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.