Note- I did not proofread one word of this post…
SUNDAY-
It was very hard to come back to reality after my amazing 10 day vacation. We came back to Rabat at like lunch time and went to our favorite restaurant- the one that we went to the first day that we got here. I got another ceasar salad and it was better than the last one, which was really good. I went home and was greeted warmly. I think my family, especially Imane, missed me a lot. We caught up, and I showed them pictures from my trip. I wanted to sneak in some media time before bed, but Imane was a real “chatty Cathy” as they say. I was kind of irritated and sent my mom an email thanking her for not having any children before or after me. I guess I generally like having a Moroccan “sister” but I am very happy that this is only a temporary arrangement.
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY (Academics)
I didn’t really keep a lot of notes during the week, but highlights included; returning to classes (way less fun than road tripping), two field trips, and a lecture by a really phenomenal woman. I forgot about the ALL DAY aspect of this program, and I became quite tired and overwhelmed by Tuesday. We go literally from 8-4 every day, non-stop except for an hour of lunch, and a half hour in the middle of Arabic (10:00-11:00). Tuesday and Wednesday were the field trip days (even though we are supposed to be OFF on Wednesday afternoon-- sup with that?????!).
Tuesday we went to the Association Marocain des Droits Humains (AMDH- Moroccan Association of Human Rights). The man who presented on the association was very charismatic, and was obviously doing great work. I was surprised to see that the majority of workers in the office were men. If this had been an American human rights organization the majority of employees would have been women. They listed a lot of interesting (but boring for you) facts, and we drank tea and ate cookies. I was lucky because I was one of the last people to get tea, so I did not feel bad or guilty about taking a lot- they were delicious. We then got to talk to members of the February 20th movement. There was a boy and a girl, and they seemed very cool. They were really smart also. They both spoke English well and had very intelligent answers to our questions. The organization is very active in the community, and organizes various protests and activities (letter writing, sit-ins etc) in order to raise awareness for human rights violations. It was interesting because they said that they did not have any programs for Moroccans who had been wronged in any way, but they provide legal representation, and kind of cause commotion instead of helping people heal. One memorable quote from the discussion was that the king is not the ruler of the faithful, he is the ruler of the ruler of the rich. The woman who said this quote meant basically that the king does what he wants, and rules for “his people” which are the rich, elite population of Morocco. She also said that police do not discriminate according to gender when hurting protestors- they beat women and men the same. I got information from the organization because they will definitely be a good resource for my ISP and thesis.
Wednesday we went to the royal Tamazigh institute of Morocco. It was annoyingly far away, and it was incredibly hot. I wish I brought my camera because the only memorable thing about this trip was the aesthetics of the building. The center was recently founded (within a few years) and it was pretty beautiful. For those of you who do not know; the Tamazigh is a language/population that was only recently recognized as an official population in by Morocco. You have probably have heard of the Berbers, same thing. Since being accepted, the Tamazigh population has struggled to integrate into the Moroccan government, so they built the institute to organize and fight for equal rights essentially. There are a number of initiatives that the institute is working on, but the only two that I remember are developing one universal language (similar to fusHa in Arabic- what I am learning). They are in the process of analyzing all three dialects in order to create the easiest, and most comprehensive language that can become the official Tamazigh for governmental proceedings. Another thing that they are working on (to be completed once the language is universalized) is creating textbooks to have in public schools, so Berber children are not discouraged from getting an education. It was an interesting trip (I guess) but I think that it could have been optional (had it been, I would have opted OUT). We traveled back to Rabat Ville together, and then broke off for some OJ and a very cheesey brioche type thing (well deserved after a long day).
Today (March 1st) I went to a (n optional) lecture by Mary Stucky (the Academic Director of the Journalism program. She is really amazing, and I am glad I went. I was debating it, but someone came up to the cafeteria and said “the lecture is about to start”, pretending that it was not optional in an attempt to get more peeps to go. That made up my mind for me- I figured I would just be on facebook or emailing anyway, so I might as well. I am glad I did. She gave us helpful hints about how to interview properly and we watched an interesting video about news today. Apparently more people think that they are up-to-date on current events, but the quality of the news has decreased expodentially in the past 20 years, that “World News” is no longer actually world news, and has turned into more of gossip/trivial things because “Britney is Cheap”. I couldn’t help but think about Good Morning America, and how much it has changed even in the few years that I have been in college. She runs an NGO that matches up journalists from “third world” countries with the states in order to provide opportunities for the third world journalists, and to provide the entire, truthful story for the first world. Really great concept, and I am definitely interested in looking into her organization more. I thought of Nicole during it a lot and it might be something that you’re interested in?? Its called “Round Earth Media”. She also RAVED about the program that we are on, and reminded us how lucky we are.
The non-academic summary of my week is as follows. I had my very first bad day in Morocco. I knew it was going to happen, but I was not really expecting it. It was Tuesday (after AMDH). I had been sending emails before the trip, and I think I became incredibly overwhelmed. We also were assigned two five page papers to do over the (BIRTHDAY) weekend—HOW RUDE!!!!!!!!!!! I also am a total planner and want to have my summer figured out soon, but it takes time. Theorhetically I have to find an internship that is willing to let me be in Jordan for the first six weeks, but it is hard to do that before the Jordan payments are due. Anyway- things kinda got crazy in my head, and I got upset. My friends are in the same boat, but they have been holding themselves together, and helped me a lot. After AMDH we went to CCCL and I was visibly upset, so after the CCCL closed- we went to a new internet café, and I started to feel a little better- I think I was also hungry and tired… I got some serious work done and then went home. I was still kinda upset when I got back home (~9:30 my time, my sister txted me to ask me if I was okay, and I txted her back to say that I was coming home and had a bad day). When I got back they were very concerned and loving. I told them about everything and they said it will all work out (I know it will). My “mom” said, “we eat and then you sleep”. GREAT plan, and that’s exactly what I did. I felt better in the morning.
The next day I was a new girl (I think I am still a girl until Monday, right?). We went through
the day and I probably could have cried tears of bordom at the Tamazigh insitute, but other than that I was a clam. I stayed at the CCCL till 6:30 and then went home. I worked a little (a lot actually- I gave Imane my internet stick to use on her computer, so she would- excuse my bluntness- SHUT UP for an hour or so, and it worked). I got a lot of work done actually, and then I showered. After shower I worked some more. Imane told me that she was very tired and was going to go to bed. “BEFORE DINNER?!?” I asked, and she said no, and that her mom was cooking a very special dinner so she would wake up for it. Dinner was AMAZING. I cant get over it still. We each had our own plates (I was unaware that my “family” owned dinner plates) of Moroccan salad- not American salad, but still good & refreshing. Fatima brough out a plate of some sort of fried ball thing, and my eyes lit up. I think that you could fry ANYTHING and I would eat it. I had no idea what was inside (I imangined the worst thing that could be under the crispy layer- liver or brains or like tongue or something, but I really did NOT care). It was like fried mashed potato balls. I thought I died and went to heaven! I ate SO many of them. I couldn’t stop hahahaha, so bad, but funny. I think my family was happy that I was happy. They kept on saying “eat eat” and I did not say “ça fie” once. There were two left. I held back, and stopped myself. Sometimes I get trapped at the dinner table because I sit on the inside and its horse-shoe shaped. I was trapped with my “mom” “dad” and two lonely mashed potato balls (they’re really called maqouda- and they are better than ladkas (sp??) and tater tots.). *SIDE NOTE: Its 9:30 on Thursday, and I just asked Imane for the name of dinner last night (for probably the fourth time), and she gave me the name, and told me that her mom made them again tonight-- YIPPEE* Okay anyway- us 5 were sitting there, and my “parents” were talking. I was staring at the maqouda and finally my “dad” said: “you have one and I have one” done deal. I was so happy. I also later realized that the special dinner might have been because I was upset the day before, and after discussing with my peers, we decided that was definitely the case.
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