Weekend Update

TGIF!
It is Friday morning, and I didn't blog last night, or the day before (sorry.)   I started to go to the Kasbah every morning this week to stimulate a real internship/"office".  It helped A LOT.  I had another interview with the girls (and Rachid) yesterday, which did not help as much...

I am up and ready to go to RABAT and visit the Mansours (my host family) this weekend  !!! I am so excited.  I am probably going to fast for Ramadan with them tomorrow and get the REAL experience... not the fake one like last week.

I have to take a grand taxi to either Asni (30 mins away) and THEN Marrakech (another 30 mins) OR if I am lucky I will find a very nice cab driver to take me straight to Marrakech.  Then it's on the train (either 11 or 1 o'clock) for 4 hrs and 15 mins to get to Rabat when the sun's still up.  It's going to be weird being there without the SIT peeps (hi Sara), and in summer.  I will report back on Sunday or Monday

Have a good weekend!!!! :)

the hood

Just wanted to post some pictures of Imlil and my "spots" so you guys could get a good image of where exactly I am...

Reading area

The river bed- it helps me find my bearings when I am exploring and don't necessarily remember how to get back home

Irrigation 

(also helps me get my bearings)

Different paths off the route are blocked off on different days, so one day an area will be sopping wet and lush- then the next day it will be dry again. 

No idea what this is, but I know WHERE it is.  SO MUCH TRASH

:) 

A street in one of the villages... Irrigation is to the left, but out of the picture 

Donkeys EVERYWHERE 

The school

The medical center-- good to know for when I sprain my ankle, or fall on my face walking around. 

The center of the town.  The river bed runs all the way down to this point, and beyond.  A lot of people come from all over (Marrakech, etc.) to play in the riverbed.  I am not sure why- it is SO cold and dirty.

Basically the only restaurant in town.  Sells only Moroccan cuisine, but it's good. We ate here after the summit.  Imagine walking up to the top after going up to Toubkal and back.  It felt like I was going up another 4,167 meters.

That little wood doorway is the entrance to the other hotel (Dar Imlil~ not the Kasbah).  The riverbed is to the right. 

The turn into town from my house.  

The other side of the turn- TERRIBLE at night.  Not one single light, and that abandoned building is spooky. 

Approaching chez moi... There is a jitte (hikers inn kind of thing) on the left and a good-for-nothing convince store on the left. 

HOME SWEET HOME! 

There are usually goats or cows in the front yard.  You continue on this path to get to the Kasbah.  I will post pictures of that later. 

Week of July 15-21

Good first week at the mountain...

The Majority of the mountain propre people left on Sunday morning. I had a VERY lazy day because I couldn't move.  I honestly don't think I have ever been that sore in my entire life.  It was crazy.  It was VERY hard to walk up and down the stairs... Kate was still in town (until Tuesday morning) so I spent some time with her.  Derek Workman is writing an article about the clean-up, so he found me at the house and interviewed me.  I was still in my pjs and had no idea what he was going to ask.  It was actually funny because before the walk he asked if I had done much walking before this.  I told him of course, I live in New York City (duh...).  He laughed and clarified-- he was asking about mountain walking, further inquiring that NYC was "quite flat if [he] did recall"...    He asked how the "walk" was, and I told him that it was tougher than I had expected... He aslo asked about my position with EFA for the summer.  It is hard to explain, especially because I am not totally positive of what it entails.  He did have some good advice/ideas for me, so it was a nice conversation.  After we talked- we walked up to the Kasbah to find Kate.  She wasn't there, but we saw Lahcen and had some tea and snackies.  We took a different route back to the house, which got me excited to explore around Imlil during my time here-- just not excited right then because of the soreness.


         I stayed at home for a little and did nothing.  Kate stopped by, but I missed her because we keep the house door locked and I was upstairs in my room- she called out for me, but didn't hear me respond.  THEN by the time I made it downstairs, she was gone, and I was wearing shorts which limited my mobility.  After doing nothing in the house, Rachid asked if I wanted to go to town or find Kate.  I wanted to find Kate, so we went to the other hotel, Dar Imlil, and found her.  We talked a lot about the clean-up.... We found a lot of problems with it, but most specifically the lack of garbage bags (there were only 30, which left very little for the slow-pokes,me, to clean up), the payment/tipping issue for the guides and mulateers, and finally the general segregation between the Moroccans and foreigners.  Kate has been involved with the organization for much longer than I have, so she was more upset by these mistakes.  We were treated to a great dinner at the hotel (very spoiled) of a big omelet and a fresh fresh salad...
        It gets VERY dark here at night.  I really did not appreciate that fact because I had been with people every night, and because I hadn't really spent much time outside at night.  (Honestly) I was very scared walking back to the house from the hotel.  Kate and the hotel manager asked if I had a flashlight (I have my phone torch) but they didn't offer to take me home.  I didn't think much of it until I was walking around in the pitch black town.  I really didn't like it- it was like being in Southold alone at night.  I dont think it even registered as a problem for them because they are so used to it.  Also-it is VERY safe here, and the people are so nice and would never hurt a fly, so I don't even think that they made the connection between me being a city girl and not quite used to this type of small dark village.   I sent the classic "I am home safe" text to Kate, who responded seeing if I wanted to have breakfast at Lahcen's house ("good networking!!") the next day at 9:30... Things are getting busy!!

Monday I woke up and met Kate.  Lahcen lives in the next town over, so we walked there.  It was NOT an easy walk, and I was in flip flops.  I have finally come to terms with the fact that it is not very easy to get anywhere in this town.  Everything is uphill or downhill (equally hard...) inshaallah my butt will be AWESOME by the end of the summer... Anyway. We found Lahcen's house.  The villages are amazing here.  They're built right into the mountain and are adorable.  Of course everyone knows everyone, and is super friendly, but they surprisingly very welcoming to strangers- no dirty looks from any of the women (or men)... some children lead us to Lahcen's house... very cute.
Lahcen is at the end of a big renovation- it looks great, but probably not what I would want my house to look like.  The walls are VERY shiny and sleek.  Bright pastel color schemes and not very good molding w/painted gold details... He was very proud, so we complimented him a lot.  He had US make the tea, and we also ate ghreef pancakes--- missed them A LOT.  Lahcen is definitely my favorite out of the Kasbah employees.  Very friendly and speaks English well.  He also humors me from time to time and we speak in fusha...
After breakfast/tea we made our way back to the Kasbah.  Lahcen's friend in the UK is getting married, so he wanted to get a gift for Kate to bring them... At first he picked out one of those Moroccan comforters, and we immediately vetoed it.  We went into a souvenir shop, and picked out a woven blanket instead.  Then we went to the Kasbah for some asir portugal (OJ) and Kate helped Lahcin write some e-mails, and edit his new website.  Then we went back to the other hotel and Kate sent me some documents with important things about Imlil on them-- very helpful (especially the staff sheet with everyone's names and a fun anecdote about them all.  This way I will have an easier time keeping track of everyone...) Then I went back to the house to shower.  I went BACK to the hotel for dinner.... REALLY great tajine and fruit and tea.  I said bye to Kate (she was leaving at 6 am on Tuesday), and took the last dark walk of the summer (I won't voluntarily do that again).  Sometime in between all of this, I (re-)met Omar who's sister dorms at the EFA house.  He invited me over for lunch tomorrow, but then called Kate later to say that he had to guide some people up to the mountain, so he would re-schedule.

Tuesday
Kate went home today, so I did not have a friend to explore with.  I had a pretty boring day, but it was good because it forced me to write the questions for Latifa, the housemother, who I meet on Wednesday.  I also kind of got my stuff together, and figured out my personal goals for the next few weeks.  I also shared some correspondence with Aniko, my supervisor, and she (kind of) helped me settle on internship goals... I had my first CISLA "alone dinner".  I heated up leftovers from the weekend (pasta and veggie sauce that had a weird spice) but I added some peanut butter and tomatoes/onions to make it kind of a peanut curry thing.. it was pretty good, but not great. I watched Love Actually (weird.) in the living room while I ate my late dinner... then I went to sleep.

Wednesday

I woke up at ~7 am because my phone company texted me saying that I did not have any more money, which is weird, but I DID "butt dial" my mom for about 2 minutes on Sunday (Nicole...)… then I downloaded the NPR app on my iPad and fell back asleep listening to a piece about the drought that America is having (I feel really bad for u guys).  I woke back up at 10 am (MUCH later than I wanted to).  I had a meeting with one of the housemothers from EFA at 2, so I had to finish working on and transcribing my questions before she came over.  I ate breakfast on the roof terrace and did my questions.  The woman was 45 minutes late (typical Morocco) but we ended up talking for HOURS.  It was great, and gives me a lot to do next week-- transcribe the interview, and mull over everything that she had to say… 

After the meeting we went to the waterfall to meet some of her friends.  I was in flip flops, which was a bad idea.  I thought we were just going to go to the Kasbah for some tea or something, but then she changed our plans to the waterfall- the path is almost vertically uphill and very rocky- flip flops are not totally appropriate.  Oh well.  Her friend was out with her niece and nephew who are Moroccans but are living in Italy.  They are 8 and 9 years old and were very cute.  At the waterfall we met one of the girls who board at the EFA houses.  Latifa told her to come to my house the next day, and to bring her friends.  Progress!!   After the waterfall we went to a café.  I didn't really know what was going on, but she acted like I should come with them, so I did.  We sat at this outdoor café for a while, but didn't eat anything. (I was getting hungry, and contemplated ordering for myself...)  

Then we moved to a different one, where Rachid (the person who looks over the house I am living in) calls "our café"- referring to people of Imlil, a true local joint!!  It was totally outside in the trees.  A man was making those DELICIOUS donuts (fried dough)  I had become VERY hungry by then… I hadn't eaten since 10 am and it was probably 6 pm by that time… We got some sandwiches and then donuts- I was happy.  After that part of my day I came back to the house and blogged on the roof while drinking the sun tea that I made the day before.  I had a little potato chips because I only had half of a half of the sandwich.  Then I showered.  I am still in love with the showers here… After the shower I reheated some dinner that I made the day before.  It was still good.  The kitchen is TERRIBLE.  The stovetop sucks (it is either FULL BLAST FLAME or off)- I set a small tomato slice on fire accidentally... The pots and pans are bad too... they're either HUGE or like weird and very shallow.  AND the sink NEVER shuts off!! It's impossible, so I try to use the sink only once a night.  At least the knives are good.  I finished Love Actually... it ends with a scene of everyone reuniting at the airport- that will be me soon enough.  I always lock my bedroom door before I go to sleep, so I did and passsseeeed out.  

Thursday

Two meetings today!! Lunch with Omar's sister (who lives in the EFA house in Asni) and then some other girls were supposed to come over later to talk about EFA.  I was supposed to meet Omar at 11, but Aniko called at 10:45 saying that two of her friends were coming to the house in two hours, which meant that I had to finally move out of one of the rooms that I had been occupying.  I scurried to do that, and then met Omar 15 minutes late.  Turns out he was 30 minutes late, so I ended up being 15 minutes early... haha.  Kate told me to wear my boots when I went to Omar's house, so I did.  He kind of looked at me funny because I didn't end up needing them... We walked basically on the road the entire time.  The dynamic of people in this town is quite interesting.  Omar is a guide that does work with the Kasbah, but also does work on the side.  He, like a lot of people in the village, owes a lot to the Kasbah and the other associated organizations, but I have found him to be one of the more appreciative ones.  Anyway- same deal as Lahcen's house.  Passed a lot of cows and goats.  Really great. We finally got to his house and were greeted by THE CUTEST baby.  So happy and long, LOOOONGGG eyelashes.  I played with the baby for a long time.  The baby was one of Omar's three children.  The other two were older, but still cute---full of life.  The Omar's sister came in. She was very soft spoken.  She couldn't really understand English, so we spoke in fusha (woot!!).  She was nice, but I didn't get a lot of information from here... if nothing else, she was good lunchtime company.  The lunch was REALLY good also.  Tomato and lettuce salad with GREAT chicken Tajine... not sick of it yet!!

I told Omar that I had a meeting at 3 (it was actually at 4) because I wanted to get some food before Ramadan, which (might) start on Friday.  He walked me back to town, which was nice, but unnecessary.  Then I went back to the house to wait for the girls (without food shopping because I told Omar that I was meeting them at 3 and I was nervous that I would see him around between 3 and 4-- crazy).  Anyway I did emails and wrote the (very little) notes from lunch, and then before I knew it-- it was 4 pm. 

 Obviously the girls were not going to show up at 4 on the dot, but I thought that I should wait outside just incase I didn't hear the knock or the door when they arrived.  I waited until 5 and then called Latifa.  Latifa assured me that they were coming (without speaking to them since the interaction that I witnessed…) and told me to wait another hour.  I had nothing else to do, so I agreed.  Maybe seven minutes later- 3 girls showed up at my door.  Amazing.  Rachid wasn't home, so I brought them to the living room and offered them some water (as opposed to tea or coffee, which I SHOULD have offered...woops)  One of the girls was Omar's sister.  We were having a basic conversation (name age etc.) when I heard a loud knock on the door- three MORE girls showed up! It was really great.  In retrospect, I should have called Rachid because communication was a little bit of an issue, BUT I primarily used my fusha skills, and thankfully, they were able to understand me! All of my studying put to good use!! They were REALLY crazy, but funny.  They knew that they could be silly as long as they answered my questions, so it all worked out.  I took them for cookies after the discussion, which was probably not the best idea.  I offered to bring them to the café that we went to with Latifa and Rachid the day before, but I kind of forgot about the café culture here, and they looked at me funny.  We settled on me going into a store and buying them some chocolate chip cookies (that were actually REALLY good).  Then we all parted ways. 

 I decided that I didn't want my chocolate chip cookies at that moment, and that I would much prefer a donut (obviously), so I went to get one instead.  There were a lot of people waiting in line, but finally when it became my turn- I asked for wahid- "one"... he looked at me kind of weirdly, and another man said something else to him, and then I got my donut- FOR FREE!!! wooooot... a donut a day... It was on a string (usually there's a kilo of donuts on the string), and I felt VERY silly walking around with this donut (on a string), but it also amused me.  It was so fresh and greasy that I got two dots of grease on my pants :/ worth it though...

One the way home I met Rachid and Lahcen- they laughed at my one donut on a string and then fed me fresh figs that were SO good- better than dried ones.  One the way back to the house we met Aniko's friends (Hicham & Angela- Hicham is in the art business and Angela is an anthropologist who works for the Dutch embassy in Rabat).  They seemed very nice and we agreed to have harira and dates out to dinner later that night.  I relaxed at home~~ had my daily magic hour roof time with my sun tea until Hicham came up and said that Angela had too much work, and could not go to dinner.  We decided to go anyway, but first we stopped at the trekking store because we wanted to get maps of Toubkal (for Hicham to use, and me to admire...) Then we went to the café that we went to after the trek (the one restaurant in town) and ordered harira and dates.  Rachid was at the café (he's actually everywhere...) so he sat with us.    We talked a lot about Ramadan, and the fact that nobody knows when it is going to be.  We know the general dates, but nobody knows exactly when it was going to start.  Hicham said that it would start on Friday because that is what astronomers say, but Rachid was not too sure.  It all depends on if you can see the moon or not, so we might be able to see the moon in some places, but not others.

After our conversation I was inspired to learn more about Ramadan.  I went to the internet.  Ramadan represents the time that God revealed the content of the Qur'an to the prophet Muhammed.  It is a time where Muslims are supposed to refrain from guilty pleasures and sustain a refined being.  There are a lot of health benefits of the Ramadan fast- it acts as a cleanse, both spiritually and physically.  A lot of it makes sense and is really amazing, but some of it confuses me too.  On Friday we switch the clocks back one hour to go back to winter time.  The reasoning is because of Ramadan, but it still doesn't really make sense to me.  I think it has to do with work hours- less time at work during the daylight (???), but even that confuses me.  I read a lot about what the Muslim athletes are planning on doing for the holiday.  Some are going to fast after the games, but at least one that I read about said that he would keep Ramadan during the games.  That seems crazy to me, but to each his own!  Ryan told me that some of them are doing community service and feeding the homeless in London instead of fasting.  It is all really amazing, and I suggest reading about it if you have the time.  Then I ran up to the roof to look for the moon- I couldn't find it, but the call to prayer DID seem a little longer tonight.... we will seeeee!!!! 

Friday 

I woke up and did some work for EFA... Transcribing the interviews took much longer than I had expected because there was a lot of background noise, and the girls spoke in between every. single. question.  I finally finished that, and wanted to go to the Kasbah to make sure that it was Ramadan.  The Dutch friends were still in the house working~~ not sure when they will ever make it to the top of the mountain... At around 4 I went up to the Kasbah.  Turns out, it is NOT Ramadan yet- one more day of eating!! I hung out with Lahcen for a little and looked through the EFA newsletters to see what exactly I should be writing for them by the end of the summer.  Then I went on my daily walk.  I brought my camera this time.  It was not easy because I had NO idea where I was going, but that made it kind of fun. I found water, and  A LOT of grass. 

I sat on a big rock and looked out to this while I read a magazine and thought more about EFA etc.  It was really great.  I took a video, so I can transport myself back whenever I want to! 

I did my REAL ramadan shopping after my break-- AVOCADOS!! Lucky me :) Upon arriving back at the house after shopping, Angela and Hicham were just leaving the house to go up to the cascade.  I told Lachen that I would be back for tea time, so I said that I would go along with them (the Kasbah is on the way to the cascade)... Little did I know, they were going to go the BOY route!! They both had flip flops on, but Hicham lead the way and we were rock climbing, YET again.... We finally looped around to a spot in between the Kasbah and cascade, and I went straight to the Kasbah, but invited them for tea with us after they cascaded... They took a long time at the cascade, but I was patient.  We went to the roof deck and had our tea.  They started to put out the tablecloths on the tables, and we ended up being fed for dinner-- wooohooo!!! So yummy- GREAT & SALTY french fries, berber eggs, and a petit chicken tajine.  yum yum yum.  

Angela and Hicham are really great people.  The dinner conversation was great- they gave me some pointers of things to keep in mind/look out for while I am here, and some ways to pass the time away.  Angela has been in a million homestays (Vietnam, Morocco, Columbia, Baton Rouge, HARTFORD CT!, Australia, New Zealand, Paris etc. etc.)  & had SOOOO many stories from each of them.  She said that she lived in complete FILTH in Hartford- was living with a single mom and a terrible daughter will 100 cats-- SO funny- especially because she still looks fondly upon that situation.  She is a really great lady and I am very pleased to have met her. 

       We went home right away after dinner- they are doing Toubkal tomorrow...  It was even DARKER coming home from the Kasbah, but I wasn't scared because I had other people with me.  A hoodlum SPRINTED down the mountain past us, and I probably would have DIED if I was alone- thank goodness I wasn't!!! 

Saturday & Sunday --- RAMADAM KAREEM (Generous Ramadan~~~ happy Ramadan)

Initially I TOTALLY dismissed the idea of doing Ramadan because- I am not Muslim & am a hungry girl.  Upon further research and discussion with people, I decided to try it-- why not?? When in Rome, right?? I woke up very early (again) on Saturday.  I caught up a little on the Daily Show & Colbert and then fell asleep for a long time.  When I woke up it was practically lunch (one meal down!!) I went to the roof and sat out a little.  I had a VERY lazy day and don't really want to get into the details.  I basically did NOTHING.  It was terrible/great.  I was very confused by the time of day (Google is NOT always right) and kept on checking "how many hours until sunset in Morocco" I kept on convincing myself that I was not hungry, but I WAS becoming crazy.  I had to leave the house.  I went out and found a good spot to read.  I then went into town to see how dead it was.  Surprisingly, it was more upbeat than I had expected.  My donut guy was cooking donuts, and a lot of men were shopping-- shops were open.  There was an insane amount of CHILDREN running around in the streets- I bet all of their hungry mothers kick them out of the house during the final hour.  I got myself some shabakeye (sp?) to break my fast and then I RAN home to cook dinner... I probably won't do Ramadan again until I am back with my host family (NEXT WEEKEND). Because it doesn't seem genuine or  healthy my way.  My fitr was NOTHING compared to what I imagine a Moroccan one to be (more leftovers for Claire!!! AND my avocado was brown & inedible).  You are also supposed to eat throughout the night-- INCLUDING the hours RIGHT before the sun rises... I was fast asleep at 4 am, so Sunday I decided to "eat light" and skip the TOTAL fast... 

I had another lazy day that ended in exploration and book reading.  I like that I haven't stumbled upon the same book reading spot yet, but always am able to get myself home (miraculously).  Angela and Hicham came home just around dinner time, and Hicham found a harira mix in the pantry.  He whipped that up and we ate that on the terrace with the rest of the dates & the reddest watermelon I have ever seen.  They are SO sore... just like I was this time last week.  I can totally sympathize, so I did the dishes while they went to sleep (at 8 pm....) 

Good true first week... it is kind of lonely, and hard when you are not really on a totally SET internship schedule, but I have become better at forcing myself to work and then get of the house.  I am going to create an office at the Kasbah tomorrow during Ramadan work hours, so I feel better about myself and my internship.  

Talk to you soon    

PS-  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Monday July 23rd) 

The Kingdom of Morocco and I miss you VERY MUCH, but we (you and I-- sry Maroc) will be reunited very soon- can't wait to celebrate!

XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOX 

Summit Descend- (Friday) July 13 & 14

                 We all started to go down together (with a guide, Mustafa) but I let other people go ahead of me because I had a lot of images in my head of people falling like dominos, and I decided that I would prefer to be the initial domino.  I was behind a man who was kind of slower, but was pretending to be a gentleman and wait for me... He tried to help and like hold my hand, but I was NOT having it.  Even if he was trying to be nice, it was futile because it was his first time up the mountain and we were basically in the same trial & error position in terms of which path to take.  I did not want to walk down with him, but we made it about half way down together.  It was MUCH harder to go down than up.  I was happy that I had never trekked before because now that I know that little fact- I probably won't trek again.  If I had known that the return would be harder than the trek up, I probably would have turned around before I made it to the top.  I was literally CLIMBING for some points on the way up- I didn't think about having to get DOWN from those rocks... The rocks were very small and driveway-like.  I tried to stick to the bigger ones, but there were a lot of places that only had VERY small rocks on a steep hill.  *eye roll*.  It was so hard and by that time in the day, the sun was RIGHT above us and I kind of just wanted to get back to the refuge... The "helpful" man started to REALLY annoy me.  He would stop frequently in terrible spots and ask me to take pictures of him, and THEN the moment that put me over the edge happened... 

         He asked me to hold his camera, I thought he wanted another picture, BUT no no no... He said he had to go to the bathroom... okayyyyy......................THEN he asked if I had TOILET PAPER. IIII know what that means.  I said "no" and took that as my escape route.  I asked if I could go ahead ("because I am slower than him") and have him catch up.. I proposed this in a way that he couldn't really refuse and then I was happily on my way.  SO ridiculous- I laughed out loud with myself- ESPECIALLY because we were in the MIDDLE of decline of a HUGE mountain!! I asked where he was going to go and he just pointed to nowhere haha.. ooooooiiiiii. 

        Navigating down was not easy, so I did a lot of trial and error.  my "friend" caught up at a ledge and loudly asked me which way he should go.  I tried both ways and they were equally hard, so I just told him which way I ended up going.  I passed the boy seen below, and he told me that he was resting because it was too loud down there ....? (I didn't ask...). I kept on going and then the Moroccan caught up to me while I was resting.  I told him to go ahead, and he shrugged and did.  THEN the guy (who is from Poland) caught up to me (I was still resting...).  He sat with me and I gave him some of my cliff bar (he loved it) and we talked a lot about nothing (& terrorism).  His name is Lukas and his eyes were bluer than the sky above... ahhhlala    I think we ended up talking for much longer than I realized.  We started going down together, but he was going "the boy route" and was NOT paying attention to the rock structures serving as markers to help trekkers like me get down.... NOT EASY, but he was funny about it.  At one point in our conversation he asked me "why are you so slow???" :O Funny, and true, but RUDE- I don't think he was trying to be funny or rude.... 

Anyway, we are ALMOST at the bottom when we saw Kate.  Lukas pointed her out bc we are wearing the same bright green shirt... She met up with us and said that she was worried bc all of the guides were back (which everyone was very mad about- "they left [me] up there alone, and that's the opposite of their job...") but I wasn't.  She greeted me with a bottle of water and a twix bar-- total angel.  I also forgot to mention this, but I not only did I forget my iPod- I did not bring ONE dirham on this trip..  I was under the impression that we had to pay for the refuge ourselves (turns out we didn't have to), and what if I wanted snacks or something??? IDK what I was thinking! It turned out to be okay, EXCEPT the water at the refuge was not good to drink (the Moroccans drank it, so I prob would have been okay--- I AM Moroccan afterall.......) but luckily I had my chlorine tablets!! (thanks Mom & Paragon).  I shared a lot of them- it was great.  I didn't even finish one of the twix bars before we made it back to the refuge.  Everyone had already eaten lunch... woops! But there were a lot of leftovers.  I MOWED down on yum yum salad and lentils then I finished my twix, and Kate stole a big bottle of h2o fr me.  THEN it was time to clean the mountain. 

No altitude sickness, only VERY SWOLLEN HANDS!!!!!!

    Everyone had already been cleaning for an hour or so before I got down, so there was not a lot left for me to do... WELL there was still A LOT to do, but they only brought 30 BIG bags, and apparently they filled up quicker than Mountain Propre had expected.  It was really really astonishing and weird.  Going up to the mountain, you only saw the occasional piece of litter (and u picked it up and put it into your reusable  sustainable garbage bag) but if you walked a very short way off the path, or away from the refuge, there were PILES of disgusting, rotting trash hidden under small rocks.  It was UNREAL.  I forgot my camera, but it was probably even too upsetting to post about.  Basically what happens is that  people litter (I don't want to generalize saying that Moroccans litter bc I am sure other people do too, but I have witnessed some very shocking instances of littering in Morocco and Jordan--- Remember Salem?????).  Littering does not have the same connotations here, so people do it openly and frequently.  SO instead of throwing out the litter (what a concept) the people who run the refuge make the effort to lift these rocks and cover the trash, giving trekkers the illusion of a beautiful and clean mountain.  It's really bad, and IDK how to get people to stop, but events like this is definitely helping- at least by simply getting the word out.  I think that the Moroccans who volunteered with us will never litter again, and hopefully they will put pressure on their friends...    ** Side note-- Salem (our Jordanian aameia professor) once threw a tiny piece of trash out the window. We were all visibly HORRIFIED- he definitely learned his lesson.  He also always apologized to us anytime he saw us afterwards, and made a biiiig speech about it at our 'graduation'**  Anyway- this trash thing was mushkilla kabeera, and very discouraging.  After we filled the 30 bags we had teatime...  I was becoming sorer and sorer by the minute.  

Dinner was good tajine.   I sat in the middle of the Moroccan table.  (our meals and activities have been noticeably segregated this entire weekend- the Europeans with the Europeans and the Moroccans with the Moroccans... unfortunate, but Kate and I made an effort to sit with the Moroccans).  One of them took my fork and knife away and challanged me to eat "the Moroccan way".  Little did he know, I AMMMM Moroccan- he was impressed.  The pain ensued.  I could barely walk down the stairs to brush my teeth.  We sat on the terrace after dinner and I tried to stretch a little.  BEAUTIFUL STARS.    I cant figure out how do take pix of them, but even if I could- it wouldn't do the moment justice.   We went to sleep at 11 or 12.  I woke up a few times during the night (uncharacteristic) because I was in a lot of pain.   I woke up at 9 30-- almost missed breakfast (which was supposed to be at 9??) until I remembered that we are in Morocco and are on Morocco time-love it. 

The walk back down the rest of the way was a blur.  I was hurtin real bad walked very slowly.  I don't want to talk about it really, BUT I will say that I did not start cursing in my head until ~1:30 pm on SATURDAY... Bravo Claire!!! I have NEVER been in this much pain, and the final stretch was TERRIBLE.  I think Aniko could tell once we FINALLY made it to Dar Toubkal... She threw me into the shower, and I felt like a new person (still SO much pain tho...).  We went to a terrace restaurant for lunch- MORE CLIMBING to get to the top.  I was a zombie but felt better after brochettes and FFs.  I also got two cokes.  Regular coke... that's how bad it was.  We all went to the insinerator to drop the trash off.  Usually we would ship it to Marrkech, but it was already too damaged- all we could do was burn it (I don't really understand that, but I trusted them).  We rested a on the terrace and prepared for a great celebratory dinner.  Lo (?) wanted to introduce me to the butcher, so I went with him to get the meat for dinner.  Lo explained that I am living at Dar Toubkal for the next month and I only want to eat THE BEST meat (true.) He continued to tell the butcher that I am American and know what good meat tastes like- not sure if that was a dig or not.... I also met the veggie guy who was not as nice as the butcher... We had a great celebration dinner (with a lot of leftovers that I am still eating on July 18th).  

 All in all, this weekend was a total great success.  I am so happy, and will fondly remember these three days for the rest of my life.  

TOUBKAL Ascent: July 12 & 13

I have been VERY busy since I got to Morocco last week (WOW- time flies!!).  I ran some errands in Marrakech before we came out to Imlil. We got here early evening Tuesday, and had a GREAT BBQ.

  The people that I have bene with are Swiss-- Greg, Tom, Lo (??? not realllllly positive of his actual name, so I avoid saying it outloud), Ksenia (another hard one...), Luca (dating Ksenia-- VERY cute couple- not annoying), and one Australian named Erica.  Erica talks A LOT- very chatty, but super friendly.  She has been traveling around for the past year and a half, and still has ~3 months to go.... Ellen, can u imagine???  Apparently that is very typical of Australians and she seems completely unfazed by it- kind of inspiring, but I still don't think I could do that.  She got to Morocco the same time that I did and is going to leave only 5 days earlier than me....   

             Wednesday was a preparation day, so we (the volunteers) spent a lot of time on the Kasbah du Toubkal terrace.  We ate great omelets and salad and lounged a lot.  Then we all had a meeting about the trek.  It didn't sound too bad.  We were instructed that we would leave at around 9 am to begin.  We went around the area of the Kasbah and the house.  It is SO green and beautiful.  Not TOO hot (but still definitely hot...).  Very hilly and country house-like.  There is also a water irrigation source running through the villages- very different than any other place I have been in Morocco, AND definitely Jordan too.  Very refreshing.    

After we hung out at the Kasbah, Rachid took us to the waterfall.  A lot of Moroccans were hanging out around it and swimming in the water.  The water was VERY cold but refreshing.  

THURSDAY- TREK DAY 

  

 We woke up at 9 and met downstairs at the house.  I ate some breakfast (tried to fill up) and coffee.  We waited for everyone to get there and then were on our way.  The walk up to the Kasbah du Toubkal is not particularly easy, so I was already tired by the time we got up there... I suddenly got nervous for the rest of the trek... The best part of the entire trip was that I didn't know anything about the trip.  I never knew when we would have a rest stop, or when we would be done for the day.  I just kept on walking and walking and walking... I WAS upset that I forgot to bring my iPod, but it ended up being fine...

This is a pic of basically the beginning of the trek (still going through the towns surrounding Imlil....)

 A long "plateau" that was a huge tease.  I asked one of the guides if this was the terrain till the top- he laughed a lot.... 

Rough terrain

Rest stop #1.  It was nice and cloudy and occasionally drizzled, which made the trip MUCH easier.  I think he pink building is called the shrine of Sidi Chamharouch (?? not totally sure though).  It is a place where people come when they are haunted by a Jin.  We saw someone who was definitely haunted by one in on a mule on the way back down- very interesting.  

It was also VERY windy.  This is our lunch being attacked by a wind/sand storm.  It was funnier like 3 seconds before I took this picture... We had salad and rice for lunch.  One Moroccan said that we were eating like rabbits- TRUE, and funny.  

WATER

Second rest stop.  By this time it had come out that I take Arabic.  The guy next to me (in the white) was SO excited by this, and talked to me in Fusha A LOT.  I was actually excited because before I met him- it was a lot of French speaking.  Basically (except for Erica) everyone speaks French as their first language, which is very intimidating. They speak English too, so it's not that bad for ME, but I wish I could speak with them in French- too intimidating.  

Happily trekking.  This is genuine, not just for the camera.  Also- note the SEEDS!! Muhammad's brother was nice enough to get us some green melon seeds after we tried them and LOVED them.  We got them the night before we left.  I was anticipating snacking on them while I trekked- they totally met my expectations.  Not only are they delicious and similar to sunflower seeds, they are VERY salty, which helps with dehydration.  Very similar to my softball days- practicing mindless sport while chewing on seeds. The seeds were a hit among the Moroccans too, but don't worry- I still have some left.  

This is the refuge we stayed at.  Once we saw it, it seemed SO close, but it was SO far still.  I hated that about trekking.  you can see things, but your eyes deceive you and they are never really as close as they appear.  

The group had special snacks awaiting our arrival.  Two of my favorites- TANGO cookies and (warm) Spéciale beer.  We had a pasta dinner (before the marathon) and a canned fruit dessert.  The boys were VERY unhappy with dessert, it was funny, but there was nothing we could do about it... and went to bed pretty early.  It was like 10 o'clock, so the stars hadn't even fully popped out- there were still more than I've seen in a loooong time.  It was INCREDIBLY hot sleeping in the refuge.  I had my cocoon which I was very thankful for (a lot of peeps got bedbug bites, mais pas moi  !!!), but not thankful for the sweatpants and long sleeve that I was wearing.  I was also VERY sore throughout the night- I woke up everytime I tried to turn over in my sleep because I was in pain.  We had a wake up time of 6:30 to make it to the summit- lets go! 

                                      

The day before I looked at a map and it seemed that we were over 75 percent of the way to the top, I thought I heard someone say that it was only a half hour away.... I realized later that it seemed that way because the map was flat and sure we had gone far in terms of milage, but we did not make a great progress in terms of altitude.  I geared up (cold weather gear... the sun hadn't come over the peak yet) and we all met outside.  I had a huge blister (that has now become even bigger) so Greg wrapped it me for me and then we were off.  We were probably walking 10 minutes (totally uphill and definitely already hard) when Erica decided that she did not want to do it... I was okay with that because she was a little complainey on the way up yesterday... I was really winded already too, but I kept on trucking.  I really had NO idea how far up it was, so I kept on taking breaks whenever I wanted to and eventually I fell far back enough that I lost my friends... its funny, but doesn't look that funny when I type it.    

Some Moroccans passed me, and they asked if I wanted their ski poles, I didn't.  It was a lot of uphill walking, but I really never even considered not getting to the top... I also was not particularly negative at all... I feel like normally I would be cursing in my head the second that I felt out of breath, but not today- I was determined!

There was a part that was like ACTUAL rock climbing, which I did not like (I do NOT like rock climbing...) and I looked ahead to see if it was going to be like that for a long way, but it was just one bigger rock that I had to climb up.  There was a point in the treck up that I started to meet up with strangers who were descending.  They were all very encouraging, and I didn't ask, but I assumed that they woke up MUCH earlier than I did...   One group from London (that I KNOW woke up at 4 am) came down at one point and the girl seemed VERY frustrated and unhappy.  The boy told me that I had a long way to go, and that the train just gets harder, which was discouraging because I had already come a very & hard long way..... Don't worry though! I kept on trekking.  

I ran into Kate, a REALLY nice girl/lady/woman (she says that she is older than she looks...) from the UK.  She is in our group, and is really awesome.  She left an hour before us but was WAY ahead of my pace.  She gave me some delicious cereal trail mix, and was very encouraging.  They told me not to look at the peak because it is farther than I think, and it was actually OVER the mountain peak- very deceiving.  It got hard, and at one point I literally did NOT know how to go up any higher (a lot of graveley, dusty, SMALL rocks on a steep hill...).  I honestly never thought of stopping, but I did get a little loopy at some points and kept taking a lot of breaks... At one point I saw this ANNOYING boy/man RUNNING down the mountain with his ipod in (ahead of his guide).  He stopped and told me not to worry and that I was about 10 minutes away.  I smiled politely and kept trekking- knowing that his 10 minutes was probably AT LEAST an hour for me...  I took (what I thought was) my last break and then kept moving.  

THESE sheep crept up on me and would NOT move out of my path.  I took a video which I will show in person because I don't know if I have enough internet to upload vids, but basically it's me screaming/laughing at them saying "MOVE!!! GO!!! SEEER!!! YALLA!! I HATE YOU" It probably was only funny because I was so loopy and so ready to get to the top.  

Then I passed the rest of my group- they were VERY encouraging (obviously).  They clapped as I approached, so I got a serious boost and BOOKED it the rest of the way.   

... until I FINALLY MADE ITTTTT

        I stayed up there with some Mountain Propre Moroccan friends.  We snacked a lot and had fun.  It was a BEAUTIFUL sight-- endless mountains.  It was cold, but not too cold-refreshing.  I was VERY happy and proud of myself for doing it essentially alone... We stayed up for a while and enjoyed the view. Stay tuned for the story of my descent...   

Back in Morocco!! A quick update.

Salam / bonjour from Morocco. --- I got in very late last night after traveling allllllll day. (Amman-London-Casablanca-Marrakech. It was nice to be with Conn kids for the first leg, but then it was also nice to be alone for the rest. I was very nervous about my luggage from London to Morocco, but in Amman they put a tag on it sending it all the way through. I had to pay extra money for one of them because apparently London-Morocco is not technically "overseas" and we are only allowed to have one bag... I definitely could have planned this leg of my journey better, but it's okay. I'm here safe & sound! I got a ham, prosciutto and sundried tomato croissant in tHe airport. They heated it up for me and it was SO good. I also got a prosciutto, moz, tomato, and basil sandwich that I ate throughout the night, and some chocolate, trail mix, and an iced tea. I had to use the extra pounds that I took out to pay for my bag......... --- I had a nice mini vacation in Heathrow, and being there DEFINITELY made me decide that i need to return to London and leave the airport- maybe next summer. The flight from London to Morocco was terrible and I was given a middle seat! How rude. I obviously changed for an aisle, but my seat didn't go back? Very uncomfortable and I couldn't really sleep like I was planning to. The flight from Casa to Marrakesh was veryyyy creaky. I think it was a plane from the 1980s, or earlier. --- Once I arrived in Marrakech I went through customs, and my bags were literally RIGHT THERE as I got to the baggage claim. Magical. Then I went outside, got cash and my ride was there with a little sign with my name on it! We went to the car and rode to Aniko's. (I finished my prosciutto sandwich in the car-haram....). Aniko greeted me with open arms... She had some friends over / people who are going to do the mountain clean-up (2 Swiss, 2 French, one French woman, and one Algerian man). They were eating pesto and chilli pasta. It was delicious, but the definitely spiciest thing I've had in a while..... After dinner, Aniko showed me my bed and I passssed out (obviously).--- I didn't wake up as early as I was expecting to (there's only a 2 hour time difference between Morocco and Jordan...) but I showered (grrrrreat shower) as soon as I woke up. I also finally put away the shirt that I feel like I've been wearing for the past week (I feel this way because I HAVE been wearing it for the past week...) and kind of re-organized my bag. I found two explosions- some sunscreen, AND the two saucer peaches that, for some reason, I felt the need to put in my checked bag and bring all the way from Jordan.....??????? --- Everyone resurfaced for Moroccan breakfast. I missed tea and baguette and crepes and hard boiled eggs and Moroccan JELLY ahhhhhhh so good.. My plan for today- food shop & register my NEW sim card that Aniko gave me (RIP small change purse....). We are heading up to the mountain at 5 pm Morocco time (noon in NY). I also will post about my last days in Jordan tomorrow in sha Allah...

Amman Day 2 (June 30th)

 Today we went to Amman with the program.  It was a GREAT and jam-packed day.  A lot of fun & pictures.  

     We started at the S.O.S. Children's Village in Irbid.  I saw the Moroccan S.O.S. Children's Villages, and I was very impressed by the Jordanian one in comparison.  It was really nice, and seemed new.  There were 9 buildings housing almost 100 children.  Once the children get too old for this village, they go to a transition place where they are in the 'real world' but are still supported by the organizataion.  The children were SO happy and friendly, it made me a little sad.  I always get emo at these places, but I shouldn't because they are definitely happy.  It's hard not to think about the kids who are not in these villages...

  

      After the village visit, we went to Amman.  Our first stop was the citadel.  As I was getting off my bus I saw a woman (from a distance) who I thought I recognized.  I was not positive, so I called out "Anna?", and low and behold it was Anna Swank (my very first Arabic teacher, from FS)!! SUCH a small world! So nice to see a familiar face.  She told me that she was doing a Columbia program with Bram (my FS history), who was already on their bus.  I went over to say hi to him as well.  We were all kind of in a time crunch, but it was such a pleasant encounter- short and sweet.  Friends reuniting across the world!!  It really made my day.  Here's a pic.... 

The Citadel

Then we had lunch.  It was good and a lot of food- I wanted to nap after it, but we still had a lot to do.  The next stop was King Hussein Mosque.  Jordanian Mosques are different Mosques.  Structurally as well as culturally- Jordanian mosques allow non-muslims to enter.  Women are required to wear these hoodie/cover-up things.  It was weird, and hot.  The Mosque was BEAUTIFUL inside.  Very nice and comfortable.  Not a lot of people were praying and we were the only girls, but Muhammaed said that on Fridays it gets so crowded that people are praying from the outside.  

                                                   

                                                            

There was a church across the street from the mosque, which was very interesting.  The church was nice too.  It seemed older than the churches that I had been in, and there was not a single soul inside. Leaving the mosque and going across the street to the church presented an interesting dynamic.  I can not think of a place in America where we could find that...

We then made our way to the Royal Automobile Museum.  There were a TON of cars.  Obviously they were all beauuuuutiful, but I wish they had price tags on them.  I noticed from reading the descriptions that a lot of them were gifts to the King from other world leaders.  

We went to the children's museum, but decided not to go inside because it was expensive and we are not children.  Nicole had the GREAT suggestion to go to the mall, so we did that.  The first store that we saw was Starbucks.  There was also a Claire's and Pinkberry.  We shopped around a little.  It was great.  Pinkberry was weird because SO CROWDED and the majority was Jordanian tweens speaking very quickly in English (similar to the one on 8th ave four years ago....) I can't wait to go on my well-awaited American shopping spree in August.    

After the mall we went out to dinner with the entire group.  They y/ians met up with us.  We ate ate a HUGE restaurant that seemed very popular.  The food was really good and there were a lot of leftovers (that I am still eating a week later).  These pix are of the entire group at the dinner table, and the CISLA representation at the restaurant.  (Nicole '12 is in the middle.  Ryan and Brian '13 are the boys, and Laurel '14 is the girl who is not me...) 

GREAT WEEKEND, too bad it had to come to an end.... Last week of classes-- "Graduation" July 5th