Azrou

I have fallen in love with it here. This past weekend marked perhaps one of the times I have ever had in my whole life. Hefty statement, I know. But it's pretty hard to beat a first hike over 3 mountains, waterfalls, wild monkeys, great company...

My traveling group got very lucky - the IES program director, Fouad, is a native of Azrou which is a small Berber town by Fez. He was incredible and took care of us all weekend. Since he knows Azrou like the back of his hand, he led us on our Saturday hike which was indescribably amazing. I hope these pictures do some justice:






Our total hiking distance covered about 13-15 miles. After the hike, Fouad invited us for dinner at his mother's house. Then, knowing I was interested in purchasing some Berber carpets (it's so hard to find good prices when you are not Moroccan), took me to his best friend's store. The store was amazing - full of Berber treasures and handwoven carpets from all over Morocco. Here are two that I bought:



By Saturday night, I would have thought it impossible for the weekend to get any better. The group I traveled with - Clara, Karrie, Cody, Heather - is the dream team of travel. One of the best group dynamics I have ever been a part of. I think we all died at least 3 times each from laughter.

Fouad had even more in store for us on Sunday. Nearby Azrou is a town called Ifrane. It is unlike any other Moroccan city since during the French occupation, the French attempted to model it after a mini-Switzerland. It's full of quaint white houses with red roofs, bubbling springs, waterfall:



After all this, Fouad took us to his grandmother's home, an incredibly energetic Amazigh woman. Not only did he show us Morocco's breadth of nature but also its familial culture.

What I learned this weekend:

- I adore cats.
- A few Amazigh words
- That I can climb mountains

What blows my mind:

How much I still have to look forward to. Spring break starts this Friday - I will be in Madrid and the Canary Islands. Two weeks after I get back, I am flying to Wales for my cousin's wedding. El Jadida the next weekend. Marrakech and Casablanca the week after that. Then two weeks after that...the program is over. My semester abroad will be completed...but only after I take two more weeks to travel to the Sahara Desert for 5 days, then visit Supriya in Egypt for 3, and stay with Aida at her home in Jordan for 5 days before heading home.

March 22nd already...??

Essaouira

Well, loyal subjects – I would like to announce that I am happily sitting on the peak of the W – curve of cultural adjustment. Riiiight there at the symmetry point of the W. This past weekend was one of the best I have spent in Al-Maghrib.

Midterms finished last week and we were all excited to celebrate with our planned group trip the Asilah, Tangier, Chefchaoeun (all in Northern Morocco) and Ceuta (Spain). However, the weather gods thought otherwise – the trip was cancelled due to mudslides and flash flooding. Our mood was dampened just as Northern Morocco currently is (hardy har har).

So since we could not go North…why not go South? We received the news of our cancelled trip at 10 AM Thursday and by 3 PM, Kaitlin and I had organized an impromptu 18-person trip to Essaouira, a beautiful small fishing town in the South. The night bus on Thursday got us, 8 hours later, to Essoiura at 6 AM.

I have not been to a more peaceful city in Morocco yet. Or windy. (I am still finding sand in my ears and hair). It was just what we all needed after midterms – sunsets, beach, rooftop terrace, kasbah, fresh seafood. Here are pictures of the Friday and Saturday sunsets, and of the ocean:





I was surprised with how touristy Essaouira was – no doubt, tourism has become the major source of revenue for towns like Essaouira but has undoubtedly altered its charm as well. The clean plaza boasted ritzy bars and hotels and the medina markets were decked with tons of tourist t-shirts (Moroccan Roll, a yellow smiley face wearing a fez). Shopping in the Essaouira medina made all of us realize how much more comfortable we have gotten with Darijha and the medina culture here. There is no more embarrassment or hesitance with bargaining – linguistic barriers, converting dirham to dollars back to dirham, recognizing when a marketkeeper is trying to rip you off – all of this has become second nature. Of course, being a blatant non-Moroccan means one thing to most shop keepers: we are clueless tourists with money. We were approached multiple times by various vendors selling ‘space cakes’ and bricks of hash, or invited to have mint tea and then presented with a chestful of ‘authentic Berber silver’ and a persistent salesman. Nonetheless, I am very happy with the purchases I made and confident I was not played a touristy fool (Sajeela – you will be ESPECIALLY happy with one of the purchases..:)).

I feel like just yesterday I was shocked by the approach of March and now we’re already halfway through. I have no doubt this month is going to zoom by, especially given upcoming plans: upcoming weekend in Marrakech (hiking in the Atlas mountains), and then a week later, spring break in Madrid and the Canary Islands. My main dilemmas at present are: finding an apartment in DC as I have decided to finish senior year as a part time student and planning travels post-program (Sahara Desert and then…?).

How did I get so lucky?

Midterms? Already?

It is officially midterms week! Which means I am officially halfway done with my semester abroad.

Last Saturday (not this past Saturday) marked a holiday – the Prophet’s (SAW) Birthday. It was interesting to celebrate this with my host family since it is not a holiday I celebrate with my own family. Some Moroccans regard the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad ‘s (SAW) birthday as shirk.

The celebrations were simple and based around the meals. Instead of having our usual orange juice, bread, jam and cheese for breakfast, we had a whole beautiful array of honeyed pastries. Our host mother had spent the previous week preparing sesame-seed encrusted cookies, pastries soaked and re-soaked in honey, crepe-like things which you pour honey over, etc.

The family-style method of eating in Morocco reminds me very much of the wadhwan-eating style of Kashmir. Here, the main dish is placed in the middle of the table and everyone eats from that communal plate. This is the style we eat in every Friday for couscous (a later entry will detail the joy of Friday couscous) and how we ate lunch.

For lunch, host mama had prepared a huuuge shoulder of sheep. Afterwards, she served chicken pastilla (pastilla is light, round pastry stuffed with sweetened meats, almonds, powered in cinnamon) which had to have been at least 14 inches in diameter.

Anyway – back to studying for midterms but now all I can think of is food! I can’t wait for Wednesday – midterms will be over and then Friday, we are all traveling to the North to Ceuta in Spain, Chefchaoeun, Tangiers and Asillah.

Up and Down

Midterms are in ONE WEEK! It is so crazy how time as flown. Today is my mother's birthday (happy birthday, mama bear!) and tomorrow is MARCH.

Katie arrived in Rabat last night. It is so amazing to see her. I am going to the hammam (public bath/sauna) with her and Karrie and Karrie's host mother in a little bit. It will be my first hammam experience and I am really looking forward to it! People here start going to hammams from childhood, every week.

Also, Samar sent me a Flat Stanley (a small paper doll that represents 'her'). I am supposed to take pictures with the doll around Morocco. So far, Flat Stanley has seen the marketplace, the ocean and Hassan Mosque in Casablanca.

Rapidfire

- the summer fellowship I interviewed for yesterday just announced their funds were cut and the program is no longer available. Major downer
- Katie comes tomorrow for her spring break! Major upper.
- Cous cous today! Upper.
- Still stomach virus-y. Downer.
- Abu safely in Haiti! Upper.

The SIlver Lining

I was almost robbed on Friday. Walking home from school at 1 PM when some old guy attempted to get my attention. As has become habit, I ignored him and kept walking.

3 minutes later, I feel pulling on my backpack and turn around to see the pockets unzipped. It's the same guy. I get angry and somehow manage to demand him, in Arabic, to empty his pockets to retrieve anything he may have taken. What blows my mind is that this happened in BROAD DAYLIGHT.

However, the silver lining on the situation is bright for the following reasons:

- I was about a minute away from my apartment and when I got home, visibly upset. My host mother asked what was wrong and what ensued was a very maternal bonding session between us.
- Nothing of mine was taken. The pocket that he had rifled through was the one I usually keep my phone and my wallet however, since I had spent the night before at the dorms in Shaakira's room, I had kept those things in my purse (which I hardly do).

On other exciting notes:

- I have my first stomach virus here. Bad exciting.
- My father reached Haiti safely and is already seeing patients! Good exciting.

Adjusting

Study abroad word of the day:

manfe (man+café) – noun – a Moroccan café lined with outdoor tables and benches, occupied solely by men whose sole occupation seems to be people watching.

I haven’t been that good about updating lately but, in all honesty, there hasn’t been much new and pressing to report. The weekdays have become pretty monotonous – classes, homework, home, dinner, sleep. It has rained almost every day for the past two weeks.

Being here has really opened my eyes. I know that sounds so cliché but I am realizing it is more true each day. I am getting a completely different study abroad experience from most people I know. I chose to come to a Muslim country in Africa and, in doing that, chose to live in a cultural setting jarringly different from the one I’d grown up in and become so accustomed to, to the point where I had begun to take it for granted.

This is not a ‘take a break from school and party all the time’ study abroad experience. This is a ‘take a break from the West and realize what the world is really like’ experience. It’s been much harder than I had imagined but I am learning more about myself and what I want.

Morocco is beautiful but I haven’t seen nearly enough of it yet. Rabat has been rainy and gray for the most part. I am traveling to Marrakech either this weekend and the next and am really looking forward to it. This past weekend was nice – I forced myself to get jolted out of my cultural-adjustment funk and spent most of Saturday walking around Rabat. Did some bargaining at the medina which I am quite proud of – got a leather backpack down 100D from the original price.

I get a LOT of attention for my blatant South Asian looks in the streets, particularly in the medina. Constant questions and comments by random strangers (always men), “Al Hind?”, “Namaste, India”, or a few new ones from this weekend – “Hello, Bombai”, “Do you have Shahrukh Khan’s number?”. I am not sure whether these comments are meant to be offensive. Sometimes those asking seem genuinely curious, but most of the time they seem to be trying to push buttons. Apparently, East Asians get similar attention – comments of ‘Chinowina! Hello, China’ despite the true origin of the targets.

My professors have told me that some of it is related to the popularity of Bollywood movies in Morocco and the fact that Moroccans are not used to seeing South Asians here. It’s funny to think that many Moroccans have seen more Bollywood movies than I have (I believe my count is at 2 or 3).

It’s week six. Time has flown and I am shocked by it, particularly when I think about the strong friendships I have already formed (holla at Juja and Kelcey in particular).

Things I am really looking forward to:

- exploring Jardins Exotiques in a nearby town, Salle
- group trip to Chefchaoeun
- spring break at the Canary Islands!
- weekend in Madrid
- traveling to England in April for my cousin’s wedding, inshallah
- my mum and sisters coming to visit (inshallah!)
- Western Sahara Desert trip and hopefully Egypt after the program is over