Oh, Christmas Sheep

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.

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".

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.