocco, (the long-awaited) one about Paris and my SAE (Study Abroad Experience) overall, and possibly one on my "reentry" into "normal" life at home.

Volubilis, Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, and the Tafilalt Oasis...but no camels.

I can't believe I will be heading home (for the first time in six months) in just 11 more days. It doesn't seem real, but at the same time, I'm ready to go back. That's not to say that I'm not having an amazing time here -- I am, and I'm learning so much. But the schedule is pretty packed, and I'm ready to take a break and relax in my house with my bed and my family -- after living in other people's houses and beds, and with other people's families, since February.

Still, there's a lot to look forward to in the next week and a half. But first, here's a quick summary of last week:

We had a normal class schedule on campus on Monday and Tuesday -- that's Moroccan Arabic from 8:00-10:00, Development in Theory and Practice from 10:30-12:00, and Islam and Democracy from 2:00-3:30. On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss Zerhoun.

Volubilis is an archaeological site that used to be the capital of the Berber kingdom. It was incorporated into the Roman Empire as an Imperial Province, then was reappropriated by the Berbers after the Romans left. Mawlay Idriss I (the first king of Morocco) lived there at one point, but it was finally abandoned in the mid-18th century after the Lisbon earthquake. Sadly, the site is not very well-preserved due to both French and Moroccan ignorance and/or negligence. Some of the mosaics have been reconstructed using concrete (meaning that once they begin to crack, as some have already, they can never be restored again) and other elements of the site (arches, pillars, walls) have been restored incorrectly or put in the wrong place. Apparently the Moroccan population as a whole does not feel much ownership of the site because they view it as a Roman city, not a Moroccan one. It is currently listed as a UNESCO heritage site, but it has been in danger of losing this status for years due to its poor management.

After our tour of the site, we drove to the nearby town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun. The town is built around the shrine dedicated to Mawlay Idriss I, the king mentioned above. We also visted a neighboring shrine town called Sidi Ali Hamdush. This village was slightly more colorful -- it is inhabited by a Sufi order that specializes in the treatment of mental illness. According to their tradition, mental illness is caused when a person is possessed by a malevolent spirit, called a jinn. This is the disclaimer that was listed on our information packet for this trip: "There are a number of important restrictions about the Hamadshah (the Sufi order) including colors that provoke the various jinn. It is recommended that you not wear anything in black, red, yellow, or green if we go there. People who are possessed may bite themselves or others when provoked. There are bread stalls along the pathways for you to buy loaves of bread to stuff in the mouths of those biting others." Thankfully, we all made it through without getting bitten!

After a short break on Thursday, we headed out on another trip early Friday morning, this time to the Tafilalt Oasis on the edge of the Sahara Desert, near the Algerian border. This is the largest (man-made) oasis in North Africa, and it is known for its fossils. More recently, it has also become known for taking tourists out to the dunes on camels. No, I didn't ride a camel. I decided that, all things considered -- the fact that I didn't have any particular desire to get that close to a camel, the fact that it's a tourist trap and not at all authentic to the culture of the town, and the fact that it would have been too cloudy to see the sun rise, anyway -- I would rather not get up at 3am to do it. And yes, I am slightly defensive about this -- only a few students decided not to go, and the rest of the group didn't seem to understand why. Oh, well.

I much preferred the other experiences of the trip. We learned about the irrigation system of the oasis, and it turns out that the traditional dirt canals are actually much more effective than the new concrete ones the government tried to install several years ago -- to the point that local citizens have taken to filling the concrete troughs with dirt to redirect the water back to their old system. We also visited a local (and locally run) development agency, and I had a nice conversation -- in Arabic! -- with one of the female teachers who works for them. And as the highlight of the trip, we were invited to dinner at a Sufi brotherhood. I got to shake hands with a Sufi sheikh and descendant of the Prophet Muhammad -- a round, jolly, bespectacled man who served us Berber pizza (basically stuffed pita bread) and answered all our questions in between singing verses from the Quran.

As for this week, yesterday and today were regular class days again. Tomorrow, we're going to Meknes, and this weekend we head to Marrakech. Then it's just three more days of class, two final exams, and one night in Paris before I'm home!

Fez and Zaouia Sidi Abd Assalam

I spent my Fourth of July exploring two very different parts of Morocco. Bright and early on Saturday morning, our group piled into the van for a day trip to Fez. Dr. Shoub, a professor of anthropology here at Al-Akhawayn University, gave us a guided historical tour of the old medina (the commercial city center). Fez is a fascinating city, and I'm disappointed that we didn't have more time there. I was definitely experiencing some sensory overload: the entire quarter is for pedestrians (and donkeys) only because the streets are so narrow. Some are so small that an average-size man would have to turn sideways in order to walk down them. They are all crowded with shops and stands selling everything under the sun. There are sections dedicated to dried fruits and nuts, others to leather goods, and still more to textiles or pottery and ceramics. Many of the buildings are supported by wooden scaffolding because the clay walls have expanded and become bowed with age. Its the kind of place that you want to get lost in and wander for hours, because you never know what interesting sight or smell you will discover around the next corner. (Note: this is probably not a very practical idea because if you did get lost, you might never get found again.)

We made it back to campus in time for a quick shower before leaving again for Zaouia Sidi Abd Assalam, a small Berber village about 15 minutes outside of Ifrane. A Peace Corps volunteer there arranged for us all the spend the night with host families. Most of the families there are probably considered "middle class" by the Moroccan government's standards. They have a roof over their heads and food on the dinner table...but for some of them, that's about it. The town is pretty female-dominated because many of the men have left to find work in other cities or countries. There is a local elementary school, and some of the kids take a bus to Ifrane for middle and high school. However, this varies greatly between families (especially for the girls) depending on their financial situation and personal preferences.

One of the other Georgetown girls and I stayed in a family with two daughters (Yousra, 12, and Nada, 6) and one female cousin (Khawla, 7) who appears to live with them. Their father speaks a little English, but we only saw him at dinner -- men and women typically spend the day engaged in different activities. The girls all speak at least a little bit of French and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) because they study it in school. However, their mother only speaks Tamazight (the Berber language) and a little bit of Moroccan Arabic. This made communication rather interesting. Using French and MSA, Yousra and I sort of served as translators for everyone else. We played a lot of Go Fish (literally, for hours) and the girls had fun teaching us a little bit of Tamazight and Moroccan Arabic.

On Saturday night, one of the young women in town got married, and everyone was invited to the party, which took place in a big tent set up on the main street. Moroccan weddings are incredibly elaborate -- the bride is carried to the tent on a silver litter, and she changes her (elaborately decorated) dress multiple times during the course of the evening. The party doesn't start until around midnight, and it goes until dawn. My host family only stayed until about 3:30, but we could hear the music in the distance even after we went home...

I think the home stay experience was valuable on so many levels. The Georgetown program is based at Al-Akhawayn University, an American style university in the mountain resort town of Ifrane. Everyone on campus speaks English. We have potable running water, real showers, porcelain toilets, and pasteurized milk. This is not normal for a majority of Moroccans. I think about the quality of education that I have received since kindergarten, and I wonder about Yousra -- how much longer will she be allowed to take the bus to Ifrane for school? Will she make it to high school? Will she graduate? Will she have a career someday? I think about how warm and generous my host family was to the two American girls who descended upon them, unable to speak their language and offering little in return. Do I have that same capacity for genuine kindness? Do most Americans? It is amazing to me how people who have so little can give so much.

Ahlan wa-sahlan illa al-Maghreb

Welcome to Morocco!

I know I promised a wrap-up post on Paris, but I haven't had any time (or inclination) to think about that yet. The program is keeping us all pretty busy here, which is good -- not only am I presented with amazing travel and academic opportunities, but I don't have enough time to miss Paris...at least, not too much. Here is a summary of the first almost-week:

Saturday, July 27: I left for the airport well in advance because I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get there by metro with my giant suitcase. I ended up arriving too early -- my ticket counter wasn't even open yet. However, the trip was relatively uneventful until I arrived at the airport in Fez. As soon as I walked through the door, I was immediately pulled out of line and sent to wait in an office. At first, as the only fair-skinned, blonde-haired person on the flight, I thought I had been chosen for a random security check. Once the airport official started questioning me, though, I quickly realized that they were screening me for swine flu. After explaining to him that, yes, I do carry an American passport, but no, I haven't actually been in the country for five months, I was finally allowed through.

Sunday, June 28: We had a very brief, not particularly helpful orientation on campus. A few gems: don't eat uncooked vegetables, and try not to get pick-pocketed. Gee, thanks. Afterward, we had a chance to explore the town a bit. Ifrane was originally built as a French resort town, and it's still pretty wealthy and exclusive. Still, it's beautiful and green and at least 10 degrees cooler than at the base of the mountain.

Monday, June 29: First day of class. I have three professors: Nasser, who teaches Moroccan Arabic (which is indeed very different from Modern Standard, as I had been warned), Dr. Rhazaoui, who teaches "Development in Theory and Practice," and Dr. King, the Georgetown program coordinator who also teaches "Islam and Democracy." They are all very knowledgeable, and I think the courses are going to be interesting, especially the one on development.

Tuesday, June 30: We left campus at 6am for an overnight trip to Rabat. On Tuesday morning, we visited the Haut Commissaire du Plan (the High Commissioner of Planning) office to learn about the Initiative Nationale du Development Humain, a program started by the king to promote small-scale development projects throughout the country. In the afternoon, we went over to the Observatoire Nationale du Development Humain, an oversight organization charged with observing, analyzing, and "critiquing" the initiative.

Wednesday, July 1: In the morning, we got to tour the Parliament building and meet with the Secretary General, as well as a member of a new party called the Parti de l'Authenticite et de la Modernite that won a surprising number of seats in the most recent elections. After lunch, we met with the director of the Millenium Challenge Account, a US grant program that is providing Morocco with $700 million to implement development programs over the next 5 years. Then, we went back to Parliament and got to sit in on an interpellation of the government ministers by members of the House of Representatives. It was all in Arabic, so I didn't understand very much, but they were basically talking about the environmental and agricultural importance of water. It was pretty cool.

Today, we had a normal class day back on campus, and tomorrow we have the day off to rest, work on the course readings, take a trip into town, etc.

I have to head out in a few minutes for a "mixer" with some of the Moroccan students on campus for the summer, but just a few quick observations:

1. French is everywhere here. All of the billboards, shop signs, menus, etc. have French translations -- sometimes above the Arabic. It definitely makes me feel more confident about my ability to communicate during our various travels, but I'm not sure what to think about that from a socio-linguistic perspective. I guess I'm inadvertently starting my thesis research right here!

2. I didn't want to go into too much technical detail about the various development agencies and projects, but I do want to mention that Dr. Rhazaoui is very critical of the current efforts and government. He is very well-respected in his field, so it should be interesting to hear his analysis and opinions.

3. This may come as a shock...but I'm considering dropping my English elective next semester in favor of an econ course. If I am at all interested in pursuing a Master's program in international development (and I am becoming more interested every day since arriving here), I need a stronger background in econ. I haven't made any definite decisions yet, but it's something to think about...