March 26, 27, & 28

Monday and Tuesday were fine. Arabic is literally the death of me this week. I am so over it and just want to go to Jordan and be back with the real Arabic fam. Monday was a normal day. I can’t think of anything special that happened. I am sure that SOMETHING did, but I just can’t remember. Now I do. An unfriendly cousin came over and just sat next to me as I was doing my Arabic hw. She didn’t have shoes on and her feet smelt terrible! I had NO Idea what to do, but I sucked it up and I guess I got used to it? Imane says that she doesn’t really like her that much, and I think I agree. The one good thing about this girl coming meant TWO tea times, and delicious dinner.

Tuesday was good. Sara and I wanted to get an avocado for lunch (it was chicken day- my least fave) and we ended up getting an entire sandwich. Street veggie sandwich with: peppers (felfel), egg plant, fried mashed potatoes, salsa & hot sauce. We bought an avocado from a different stand, so the sandwich maker smushed it in as well. I could NOT wait for the sandwich, and had to have two bites on the way. We snuck up to the terrace to eat it (we didn’t want the very nice chef to see that we were not eating his food). The sandwiches were GREAT and redeemed the day from the wrath of boring Arabic class. We went downstairs to rest and hang out, and I was caught. The chef asked if I ate yet, and handed me a lunch tray! I couldn’t refuse. I made Sara help, but we really couldn’t eat a lot. I ate the cucs and tomatoes and she ate some lentils- I also put the apple in my bag for later. I took in another girl’s tray to put it away so the chef couldn’t tell that I didn’t eat anything off mine. Class this week is pertinent (Children & Families) to my project, so I am paying extra special attention. The professor is also going to be my advisor for my ISP, so I want to make a good impression. His name is Mokhtar and is a very nice older Moroccan man. He speaks veryyy quietly, which I do not appreciate, but he seems very smart. I think he is going to be a big big help.

After class we had TWO more classes… Field Study Seminars. They also were actually surprisingly helpful- it was just a very long day. I was so antsy at the end that I decided to go on a run. FOR REAL THIS TIME! My friends went to the crepe place, but I stuck to my promise. (I also needed to shower, so I figured running before would be good). I went home, changed and then went. I ran longer than I did last time, and actually RAN more- less walking. I got home and went straight into the shower. I washed my socks etc. in the sink, and they actually became incredibly clean (the water was very dirty…) That was good, and then it was tea time. It was easy to eat only a little bread because of my run, but the tea was especially refreshing. I didn’t have Arabic homework (woot woot). I remembered that Sara and I bought bootleg DVDs (5 dirhams each) on Saturday, so I tried them out. I got Easy A and Vicky Christina Barcelona. These movies are LEGIT. They have a menu, and are in English. Very clear so far (I only watched a half hour of it) & I am very happy. I am going to buy a lot during ISP I think. My “mom” said that she saw me running, and did an impression of me that was not too flattering… Another good dinner- I think different spices, or something? I ate a lot, but not a lot of bread- healthy day. Then bed-time

Wednesday was equally as good. We only had our seminar class, so I had a (kind of) free afternoon. I spoke with my advisor after class and he told me that he had already emailed his friend who is a HS teacher in Kenitra (~30 mins away), and he thinks that I will be able to have a focus group with students AND teachers from the HS. That would be very valuable to my project, so I hope it happens—the ball has started to roll. After class I was supposed to have a meeting with Fairouz at her office. I knew the general location of it, so I walked there. It is VERY hot now, and today was weirdly buggy. I was wearing a heavier sweater and got a little sweaty (bad combo with the bugs). Once I got to the vicinity of Fairouz’s office I called her, but the message on the phone said that that number had been disconnected! Thankfully, Fadoua gave me a different number of hers a while ago, and that worked! Long story short, after a few phone calls- I finally made it to her office. We called two of the organizations that I want to be working with, or at least interview for my project, and they both were disappointing. One said that the head of the organization wasn’t there, and that he would call back in two days. The other told us to call back tomorrow morning. I only had a limited period of time with Fairouz, and she is VERY hard to get a hold of, so I was kinda bummed. I told her that I would call back the 2^nd organization in the morning. I am nervous because I have to speak French to them. Wish me luck. After the meeting I had some time before another meeting (at 6:00).

I decided to have some personal time, and NOT to go back to the CCCL to go on the internet. I thought I deserved a treat after my trek and semi-disappointment, so I looked at the donut bakery. I resisted the urge and then walked to the juice place and got some delicious OJ- thinking that it would suppress my desire for that donut. It didn’t. I went back and asked how much (in Arabic) the donuts were. The woman said 14 dirham, and I gave her a 200 bc that is all I had. She asked how many I wanted and I said only one. She gave me a funny look and asked if I had smaller bills. I showed her my 2 dirham coin and she took that. I was happy and said thank you, but she told me to wait. I got 50 dirham cents back!! I think that the donuts cost 14 dirham/KILO hahaha- shows how much I wanted it. I then went into a park that I have been admiring and sat and ate my delicious donut (see main pic- sorry I had to take a bite before the picture). There were an obscene amount of kittens and cats around my bench, so I ate quickly. Two women came and sat down next to me and immediately started to take pix of each other on a cellphone. I offered to take one of both of them, and then they asked to take one (which turned into four…) with me. It was weird, and I didn’t know how I was going to get out of it, but I just said that I had to leave, and did. I was starting to walk back to the CCCL (I had a little less than an hour before my other meeting) but then I remembered that I had to mail a postcard. I walked to the post office and mailed it (it wasn’t easy). Walking back I passed the protests, and it was a little nerve-wracking. Similar to OWS in the city, the protesters were walking around. The police were following them. I passed the protest and then two mins later I heard a STAMPEDE of people behind me. I kinda stopped in my tracks and hoped that nobody trampled me (they didn’t) and it was over. They stopped after they crossed the street and were chanting at the police. I walked slower to see if the police were going to do anything else, but they didn’t.

My second meeting of the day was with a realtor. Haha. We have to figure out housing for ISP, so Sara called someone during Arabic and made a meeting with him for 6 pm today. He was an old man with a cane! So funny. He spoke French which was good. Both apartments were in the medina. The first one was TERRIBLE! So small and dark! Turkish toilet and barely a shower. The kitchen was on the terrace and I didn’t even see a stove (only a Panini press??). We politely said no thank you, and asked to see the next place. The next place was MUCH better. I was surprised to see my friend who owns the hanoot (shop) by my house in this house. I guess he lives there? We were happy to see each other, and I was thinking about a discount. The terms of the house is that we would get the bottom floor. There is a beautiful kitchen and bathroom and two sleeping rooms. It is kind of inside/outside which is awesome and means that I will NOT be hot while I am sleeping. In the living room/second bedroom there is a chandelier that is also music speakers. SO funny, but and they really loved showing that off to us. There’s also another little area with “internet” (a computer) and a table and more convertible beds/seating. I am planning on living with four other girls, but there is definitely room for more. We were happy and seemed excited, but did not make any deals yet. We want to talk to other peeps and see if we can get the price down a little. It amounts to ~67 dirham per day (~8 USD) which seems cheap, but is actually kind of expensive for Morocco. We asked to see another apartment, but our realtor did not have any more for today. We will meet him again tomorrow at 6 to look at ocean view properties in the Oudaya (I kid you not). STAY TUNED!!

After my Arabic HW, I watched more of my bootleged Easy A with Imane. I don't think she understood much, but that's good bc it was kind of inappropriate. Dinner was weird, but good. We had french toasted cauliflower. It was definitely dipped in egg and then fried a little bit. I went out of my zone to take the crunchy ones, but nobody seemed to have a problem with that. We also had some fish that was good, and moussaka that was better than the other day that we had it. My "mom" and Imane didn't eat/havent' been eating recently... IDK why. Oranges that were VERY hard to peel for dessert. I went to sleep EARLY, which was great.

March 23,24 & 25: weekend in Rabat

Friday-

We had normal Arabic class, and then after break we did a “Moroccan costume” session, which was interesting. I didn’t get to try on any costumes, but Liza tried on the full burqa, and she said it was incredibly hot- makes sense, but I never thought about before. Imagine wearing it during the SUMMER here… Anyway. We had our first free Friday afternoon, so I was excited. I was pretty tired and wanted to nap, but that ended up NOT happening. The girls from Illinois were at couscous and they LOVED it. They said that they could eat it every day for the rest of their lives or something- they think that NOW. Anyway I was feeling kinda friendly, so I asked if they wanted to walk around the medina with me. They agreed. It was pretty muggy & buggy out- gross. We went around (with Imane) to places that I hadn’t even been before- Imane said it was because I hadn’t spent a weekend in Rabat yet, which made me sad. I got excited for the weekend. The girls had to go to class, so Imane and I walked them back to the house to get their water etc.

One of the girls wanted to get a keychain for her boyfriend from home, so Imane and I said that we'd get it while she was in class. We went back to the shop that we had seen the keychains, and asked the man to write “Eric” on it. While we were walking home, Imane asked if I wanted to meet up with her friend and a friend of his (double date?). I asked who they were and she said “I don’t know… I met him on facebook this morning” not kidding. It sounds worse than it is because the boy/girl relationship culture is VERY different here, but I was still a little skeeved out. I also was really looking forward to my internet/relaxation time, so I made her promise that we would only be with them till 4:00. On our way home so Imane could put on make up (ugh..) my friend Ari called and asked if I wanted to go to the American bookstore. Phewf- SAVED!! Imane and I devised a plan so she could meet these boys and I could meet Ari- we ran home (so she could put on make up…) and then ran back out (it was 4:15). I met Ari at the tram stop and told her all about my day that was crazier than it seems. The bookstore was very small and not organized well… hardly any bookshelves, a lot of boxes. There was a good number/variety of books, and they were all pretty cheap. I didn’t get any, but Ari got War & Peace and something else… I forget. The man working there was very sweet, and I think he will be able to help me find some books for my ISP. Then we went back home. I was VERY tired at that point. Finally some R&R.

I realized that I was locked out of the house when I got home. SO terrible besides the fact that I got a Coke Zero and was pleasantly sipping it on the bottom of the stairs. Imane didn’t answer her phone… rude, and I realized that I never added my host mom’s number to my cell phone. I started to get bored, so I called Simo! Great thinking. He called his mom and she came a minute later. Simo also told me that he was going to come home this weekend. Fun. Once I got home I rested for a while, and then networked to see what peeps were doing- it was FridayyyYyYy nite afterall… Chase and I agreed to meet at Mo 5 and Laalou at 8 pm. Faisil (Simo’s friend—“The Sandwich King”)’s mom was at tea time, and she is quite a hoot. She told me that she had only 5 sons, and no daughters :(. We also mentioned my confusion as to who I thought she was (the cleaning lady) which was still funny. She asked if I had a boyfriend, and I said no. My “mom” then- very sweetly- called me “habibIIIII” (MYYYY love) and then gave me a big hug. Very nice. 8 pm came quicker than I had thought, so I got ready to leave. When I left, I told my family that I would be home for dinner (~9:30… tall order). We got street food for Chase, met up with Sara and Daisy, and then walked to the beach. It was very peaceful and nice. Other people from our program joined and it was like a lil partay. Fati’s host cousins came too and they were entertaining. Before I knew it, it was 10 p.m. I texted Imane, but no response. I just came to terms with missing dinner because I wasn’t ready to leave yet, and I wasn't even hungry. An hour later we decided to go back, and I called my “mom” to tell her I was coming home. She said that it wasn’t a problem. A GREAT surprise greeted me when I got home. My host mother (or Fatima) put an individual dinner on my bedside table. Hariria (moroccan soup), hard boiled eggs (we never get those…), the deep fried funnel cake, and bread. Typical Moroccan Friday night dinner. I was a total clam. I made myself brush my teeth and wash my face and then passssed out! Great Friday.

Saturday

I have a sleeping problem here. I can’t sleep through the night- it’s terrible. I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and couldn’t fall back to sleep (I thought I was going to wake up at 11 am….). I lay(ed?) in bed, which is almost as good as sleeping, and then woke up for real at like 9:30 because it was RAINING!! Thunder and everything. First time here… so refreshing, but sad because I was ACTUALLY (for real this time) planning on going for a run, and then showering. It was a sign… I am just not supposed to work out here. I borrowed Sara’s comp charger over night, so I dropped it off once the rain stopped a little bit.

Different vibes in the medina on a Saturday morning. Even though it was raining, it seemed a little happier- maybe clean/refreshed? Idk. I did get accosted by a neighbor for slamming the door too loudly bc “people are sleeeeeeping” MAH B! I wondered if he was going to tell the barking dog and cockadoodley rooster to STFU too. I walked to meet Sara in my pjs, and then came back hoping to shower. Apparently there was no hot water tank, so Imane and I went out to get one. These things are HEAVY, and we didn’t have a push-cart thing (Mom maybe u should bring one of those when you come…). I was unsure how we were going to do it because we were having a hard time carrying the empty one. We passed a lot of boys and men but NOBODY offered to help. I was shocked & confused. I told Imane that if we were in America doing this at least ONE of those not-so-gentle men would have stopped and helped. To top it off!! Once we got there, another man was filling his tank too. He had a cart, and when Imane asked if we could borrow it (we live practically around the corner) he had the audacity to tell US that we should have our own cart! Very rude. We took a lot of breaks on the way home. I was definitely carrying more weight than Imane… she was laughing a lot- like curled over laughter. I decided to laugh once we were home and I was clean. We made it! I showered (great shower because it was day time & much warmer than any other shower I have taken before). Simo came in while I was in the shower. Imane told me that we were going to Timara, where their other house is. (Yippee!). The plan was to go for lunch and not sleep there. Fine. I got dressed packed up a little bag and then we were off- Simo didn’t come because there was no room in the car. Timara is only 30 mins away (on the shore of Morocco in between Rabat and Casa). We got there in no time! My family’s house doesn’t have a lot of furniture in it, and a lot of things are wrapped up, but my “dad”’s brother lives upstairs full time, so we spent the day there. The house was very big and spacious. I now know why my “mom” wanted to show it off. It was beautiful and modern.

Saturday, March 24^th, was a special day for my REAL family at home. It was Kristin’s second annual fundraiser. As much as I wanted to be there, the family trip made me feel close to my Moroccan family and I saw a lot of similarities between them and my real fam…

-Timara is kinda like a sub-urb of Rabat, and our “cousins” live there- Similar to Long Island!

-The day was kind of focused around eating, and we ate VERY good food

-After lunch EVERYONE took a nap (except for me… I thought that would be rude?- I read instead) I thought of all the afternoon/early night naps that I took on Ellen’s couch throughout the years

- The cousins went on a walk through the “city” of Timara after the naps, and took a lot of PICTURES

-On the way home from the walked we stopped at a kind of out-of-place plant nursery (Stables in Babylon?) with a lot of succlents and warm weather plants. Potential Christmas card- poinsettia style, Mom????

-There is a chance that Imane and the fam might move to Timara next year, and Imane was whining about it a lot. I can sympathesize, and imangine I would feel the same way if my mom picked me up and moved me to Long Island for my senior year of HS…

-We stopped at a deli because I was incredibly thirsty. I asked if they wanted anything, and Imane got some onion and cheese chips (…) I thought of my annual pre-thanksgiving dinner meals with Matthew and Terrence- the only difference was that these chips were after the feast.

We went back to the house, had tea and then left. It was a delightful day and I am very happy that they brought me. When we got home Sara invited me to her house for dinner. I had enough Mansour family time, so I agreed. I also wanted to taste Sara’s mom’s infamous cooking…. I told Imane to save some dinner for me. Haha. When I got there Sara told me that we were having Moroccan paninis- not fair, that’s cheating. I didn’t complain though because upon further inspection- the paninis were KING SANDWICH. So yum. I finished Sara’s plate of fries which were perfectly well done. We watched t.v. and realized that we had missed the finale of Arab Idol. Carmen (min misr- from Egypt) won. The look in Sara’s sister’s eyes was heartbreaking. Carmen beat the Moroccan girl. Devastating. I kind of wish my family watched Arab Idol… I probably would have gotten into it, so I guess its actually a good thing that they don’t. Dinner was lovely, but we were all SO tired afterwards.

I walked home alone (it was quite dark, but I was a-okay). The fam was in my room (the family room) around a GIANT hunk of Almond nougat. Totally hit the spot & was exactly the little sweet that I needed after the Moroccan Panini. This sweet signified that my family had not eaten dinner (dessert always first), so I sat back and watched some TV with them. They then left for dinner, and I stayed in the family room. I was lying down on the couch- watching t.v. VERY similar to home. I felt incredibly comfortable and happy. I was dozing off, but promised myself that I would brush teeth wash face (again, VERY similar…). The fam came back and we all were watching TV. Fatima put a blanket on me, and I actually felt like I was in heaven (home). At some point I got up and BTWF, then came back and Imane had lights off, but T.V. still on. SHE PUT THE SLEEP TIMER ON, and I had to literally make sure that I was still in Morocco and not 449 East 14^th street. So happy, and a great end to a GREAT day.

LAZY SUNDAY! I dug out my Sunday shades…

I woke up early AGAIN! So rude, and a serious problem now. I was able to go back to sleep for an hour, but that was insufficient. I had to wait for Sara’s birthright interview to be done ~12:30, and I really didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to go to the beach, but was too lazy and didn’t know what to bring because I didn’t know the rest of the plans for the day. I literally sat at the table and looked at my calendar a lot (a bad habit that I have developed here). Breakfast was good, and everyone ate at the same time. We had goat cheese for the past few days, and luckily my “dad” and I are the only ones who like it. More for meeee. By the time noon came around I was going a little stir crazy- total cabin fever. The minute I thought about mobilizing for myself, Sara called. We made a plan to meet and go to the ville nouvelle (new city- outside of the medina) to see the pro-Palestine protests. Chase was at Arab Café, so we told him we would pick him up after.

The protest was over by the time we got there, and everyone was leaving. There were a TON of people, so I could only imagine what the protests looked like. We picked up Chase and decided to look at the egg sandwich deli place (Moroccan style, NOT the deli, or sandwich that you’re thinking of) and then go to the beach and eat and soak up the sun (with our arms and legs covered of course). We made a pre-lunch pitstop for some orange ginger juice, and we found a place two doors down (3 doors down? Lol) from the place that we usually go. Same exact juice, half the price… The egg sandy place was closed, so we went to café liberation and sat and got omelets. Big language barrier problems. I really wanted an omlete with tomatoes AND onions, but the waiter didn’t get it. There is no way that they couldn’t do that for me, but he acted like they couldn’t (more confused than mean, but still- I only had onions in my omlete). Fries were well done AGAIN- another perfect meal. It was really hot in there actually, but that was my only qualm.

After lunch we went to THE BEACH! So nice. Men were swimming and surfing. I am definitely going to take a lesson before I leave. The surf instructor came up to chase (they're friends) and I expressed my desire to go. We also talked about tanning, and I joked that I wanted to be as dark as him (he’s black). He said that I can be as long as I dip in the water, exfoliate with sand, come out, put agran oil all over me, and sit in the sun for 15 mins… convincing. Daisy came to the beach late, so we were leaving when she was getting there. Nobody wanted to go home yet, so we decided to get our computers and meet back in 15 so we could go to the French Institute and snack/wifi. The French institute was closed (grrr..) so we went to McDonalds. McDonalds sucks. We didn’t order anything, just used the OKAY wifi. It was crowded and terrible lighting. Kinda hot too… I wasn’t happy, but I bit my tongue and went along with it. I came back in time for dinner, and then bed. GREAT WEEKEND in Rabat- I think I will spend next weekend here too.

week of march 19-22

It was really lame to come back to classes. Monday and Tuesday I only had arabic, so my afternoons were free. I had no idea what to do with myself, but on Monday we found an AMAZING ice cream place that I have been back to twice since. On Tuesday I was going to go on a run (I obv didn't) but Sara, Alexa and I DID walk across the bridge (seen in this posts' pic) to Salé. I'd say it was about 2 miles one way, which was a nice workout without being an actual workout. Salé is not as nice or big as Rabat, and is definitely a cheaper place where Moroccans live & probably commute to Rabat from. We walked around a little and then got an incredibly cheap coffee. Then we walked home. I went back to the CCCL and streamed some Desperate Housewives to watch at home. Went home, did Arabic HW & watched tv… We had chicken necks for dinner, and I tried to steeeeeer clear (there were a few wings…), but I was caught. Fatima went into the kitchen and brought me my own plate of peas and lamb and potatoes (a meal that I think was partly for the dad because he was not at dinner tonight) I was grateful & satiated. Good day.

Wednesday was full of class, AND MIDDLE EASTERN MOTHER'S DAY!! Happy belated to everyone… I was able to sneak in a trip to the ice cream shop despite class all day. We are in our Politics module, which was very informative and interesting (for once). At the end of class (SIX PM) some of us went to a bakery and got our Moroccan moms pastries for the holiday. Apparently it is not really celebrated in Morocco, but my "mom" understood the concept & thanked me. When I got home my "mom" and Imane went to a neighbor's house for a little, and I went with Fatima to run some errands. It was good quality time with Fatima, and the language barrier wasn't that bad. We understood what we were trying to say to each other even though we weren't speaking the same language (she doesn't really understand fusHa). She laughed/reacted in some fashion every time a man said something to me while I was walking- I am not sure if she has ever witnessed that- something that I have to deal with every single day. We went to an old woman's house and exchanged zait zaitoon for some celery and watched mooselselat turkeya (Turkish Soap Operas) for a little. Then we stopped at a shop for some pasta type thing, then home for dinner. It was nice to bond with Fatima- I think we have an unspoken connection, but sometimes I feel that she resents me because she has to do everything, but Wednesday night reaffirmed our good relationship.

Thursday was fine again. Normal class, and then a conversation with Moroccan "youth" (master's students…) it got a little heated at some parts, and they displayed a little bitterness towards America which was a little unwarranted- overall I think it was pretty informative for both parties. After clas we went to an AMAZING café and got a real salad and a banana and choc crêpe (I split it with Sydney). We had another paper that I wrote quickly, and then I skyped with the Copenhooligans. I felt like they were in the café with me (I wish.) I miss them very much, but it was a happy skype- not sad. It was cut short though because my friends were leaving and I didn't want to walk home alone. When I got home (~9:30) nobody was home- cuuuurious. Fatima told me that something and all I could get out of it was "America" and "two days". I weirdly thought that they were going to America for two days... like?? Come on Claire. They came back shortly after and had two American girls with them! Very nice from Wesleyan Illinois- studying in Barcelona (It's a SIGN Ali & Keeks....). They were incredibly nice and sweet. Kinda weird because they weren't like over the top thankful to my fam, nor did they make ANY attempt to learn the words that I tried to teach them "shuk'ran" thank you, "salam" hello, and "ca fie" I'm full.. Anyway they were nice and chatty and we had soda at dinner because of them, so I was happy. "Ivy" LOVED the leben stuff (buttermilky sour thick milk) because she said that her grandma used to feed it to her all the time as a snack with oyster crackers. Although we are all American, we come from different backgrounds and experiences, so it was especially interesting to compare our abroad experiences. I didn't have time to do my hw, so Imane helped me & then I went to bed.

March 18th

Don't want to write a lot about today, but it was a good one. I think this will be a picture post, and I will show you the beauty of Asilah and let you use your imagination…

SAINT PATRICKS DAY!

Really missing everyone today, but it was a good day. I put on an all green outfit, but wasn’t allowed to wear it. My shirt was mint green, but Sara said it was blue. I should have thought ahead more. I was unprepared.

I woke up earlier than everyone else and looked up the phone number for “Christina’s House”- a bed and breakfast that our friend recommended in Asilah (cute & clean beach town 30 mins from Tangier). Christina answered and was very british and awesome. She said that she had room and that she would meet us at the taxi station. It was also going to be cheaper than the hotel we were staying at, so I was sold. My friends were unsure of what they wanted to do… I had to try to convince them- I was done with Tangier.

Breakfast (included with the hotel) was AWESOME. It was a buffet, and had eggs and cheese and tomatoes that I mixed all together. I asked for s&p and sprinkled that on. I felt like I was in harris, and I loved it. Great pastries too, and coffee was good. They also had strawberry juice. Wowowowow... Our friends that went out last night came down, and you could definitely tell that they went out. I was VERY happy that we didn’t go out and was ready to have a great day. We decided to go to the American Legation. It is the only American landmark located outside of the US. Someone from our hotel walked us there, but it was closed on Saturdays- RUDE! We just walked around after that. Went to a place with a panoramic view of Tangiers. Then we found the Cinematheque Tangier. It was really cool. They show French and Arabic cultural movies. If we were going to stay in Tangier, then I would have wanted to see the movie that was playing. Then it was beach time.

We walked to the beach on an off the beaten path route, but for some reason it was SO fragrant. I took pix of every single flower we passed because they all smelt SO GOOD. I am only going to show you ONE PICTURE, and I wish we had scent-ography because it was amazing. We made it to the beach and walked around. Stuck our toes in the water (it’s getting warmerrrrrrrr!) and watched some beach soccer games, and saw a beautiful SAILBOAT. We then sat at a café and had a great lunch. They lied on their menus and said that they had a great breakfast special deal, but then they told us they didn’t? Sara, Sydney and I did 2 for 3 pizzas that were actually incredibly tasty. We had a delightful & leisurely lunch. Here’s a pic! After lunch I wanted ice cream, but it was NOWHERE to be found. So rude! We went into probably 5 places that claimed to be “Glacierie”s but they didn’t have ice cream in their coolers. So annoying… I forgot when I convinced Sydney & Sara that we should go to Asilah, but I did (duh) and we went back to the hotel to get our stuff and a grand taxi. The hotel gave us a price of 300 dirhams for a taxi from Tangier to Asilah (trop chere) so we took a petit taxi to the grand taxi stand where it was MUCH less pricy. A VERY funny thing that happened when we were switching taxis. We had our bags in the trunk, and were paying, or talking to the taxi guy to get a grand one, or something. The trunk was open, and the petit taxi started to drive away with the stuff still in the car. We all SCREAMED!! At the top of our lungs- so scared It was very similar to Amanda Zenker screaming “NO SIR!!! NO!!!” in the Southampton train station that one time… He was just moving out of the way- NOT trying to take our stuff, but I had a minor heart attack. We remembered that story on the train back to Rabat the next day and laughed so hard we cried. IMAGINE if he actually drove away with our stuff….! The ride was pleasant to Asilah (because there were only three of us & I got the front seat). I listened to my iPod and looked out the window. Christina gave us directions to the b&b and met us.

Christina’s House is SO CUTE. Sara said it was like she was home. So quaint, and Moroccan, but modern… not sure if that gives you the picture you need, but trust me- it rocks. There are only like 4 or 5 rooms and we had complete access to the kitchen. SO NICE! We put our groceries (Salami, cheese, wine etc.) in the refrigerator, got settled in and then went towards the medina to get more ingredients for dinner. Asilah is totally all it is cracked up to be. Moroccans have described it as “clean” and “calm” and that is exactly what it is. You get the beach smell/air and everyone is friendly. We asked someone where the medina was, and she gave great directions. We stopped at a grocery store and got pasta, canned peas & shrooms, garlic, and zait zaitoon (EVOO). Then we walked to the veggie area (right outside of the medina). We got peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and STRAWBERRIES (for dessert). The whole meal was 20 dirhams each, 60 total (I spent 120 on that Indian dinner the night before….). It was getting dark, but we still needed chocolate to melt on our strawberries. Wild goose chase, but we were successful. We started cooking as soon as we got back. It was so Abbey house and made me very happy (not sad). Sydney made the sauce, Sara chopped veggies & made the charcutrie, I made eggplant fries/chips, AND was in charge of the music. Dinner was very happy, and DELICIOUS! We ate outside- HOW CUTE ARE THEY. It REALLY felt like summer... I loved it. To make a great night better. My mom called from Aunt Peggy’s house, and I spoke to EVERYONE. I wish I was celebrating with them, but I was happy where I was too. I got a lot of requests for Moroccan gifts, so now I have something to do when I get back to Rabat. After dinner and the phone call we made the strawberries- equally as good. I took a nice shower and then went to bed. Today was definitely one for the books.

March 16- SPAIN DAY

We woke up very early to get to the border, so we didn’t have to wait. Breakfast was GREAT and definetly made up for the terrible dinner the night before. We had a lot of treats and pastries, wonderful orange juice, and very good café au lait. We took a short bus ride and said bye to Fadoua at the last part of the border. We literally just handed in our passports, got them back, and just walked across. It was very relaxed, and I think that they put us into lines of two (Noah’s arc style) to make fun of us/ they wanted to seem like it was official, but it totally wasn’t. Once we crossed the border, another bus picked us up and brought us to the McDonalds. It was like 9 am on a Friday, so a lot of things were closed & the city was sleeeepppinnnng. We were given 15 Euros and were told to meet back at 12:15 to do a bus tour. WHY wasn’t the bus tour before our exploration time, I have no idea. Anyway, we were left to our own devices, and we were pretty confused / just started to wander.

Ceuta was totally different. The people looked great, and were very refreshing. Notable things- RECYCLING BINS. I saw a lot of arms and muscles- also a lot of peeps in work out gear. I should have brought my sneaks and popped into a gym… It was also refreshing to smell perfumed people, which sounds weird, but it was. I think a lot of Moroccans don’t use perfume the same way we do- not like they smell bad, but they do not smell GOOD, they smell like nothing, you know? Anyway …We went to a shop that was pretty cute. The prices were SO low, and we realized that 15 euro was going to get us faaar here. I almost bought a sun hat, but then decided not to- regretting that decision right now, it was very cute. It was a good mix of OLD AND NEW in terms of architecture. We walked around a lot, and didn’t really see anything noticeable. We got to the main square thing and bumped into some friends at a café kind of thing. We kept walking and were finally definitely in the main part of town. We saw some garden that was nice, and a lot of statues. We met friends at a café and had a drink for 2.50 euro...

I really wasn’t hungry, but we had to meet up with the rest of the group soon. We decided to go to the grocery store quickly and get some stuff à porter (to-go). We all kind of split our purchases which amounted to- three packages of sliced meat (salami, salami, and prosciutto) two packages of cheese (“cheddar”—American, and another type that I forget), I got a pear, Sara got chips, we split peanut m&ms and we got two little (bigger than juice) boxes of wine (.95 euro each- irresistible). I think we might have gotten some more stuff, but I forget now. We were late to the bus (duh), but it wasn’t my fault this time. Sydney and Sara wanted ice cream, so we got them some from the street. They started to eat it on the way, but then when we got to the bus the bus driver said they couldn’t take it on lol. I told them to smuggle it somehow and they did. A big chocolate mess! We ate our lunch on the bus. The prosciutto was BOMB, but made me miss Nicole and Abbey House snack time. The cheese was terrible- I couldn’t even eat it… I luv America, but hate American cheese! I did not pay attention to one word of the bus tour. It was stupid, and the guy had a funny accent. I remember hearing something about Hercules, but that is literally all I can remember. We stopped off at a look-out point, and looked out. (The main pic of this post is of the look-out spot). Then it was time to go back to Morocco.. wah wah! Being in Ceuta made me decide that I am definitely going to go to Spain with my mom when she visits. So necessary.

We drove back to the border and crossed it in a similar fashion to how we came over. NBD. Fadoua said they couldn’t drive us to Tangier, and she got taxis for us. That was not wise because way more than half of our group was going to Tanga, and we could have gotten there in the time that it took for her to arrange the taxis. Six of us (Sara, Sydney, Charlie, Simone, Karin & me) got into a grand taxi. These are four person cars, but they squeeze other people in. It was pretty uncomfortable, but a nice scenic drive. Sara said that it was just like California five minutes after I had that thought in my head. Finally made it to Tangier. Chantal got us a really great deal on a very nice hotel, so I was happy. We also got a better room out of them all (with a refridge, so our salami didn’t go bad, and our wine was cold!). We sat for a little and rested, and then we went out to explore. Not a lot to say about Tangier. It is similar to Casablanca on the exciting and cleanliness scales (not exciting, and kinda grimy), but it is supposed to be a great place to get silver. We walked around, but didn’t buy anything. We went into a silver place that had a trick ring thing, and I spent a good 20 mins trying to figure it out, but I couldn’t! I was going to buy it until he told me it was 300 dirham… ya rite. We found our way back to the hotel with ease and I took an AMAZING shower. I could have stayed in there for the rest of the semester. Then we decided to go to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Here comes a story….

Karin felt sick, so it was just Charley, Simone, Sydney, Sara and me. We asked the bell boy where this restaurant was and he told us. Had a little trouble getting there. We came to this strip of CLUBS on the beach. Like club after club after club after club. It was so weird, and I really don’t think that they would all be filled if every single Moroccan in this country went out. None of them were the restaurant we were looking for, but apparently it was on that strip. I was hungry & grumpy, but I was just trying to go with the flow. Sydney finally found it miraculously. I have NO idea how she did because the name of it was written in the TINIEST letters (I couldn’t even see it with my squinty face) on this sign that was like random and not in front of the restaurant. There was a bouncer (??) to get in, but we got in easily (duh) haha. It was empty, and a dance club. We were very confused. (I am laughing out loud as I am typing this story by the way). We asked someone who worked there if this was a restaurant, and they said yes (it was- because there was a different section apart from the club). So they said it was an restaurant, but the chef wasn’t there…? We asked where else we could get Indian food, and they said “Oh! You want Indian food???!?! I will call my friend”. Should have taken that as a bad sign… Basically they called this Indian man to come and cook for us. It was so funny. He also “didn’t have” half of the things that we wanted to order. So we all got chicken tikka masalas, and started to wait. I was like a crazy monster-so hungry. I don’t know if I said a single word at the dinner table. Someone who worked at the restaurant came in with like grocery bags a half hour after we ordered and brought them to the kitchen… I rolled my eyes- terrible sign. We probably waited in reality an hour and fifteen minutes, but it felt like six. At the one hour mark, the waiter started to say “one minute, one minute” every three minutes. The fifth time he said that I became mean, and asked if it was REALLY going to be one more minute, or is it more like 15 because he had been saying that for the past 10 minutes. My friends were happy that I took charge because they said that they wanted to but would never. It was insane, totally insane. FINALLY the food came and I wasn’t even hungry anymore (pretty sure my stomach ate itself). It was delicious tho, and worth the wait (I guess….). After dinner I became a zombie and just wanted to sleeeeeeep. We took petit taxis back to the hotel. Our other friends were getting ready to go out- yea right- but we sat with them for a little, then went to bed.

March 15

We woke up early because we only had a morning to explore Chefchaouen. We woke up and had a good breakfast. We had to wait for our friends to come downstairs, only to split up with them moments later. We read in a guidebook that the souk was on Thursday, so we thought that we would go to that. We went to the main square and had no idea where the souk was. I wanted to go to the kasba anyway, so we took a quick pit stop there. A lot of fragrant flowers and a tower with a GREAT PANORAMIC VIEW (each word is a different picture, so look at them all!!). We stopped at a nice little co-op that employed blind people to thread beautiful blankets etc. It was amazing to see them work and create such beautiful things without being able to see what they were doing. They had it down to a science, and were very charismatic. After that shop we decided to ask someone where the souk was. We asked a lady and she was very nice and brought us to the souk, which was kind of disappointing. It was definitely a SOUK for the people of Chefchaouen, and not necessarily for tourists. We walked around and looked, but EVERYTHING was SO RANDOM. It was weird. Kind of like a yard sale (Ellen u might have liked it? No, you wouldn’t have- it was very weird). It was also incredibly hot. I was sweating and uncomfortable. It was far from our hotel, so we just walked around for a little and then tried to find our way back. My sense of direction was good today, and I was able to bring us back.

We got back to the hotel and checked out. Then we went back to the restaurant from the night before and ate a very boring lunch- couscous with no meat and a lame fruit cup. Actually the first course salad was good. It was cut up cucumbers, onions and tomatoes- very fresh. After lunch we had some more free time, and I passed a shop that I had passed a few times before. They had a scarf that was “Claire colors” according to my friend Sydney. Light pink, white, and light purple stripes. I wanted it, but after my shopping spree in the spice shop, I was REALLY trying to hold back. I was not willing to waste energy bargaining, but somehow I ended up getting it for only 40 dirham (5 bucks!). The shop keeper followed me when I walked away for good, and he was like “okay okay- 40”. (I’ve worn it for two days since- very good purchase). Then we went to the bus to go to Fnideq. The bus ride was very windy (windey? not WINDy... a lot of curves and turns) and kind of nauseating. We also saw a truck accident AND a little brush fire.. spooky. We stopped at a rest stop with a lot of raw meat hanging around. I had to lead Sara to the bathroom because she couldn't look at the meat- I wanted to BBQ it.

We made it to Fnediq, and got to our hotel. It was a very weird city (probably only because I was expecting it to be). It was kind of beachy, and our hotel reminded me of the Driftwood in Montauk (without being on the beautiful ocean & it was less nice), basically- the smell & beachy air reminded me of Montauk. It was Chantal’s 21’s birthday, so we went on a hunt for a bar or someplace that we could all hang out. The receptionist said that there were no bars in Fnediq, but we were skeptical. Party Planner Sara got on the internet and started to look for some. We found a Ibis hotel and assumed there would be a bar inside. We walked there without really knowing where we were going. We walked on THE SHORE. It was very beautiful, and I thought (I was right) that we could see Ceuta from where we were. There was a very beautiful MOSQUE that was on the water. I finally looked up why mosques (this one & Hassan II in Casablanca) are on the water, and the quote in the Qur'an is “the throne of Allah was built on water”. Anyway… back to the haram “forbidden” bar hunt. We walked- we never gave up, but probably could have because it was far. We finally got there, and it was empty! Terrible, but funny. Dragonball Z was on the TV and there was one man working. We got beverages and toasted Chantal’s bday. We were there for a while, and then it was time for dinner. I was looking forward to dinner. On the last night of the last excursion we had an amazing 5-course meal. This was the last night of this excursion, so I had high hopes.

We left the bar and walked back the non-scenic route. I had NO idea where we were going, but the others lead the way. We made it back to the hotel (a liiiiiiiiittle late) and everyone was still there. Dinner was TERRIBLE!!!!!! I was SO disappointed, almost to the point of tears. First- it was a bad shrimp soup. Bad because the shrimp(s) were small. I was very weirded out by the small shrimp (similar to small/deformed carrots in Harris, Ali…). I didn’t eat the soup. Everyone gave their soup to Josh and he ate it. Similar to Uncle Eric. No wasted food here! Second dish was COLD chicken and potatoes. It definitely had potential, but it was nooo bueno. The chicken was in a mushroom/alfraedo(sp?) sauce, and the potatoes were au gratin, but everything was COLD. I was so tempted to ask where the microwave was, but I sometimes feel that I am a little bratty/forceful on this trip, so I refrained and ate the cold meal. Keeping with the trend, dessert was bad bad bad too. It was a very questionable custard-like thing with canned fruit & the fruit juice on top… SO Bad. I picked out the fruit to eat and made plans with everyone to get a snickers bar on the way back. Dinner was disappointing, but funny in retrospect I guess. The snickers bar was the best I have ever had. Literally. So delicious- I tried to savor every bite, and it was good till the veryyy last one. We just hung out in the hotel and had some Internet time. Sara gave me permission to sleep nakey in my cocoon (sorry if that’s too much information, but it was fab). Early morning tomorrow to go to SPAIN! Yippee.

March 14th- Chefchaouen

I am going to start to be less detailed about the excursion because I am getting very behind. (I am writing about March 14th on March 23rd- TGIF EVERYONE)

We woke up and had breakfast and then said our good-byes. It was very sad, but I hope to visit again. We took a short bus trip to Ouazzane to Abdelhay’s house. It was un-real. VERY beautiful. It was very classy Moroccan. I loved it. SUCH a nice change from the village, which I also loved. He loves Jazz music, so it was playing and there was a fountain… I felt like I was in a resort. Very funny and different than where we were less than a half hour earlier. Here is the view from the terrace of his HOUSE- emphasis on the house part, not a restaurant or hotel… We took a tour, and it might as well be a house or a hotel because it was very big. Beautiful & fragrant plants, which I have been noticing more and more of around Morocco recently- I love it. Okay so after the tour we went to the infamous olive press. The olives are not in season now, so unfortunately we couldn’t see it totally in action. We learned that a Moroccan olive tree produces 1/3 less olive oil than the Spanish olive trees because Moroccans do not use machines, nor do they take very good care of their olive trees. We debriefed the village stay, but that was uninteresting for you.

After our conversation we all sprawled out on Abdelhay’s terrace outside. Remember the camp game “dead worms”- that was us. It was great. We had tea and cookies and coffee and then we had to leave- our second sad departure of the day. I sat with Josh on the way to Chefchaouen. The fact that I went to a Quaker school growing up came up, and talking about Friends made me miss it a lot. We got to Chefchaouen and were dropped off a little bit from the hotel. My bag was heavy and the street was kind of slippery, but I made it without falling. We got to pick our roommates. Sara and I stayed in a total princess room- we later found out that every room was like that. It was still great & comfortable.

We had some exploring time before dinner. Chefchaouen is in the mountains (I thought it was on the water for some reason) All of the buildings are blue. Like this and this. It is also very hilly, and I could feel my out-of-shape glutes working hard. We wandered around the small city and then ran into our friends who told us about this very cool spice shop. It reminded me of an old apothecary—like Bigelow’s! It was a little different, but there was soap hanging everywhere, spices, incense, and lotions. I bought a LOT. If you are reading this post right now, it is pretty likely that you will get a gift from this shop in May… The man spoke Darija to me and I didn’t really understand him, but I pretended to (laughed when he laughed, acted surprised when I thought something sounded surprising etc.). I like to think that because of my interaction with him I got a discount. I DID get some free gifts for myself, so that was nice. The bag was incredibly heavy. I forgot that I already had a heavy bag, and our excursion was only half way over. Uh-oh! I hadn’t showered yet- my friends were very fresh & clean, so I broke off and headed back to the hotel to shower for dinner. The shower was alllllright, but it did feel VERY good to take one. Sara got back as I was getting out of the shower, and we were both equally tired and grumpy. I later found out that I was hungry too, but we were VERY anti-Moroccan food. We all walked to the restaurant together.

We saw (thru our puppy dog eyes) a million pizza restaurants. I was very tempted to break off from the group and stop in one of them, but I resisted. I was very evil at the dinner table because I was so so sooo anti-moroccan cuisine. I have never felt this way before. I really hated the soup, UNTILL thy told me that it was carrot soup (I thought it was bissrah). We also had very tender and delicious red meat (I think lamb, but I never know…) tajine. I came to the conclusion that if I had to eat only one animal for the rest of my life it would definitely be cow (even though I was fully enjoying the lamb). I am going to have thirty steaks and thirty-five cheeseburgers when I come home. Anyway, I realized at that dinner that I really AM a toddler. A lot of people are going to laugh, you just realized this NOW. But once I am hungry- its all over. Feed me and I am a-okay-ready-to-go!

Okay, so after dinner we had more free time. It was COLD outside (I was still in my day clothes). So I wanted to go back to the hotel. My friends and I got separated a little bit, but Josh insisted on walking me home (very nice, but not necessary). We met up with friends and went on a hunt for snacks. They bought some from a street cart, but I didn’t need any because I still had milanos from Kristen Wissmar- so great. After snacks we went back to the princess pad, talked and did some internet time and then slept like –drumroll plzzzz- PRINCESSES!

3/13/12

March 13! (On April 13 my mom will be here!!)

I couldn’t sleep till 9 a.m. my bed became uncomfortable and I had a dream that I ran into Ron and Jesse etc. in Chefchaouen, which is weird and VERY REAL in my head. I woke up at 8:30 and just hung out in bed (a favorite pastime of mine…) until a little before 9, when I started to make my bed. I have been wearing the same pants for the past two days, and theyre definitely not mine. S/O to Colby or Bri who left them at my house when u came to visit—miss that. They are now very well traveled, and I will return them in August. Anyway we had breakfast, which was not as delicious as before because we did not have any breakfast cake. It was this weird, and dense shortbread/cornbread that I have seen in Rabat, but have never eaten yet. Wehad a darija “class”- not sure why it was on day 3 our of 4 and not the first day. We had to write down as many Darija words as we knew, and then we had to make up skits based on the words we gathered. The skit were then to be performed in front of our families, but ours was so terrible that we somehow got out of that. Total summer camp activity. We selected two skits to perform (not mine). We played cards and then took another walk after the Darija session. We went back to the Danish car, and then Yousef- the protector- walked me home, holding back branches so I wouldn’t run into them. We went back for lunch, and our “sister” was worried again because I was the only one there again.

I was VERY hungry, and lunch was a little scary looking. It was totally unidentifiable besides some random fish, and eggs. One of my roommates ruined lunch for me by saying that there was liver of some sort in the concoction. After lunch I read a little and just reflected on my summer plans. Then it was time for the hafla (party). I put on my party clothes (my harem pants and a clean sweater). It was 3 pm, and was extremely hot. We only get one (big) bottle of water per day, and I drank the majority of it on the walk to the NGO. I was very hot and sweaty. The schedule says that we are supposed to walk to the NGO with our bags tomorrow morning. Upon arriving to the NGO I made it very clear to Fadoua that I would not be partaking in that walk. No way no how. She agreed, and said that the bus would go to the village (I knew I luved her). We sat and waited for the other SIT kids- they were VERY late. Rude. We asked the NGO “Joudour” some questions. I learned that Moroccan NGOs are 100% volunteers. All of the people working for them are doing it as a second job and are not getting paid. Not only are they not getting paid, they are usually using their own resources to support the cause. I assume that this falls under Zakat, one of the pillars of Islam that has to do with charity-giving. For big funds like rent of NGO buildings etc, these organizations often look to the government. This limits their activities, for example- Joudour would never have a “register to vote” table because civil society is not allowed to intervene with elections.

After the discussion we were supposed to “teach English” which was cool in theory, but definitely not in practice. They kind of just threw us into it and we buddied up. Three people were to teach one Moroccan woman whatever we watned to. Me, josh and Carolyn had two girls. One was pretty okay at English and the other really wasn’t. She got flustered a little so we slowed it down. I can totally relate to being flustered while speaking, and I felt really bad. I helped HER a lot. I am not sure if they learned anything, but it was good to interact. We all just chatted and PLAYED TWISTER before the hafla. I ended up talking to the head of the NGO who didn’t really speak English, but claimed to. I asked about internship opportunities and he was VERY enthuastic and assuring that he has work for me. He said that Ramadan wouldn’t be a problem and that summer doesn’t even start till July 29^th. Anyway he introduced me to the secretary and we spoke French/Arabic. Our conversation started with exchanging information and then she went thru every city in Morocco and told me something about it. I THEN was wisked away by another girl who also “spoke English” but she just took me in the kitchen to dance (?) – the HAFLA was starting (FINALLY). Being here changed my perspective on rural/urban issues. The real problems seem to be in the rural areas, so I might be re-considering my project. I spoke with Abdelhay and he said that me interning there would be good, but he was VERY adamant that it gets incredibly hot there during the summer. It was very very hot there during our stay (in March), so I told him that I believed him. He also said that Fairouz would be able to help, so I have to talk to her next week in Rabat.

I was STARVING because of the bad lunch. Shoutout to Kristen Wissmar for bringing me the luna bars! I ate one right after “lunch”. At the party I ate probably 10,000 ghreef (crepe things) with Nutella. It was hot and smelly inside the party- too many people moving around too much ("dancing"). They really under appreciate the outdoors. It was a MARVELOUS summer-like evening, but we were all inside sweating. Party def should have been outside, and I have to remember to suggest that to someone. We walked home AT DAWN (or is it dusk??)- very nice, and again very summer camp-y. Usual dinner—getting VERY tired of it, but that was my last village chicken tagine for a while. We chatted after dinner again, and then did the usual pre-bed routine. I slept like the littlest petit bébé in all of Morocco.