Marreucos Day 1

Sorry for the delay, but it has taken me a few days to collect my thoughts and reflect on my experiences in Morocco.  I experienced a total culture shock and was exposed to so many new things that it seems like an insurmountable task to write this post.  But I really want to share what I saw and felt during my trip. It was such a learning experience that I couldn´t imagine not explaining it (or at least trying to). Well, I guess I should start at the begining...

Thursday Feb 2nd

                  All 16 of us had to meet at la puerta real at 6:45am for our bus ride to Tarifa (a southern port city in Spain). This meant a 5am wake up for everyone, so you can imagine how thrilled we were to be leaving at the time. But we all made it on time and left according to schedule. Half way through our bus ride, we stopped at a gas station for breakfast or snacks.  I´m including this because I saw the strangest potato chip flavors there.  There are paprika pringles and shrimp flavored chips...ew. It was bizarre to say the least.  Then, after a few hours we arrived at the port in  Tarifa. We all met Juan, aka Josh Groban's doppleganger, who was our guide for the whole trip.  He joined the Peace Corps after college and was stationed in the countryside of Northern Morocco. He speaks Spanish and Dirija (the Moroccan dialect of Arabic). He finished his enrollment last fall and is now staying in Morocco until May to give tours like the one we went on. Ah, yes...so back to Tarifa. So, we took a boat from Tarifa to Tangier- it was about an hour long trip but it felt like FOREVER. The waters were extremely choppy and  so most of us felt seasick the whole time...it was the definitely worst part of the entire trip. 

          So we finally arrived in Tangier and it was an immediate change from Spain. All the signs were in Arabic, people were speaking dialect all around us and even our money changed (to Dirhams, which actually have a great exchange rate from euros).  We got on the bus and went to the center of town to visit DARNA, a women´s center which literally means "our house". The bus ride to DARNA was quite the experience. I am surprised we didn´t hit someone because it seemed like there were no pedestrian laws and the streets were SO NARROW. We drove through a street with a lot of little shopfronts so there was a multitude of colors, sounds and smells as we inched our way closer to town.  It was such a crazy first introduction to the country--I totally felt like I was in sensory overload!  Once we got off the bus, a man, who we ALL thought was part of our tour starting guiding us to DARNA.  Juan informed us that he is what the Moroccans call a "fake guide" (in French, of course) which basically means he spends his days escorting American tourists to their destination and then asks for some money for his services.  It was a brilliant scheme because a lot of the time, Americans will gladly give over a few Dirham. So after all the traveling we did, we were all starving..luckily for us, DARNA is also wonderful restaurant!  Basically, in order to make more money to support the center, they opened a restaurant on the first level of the center with professionally trained chefs, so it is like a local place for business people to have their lunch.  After our first bites, we could taste why so many people go.  Our salad was  fresh greens, a cherry tomato, and chopped cucumbers in a mayonnaise and dill dressing.  Then came our main course--we were served a tagine,which is technically the name of the  clay dish that meals are served in which has a tee-pee shaped clay top, of chicken, green beans and carrots in a wonderfully seasoned broth.  I was worried that the food in Morocco would be too spicy for my taste, but I was excited to find out that really hot spices are not a big part of the Moroccan diet.  Then, came the pièce de résistance, our dessert! It was this incredibly light lemon meringue pie that had the perfect consistency and a ton of lemon flavor (which anyone who has been to Arthur Ave with me would know, I love!)  But that's not all...this meal was also our first introduction to Moroccan tea--it is a HUGE part of the culture and is served after every meal and as a pick-me-up during the day.  It is traditionally green tea that has been steeped with a mint leaf and sweetened with what tasted like a pound of sugar.  It was incredible and a perfect way to end the meal.  

              Our hosts during lunch were two sisters, one named Hajar but I can't remember her sister's name!  They are in college in Tangier and they spent the entire lunch talking with us about the educational system in Morocco, their lives, the politics of their country, and so much more. I loved when we discussed what they think about Americans and we shared what stereotypes Americans have of Arabic speaking countries/ Muslims/ Morocco.  It was really insightful to talk with these girls about topics like school and family because it just showed similar people are, even when they live a world away.  What also blew me away was the fact that the girls spoke perfect English but had been studying it for less that 10 years.  They only began English classes in High School. Oh, and they also spoke the Moroccan dialect, classical Arabic and French.  CRAZY!  All of us were like, we still struggle with English and Spanish and one is our native language!  Almost everyone we met during this trip spoke at least 4 languages which was such a different experience than being in America, where being bilingual is considered an accomplishment.  Wait til I get to Abir...But back to DARNA.  

                  So after lunch, we got a tour of the center from the girls.  DARNA works as a sort of trade school and classroom for women in Tangier. So there are two weaving rooms-- one with the traditional hand machines and one with automatic sewing machines where girls and women learn how to sew and make beautiful pieces.  Then, once they learn the trade, they can get a job in Tangier.  But DARNA aslo offers classes in classical Arabic (the written language of Morocco) and I think other languages as well to women of all ages.  Moreover, they teach women basic math and a little French too.  The sisters explained to us that about 50% of people in Morocco are illiterate, so the work that the center is doing is really helping the women of Tangier. Especially since 95% of the people who attend the classes are women...they girls said the reason for that is that the men get too frustrated...ahem.  Anyway, we made our way up to the roof and when we looked out over the city, we were able to see a mountain in the distance...That mountain was Spain and the sisters informed us that we were at the closest point from Africa to Europe, about 14 km.  It was really cool to think that just that morning, we had been in another continent. We were chatting on the roof when I asked the girls who their favorite American singers were.  I almost died when one sister said her favorite is MICHAEL BUBLE! My love for him has no bounds, so I legitimately jumped up and down like a little school girl and gasped. It was embarrassing for about two seconds until I realized that I have something in common with this girl who literally lives an entire ocean and culture away.  It was such a awesome moment (and the first of many) where I could see similarities between two different worlds.

                  So after our wonderful first encounter with mint tea, tangines, and the Moroccan people, were were off to Asilah.  The drive was supposed to take about an hour, but we were delayed because suddenly, our tour bus pulled off the side of the road.  We were confused as to why we were stopping, until Juan turned around and told us "Oh, right, we are gonna get out now and ride some camels" ...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were all shocked because camel riding was NOT on the itinerary.  We climbed out of the bus onto a beautiful beach with the most amazing sunset in front of us with orange and pink clouds that touched the horizon.  It was something out of a movie.  The first four brave souls jumped on as we looked on to see if any of the camels were gonna freak out (well, I was anyway).  But luckily, all of them were calm except for this one who was looking a little irritated.  I steered clear of him and found my way to another camel.  After the first horrifying second when the camel gets off the ground, the ride was pretty calm. It was surreal to say the least thouhg. Walking along the beach at sunset, on a camel in Africa, what more could I ask for? Well, I guess a gentler dismount...But after everyone had their ride, we were on our way.

               We arrived and  began our walk through Medina, the old town of Asilah.  Juan explained that this town had a large Jewish influence, and so a lot of the buildings had blue on them.  The green we saw on doors and buildings were the mark of Islam.  The town and castle had been built by the Portuguese, but there were also ruins from the Romans and Carthaginians.  We climbed to the top of this beautiful view of the water and the town, and Juan told us that that spot is where people who were punished to death were thrown into the water below. (Cue giant step back from the edge). 

            After our walk through Medina, we drove to Rabat, which took about 3 hours.  When we pulled up to our stop, Claudine, our homestay roommate Karina, and I saw a young man and one a little older waiting across the street.  Lamas told us that they were there to pick us up and take us to our homestay family.  The young man's name was Ashraf (please excuse all spelling for the rest of these posts) and he was getting his masters in Linguistics and Language. Whoa. He spoke English, French, the dialect and classical Arabic and he was so excited to talk to us about our views on life and the world.  It was really funny because he was talking to me the entire walk home and giving me pretty deep insights, like how he identified himself, when the older man (his uncle) told him to stop talking because I was so tired from the trip! But I didn't mind at all, because everyone knows how much I LOVE to talk.  But one thing that he said that really struck me was that in a country as socially divided as Morocco, meaning there are different dialects, the Berber natives, Muslims, Jews, etc, he identifies himself as a Moroccan.  He doesn't point to one aspect of his genetic makeup or the accent his family has or even what religion he follows, rather, he had a strong tie to his homeland.  I explained how in America, when you ask someone "what are you?" or "how do you identify yourself?", chances are high that the response will be the nationality of one's ancestors.  In America, people try to differentiate themselves from others by embracing their heritage, but with Ashraf, it was like he looked past all the differences to find a common ground with his fellow country men.  It was wonderful to experience someone so open about something so personal.  It made me feel right at home.

             That feeling definitely continued as I was ushered into a beautiful, traditional Moroccan home with an open air ceiling and greeted by a ton of friendly faces.  I met Aiysha, our hostess, her mother and father more of grandpa later), her niece Abir who is 11 and absolutely adorable and Ashraf's other cousin.  We also met Ash, an Australian volunteer who is staying in Morocco to teach English to doctors for a month (although she said she loved it so much already that she is thinking of extending her visit).  I can't even do the house justice with my description, so if you wanna see what it looks like, check out the photo album. 

             In Morocco, people eat around the same time as people in Spain, so by 9pm, we were all very hungry.  The family had prepared a feast for us, and as we sat around the table, they brought out a delicious soup (perfect because we were so cold!).  Our second course was an enormous tangine with chicken, carrots and peas, and then they also had sweets on the table during dinner.  We also participated in the Moroccan way of eating, which means that there is one giant dish that everyone shares.  The family explained that in their culture, sharing a meal is like sharing a blessing and thus, families and guests always eat of the same dish.  You get a little triangle that is in front of you (Juan told us this in the bus), but it was kind of cool to be literally sharing a meal together.  There was a backlava type philo dough one with dates, almonds and honey drizzled on top and something else that I honestly have no idea what it was was---but it was good!  There were also fresh dates on the table, another Moroccan staple.  Bread is also a huge part of Moroccan meals, so we had this hearty, wheat bread at every single meal, everywhere we went.  Of course, our meal concluded with numerous cups of the sweet mint tea.  We relaxed at the table, chatting and laughing with the family...there was also some screaming because the uncle came in with a Scream mask on and everyone thought it was hilarious.  He also stuck a cigarette in the mouth of the mask, which made for more laughs.  We took pictures of the whole thing, so once I email the family, I hope to get some of them so I can share them.  After an extremely eventful day, we were all VERY excited to go to bed.  So we said our good nights and went to our room, which can be seen in the photo album.  It was a very traditional looking Moroccan room which Juan told us was common in their homes. 

              So this is only the first blog post about Morocco (now you can see why it took me so long!) I hope to do the other ones much quicker, but since this blog is also my way to remember my trip, I didn't want to leave anything out! 

Hasta luego!