Day 46: Old Medina, Rabat

Happy Birthday. Joyeux Anniversaire. عيد ميلاد سعيد

Last Saturday I went to my first real Moroccan celebration, a nine-year old family friend’s birthday party.  I was a little nervous about attending. I expected to be pretty much ignored by the Moroccan guests and, therefore, a little bored. But still felt I couldn’t pass up this chance. And I am so glad I didn’t! The party was so much fun. Homemade candies, cookies, and cake were passed around and I met two American girls studying abroad with another program. But the best moment was when the music came on and the Moroccan moms, decked out in djellabas and headscarves, stood up and began to dance. To see their energy and excitement emerge from under their typically reserved demeanors was fantastic. They even pulled me and the other Americans and tried to teach us some moves!

On Sunday, Amideast organized a trip to a professor’s farm an hour outside of Rabat as an “Introduction to Rural Life.” A platter of cookies, homemade couscous, and fresh squeezed juice from fruit we picked ourselves hardly seemed “rural” to me but I wasn’t going to complain. Things got a little more realistic as we planted trees, milked cows, and made homemade bread, but mostly the day just felt a relaxing break from the bustle of Rabat. 

 

 

Day 40: Azrou, Atlas Mountains, Morocco

“Just walk assertively, but not aggressively pass the monkeys and everything will be fine.”

I had never imagined myself in a situation where this advice would be necessary, or even reassuring, but on a hike last weekend in the Atlas Mountains such a scenario emerged. Our group of nine, distracted by a herd of sheep and a Berber shepherd to our left, had slowed upon entering a forest and startled a territorial group of Barbary monkeys. While we were stopped taking pictures, three of four monkeys began to advance towards us and hysteria immediately ensued. Cries of “They look just like mini-humans!” and “They have opposable thumbs!” and “We can’t even outsmart them; they are just as smart as us!” rang through the trees. Luckily, calmer heads prevailed and we simply moved out of monkey territory and continued on our way, but, for me, the incident was emblematic of my Azrou experience.

Traveling on our own, without the direct support of Amideast, was wonderfully confusing. I was out of Rabat and independent - buying my own train tickets and setting my own itinerary. At the same time, underestimations and language confusion lead to overpaid cab rides, angry drivers, and the group walking for 55 minutes and not making it beyond the city limits of Azrou. But all of it was so fantastically Moroccan I didn’t really care. So there wasn’t an online review of the inn for me to study in detail before we left – it turned out to be an amazing Berber guest house complete with our own sitting area. So I paid four times the price of a cab to ride down a mountain highway on a tractor – it was the best form of transportation I’ve ever taken. So I didn’t bother to explore Azrou and just ate at the inn– I had the best vegetable soup and chicken and carrot tagine of my life! The ups (seeing endless country stretch for miles) AND the downs (sweating for the entire 2 and a half hour train ride back to Rabat with no A/C) were both fantastic. And when I didn’t know exactly what was going on or what to do it was ok. Instead of freaking out, I just followed the monkey advice and acted like I did, “walking assertively, but not aggressively,” and everything turned out fine. 

Day 33: Rabat, Morocco

“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes – Knees and Toes! Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes – Knees and Toes! Eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes – Knees and Toes!” shout my twelve teenage Moroccan students. They are doubled up in laughter as they sing – at the song, the accompanying gestures, or at me I don’t know – but I know they are happy because huge smiles are bursting across their faces.

Today was my first day teaching English at a non-profit organization in Rabat and singing this silly song is how I ended one of the best experience I have had in Morocco. Teaching was incredible. Most of my students were eager to learn and anxious to show off. They shouted answers and skipped ahead, always trying to best their friends. And even those that seemed less interested were so proud when they answered something right. They giggled, cracked jokes and – at times – ignored me and my fellow teacher Brittany, but it didn’t matter. We handed out vocabulary lists and verb charts, but our real goal was to make English fun for them. One of professors had told us that this sense of amusement and joy was the most important thing we could teach. And as their laughter and shouts of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” reverberated throughout the building, I knew we had done our job. Next Thursday’s class can’t come soon enough!

Day 30: Rabat, Morocco

View From My Apartment!