Professor Mark wants more blogs, so here ya go. Incidently, you can read all about Mark, my teaching mentor from my TEFL program, at:
http://manasseworld.blogspot.com
Although there wasn't much Christmas spirit in the air, I declare my Christmas 2007 a success. It was actually nice to avoid all the frantic holiday materialism. We actually had a 4 day Muslim holiday the weekend before. This is a time when all Muslim families slaughter a sheep, in celebration of the day that Abraham slaughtered a sheep in the place of his son Isaac. So instead of going out to look for a tree, families who have enough money pick out a nice sheep (they cost about $200), load him into their car, and keep him in the garage or roof until the big day. Then one of the men slits his throat (in the street, in the bathroom, wherever there is room), and the women set about removing the organs. We fortunately did not get to participate in this ritual, though we ate quite a bit of liver wrapped in fat and grilled on skewers, which is the specialty on the first day.
The celebration and meat-eating continue for several days, though Molly and I decided to get out of town and visit her American friend Eric in Meknes. It is only a couple hours away by train and was our first journey outside of Rabat. It was a pleasant, relaxed weekend, except for the part where I was throwing up. I had a bad reaction to the tap water there, and I made the mistake of drinking it twice. So I spent a number or dark, cold hours in the bathroom, vowing to get out of this country as soon as possible. However, once feeling better, I was more optimistic, though if I continue to have stomach problems on a regular basis, I may not be able to handle 2 years here.
We returned on Sunday and on Christmas Eve, we went to visit Nazha for the long awaited lesson in making couscous (the real way, not the way that we Americans boil it in water for 5 minutes). It is about a 3 hour process so we had to show up at 9:30am to get started. We finally ate at about 1:30 and of course it was delicious. I then helped them put together the gingerbread house that my mom had sent. The maid Fatna thought we were nuts at first, but I think she enjoyed the final product, as did everyone else. Unlike my previous gingerbread experiences, the house was devoured minutes after we completed it. I added photos of this, as well as the sheep stuff (not for the squeamish), to my online album.
On Christmas day, we were actually back to work, though this is the final week of the session so it has been pretty laid back. After class, Molly and I went looking for a nice place to eat, and I will admit to being skeptical that we would find one. Luckily, with the help of a Moroccan co-worker, we found a wonderful, chic, modern restaurant that was fancy but not over our budget. It was the closest thing to a California venue I have found here, and they had a fantatic flamenco band who played some Gypsy Kings favorites. I had salmon for the first time since I've been here, and a yummy nougat glace for dessert. I could not have asked for a nicer Christmas dinner.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Internet Ahoy
I am sitting at a nice cafe called The Green Center just around the corner from school. There is an aggressively affectionate cat curling around my legs and putting holes in my pants. I just polished off a delicious chicken tajine and am having a "nus nus", or half coffee, half milk. I hadn't had any coffee in Morocco until last weekend, when we were invited to Nazha's sister's house in Temara for a "snack". As I suspected, this meant mountains of cookies, sweets, and cakes, but then to my surprise, this was followed by another round of savory pastries, soup, and breads. They served us some tasty coffee and since then I have been making a habit of it.
Anyway, back to the cafe...the reason this is exciting is that I am typing this on my own computer which is online for the first time since moving here! They have free wifi at this cafe, and you don't know what a treat it is to have my cherished U.S. keyboard, as well as some privacy.
We had Nazha and her family over to our place in Oudaya for the first time yesterday. They were summarily unimpressed - they thought it was too cold and damp and we would certainly become sick or develop allergies. Basically, they like modern things, and this old neighborhood is just not their cup of tea. Luckily, my mom had sent me some Christmas stuff so at least I was able to offer them some snowman cookies, which they eagerly gobbled up, along with nearly every other cookie in the house. I also sent them home with a gingerbread house kit, an advent calendar, and a mummy puzzle (a leftover from Halloween, which will surely confuse them) for their little niece and nephew.
Alas, my battery is about to run out. As they say in French, "les bonnes choses ne durent jamais".
Anyway, back to the cafe...the reason this is exciting is that I am typing this on my own computer which is online for the first time since moving here! They have free wifi at this cafe, and you don't know what a treat it is to have my cherished U.S. keyboard, as well as some privacy.
We had Nazha and her family over to our place in Oudaya for the first time yesterday. They were summarily unimpressed - they thought it was too cold and damp and we would certainly become sick or develop allergies. Basically, they like modern things, and this old neighborhood is just not their cup of tea. Luckily, my mom had sent me some Christmas stuff so at least I was able to offer them some snowman cookies, which they eagerly gobbled up, along with nearly every other cookie in the house. I also sent them home with a gingerbread house kit, an advent calendar, and a mummy puzzle (a leftover from Halloween, which will surely confuse them) for their little niece and nephew.
Alas, my battery is about to run out. As they say in French, "les bonnes choses ne durent jamais".
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Party People
I am very late in reporting on a fun event that we attended several weeks ago. Nazha threw a big party at their house to celebrate the circumcision of one of her nephews. It much pretty much on par with a wedding in terms of the festivities, though bear in mind that is no drinking here. This certainly doesn't stop them from having a great time dancing until the wee hours of the morn, which huge smiles on their faces the whole time. There were 2 live bands and a DJ, and around 11 pm, we sat down for a feast of sweets (often served as appetizers, oddly enough), roast chicken with lemon and olives, lamb with prunes and almonds, and fruit. As this was our first big shin dig, we were not aware of how many courses would be served and assumed that the chicken was the main dish and ate our fill of that. But as we have learned, it is unacceptable to stop eating, so we had to continue to stuff ourselves, especially whenever Nazha came by our table - if she ever caught us not eating, she would yell "Mangez!" This was a catered event and I have to say that although it was delicious, it was not near as good as the homemade chicken with pumpkin from Nazha's kitchen. The best part for me was the live music provided by 5 middle-aged ladies who played various types of drums and sang very loudly. They seemed like gypsies to me, women who live a bit on the wild side, and Nazha did confirm that they are the types who smoke and drink. Besides the air of scandal that they added to an otherwise refined affair, I thought their music were fantastic. I got up and danced with the other women (the men mainly stayed outside) and everyone was surprised that I knew some Moroccan moves. Of course, Nazha and Zineb dressed us up in the voluminous kaftans that they wear for these occasions. They thought I looked fabulous though I felt like I was wearing a choir robe. You don't get to judge because unfortunately I forgot my camera that night.
By some amazing luck, I also got invited to a wedding celebration the following weekend. I was invited by our friend Mokhtar who works at the cafe in our neighborhood. I did not know anyone there, including the bride and groom, but they seemed fine with having me attend what was otherwise a small family affair. Again, we had the feast of several courses (this time I asked how many in advance). There was no live music or dancing, but a period of photo-taking after the meal. I am in some of the photos, even though I'm sure they won't remember my name. The bride was actually a Canadian, a situation which seems extremely common here - American/Canadian women coming here and getting married to Moroccan men - which perhaps explains why the men are so keen to hassle us all the time. They have very real hope that someday they will get their passport to America. By the way, you can play the "American lottery" here, which means paying for a chance to win a visa to America. This actually worked for one of Nazha's relatives, who currently lives in New Jersey. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult for Moroccans (and Arabs in general) to get travel visas to the U.S. and also European countries. As Americans, we really take for granted the freedom we have to travel the world. This is something that many others can only dream of, just like we dream of winning a million dollars.
One other fun thing to mention is that my advanced class is currently doing a unit on "food", so I thought I would test their knowledge of cooking verbs by having them follow my guacamole recipe and make it in class! Although cooking was not a new experience for most of them, eating guacamole was, and most of them thought the it was pretty tasty. For homework, the students had brought various cakes and sweets to class so we had a little party. Although they didn't stick to the English-only rule, they really seemed to have a good time and took some pictures with their cell phones. So I bet you can find me and my students on Facebook if you look hard enough.
To continue the guacamole theme, I went out last night with a couple other American teachers to a Mexican restaurant in the chic part of town. It was very swanky and the prices were outrageous (for Morocco), but the guacamole was decent and the mojitos were delicious. There was even a birthday which was celebrated in much the same style as American chain restaurants - a cake with a sparkler on top, the Happy Birthday song (in English), and sombreros passed around (we managed to get one of them). It is funny to me how eager they are to "Americanize"; there is, sadly, a TGI Friday's opening in that part of town soon. Oh, and Molly and I finally ate at the famous McDonald's there. The clientele is much higher class than in the states, and on the weekends it even becomes like a night club. This was my first time in a McDonalds in many years and I would say the food was better than in the U.S. though the whole place still disgusts me. What did I order? The "McArabia", of course.
By some amazing luck, I also got invited to a wedding celebration the following weekend. I was invited by our friend Mokhtar who works at the cafe in our neighborhood. I did not know anyone there, including the bride and groom, but they seemed fine with having me attend what was otherwise a small family affair. Again, we had the feast of several courses (this time I asked how many in advance). There was no live music or dancing, but a period of photo-taking after the meal. I am in some of the photos, even though I'm sure they won't remember my name. The bride was actually a Canadian, a situation which seems extremely common here - American/Canadian women coming here and getting married to Moroccan men - which perhaps explains why the men are so keen to hassle us all the time. They have very real hope that someday they will get their passport to America. By the way, you can play the "American lottery" here, which means paying for a chance to win a visa to America. This actually worked for one of Nazha's relatives, who currently lives in New Jersey. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult for Moroccans (and Arabs in general) to get travel visas to the U.S. and also European countries. As Americans, we really take for granted the freedom we have to travel the world. This is something that many others can only dream of, just like we dream of winning a million dollars.
One other fun thing to mention is that my advanced class is currently doing a unit on "food", so I thought I would test their knowledge of cooking verbs by having them follow my guacamole recipe and make it in class! Although cooking was not a new experience for most of them, eating guacamole was, and most of them thought the it was pretty tasty. For homework, the students had brought various cakes and sweets to class so we had a little party. Although they didn't stick to the English-only rule, they really seemed to have a good time and took some pictures with their cell phones. So I bet you can find me and my students on Facebook if you look hard enough.
To continue the guacamole theme, I went out last night with a couple other American teachers to a Mexican restaurant in the chic part of town. It was very swanky and the prices were outrageous (for Morocco), but the guacamole was decent and the mojitos were delicious. There was even a birthday which was celebrated in much the same style as American chain restaurants - a cake with a sparkler on top, the Happy Birthday song (in English), and sombreros passed around (we managed to get one of them). It is funny to me how eager they are to "Americanize"; there is, sadly, a TGI Friday's opening in that part of town soon. Oh, and Molly and I finally ate at the famous McDonald's there. The clientele is much higher class than in the states, and on the weekends it even becomes like a night club. This was my first time in a McDonalds in many years and I would say the food was better than in the U.S. though the whole place still disgusts me. What did I order? The "McArabia", of course.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Raining Dirt
Things are still going well here, though most of my news this time is of a negative nature.
It finally rained the other day, after nearly a month of drought, and has been raining in sudden spurts ever since. This is actually wonderful news for the city of Rabat, but for those of us who live in a house without a roof, this presents challenges. Ok, we have a roof, but all of our rooms open onto a central courtyard which is wide open to the sky; so to go from your bedroom to the bathroom, say, you have to go outside. The main inconvenience is not so much in getting wet, but that you have to change shoes every time you want to change rooms, else there would be mud everywhere. We do have a drain in our courtyard and we have been trying to squeegee the water down it, but without much success. Suprisingly, the rain made everything dirtier, since strong winds had kicked up a giant red dust cloud, presumably from the huge construction site across the river. When it rained, the dirt fell out of the sky, and onto our patio. So it's a bit of a mess right now. Nonetheless, we are still sold on the charm of our place.
I had to miss my first class last week because I was vomitting all morning. I was worried it was the flu that was going around (one of the American girls wasn't able to eat for a week), but fortunately (I guess) it was only food poisoning, possibly from a chicken sandwich I got in the medina. The incident will not stop me from buying street food, however. But I may stick to the fish sandwiches as they have caused me no problems. It really sucks to be sick in a foreign country though; it is very lonely, just you and your toilet.
The coup de grace of bad news is that my dog Rocky is sick. He has a lymphoma in his chest which is causing him to cough and breathe poorly. I believe this had been developing for a while, as he began coughing intermittently when we were in California. Bill has been an excellent care giver and has probably spent a fortune at the vet getting various tests and treatments. He is considering chemotherapy but I doubt it would be worth it. After a few days in the hospital, at least Rocky is back home now, and Bill says he is enjoying Jeep rides and visits to Bill's neighbor, Bob, who likes to spoil the dogs grandma-style. As I suspected when I embarked on this journey, I will probably not be able to see Rocky again. But with the miracle of modern technology, at least I've been able to "see" him on Bill's webcam a few times.
To end on a happier note, we did have a Thanksgiving feast last night, at the same girls' house as usual, and I think every American in Rabat might have been there. It was definitely not your typical Thanksgiving, more like a Thanksgiving night club. It was wall to wall people and loud thumping techno music. There was lots of delicious food (though a shortage of silver ware), and I have to say, Molly made the best turkey I've ever had. She has a special "Moroccan" technique (invented right here in our house!) of cooking up onions, raisins, almonds and orange juice into a delightful sauce, in which she pan fried the turkey breasts. In the absence of cranberries, bacon, and an oven, I could not make any of my favorite dishes (my mom's "saucy green beans", my dad's cranberry pear sauce and bourbon pecan pie). So I just brought a simple green bean dish with lemon and garlic. However, the other Americans found clever ways around the limitations, and we did indeed have cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie, stuffing, etc.
Final note: I am not sure why hairdressers worldwide think it's acceptable for a woman to walk out of a salon with a mullet. After sporting one for a week, I finally got my hair redone so now it is super short again. It looks fine, though it could use some bright red streaks. If I feel I have already won my students' respect, perhaps I will consider it...
It finally rained the other day, after nearly a month of drought, and has been raining in sudden spurts ever since. This is actually wonderful news for the city of Rabat, but for those of us who live in a house without a roof, this presents challenges. Ok, we have a roof, but all of our rooms open onto a central courtyard which is wide open to the sky; so to go from your bedroom to the bathroom, say, you have to go outside. The main inconvenience is not so much in getting wet, but that you have to change shoes every time you want to change rooms, else there would be mud everywhere. We do have a drain in our courtyard and we have been trying to squeegee the water down it, but without much success. Suprisingly, the rain made everything dirtier, since strong winds had kicked up a giant red dust cloud, presumably from the huge construction site across the river. When it rained, the dirt fell out of the sky, and onto our patio. So it's a bit of a mess right now. Nonetheless, we are still sold on the charm of our place.
I had to miss my first class last week because I was vomitting all morning. I was worried it was the flu that was going around (one of the American girls wasn't able to eat for a week), but fortunately (I guess) it was only food poisoning, possibly from a chicken sandwich I got in the medina. The incident will not stop me from buying street food, however. But I may stick to the fish sandwiches as they have caused me no problems. It really sucks to be sick in a foreign country though; it is very lonely, just you and your toilet.
The coup de grace of bad news is that my dog Rocky is sick. He has a lymphoma in his chest which is causing him to cough and breathe poorly. I believe this had been developing for a while, as he began coughing intermittently when we were in California. Bill has been an excellent care giver and has probably spent a fortune at the vet getting various tests and treatments. He is considering chemotherapy but I doubt it would be worth it. After a few days in the hospital, at least Rocky is back home now, and Bill says he is enjoying Jeep rides and visits to Bill's neighbor, Bob, who likes to spoil the dogs grandma-style. As I suspected when I embarked on this journey, I will probably not be able to see Rocky again. But with the miracle of modern technology, at least I've been able to "see" him on Bill's webcam a few times.
To end on a happier note, we did have a Thanksgiving feast last night, at the same girls' house as usual, and I think every American in Rabat might have been there. It was definitely not your typical Thanksgiving, more like a Thanksgiving night club. It was wall to wall people and loud thumping techno music. There was lots of delicious food (though a shortage of silver ware), and I have to say, Molly made the best turkey I've ever had. She has a special "Moroccan" technique (invented right here in our house!) of cooking up onions, raisins, almonds and orange juice into a delightful sauce, in which she pan fried the turkey breasts. In the absence of cranberries, bacon, and an oven, I could not make any of my favorite dishes (my mom's "saucy green beans", my dad's cranberry pear sauce and bourbon pecan pie). So I just brought a simple green bean dish with lemon and garlic. However, the other Americans found clever ways around the limitations, and we did indeed have cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie, stuffing, etc.
Final note: I am not sure why hairdressers worldwide think it's acceptable for a woman to walk out of a salon with a mullet. After sporting one for a week, I finally got my hair redone so now it is super short again. It looks fine, though it could use some bright red streaks. If I feel I have already won my students' respect, perhaps I will consider it...
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Happy Halloween
On Halloween, the American girls hosted yet another party at their house (which is now just down the street from ours). The expats managed to put together some creative costumes made largely of things found in their suitcases. My Peruvian alpaca sweater came in handy as an "Indian Princess" outfit. Even though the holiday does not exist here , the Moroccans proved to be Halloween pros, showing up as devils, ghosts, Mexicans, the moon, etc. I uploaded pics of this at the end of my online photo album. My dad sent a very cute Halloween care package, which unfortunately sat at the post office for a while before I figured out how to pick it up. So it missed Halloween but we are enjoying the goodies nonetheless.
Though it is still unseasonably warm, the weather has become a bit more fall-like lately, which may account for nearly all of Rabat being sick right now. My students are all sniffling, and I finally succumbed the other day to a small cold. Luckily I have three days off, due to a national holiday on Tuesday, to rest and recover. We also will take the time to fix up the apartment a bit and buy some space heaters before the winter weather hits. Coming home at night to an apartment that is as cold (if not colder) than outside will be interesting...
A few more quirks about Moroccan life that I thought I'd mention:
Though it is still unseasonably warm, the weather has become a bit more fall-like lately, which may account for nearly all of Rabat being sick right now. My students are all sniffling, and I finally succumbed the other day to a small cold. Luckily I have three days off, due to a national holiday on Tuesday, to rest and recover. We also will take the time to fix up the apartment a bit and buy some space heaters before the winter weather hits. Coming home at night to an apartment that is as cold (if not colder) than outside will be interesting...
A few more quirks about Moroccan life that I thought I'd mention:
- The waterheater is a small box connected to a butane bottle; ours is in the kitchen, and at Nazha's, it was outside. You have to light it up before using the shower, and turn it off when you're done. Remembering to do this has been difficult for us, and cost us quite a bit of gas.
- Nearly everyone washes clothes by hand, so laundromats are scarce and quite expensive. It cost $9 for me to do a medium load, though the service was great - I just dropped it off and they did the rest.
- It is perfectly acceptable, in fact preferable to some families, to marry your first cousin. Better than marrying a stranger, they say!
- Extra virgin olive oil here actually smells and tastes like olives. I don't know what they are selling us in the U.S. but it's definitely not first press.
- I bought a box of paper clips from the photocopy place around the corner (where I often end up making copies just before class since at school they make us request copies 24 hours in advance). The guy was scraping the paper clips together from various corners of the store, to ensure I got a full box, though they were all incredibly dirty. I laugh at the fact that I paid money for these every time I see the rusty smudges on the corner of all my papers.
- The students all have a deeply ingrained habit of calling me "Teacher", even though I insist that my name is "Anya" (to which they reply, "Sorry, Teacher"). They use it at the beginning of nearly every sentence. It's maddening. Maybe I will develop a penalty system.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Rockin the Casbah
Molly and I officially moved into our new place in Oudaya, aka The Casbah, yesterday. As Molly says, our apartment is the coolest site in Rabat. We are right next to the beach (I went down this morning for a little sun), the open courtyard is awesome, the rooms are spacious, and it is definitely unlike anything we could find in the states. We really love it and are certain we made the right choice. However, we do miss Nazha and the family, and Billy, Balia, and the hedgehogs. Nazha was even crying when we left. We hope to see them often and have couscous with them sometime soon.
School is going great. These Moroccans are so damn good at languages. It is really an ideal place to teach. I asked my students on the first day to write down why they are learning English; here are some of their responses:
One of my favorite places in Rabat (besides our apartment) is an art gallery called Villa des Arts. I stopped by there after my first day of class while they were having an open gallery night. Even though I was tired, I was glad I did, because the place is spectacular at night - lots of little blue lights and illuminated fountains and twinkly music. Though it is not near as vast, it reminds me of the Getty in L.A., because the architecture is so cool - all white and very open. I saw some modern paintings by Moroccan artists that I actually liked a lot. If only I could remember their names.
Another favorite spot is the Cafe Weimar, inside the German cultural center. I also went there after my first day of teaching and treated myself to some delicious draught beer, the first I had found since coming here. And it was not even expensive - about $3. Molly and I have been back there a few times because the food is also quite good. We ate out a number of times last week because we had run out of butane for our stove and didn't want to buy another bottle before we moved. So we tried to live on raw foods at home, but ended up splurging for restaurant meals a lot (and by "splurge" I mean spend about $8 - 12). We found a wonderful place for tajines and couscous, and even wine (another first). I bought my first bottle of wine for our home yesterday which seemed like a rare treat. We started with cocktails on the roof, and then enjoyed a simple pasta dinner in our courtyard under the stars. We need to start learning how to cook some more interesting things, in the absence of Trader Joe's. Hopefully the lady downstairs, Khadija, will give us some tips. She seems very nice and speaks only Arabic, so we understand about 5% so far, but it will be good for us. We start lessons this week at the center.
School is going great. These Moroccans are so damn good at languages. It is really an ideal place to teach. I asked my students on the first day to write down why they are learning English; here are some of their responses:
- "I'm learning English because I love this language and want to speak it fluently and communicate with people too." - Mustapha
- "I'm learning English because I love it and I'll use it for sure in the future for my professional career." -Omar
- "I'm learning English because I want to speak many languages, and to have many opportunities in my future career." - Siham
- "Interesting language. I love this language." - Zakia
One of my favorite places in Rabat (besides our apartment) is an art gallery called Villa des Arts. I stopped by there after my first day of class while they were having an open gallery night. Even though I was tired, I was glad I did, because the place is spectacular at night - lots of little blue lights and illuminated fountains and twinkly music. Though it is not near as vast, it reminds me of the Getty in L.A., because the architecture is so cool - all white and very open. I saw some modern paintings by Moroccan artists that I actually liked a lot. If only I could remember their names.
Another favorite spot is the Cafe Weimar, inside the German cultural center. I also went there after my first day of teaching and treated myself to some delicious draught beer, the first I had found since coming here. And it was not even expensive - about $3. Molly and I have been back there a few times because the food is also quite good. We ate out a number of times last week because we had run out of butane for our stove and didn't want to buy another bottle before we moved. So we tried to live on raw foods at home, but ended up splurging for restaurant meals a lot (and by "splurge" I mean spend about $8 - 12). We found a wonderful place for tajines and couscous, and even wine (another first). I bought my first bottle of wine for our home yesterday which seemed like a rare treat. We started with cocktails on the roof, and then enjoyed a simple pasta dinner in our courtyard under the stars. We need to start learning how to cook some more interesting things, in the absence of Trader Joe's. Hopefully the lady downstairs, Khadija, will give us some tips. She seems very nice and speaks only Arabic, so we understand about 5% so far, but it will be good for us. We start lessons this week at the center.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I'm a teacher!
I have survived my first 3 classes as an English teacher! I am exhausted, but I had a blast. This is much more fun than writing Java programs. It is incredibly hectic at the beginning, since you get less than 24 hours to plan your first classes and every teacher is clamoring for their syllabus, books, worksheets, videos, CDs, and photocopies at the same time. But the fact that all these resources are available does make the lesson planning much easier. My first day, Friday, was my marathon day - I teach for 6 hours in a row. It was a bit nerve-wracking and I didn't sleep too much the night before, but I went in feeling prepared which helped a lot. And I brought plenty of snacks. Otherwise I teach 3 hours a day, and am off Sunday and Monday, so I have 3 more new classes to meet with this week. So far my students are great, mostly high school age, very interested in English and why I came to Morocco. I have intermediate and advanced levels only which is nice. The biggest challenge was having a blind student in my advanced class, which the administration had not bothered to warn me about. This requires a lot of extra effort, for students and teacher alike, since all writing or reading exercises need to be dictated or read aloud. I have asked the director for some guidelines as to what services I'm expected to provide in this case.
In other news, Molly and I have decided to take the apartment in Oudaya! We meet with the owner today to get the keys, but probably won't move till next weekend, since we want to prolong our stay with the family. Our new apt has an open courtyard in the middle, so when it rains, it will rain inside too! This could be a bit tough in winter but the charm compensates for it. There will be an old lady living below us who speaks only Arabic and is interested in meeting us and even giving us some cooking lessons! This is a big plus for us since our main goal is to spend time with Moroccans and learn the language. There are tons of other foreigners (especially Italian) in the neighborhood who speak French or English, in case we need a break.
The latest on Balia is that she spends the days tied up, which is sad but still better than getting hit by a car. At least at night she gets to run around when the guard arrives for his night shift. She seems to like him a lot so I think he treats her well. I took her for a walk with Billy yesterday and we had an unfortunate run-in with a notorious dog in the neighborhood whose owner lets him roam the streets even though he is quite aggressive (a Doberman mix, I think). Well he and Billy don't get along and before I could turn back to avoid him, he and Billy got in a big fight. Some men on the street helped me separate them, but man, that dog tried to bite Billy's ear off. Luckily he had no injuries, but Nazha said he has been bitten by that dog before.
I came home the other night and spotted something wonderful in the garden. No, not a gnome, but almost as good: a hedgehog! I found out the next day that Naguib, the dad, had actually purchased a male/female pair for the garden. He and Nazha are very enamored with them, despite the fact that last time they had hedgehogs, they slit their throats and used the blood as an acne medicine (I wish I were joking). But she assured me that this time they would keep them as pets. They have been crawling into the house as well and leaving droppings, so hopefully they don't wear out their welcome. Another reason Molly and I are keen to stay for a week is that it's fun to be on hedgehog alert each night! If we look down from the terrace, we often see them scurrying around the patio, and even hear them munching grass.
I added a bunch more photos to the Picasa album so check it out.
In other news, Molly and I have decided to take the apartment in Oudaya! We meet with the owner today to get the keys, but probably won't move till next weekend, since we want to prolong our stay with the family. Our new apt has an open courtyard in the middle, so when it rains, it will rain inside too! This could be a bit tough in winter but the charm compensates for it. There will be an old lady living below us who speaks only Arabic and is interested in meeting us and even giving us some cooking lessons! This is a big plus for us since our main goal is to spend time with Moroccans and learn the language. There are tons of other foreigners (especially Italian) in the neighborhood who speak French or English, in case we need a break.
The latest on Balia is that she spends the days tied up, which is sad but still better than getting hit by a car. At least at night she gets to run around when the guard arrives for his night shift. She seems to like him a lot so I think he treats her well. I took her for a walk with Billy yesterday and we had an unfortunate run-in with a notorious dog in the neighborhood whose owner lets him roam the streets even though he is quite aggressive (a Doberman mix, I think). Well he and Billy don't get along and before I could turn back to avoid him, he and Billy got in a big fight. Some men on the street helped me separate them, but man, that dog tried to bite Billy's ear off. Luckily he had no injuries, but Nazha said he has been bitten by that dog before.
I came home the other night and spotted something wonderful in the garden. No, not a gnome, but almost as good: a hedgehog! I found out the next day that Naguib, the dad, had actually purchased a male/female pair for the garden. He and Nazha are very enamored with them, despite the fact that last time they had hedgehogs, they slit their throats and used the blood as an acne medicine (I wish I were joking). But she assured me that this time they would keep them as pets. They have been crawling into the house as well and leaving droppings, so hopefully they don't wear out their welcome. Another reason Molly and I are keen to stay for a week is that it's fun to be on hedgehog alert each night! If we look down from the terrace, we often see them scurrying around the patio, and even hear them munching grass.
I added a bunch more photos to the Picasa album so check it out.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Fiesta!
Ramadan is officially over. Except for women who have to fast for a few extra days to make up for days they were on their period, when they are not supposed to fast or enter a mosque (!). It's nice to see people in cafes again. Molly and I are starting to learn what was and wasn't a "Ramadan-thing", ex. the medina is still quite lively at night; people don't have to go to the mosque every night, though they still have to pray 5 times daily and we get to hear the eerie call to prayer which makes me feel like I'm in a Dracula movie.
The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a holiday called Eid al Fitr, which is not quite the biggest holiday of the year but perhaps the most eagerly anticipated. After a month of fasting and little sleep, people finally get to sleep in and enjoy a decadent breakfast and lunch. We were lucky enough to be invited to join the family for these meals, though I was unlucky enough to have gotten some kind of food poisoning the night before! I believe the culprit was spinach that I had not washed thoroughly enough (too spoiled on bagged spinach, I guess). I had a rather miserable night and had to miss out on the breakfast (which apparently was a huge array of sweets and breads) but fortunately recovered in time for lunch. The main dish was an absolutely delicious combo of chicken topped with pumpkin sauce (akin to pumpkin pie filling) as well as a saltier sauce underneath. And of course the various Moroccan salads to accompany it. Dessert was buttered spaghetti noodles with cinnamon and powdered sugar. We all sat around a table and picked at these platters with our hands. Various members of Nazha's family were there - she has at least 10 siblings, so it was only a small portion of them but it made for a good crowd. There were a couple little kids who were quite adorable; the girl, Nargisse, spoke French and even some English, and told us some charming stories about how the end of the world was nigh. The boy, Yessine, was too young to speak anything we understood but enjoyed posing for pictures. There were several other hams in the family, especially her brother Hamid, who they call "the American" because he lived in New Jersey for several years. Everyone got a big laugh pretending that Molly and I were his wives (he is an older gentleman who already has a wife and kids) and they took a million pictures of us together. In the evening, they dressed us up in fancy kaftans, while Hamid disguised himself as a Saudi Arabian and pretended to bring us gold. Then the niece Samira painted on a beard and also impersonated a Saudi (they get a big kick out of this) and Hamid dressed up as her wife. Then he dressed up as a sheep. All of this was met with uproarious laugher, and reminded me a great deal of holidays spend dressing up and making skits with my dad's family in Texas.
I was worried about finding an apt when advertising on the internet is not so common here. Turns out the human internet works just as well - every local person to whom I've mentioned I was looking for an apt has known of some place for rent and been happy to provide an address or number. The other strategy that I was skeptical of but has proven fruitful is hiring an agent, someone who has the scoop on all the available places in a certain neighborhood. Some of the others from our school had used a rather notorious guy named Mokhtar. Today he showed us several places in Oudaya, which is the old Casbah and truly feels like a step back in time. The apts are not quite as clean and modern as where we are now, but they are definitely charming. Mokhtar's finder's fee is supposedly half of one month's rent though he has been known to demand more at the last minute. We will try to stand strong. But in general, the fear of being scammed and hustled at every turn is something that travel books for tourists implant in you for no apparent reason. In Brazil, I spent my whole vacation being paranoid about muggers and scams, yet had no problems at all. I should have learned from that, but still I came here expecting all Moroccans to be scam artists. On the contrary, nearly everyone including taxi drivers and medina vendors are genuinely friendly.
I sense the Balia story is not going to have a good conclusion; the nice thing about expecting the worst (a strategy I've nearly mastered) is that I am rarely disappointed. The collar I bought her has already disappeared, presumably stolen by some neighborhood jerk. I can almost guarantee it's for sale in the medina right now. She continues to wander the street though the guard seems to be doing better at keeping her in the immediate area. She follows me home whenever I stop to visit and sometimes I let her come in and play with Billy. This nasty lady who lives in the apartments that the guy is guarding saw me petting Balia and asked if she was mine; although I said no, she went on to complain vehemently about how she does NOT want a dog on the premises and the dog makes SUCH a mess in the yard and HOW can someone own a dog and leave it homeless all day. I said I totally agreed and would she please speak to the owner about it. I have my doubts that the guard is going to find an adequate solution.
A few other things which I haven't mentioned because they already seem normal to me but which might be amusing to my gentle readers:
- We wash the dishes with Tide
- We wash the laundry (and ourselves) with a big brick of miracle soap called "sabon al mengil" that removes all kinds of stains (such as beet juice) and is made of all natural things. It resembles the famous soap from Marseille. Count on getting some in your xmas stockings when I get back.
- Aside from the "pocket shot" of whiskey in a plastic pouch that I brought from home and shared with Molly on our first night, I have not had a drop of alcohol in 2 weeks! Due to Ramadan, even the supermarkets did not carry any. Although I've gotten used to drinking OJ at dinner, I am definitely craving some red wine and am hoping to stock up today at Marjane, the "Western" supermarket which is a good hike from where we work.
- Prices are weird:
$1 will get you about a week's worth of vegetables, a taxi ride across town, 2 illegally copied DVDs.
$12 will get you a decent dog collar, a pair of leather sandals (if you don't feel like bargaining), a simple dinner for 2 at a restaurant
$200 will get you a month's rent in a cheap studio, a small refrigerator, 2 bottles of vodka at a night club (apparently they serve in bottles)
$350,000 will buy you an apartment in an ok neighborhood that is a bit smaller than our house in Phoenix, which goes for about the same price, yet the number of families in Phoenix who could afford it is infinitely higher. So much for my idea of buying property here.
The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a holiday called Eid al Fitr, which is not quite the biggest holiday of the year but perhaps the most eagerly anticipated. After a month of fasting and little sleep, people finally get to sleep in and enjoy a decadent breakfast and lunch. We were lucky enough to be invited to join the family for these meals, though I was unlucky enough to have gotten some kind of food poisoning the night before! I believe the culprit was spinach that I had not washed thoroughly enough (too spoiled on bagged spinach, I guess). I had a rather miserable night and had to miss out on the breakfast (which apparently was a huge array of sweets and breads) but fortunately recovered in time for lunch. The main dish was an absolutely delicious combo of chicken topped with pumpkin sauce (akin to pumpkin pie filling) as well as a saltier sauce underneath. And of course the various Moroccan salads to accompany it. Dessert was buttered spaghetti noodles with cinnamon and powdered sugar. We all sat around a table and picked at these platters with our hands. Various members of Nazha's family were there - she has at least 10 siblings, so it was only a small portion of them but it made for a good crowd. There were a couple little kids who were quite adorable; the girl, Nargisse, spoke French and even some English, and told us some charming stories about how the end of the world was nigh. The boy, Yessine, was too young to speak anything we understood but enjoyed posing for pictures. There were several other hams in the family, especially her brother Hamid, who they call "the American" because he lived in New Jersey for several years. Everyone got a big laugh pretending that Molly and I were his wives (he is an older gentleman who already has a wife and kids) and they took a million pictures of us together. In the evening, they dressed us up in fancy kaftans, while Hamid disguised himself as a Saudi Arabian and pretended to bring us gold. Then the niece Samira painted on a beard and also impersonated a Saudi (they get a big kick out of this) and Hamid dressed up as her wife. Then he dressed up as a sheep. All of this was met with uproarious laugher, and reminded me a great deal of holidays spend dressing up and making skits with my dad's family in Texas.
I was worried about finding an apt when advertising on the internet is not so common here. Turns out the human internet works just as well - every local person to whom I've mentioned I was looking for an apt has known of some place for rent and been happy to provide an address or number. The other strategy that I was skeptical of but has proven fruitful is hiring an agent, someone who has the scoop on all the available places in a certain neighborhood. Some of the others from our school had used a rather notorious guy named Mokhtar. Today he showed us several places in Oudaya, which is the old Casbah and truly feels like a step back in time. The apts are not quite as clean and modern as where we are now, but they are definitely charming. Mokhtar's finder's fee is supposedly half of one month's rent though he has been known to demand more at the last minute. We will try to stand strong. But in general, the fear of being scammed and hustled at every turn is something that travel books for tourists implant in you for no apparent reason. In Brazil, I spent my whole vacation being paranoid about muggers and scams, yet had no problems at all. I should have learned from that, but still I came here expecting all Moroccans to be scam artists. On the contrary, nearly everyone including taxi drivers and medina vendors are genuinely friendly.
I sense the Balia story is not going to have a good conclusion; the nice thing about expecting the worst (a strategy I've nearly mastered) is that I am rarely disappointed. The collar I bought her has already disappeared, presumably stolen by some neighborhood jerk. I can almost guarantee it's for sale in the medina right now. She continues to wander the street though the guard seems to be doing better at keeping her in the immediate area. She follows me home whenever I stop to visit and sometimes I let her come in and play with Billy. This nasty lady who lives in the apartments that the guy is guarding saw me petting Balia and asked if she was mine; although I said no, she went on to complain vehemently about how she does NOT want a dog on the premises and the dog makes SUCH a mess in the yard and HOW can someone own a dog and leave it homeless all day. I said I totally agreed and would she please speak to the owner about it. I have my doubts that the guard is going to find an adequate solution.
A few other things which I haven't mentioned because they already seem normal to me but which might be amusing to my gentle readers:
- We wash the dishes with Tide
- We wash the laundry (and ourselves) with a big brick of miracle soap called "sabon al mengil" that removes all kinds of stains (such as beet juice) and is made of all natural things. It resembles the famous soap from Marseille. Count on getting some in your xmas stockings when I get back.
- Aside from the "pocket shot" of whiskey in a plastic pouch that I brought from home and shared with Molly on our first night, I have not had a drop of alcohol in 2 weeks! Due to Ramadan, even the supermarkets did not carry any. Although I've gotten used to drinking OJ at dinner, I am definitely craving some red wine and am hoping to stock up today at Marjane, the "Western" supermarket which is a good hike from where we work.
- Prices are weird:
$1 will get you about a week's worth of vegetables, a taxi ride across town, 2 illegally copied DVDs.
$12 will get you a decent dog collar, a pair of leather sandals (if you don't feel like bargaining), a simple dinner for 2 at a restaurant
$200 will get you a month's rent in a cheap studio, a small refrigerator, 2 bottles of vodka at a night club (apparently they serve in bottles)
$350,000 will buy you an apartment in an ok neighborhood that is a bit smaller than our house in Phoenix, which goes for about the same price, yet the number of families in Phoenix who could afford it is infinitely higher. So much for my idea of buying property here.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Dog Days
Tonight the city is celebrating the end of Ramadan. Halleluia, I say, because it's been a royal pain in the butt. Everyone is fasting during the day so cafes are closed and at night most restaurants only serve limited menus. Hence, all we've really been eating is pasta with vegetables that we cook ourselves. We had "breakfast" at 6 pm with the family on the first night we arrived, and it was delish - mainly sweets, followed by soup. Also our neighbors offered us some harira (traditional soup) one night. They are 2 Moroccan sisters who occupy the third and final studio here, very nice girls who taught us some more Moroccan words. Also, everyone is tired during Ramadan because they stay up till midnight to eat "dinner" and then get up at 5 am to pray. The one benefit is that things are lively at night due to the weird schedule - for example, I'm in the medina right now, which at other times may be too sketchy for women after dark. But there's tons of people out now and loud traditional music playing and stores are open.
Unfortunately, just as we were starting to feel like the luckiest girls in the world for landing this great place to stay at such a cheap price, we found out we will not be able to stay there longterm. So we are now scrambling to find apartments, which really sucks as I'd much prefer to live with a family than spend all my time by myself. But we can stay here a month or even two while we look.
To add to the reasons I want to stay, I found a girlfriend for Billy! She followed us home on our walk one day, and again the next day, and I told Nazha to come see how pretty she was (German shepherd mix, 1 year old) and she said "Invite her in!" So they actually took her in one night, which I thought was incredible though perhaps a bit irresponsible. Btw, what I said about Moroccans not having dogs is b.s. from the internet - nearly every house has one, mainly as a guardian, not so much a pet, and they definitely lack some understanding on how to care for them. Anyway, the family named her Balia, but she made too much noise so they let her go the next day. I figured I'd see her around though feared for her safety since I'd seen someone kick her before. Well sure enough, next time I walked Billy, she was crossing the street to see us and got hit by a moped. It was pretty horrible. She ran off but I worried she may have internal bleeding or broken ribs. The guys on the moped were not the typical neighborhood jerks and seemed genuinely sorry and tried to help me find her. I discovered her later near a busy intersection and miraculously, she seemed fine. But I was not about to let her go again so I brought her back home and took her to the vet the next day to get vaccinated (to help convince the family that she should stay, as they were concerned for Billy.) The vet was a cool lady, much better than mine in the U.S. and far cheaper. But the story continues...turns out Balia "belongs to" the night guard down the street and he wants her back. I am actually supposed to be meeting with him tonight; it's almost sure he will take her back though we will have to insist that he keep her in some kind of enclosure during the day, and we will keep an eye on her. That concludes the dog story, which has occupied a good deal of my time of late.
Otherwise, I've been delighted to discover the fresh O.J. and fish sandwiches here as good as in Turkey; less delighted by the beach which is rather small and dirty, though there are many more outside the city; impressed with the degree of organization at the school - the lessons are pretty much pre-planned for all levels so less work for us, it seems, though I won't really know until I get my class assignments which doesn't happen until...the night before school starts! That could be a long night.
I have to go stock up on food now because everything will be closed this weekend for the holiday. Eid said!
Unfortunately, just as we were starting to feel like the luckiest girls in the world for landing this great place to stay at such a cheap price, we found out we will not be able to stay there longterm. So we are now scrambling to find apartments, which really sucks as I'd much prefer to live with a family than spend all my time by myself. But we can stay here a month or even two while we look.
To add to the reasons I want to stay, I found a girlfriend for Billy! She followed us home on our walk one day, and again the next day, and I told Nazha to come see how pretty she was (German shepherd mix, 1 year old) and she said "Invite her in!" So they actually took her in one night, which I thought was incredible though perhaps a bit irresponsible. Btw, what I said about Moroccans not having dogs is b.s. from the internet - nearly every house has one, mainly as a guardian, not so much a pet, and they definitely lack some understanding on how to care for them. Anyway, the family named her Balia, but she made too much noise so they let her go the next day. I figured I'd see her around though feared for her safety since I'd seen someone kick her before. Well sure enough, next time I walked Billy, she was crossing the street to see us and got hit by a moped. It was pretty horrible. She ran off but I worried she may have internal bleeding or broken ribs. The guys on the moped were not the typical neighborhood jerks and seemed genuinely sorry and tried to help me find her. I discovered her later near a busy intersection and miraculously, she seemed fine. But I was not about to let her go again so I brought her back home and took her to the vet the next day to get vaccinated (to help convince the family that she should stay, as they were concerned for Billy.) The vet was a cool lady, much better than mine in the U.S. and far cheaper. But the story continues...turns out Balia "belongs to" the night guard down the street and he wants her back. I am actually supposed to be meeting with him tonight; it's almost sure he will take her back though we will have to insist that he keep her in some kind of enclosure during the day, and we will keep an eye on her. That concludes the dog story, which has occupied a good deal of my time of late.
Otherwise, I've been delighted to discover the fresh O.J. and fish sandwiches here as good as in Turkey; less delighted by the beach which is rather small and dirty, though there are many more outside the city; impressed with the degree of organization at the school - the lessons are pretty much pre-planned for all levels so less work for us, it seems, though I won't really know until I get my class assignments which doesn't happen until...the night before school starts! That could be a long night.
I have to go stock up on food now because everything will be closed this weekend for the holiday. Eid said!
Friday, October 5, 2007
First Rabat, Then the World
Salaam Alaikum!
I made it to Rabat. I have moved here to teach English for a year, maybe longer. I'm not going to name the school so I don't get in trouble in case I need to complain about it. Classes don't start until Oct. 19 so I have plenty of time to settle in. So far I've purchased a stove top (the "kitchen" of my studio has only a sink and cabinets), won a battle with a street merchant who sold me a broken (i.e. stolen) phone, and learned how to say "the water is not hot". Still to do: get a real fridge to replace the "Ice Cream/Snacks" freezer that is currently turning my beets into beetcicles.
Aside from some bad advice on the freezer and phone, my host family is awesome. I am living in a studio within the walls of their family home, which is pretty fancy compared to most, I think. The neighborhood is called Les Orangers and is a 20 minute walk to the school. The house has a nice garden and terrace where Molly and I ate a pasta dinner last night. Molly is another American girl living next to me. We do most of our exploring together. She just spent a year teaching English in Russia. She also once had pink hair like mine.
The mom in our family, Nazha, is the best. She sneaks cigarettes even though women aren't supposed to smoke. She pretended like she was buying the cigarettes for us. She came by our room last night to chat for 2 hours. She is quite smart and opinionated. She really enjoyed my pictures of maple trees from Virginia.
Her daughter Zineb is 19 and very smart as well. Her English is good and she wants to practice with us. Otherwise, we speak mostly French with the family, though we are trying to learn some Moroccan Arabic from them. Their maid, Fatma, only speaks Moroccan so that is a good motivator. She is a sweetheart.
Best of all, they have a dog! This is very rare in Muslim society, as they are considered filthy animals. But they love this dog and are happy to have me walk him every day. His name is Billy, for some reason.
Hopefully next week I will do some site-seeing and check out the beach. Stay tuned...
I made it to Rabat. I have moved here to teach English for a year, maybe longer. I'm not going to name the school so I don't get in trouble in case I need to complain about it. Classes don't start until Oct. 19 so I have plenty of time to settle in. So far I've purchased a stove top (the "kitchen" of my studio has only a sink and cabinets), won a battle with a street merchant who sold me a broken (i.e. stolen) phone, and learned how to say "the water is not hot". Still to do: get a real fridge to replace the "Ice Cream/Snacks" freezer that is currently turning my beets into beetcicles.
Aside from some bad advice on the freezer and phone, my host family is awesome. I am living in a studio within the walls of their family home, which is pretty fancy compared to most, I think. The neighborhood is called Les Orangers and is a 20 minute walk to the school. The house has a nice garden and terrace where Molly and I ate a pasta dinner last night. Molly is another American girl living next to me. We do most of our exploring together. She just spent a year teaching English in Russia. She also once had pink hair like mine.
The mom in our family, Nazha, is the best. She sneaks cigarettes even though women aren't supposed to smoke. She pretended like she was buying the cigarettes for us. She came by our room last night to chat for 2 hours. She is quite smart and opinionated. She really enjoyed my pictures of maple trees from Virginia.
Her daughter Zineb is 19 and very smart as well. Her English is good and she wants to practice with us. Otherwise, we speak mostly French with the family, though we are trying to learn some Moroccan Arabic from them. Their maid, Fatma, only speaks Moroccan so that is a good motivator. She is a sweetheart.
Best of all, they have a dog! This is very rare in Muslim society, as they are considered filthy animals. But they love this dog and are happy to have me walk him every day. His name is Billy, for some reason.
Hopefully next week I will do some site-seeing and check out the beach. Stay tuned...
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