Rabat Pictures

Here are the Rabat pictures. There are two links from facebook (two albums) and these, in my opinion are better than the Fes pictures. Enjoy

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?page=1&aid=2181713&id=1619654

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2181716&id=1619654&ref=mf

" I Dont Stop for the Police. What are they Gonna Do?"

I have made it into February, and things are definitely settling into a routine in Ifrane, Morocco. I got a job last week with the Language Center on campus. I will be the "facilitator" of a ECG (english conversation group) that is designed for Moroccans to improve their English skills in a small, controlled environment. I am excited, especially because I will be getting paid.

Also, I went to Rabat this weekend and I had the most amazing time. We went to the grande taxi station, because we wanted a taxi to Meknes, where there is a train to Rabat. Well, it is the Moroccan primary, junior high, and high school break, so the taxi stand was packed with people. When a taxi would pull up, people would literally JUMP on and into the taxi and battle each other for a seat. (The way grande taxis work is that they are old Mercedes and fit "6" people, plus the driver, in the available seats. Soo people just cram in these things with people they dont know and its perfectly fine. We have been travelling with 5 or 6 so we basically automatically get a grande taxi. We bargained with a guy and instead of taking us to Meknes, he took us directly to Rabat. We were probably overcharged about 10 to 20 Dhs, but this is literally not only 3 dollars and the man didnt have to drive us all the way there, so we were very grateful.

On the way out, we were stopped by a cop, who demanded the driver get out and show identification. When he was not satisfied, we proceeded to wait on the side of the road at the city limits for the drivers friend to come with the papers. In the meantime, a group of 5 guys swarmed the taxi and tried to get in but we kept them away and the cop finally let us go. Interesting start to the trip.

We stayed in the medina (old part of the city) again and it worked out perfectly. We each paid 60 Dhs per night (~$7) and stayed there two nights. We ate from the vendors in the medina for 2 reasons (1) it is cheap --around 1 dollar for a full meal (2) you can actually watch them cook it, and I trusted my eyes more than some restaurants pictures of their food. The food was absolutely amazing and so was the medina.

Saturday, we walked around almost the half the city, and hit all the major landmarks. It was absolutely stunning. I can not describe some of the sites with words, so I will be posting the pictures on Facebook and here. We even saw Roman ruins! Pretty sweet Walking so much was pretty exhausting but we actually met up with two of our Moroccan friends and we went to one of their houses, which was massive and utterly beautiful. It was in one of the best neighborhoods in the suburbs. We were served mint tea and little cookies, and it was absolutely great. We went out to dinner in the medina for cheap (actually a little restaurant and the vendor food was much better) and than hung out for the night at the Moroccan house before going back to the hotel.

We witnessed our second police flag down of the trip, in which cops were monitoring speeders, but we they caught someone, they were not in their car, but actually dashed in the middle of a major two lane road and flagged the offender down with their hands. It was absolutely crazy. Even crazier, the Moroccans said that the guy got off with nothing if he gave the cop 50dhs. Thats how it works here. The quote is from my Moroccan friend whose house we went to, and the said this when he saw the cops pull someone over. Since their not in their cars, I see what he meant, but that represents the mindset of many Moroccans. Their is corruption and just try to run as fast as you can away from it.

We had to stand for two hours coming back here on the train, but we got back, and I went to church again, which was good. Until next time.

My Neighbor is the King

So I found out today that right across the street from AUI is the king's castle. I was walking down a side road with my friends when we saw the side entrance across the street with royal guard protecting it. Pretty cool. Also, I got to walk around Ifrane and see the best places to overlook the surrounding mountains. I go to school in honestly one of the most beautiful places in Morocco.

Tonight, I went to a concert at the auditorium by two Moroccan singers. They seemed to be very popular and all the Moroccans knew most of their songs. It was a lot of fun and there were a ton of people there. Didn't understand most of it, but they ended the show with a "pacifist" song about Palestinians.

I had an interesting experience in my History of the Arab World today. We are talking about the rise of the Islamic State, and naturally about the life of Muhammed. The class though, being taught in a predominately Muslim country, has Islamic undertones at every stage. The students uses suras in the Qur'an as historical basis for the lives of the early followers and Muhammed himself. It is definitely different from the states, including Boston College. The undertones were again felt in the concert when the two singers started chanting الله اكبر which is the "stereotypical" Muslim saying for God is great. Overall, it was a very interesting day.

I started drinking arabic coffee here and I don't think I will ever be able to drink the coffee at BC again. I finally understand why arabic teachers have referred to it as water.

"Hey to the Carpenter" in Morocco

I forgot to talk about my cool experience going to the Ecumenical Christian mass on Sunday. Mike and I went and it was a very interesting experience. It was held in the faculty apartments which are about 10 minutes away from campus by bus, which picked us up before mass. The mass was a little long (2 hrs) but it was said by a protestant preacher Rev. Karen Smith. It was my first mass with a woman presiding. Still kinda weird in my mind. But the mass was good, in addition to me and mike, there were two other exchange students. The best part of the experience though was after mass there is a large potluck dinner in which everyone brings a variety of homemade food. At times the mass was a little preachy, standing up singing songs such as "hey to the carpenter," and I am reading Power, Faith, and Fantasy by Michael Ogren and the whole experience brought into mind the American missionaries preaching in Palestine in the 19th century. Overall though, a very cool experience.
The reason I brought this up though is because one of the exchange students who came with us to mass withdrew from AUI yesterday and left this morning, so it was kinda sad. He was really quiet, but we were talking with him at mass and everything seemed fine. But then yesterday, I saw him in the lounge for 38 (the only place in a dorm where guys and girls can hang out) and he had all his bags packed and was getting a grande taxi to rabat and then leaving this morning. It was really sad because I was talking with him and he said he just didn't fit in, and it didnt help that he didnt speak any of the languages here. The moroccans were trying to talk him into staying, but he had already bought the ticket and was going home. I personally feel like I have gotten over that initial hump of being lonely in a new, foreign country, mostly though because I am able to communicate in fusha and quickly learning darija. All of the moroccans are very helpful in teaching me new words and are always surprised when I actually start a small basic conversation in darija. I definitely feel like I am integrating into the University, but classes have not gotten any harder. For my history of the arab world, I had 15 pages in a book to read for the WEEK....the week. During the day, I have become an expert at Bubble spinner (http://www.addictinggames.com/bubblespinner.html) check it out because it will truly make your mind spin (pun intended). Except for that, I have just been reading Power, Faith, and Fantasy and learning darija. The only actual thing I am missing right now is TV, but I guess I can live without TV for a couple months.

New Encounters

Last night i had some very interesting conversations with Moroccans and the role of student protesting in Morocco. One talked of reservations on all levels while another talked about the cardinal rule in Morocco, not talking about the king. It was interesting the contrasting ideas of the students, and also how many students want to leave to get their master/PhD abroad in Europe, US or Canada. The one thing I have found out so far is that there are a lot of Moroccans who have relatives in Canada and want to go themselves. Must be the French. Everyone here wants to be educated abroad and I came here to be educated.
Also, I think that it is funny that I have come to a university where designer jeans and Gucci bags (I am not sure what they look like, but everyone seems to make a big deal about them) are more prevalent than a backpack. Such is life though.
I had my first experience with the maid that cleans the rooms today. YES I know, I have a maid at AUI and I will be honest, it was a little odd at first but the woman was very nice. There is a crew of about 10 women that I guess just go floor by floor in the building. She was surprised that I greeted her in Arabic and even more surprised when I said a few darija phrases, but the room is veryyyy clean now. She mopped the floors, cleaned the bathroom, and even rearranged my desk. The last thing I will never get used to so I will have to do that myself before she comes in two weeks. Hopefully then I will get her name.
One of the moroccan guys that I met is setting up American students with moroccan students for an Darija/English partnership in which we will both help one another with the language we are learning. This should start in the coming weeks so I am excited for that.
Also, I find it amazing how good Moroccans are with names. I have met many people, some just in passing and maybe sat with them for a minute or simply introduced myself and they immediately now my name. For example, I met a guy walking to my dorm the first day, simply introduced myself and that was about it. Two days ago the same guy comes up to me and says Hi Jeff hows it going and it took me offguard. I like it though. Also, Moroccans are used to long conversations, so I fit in perfectly. I can talk about everything when saying hi to someone and it is normal. Pretty sweet.

The Rest of the Ifrane/Morocco Pictures

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/photo.php?pid=36295913&id=1619654

Here are the rest of the pictures. There are about 60 enjoy!

First Week Update

I have officially been in Morocco for over one week now and it has been quite an experience. The marathon travel followed by hours of "orientation" and bureaucracy, but I finally feel like I have found a steady rhythm of some sort. I got in all the classes that I wanted, and was even pleasantly surprised to find that I got into Advanced Arabic. So far the classes seem fairly easy, but more on that to come since it is still technically drop -add period in the university.

I just arrived from visiting Fes for the first time (excluding or 1 hr wait there when we came) and the trip was a blast. I went with Luke, Mike, and two Sams and we stayed in a hostel for very cheap but the conditions were perfect for us and they even served us free coffee and croissants for breakfast. The hostel got us an official guide for the medina in Fes which was so far the best decision for the trip. It cost each of us only 20 ds which is less than $3 for almost 4 hrs of walking, guiding, talking, and just being a very good guide. We got to see the famous tanneries and we got to visit a cooperative which is a government sponsored establishment that is paid to make crafts and sell directly instead of using a middle man that then jacks up the price. This cooperative sold blankets and rugs so I got a sheep wool blanket that is basically maroon and gold with Berber symbols on it (the cooperative was Berber and they did all of their weaving in the building.) We would have never found that or the tanneries without the guide, because for most of the places the entrance is barely visible and definitely not marked. The smells and sights made the trip absolutely spectacular.

We also found how far removed Ifrane is because there are at least 5-10 grande taxis going to Fes on Friday when we left, but we had to convince someone to take us back to Ifrane today, on Saturday. Also it is almost double the price coming back, and that was with bargaining and taking the lowest possible deal.

I am having a awesome time in Morocco so far. It is definitely weird to go from the hot, dieselly air of Fes to the crisp, cool snowy air of Ifrane, but in some ways it is kinda of nice to be close to Fes but not exactly in it. Pictures will be coming soon.