Our flight there was perfectly fine, but we arrived in a dark and windy and cold Fez. The airport was tiny. We hopped onto a bus and drove to INLAC- I forgot what that stands for but essentially it's the American Center, located in the old Medina which is a labyrinth of small, stone "streets" (only big enough for pedestrians, and maybe a motorbike or a donkey or a large cart). The center is a beautiful old riad that was renovated in order to host the center. We were introduced to our correspondents and we chatted and then went home to meet our host families, the family of our correspondent. My correspondent and I got along so well, her name is Rajaa (I think I will be staying with her again next semester, I hope!) and she is basically a ball of sunshine. Always the center of the party, with lots of energy and positivity. We had a lot of great discussions with other correspondents in regards to social issues, Islam, etc. I'll get back to that later... Her family was so sweet and warm and welcoming to me. Whether it be the meals we had together, or when her mom helped me get ready for our Soiree d'Adieu, or when I wasn't feeling well, I felt taken care of and accepted into their home completely. It was wonderful and I only wish I could ACTUALLY speak Arabic so I could better communicate...
The language aspect was really, really frustrating. We spend all this time learning the alphabet and memorizing how to write and conjugate our verbs, etc. Only to realize that upon arrival in Fez, we can't say anything! There are a lot of things wrong with the set-up of our Arabic class. Hilda, our professor, is so great. However I really think she should implement more conversation practice. The only time we really practice talking is when we read our dialogues in our book and the ones we write. That's about 20% of what we should be doing. When I compare how I learned French and Spanish to how I am learning Arabic- it's a long shot of a difference. Maybe that's French style teaching that is different than American style- where we do lots of games and practice dialogues with a partner in class, etc. Maybe here that's viewed as infantile- but if you think about it, you're like an infant when learning a new language! And it's efficient. So I think that should change. Also, we only have class twice a week for an hour and a half. That's three hours per week. UH. WHAT? When learning a new language it has to be repetitive- every day if possible. Because class is on Tuesday and Thursday, but the time Tuesday rolls around I'm out of touch with what we practiced on Thursday. And even if I was a gold-star student and studied EVERY day, it wouldn't matter because I always have so many questions to verify that I don't improve from Thursday to Tuesday, I rarely am able to answer my own questions. Therefore, I feel like I progress at the rate of a snail. Whereas with French and Spanish- it's quiiiiiiiiite the opposite and if you know me, you understand why. Languages are my thang. And I have a lot of pride for that, so this was really a test to my ego and self-confidence to struggle so much with a language. But it did show me something: Arabic is REALLY hard and unlike, Italian for example, which I can pick up on and manage to speak fundamentally after just a week there, you can't just go to Morocco and pick up on Arabic. Unless you're really freaking special. The sounds are just so different. And everyone has their knack I guess- Arabic is not mine. But that has not dulled my interest in learning it, just my motivation to speak somewhat well by the end of the year. Unless the program here changes it's organization of the class, that won't happen..... I've realized what I need to learn quickly and well, and how I learn well, and this class, although one of my favorites, isn't satisfying my language-needs in terms of learning methods. However, I have spent a little time with a few Algerians lately, and hearing some of the words they use (although a different dialect) and understanding them is a cool feeling. They've taught me some phrases and words. And if I watch an Arabic news replay on YouTube or something I can catch a few things here and there. Better than nothing!
We took taxis everywhere for everything with our correspondents. Everyone uses taxis. The city is pretty spread out between the old Medina and the new city where a lot of people have moved to more modern accomodations. And since a lot of people don't have cars, taxis are super efficient. They're all red, always. And so you can always spot one easily- there's tons of little red cars zipping around. Rajaa took me with her to meet a lot of friends at cafes and stuff, which was really neat, so we used the taxi a lot. Especially in the morning when we were running late.... :) If you know me, you know I am chronically late. I will never change- sorry guys. Well Rajaa is the same way so we were a good partnership haha.
That's another cultural aspect that people from the west, mostly America, don't really understand. In America and other "monochronic" societies, time is the given factor and society and humans function around their construction of time, its importance, and how its organized in that society. "Polychronic" societies- like Morocco, function around people. Humans are the given factor and time is fluid, less constructed and less important than relationships and qualitative time spent with others, meaning than quantitative time is almost irrelevant and functions more so in an inconsistent way around people. That is why, to us "westerners", people from the "east" seem to be more disorganized and always running late. There are limits for certain things of course, but generally speaking, that's how it works. A lot of societies are a combination of the two to some percentage. The US is very monochronic, so when I run late at home, I annoy people. Which is why I always tell people to expect me to be late, cause otherwise I cause problems haha. If you go to coffee with someone in the US, there is always a time limit. Like, "Yeah girl I can meet you for coffee but only for an hour cause I have work to do." or "Well we should get going cause we've been here for an hour already." We are so focused on time and how we're spending it, but not always who we're spending it with. In Morocco and in Marseille: Who cares if you're a little behind on work? I am here having a quality conversation with you, let's talk until we run out of things to say and then we can go home. Who cares if we've been here at this cafe for three hours already? I'm enjoying my time with you and that's what matters. I know I'm making generalizations, but don't tell me you don't know a fellow American who hasn't said something along those lines....
We immediately noticed that there is garbage everywhere. I can't say necessarily that it's the people's fault for being unconscious to the environment, etc. Perhaps they are truly conscious, but the problem is that I don't think the government provides adequate waste disposal resources. If you don't know where to put your garbage, and you're an average citizen, what do you do? Frankly, I'd probably throw it in the streets too. Of course not everyone does this, but obviously people do.
We did a really touristic trip which is an aspect I wasn't expecting and I didn't like. I thought we'd be doing activities all day with Moroccans- instead we were with tour guides the first three days in the Medina. The first day, that was fine and dandy- interesting and eye-opening. The second day it was more in depth, different parts we hadn't seen- that was alright. By the third day, I was sick and tired of being treated like an object with money- a white, American (Or French, as some assumed we were French since we were speaking it ^^), with money. I wanted to scream, "Listen up, just because I have more money than you doesn't mean I'm rich (in my own cultural context)!" I have enough to do what I need to do with some pleasure on the side- traveling and going out, etc. But I know that the thought of going to another country is impossible for some of them, but it's like that all over the world, in France and in the US. I don't want to be objectified because I can afford to do some of that. A lot of sellers in the Medina know that rich Europeans come to Morocco, so they group us all into one pot... Having to strategically say no over and over just gets tiring is all..
We did some other pretty cool things, a hike in the forest (which I missed because I had a fever...), sight seeing, and going to cafes and other little outings, shopping in the medina... We got to taste the life of a young Moroccan! I'd have to say my most favorite memory was the day we went hiking but I got sick. By the time everyone else was done with the hike, we met them in the bus up in this clearing. I was finally starting to feel better, or well enough to get out of the bus and say hi to everyone after 3 hours of separation... because the bus driver GOT THE GIANT TOUR BUS STUCK IN THE MUD. Yes. The photos below will show our group trying to push this huge bus out of a huge muddy clearing. Between all 30 or so of us plus some kind passerby (up in the middle of no where in the mountains near Azrou) and three guys who were camping up there, we managed to move the bus using rocks, carpet, and branches for traction. After about an hour, our hiking guide ran 3 km into town to ask for help. About an hour later, it was already pitch black. The guys who were camping were kind enough to make us some Moroccan tea, a campfire, and they just so happened to have a radio, so we played American music and danced around the campfire together. It was a hilarious moment because we were all concerned we'd be passing the night in the bus until morning, and yet we were having so much fun meeting Moroccans and bonding over the irony of the situation: stuck in the mountains away from urban civilization... haha. Eventually the "help" came: a sheep truck. They attempted to pull the giant ass tour bus with the most pathetic looking cable... It snapped in 3 seconds. They tried to clip it back together with who knows what and that didn't work. After 30 useless minutes, we convinced the drivers to take all 30 or so of us in the back of their sheep truck and drive us into town to catch a different bus or wait until real help got our bus out. They reluctantly agreed, and we hopped in through the sheep door and just hung out in the back of a dirty sheep truck, riding down the rural Moroccan mountains under the moonlight. The secret police saw us and thought we were clandestine, so we had to make a quick stop and explain that really we're just a bunch of poor American students trying to get back to Fez. Then, the police escorted us to a cafe where we waited for our bus to come. It did, and we got home around 12 or 1 am, exhausted and cold. It's my favorite memory from the whole trip...
The hardest thing was the food. It's all so good, and I've tried a lot of it before. But eating it for 3 meals a day for 8 days is just a lot for the digestive system... simply and politely put... hahaha. Also, in France, I eat way less meat. I'm like halfway vegetarian by accident. So eating heavy meat dishes twice a day was sooo hard for my tummy to digest. Tummy aches and extreme bloating every day (painting a pretty picture for you all now....) So our whole class bonded on digestive issues. All boundaries were crossed and embarrassment went out the window hahaha! Also, in Morocco, a big way to show your hospitality is to serve your guest tons of food, so to refuse food is a lot like refusing their hospitality (to a certain extent of course). So when you have absolutely no appetite or are simply too full and have already eaten a day's worth of food in one meal, you have to skillfully figure out how not to eat anymore! You don't want to offend anyone but you also feel like a rock is in your stomach so you have to find the happy medium haha. Let's just say, I still love Moroccan food, but I ate enough that week to not need Moroccan food for the rest of the semester! (Except for their pastries......... :))
At the very end, we had a goodbye party and everyone dresses up for it. So I ordered a Kafta and dressed up with the help of Rajaa and her mama, and I felt like a straight up Moroccan princess. That was a fun night! Although next time I'll save the money on the dress and get something more simple. Being a Moroccan princess for one night is enough- it's probably the fanciest thing I've ever worn besides my senior prom dress!!
The other thing I felt privileged to experience was the chance to speak with traditional, conservative Muslims about their beliefs. Like I said in my last post, we had the chance to talk with women who wore the veil, and on our own time we spoke with our correspondents who don't wear the veil. But speaking with men was very different. I befriended someone who is much older than I am, and has never had any kind of relation with a woman and won't until he marries- therefore the first woman he "dates" will be his wife. He was extremely respectful to me and my beliefs- mostly because I actually had the guts to share my Western perspectives with him and not criticize him for his Muslim ones (note that criticize is different than critique!! :-P ). There were times that I really appreciated his chivalry- why don't American guys do that more?! He even asked me if he could consider me one of his friends, like literally asked me permission! And he was very complimentary, etc. And then there were times I found it slightly stifling or patronizing. Like, if I step over a puddle and he says, "be careful," and that happens 10 times while walking in the souq on a rainy day.... Well it just gets silly haha. I have eyes, I can control my legs, I think I can avoid the puddle... haha. But I will openly admit I indulged in the over-chivalrous/ultra-respectful behavior because I knew it'd be awhile before I experienced that again ! haha (although in France men are typically more chivalrous than American men anyways... ). The real point here is that talking about hot topic issues like homosexuality, drinking alcohol, sex before marriage, other religions, cultural differences in general, etc... can be tricky. We managed to have wonderful yet challenging discussions and I really cherish that opportunity, as I'm not faced with those kinds of differences every day. But it was hard- I really honestly practiced what I learned in my interreligious communication class- to respect the person as a human despite their beliefs. This person was not hostile towards some of my contradicting perspectives, but I could tell that his way of seeing certain things is set in stone and that is that. He tried convincing me certain things are the way they are because of, blah blah blah some explanation in the Coran.. And I simply had to say many times, I see how and why you believe that based on your religious education, but I just cannot agree in any way shape or form with that. You cannot convince me otherwise. And with that, we continued on...
Overall, it's a sensory overload in all directions: the smells and sights of the souq (the older, inner-city market), the tastes of ALL the food, the sounds of the music, the voices of the people, the enchanting Arabic language... It is different in a way that you cannot be prepared for, no matter how much you know about the culture, because if you grow up as a "Westerner", there are just certain things you take for granted that you realize you'd have a hard time living without- like Western toilets, running water, a shower in your household, a car, the metro, the ability to show your skin without feeling taboo, etc- and so the adjustment is just harder. For me, the feelings I experienced were hard for me to accept. I didn't want to feel that way, but I couldn't help or change that that was how I was reacting to certain situations.. For example, I felt misunderstood if I tried to explain that I loved the meal but was really too full to continue eating. I wanted people to understand that if they offer me a coffee at a cafe and I say no, I'm really really not intending to be rude, I just have no desire to have a coffee! I began feeling defensive in these kinds of situations. I understand that's how it works in Morocco, but I wanted people to understand that where I come from, saying "no" politely is okay. Not that I didn't want to integrate myself, just that if I truly meant no, I wish people understood that I was saying no because I didn't want to feel forced to drink or eat something I didn't have any desire to consume! I can appreciate someone's hospitality without stuffing myself. Okay that's a little harsh, I admit. But that's how I felt on the inside, and I went with the flow of things up until the very end of the week when I started to feel bad. I won't go into detail, haha, but basically I just had absolutely no desire to eat anything for three days, but I still had to, and that put me in a less-appreciative mood I regret to say. It was more difficult than I prepared myself for. Next time.... I'm bringing PeptoBismol and a huuuuge appetite!
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