Travel Sick

Last weekend, they closed the school for a couple days so all the teachers could attend a professional development conference in Marrakech (see the new photos in my Rabat album.) The other ALC branches from around Morocco were there, and we learned that our school has way more women than the rest of them. Anyway, we had a fabulous time: they put us up in a swanky hotel, in the area of town with lots of other swanky hotels, so although we didn't get a very "real" view of Marrakech, it was definitely a nice view. There was a huge swimming pool and even in February, it was warm enough at midday to take a dip. They had a big fancy dinner for us the first night, much like a wedding where we sat at round tables with golden tablecloths and an over-abundance of silverware. They served delicious traditional food including many of the vegetable spreads ("Moroccan salads") that I like. Since we all ate the same thing, I cannot say it was the food that made me vomit the next day. Yes, Montezuma's Revenge struck again, on it's semi-regular monthly schedule. I have concluded that it must be a microbe I picked up upon arrival here, so I took a regimen of antibiotics and am praying that will be the end of it. Still, even that was not enough to ruin a good time in Marrakesh. Although I missed a few of the presentations while doubled over in the bathroom, the conference provided some excellent teaching tips. They invited some entertaining guest speakers - a pair from the Uk and Laurel Pollard, author of the Zero Prep books. We really only had 1.5 days and there wasn't much time for site-seeing, but we were able to visit the (in)famous Jmaa el-Fna, a huge square where something akin to a State Fair happens every single day. It is filled with snake charmers, monkey handlers, musicians, and dancers who do not hesitate to break formation in order to pursue any tourist who dares to take a picture without leaving some money. Then around 6 pm, the food vendors show up and erect a gazillion food stalls and heckle the heck out of passers-by until the wee hours of the morning (for obvious reasons, I didn't try any of their food). Despite all the warnings about harassment, we actually had a very pleasant visit since we were accompanied by some Moroccan male teachers. I had a snake on my shoulders at one point, but as I do with other harassers, I ignored it and it went away. Before getting on the train back to Rabat, Molly and I spent an hour in the Jardin Majorelle, a colorful and cool spot to escape the afternoon sun. So at least we hit 2 of the major tourist attractions, but our current plan is to to return in April when we have a 1-week break and do a tour of the south as well as a short desert trek.

That was the positive part of the blog. Now I have to rant. Lately, I have been completely and irrationally occupied with worrying about what to do next. I think the having-no-money panic is starting to set in. Manifesting Europe is going to be very difficult on a teacher's salary, and from the looks of it, they don't hire too many Americans in Spain and France. I found out that I am officially too old for the French assistantship program that some of my American friends have done. I am living pretty comfortably here so it would make sense to stay another year...but I just don't want to. The daily harassment, lack of social life, and blatant racism, not to mention the regular vomiting, are getting old quickly. There is actually an English-language Master's program here that I think I could enroll in, but I can't imagine how miserable I would be if on top of everything I had to STUDY. It's Feb 2008 so it seems like I should just take it easy, but we have to sign next year's contracts soon, plus I have to make my summer travel plans, so I need to figure things out pronto. Over a week of brooding has not yielded anything yet. Your ideas are welcome.

I guess I can't throw out a word like "racism" without being prepared to defend it. So here is my evidence: we have been to several restaurants where they would not let a Moroccan friend enter until we came outside and vouched for them. Wait, you're saying, aren't you IN Morocco? Well yes, but there seems to be a European-only policy at many high-end places in some lame effort to keep out "riff raff". In the same vein, hotels in Marrakech, even crappy ones, will not give rooms to Moroccan males. So there's all this weird self-hate racism, and then there's the more standard racism against dark-skinned Africans. Even my well educated students told me that immigrants from sub-Subharan Africa are "lazy" and they wouldn't hire them if they had a business (a fact all the more ironic given that this is typically how the French perceive Moroccan immigrants).

Now I'm going to watch American History X, which I bought in the medina for $1.25.