Farewell, Fes!

I'm now on the train from Fez to Rabat and will post this later. For my final week in Morocco. When I bought my ticket, I was sure that I'd find other students to travel with the week after the program. Oh, how very optimistic I was. There are some people staying around, but some only for a few days, others for other language schools, and yet others for places I am not really interested in and moving around far more than my 45-pound bag will allow. How did I let myself stick that much into my suitcase??? It was so easy because the bag still wasn't full. Ah, well, I'll find things to do.

The last week of classes was very busy, as you might imagine. I studied a bit, went to class (sometimes wishing I hadn't) and ran around doing things that needed to be done. Like buying goofy little presents. There are so many cute things that I tell myself, 'oh, someone will like that.' Hopefully I'll actually give them away this time. I think I still have a couple of keychains from Tunisia. You know, other than the one that I actually use on my office keys.

One of the things I did this week was to go to the hammam, or public bath. I still had never been, in part due to not knowing who to go with, and in part due to my dislike for saunas and jacuzzis. I had heard that the hammam is hot, and part of the idea is that you kind of sit around and sweat off the dirt for a while. That did not sound the least bit appealing to me. But then some of my friends went and said that there are actually rooms of varying heat, so it's possible to not be dying-ly hot. I was convinced.

Of course, going to the hammam is not as simple as grabbing your shower stuff and heading out. You need supplies. Typically, Moroccans use this stuff called 'black soap' that is made in part with olive oil at the hammam. It is thick and dark and doesn't really suds, but is supposed to be amazing for your skin. You can get it in tourist shops. And you may pay 35 MAD (about $8.50) for enough to last you 2-3 showers. My friends somehow had a Moroccan guy helping them, and they each got the same amount for just 2 dirhams, or 25 cents.

Well, our second Moroccan mama (she's the mom's cousin and lives with them, doing the traditional woman's work of cooking and cleaning) knew we were headed back and also that we wanted to go out in to the souk with her, so she took us the other night. Before we even left the house, she told us several times that we were not to say a word, but we could go with her. We agreed and set off, trailing close behind her, but trying to look innocent and uncomprehending. My roommate had brought a small tupperware dish that she wanted to fill, it would hold about 1 cup, but mama 2 said we wouldn't use it right then. We walked up to one of the general stores and she started talking to the guy, and I thought I heard the word "kilo" but thought she must be getting other things too. I mean, one KILO of soap?? It's dense, but still! No, no, we walked away a few minutes later with a rather large, heavy bag with half a kilo of soap for each of us. To use and then take home. Not in any nice container, but in a plastic bag. Our family is incredibly sweet. When we asked how much we owed her, she said it was 3 dirhams each, but that she wouldn't let us pay her back, that it was a present. It's crazy, less than 40 cents! And people are stilling it online for about $15 for a few ounces. Crazy, crazy.

[Now that I think about it, I don't know how well that bag is closed in my suitcase. I know that she said it stays better in the fridge, and I observed that it gets softer when it's hot. Ah, well, nothing to be done at the moment but hope that it doesn't ruin anything. And if it does, I guess it'll lighten the load a bit!]

Back to the hammam. You put the soap on and then scrub the heck out of your skin with a little bath mitt that is to a loofah what a loofah is to a t-shirt. They are incredible scratchy, and help get off the dead layers of skin. I got one the first time the others went to the hammam and have been using it in the shower, since it's hard (or impossible) to get a loofah in Fez, but I don't press very hard. At the hammam you're supposed to do it so hard that your skin turns red. Yeah, no thanks.

When you go into the hammam, at least the one we went to, you pay 10 dirhams and go into a room where you leave your clothes (and you give the lady who sits in there and watches your clothes another 5 dirhams... or at least foreigners do, who knows how it works really.) Well, there was a teenage boy there on Thursday that the girls hadn't seen before who was insisting that it was 50 to get in, because it was closed to everyone except those getting a massage. Don't let the word fool you, it's not actually a massage, but a brutal scrub-down by a Moroccan woman who knows how to wield a scratchy mitt. Not what we were looking for. One of the girls who had been there before speaks great French and started arguing with the kid, saying that was ridiculous, that we'd been there at the same time and always paid the 10 that we know it should cost, and that we weren't willing to pay more than that. He insisted and said it was a new rule and we could go find another hammam if we didn't want to pay. Then she asked him if it was a price for us just because we weren't from there. He said no, and that any Moroccan would pay the same. He said to watch and see.

A Moroccan woman came up and he asked her if she was getting the massage as well, and she said yes. Then somehow we started talking to her a little bit (I'm not sure how, now that I think about it, b/c she didn't speak French) and she told the guy not to be ridiculous, that if we wanted to come in without a massage, we could. Hooray for helpful lady! So we came in and she made sure we were comfortable and knew what we were doing and every now and then she'd make sure things were ok. I'm not sure if she worked there, or just felt like we should be treated 'right' because 10 or so minutes after we came in, three Belgian girls came in and she led them around a lot, too, and ended up doing their 'massages.' But she did pay to get in herself. I don't know.

So, we sweated like crazy and drank water (we'd brought some in) and soaped up and scrubbed down and poured water over ourselves and got clean and poured more water over ourselves and eventually went home. When we got home, mama 2 and papa's sister laughed at me, saying I must have gone to the pool and gotten a sunburn, not to the hammam. And then pulled me in front of a mirror so I could see that my face was tomato red from all of the heat. I don't know how it does that, especially since we'd been out of the hammam maybe 20-30 minutes by then, but eventually I became a normal color once more. I just don't like hot water.

How nice do I feel today?

I turned on my computer to let you all know what I've been up to and I saw an email from my mom checking if I was still alive. Now, when I was young if we guessed where we were headed when something was supposed to be a surprise or treat, or said out loud what she was doing if she thought she was being slick, we wouldn't get to go there or have whatever treat. Punishment for spoiling her fun or something. So in a way, I think I'm not allowed to write anymore. But maybe I can move past that. Besides, I don't know the next time I'll get to update you!

The wedding was very interesting. Loads of amazing sweets and beautiful clothing, but I think I overdosed on sugar and my stomach hasn't recovered since. (Yes, that really was me who just typed that. The girl who will eat brown sugar pie and buttermilk pie in regular-pie-sized slices. And always has room for dessert.) Actually, I think it was weakened by the antibiotics for my supposed sinus infection (Dr gave me a second med just to help keep my stomach ok b/c their non-penicillin one is apparently good at messing with that) and the gallons of sugar made it worse. I will upload all the photos when I have a better internet connection and the time to do it. Maybe tomorrow? If you're lucky. We'll see.

I have been busy trying to figure out what to do next week. Classes end Friday and I have no one to travel with (there are a few people headed places that either I'm not really interested in, or feel too far, or would be a huge pain with my giant suitcase, or a combination of the above) so I have been looking at couchsurfers, but most that sound interesting are away from home right now! It's almost Ramadan, so that's how it is - foreigners who can are leaving the country and Moroccans are with their families. Plus I am picky about who I'd stay with, as I am sure you will all appreciate :) My basic plan is Rabat and Casablanca, in that order, and I do still have a few options that I haven't heard back from, so we'll all keep our fingers crossed there.

With classes ending soon, I am studying more to try to be ready for the final here and, more importantly, for the placement test at home that will prove that I learned enough here to be allowed into second year at home. Because if I don't make that cut.... you will not see a happy girl. Before I left, I talked to the department chair (and co-author of The Textbook) and she said that usually students who go abroad are a little behind, but don't have trouble catching up. Crossing my fingers for that, but with the other students in my class often sick or traveling or both, I don't know how my summer studies compare. I'm sure I'll be more or less fine because I will work hard and don't get scared by tests and remember things easier than some. But I still wish I didn't have to take the dumb thing. I'll definitely be studying for it next week when all the stores and fun stuff are closed for the afternoon (because of Ramadan) so that will help, too, because I have two chapters that I have to get through on my own.

Well, peoples, it be midnight and a moth is trying to get friendly with my ear so I will leave you now. Have a wonderful afternoon.

Today's lunch

This was before she brought out the meat and squash (beef that was kind of slow-cookered and some squash I don't know, but was good.) You can see beans and fresh bread (still hot) and cucumber/tomato/onion salad, which also had lettuce this time, and potato carrot salad and okra and these tasty cumin vinegar carrots. Coming home for lunch is well worth it.


And lunch is the main meal of the day so, no, dinner isn't that big. But it's still pretty big.

Well, that's not fair!

Yesterday we were at the beach. It was great, of course! I had forgotten my sunblock in the van, but it was really really cloudy (like, gray clouds) so I didn't worry. We played in the water and had a good time. Then we got hungry and when to one of the little beach-front restaurants (why didn't I take a pic of those???) and sat there for probably two hours. Barely after we sat down under the covered area, the sun came out. And guess what? I got a sunburn from the reflection off the water or sand or something!! I'm sure it was then because the lines are from both my suit and my dress, clearly at the same time, and the only time I had on both was when I was under that shady area. Stupid deceiving shade. At least it's not as bad as a full-sun burn.

More on the weekend when I have more time!

Um, a bonding experience?

Yesterday I felt awful. Like horrible, no-good, terrible kind of awful. Today I went to all four hours of class so, as you might guess, I am feeling much better. That is also why I'm writing for you now instead of yesterday. "What happened???" You ask?

Well, it started on Tuesday, really. At 2, when we got back to school, my head started to hurt enough that I wanted drugs. Luckily my roommate keeps some in her bag. I went to class, and wasn't feeling much better. We'd all been planning to have dinner, so I went over with everyone else and talked and helped make food, to try to distract me from the headache. Probably not the smartest approach, I know, but sometimes my head hurts for a bit and then stops. And I didn't think it was from heat, since it hasn't been that hot, or from dehydration, because I felt MUCH different several weeks ago when I actually was super dehydrated.

So, we talked, we laughed, we ate dinner and had more tasty petit fours. I continued to feel bad as the night went on. Then we went home and I realized that if I still felt that bad I should NOT go to class in the morning. I did take some cold medicine and was drinking loads of water just in case, but I wasn't feeling any better.

As the interwebs are all public-like, here is the basic version:
I felt crappy and stayed in bed in the morning. My family checked on me and I still wasn't great. They asked if I wanted breakfast, I said no. At lunch they insisted I get up to eat. I just wanted to be in bed with my eyes covered (I think it was maybe a migraine, but who knows).

But I got up, tottered out to the kitchen, sat down, and fainted. They moved me to the living room and force-fed me yogurt and soup and called the school because they were worried and I ended up going to the doctor who decided the headache and fever (because I was feverish, so that's why I'm not sure about the migraine) were due to a sinus infection (and I have had a cold that's been hanging on for about 2 weeks, it could be) and gave me a prescription for antibiotics and told me what headache medicine to take and all is well now.

The funny thing, though, is that they have re-told the story a bunch of times, and partly joking around, 'oh you're not going to do that again, right??' so it seems maybe like they don't consider it that big of a deal, though I can't imagine they often have students passing out. I did get told about one of the more recent students that ate a ton of olives and was so sick in her bed that they had to have the doctor come to the house (which is done here, but more expensive) and told her she couldn't eat any more olives. Well, that's what I got from the story, who knows what exactly the whole thing may have been if I had understood it all :)

'Speaking' a language

My roommate here knows a whole lot more Arabic than I do. She's in 3rd year(ish) and I'm only in first. But who does our family *think* speaks better? It seems to be me. I've made an effort to figure out some of the local dialect, while she's been really focusing on the standard one. Result? They don't always understand her. It's pretty funny in some ways, and I'm sure frustrating.

At UT they take the approach that students should learn standard as well as one of the most commonly understood regional dialects - Levantine (Lebanon/Syria) and Egyptian. Most people say that sounds like too much work, and I hear it does try to take over your life, but now I can see much better why. For any other language (or almost any?) when you learn it, you can go and speak with people. You may sound a bit too formal, but they'll understand. With Arabic, they might understand, but might not. And even if they do understand, they may not be able to carry on a conversation like that.

Today I have had a CRAZY bad headache and had to try to communicate in Arabic despite it. Ouch. But I've managed to make due, mostly, though I don't think I got across that there is nothing wrong with my stomach and I am not sick from something I ate. Whatever, we do what we can!

Note to self:

Must find/create recipe for amazing coconut/chocolate/coffee cookies from tonight. Don't think it was even cooked. Or if it was, it had egg white in it.

Meknes!

I went to Meknes yesterday. It's about 30 minutes away. We had fun. We took the train. It ended up not being at the time it says online. That happens now and then. So we are good at adapting.

After we got off the train, we decided to walk to the old city. On the map it looked straightforward, so down the hill we headed. And after a bit, we started to see more people and stuff. And we followed a direction with more people and more stuff and found a covered market. It was cool. I got Valinda a present there. I think it's cute. We also got little bags of popcorn there for about 5 cents each. After wandering a bit more and seeing cool stuff, we stopped at a cafe and had coffee and tea (we shared a little pot of tea that would be two American cups and it was only 5 dirham!)

Then we decided to figure out where we were, because we were certainly not in the main part of the old city, as we had planned. We showed a map to some guys and asked them where we were. They looked at it as if they'd never seen a map of their city. And maybe they hadn't. Because, for a lot of people, why would you? You learn where you need to go, and you get there. There aren't a ton of street signs or anything. And some people live in the same city their whole lives, so it's not like there is a big need to learn how to read a map of a bigger area. Plus, honestly, the map wasn't that helpful. They did know the name of the square we were on, and it was nowhere to be found.

We thanked them and left and decided to just ask a taxi driver. He similarly didn't know what to tell us about the map, but did know where the old city was. We decided to let him take us. Which may have been a bad idea, but we didn't realize it at the time. Think about it: You just told a taxi driver that you have no idea where you are. And how does a taxi driver make money? By driving you further. We are quite sure that he took the verrrry long route to the old city because when we left it in a taxi to get back to the train station, we realized that we had approached it from the west with him, though we had definitely gone too far east while we were walking. Ah, well, supporting the economy, etc, etc.

The medina was cool, though. We walked around, bought some stuff (we had all heard that it was easier and cheaper to buy stuff there than in Fes b/c Fes is so much bigger and more popular with tourists - I mean it's a UNESCO site and the largest car-free city area in the world. Who wouldn't want to come???) And we had a good lunch and then went to a museum that was in an AMAZING building built toward the end of the 1800s by some crazy rich guy. There was a sign that said no pictures. And then one guy told us pictures of the building were just fine, but not the exposition. And then we came to a room that was hard to tell which category it would fall into... and I will post the pictures for you later :) I just didn't think to bring my camera card today.

We had fun with the rest of the afternoon. Walked more, bought more, got told a thousand times to eat at the restaurants in the touristy area (we didn't) and went into the covered food market area. I feel weird about taking pictures of people I don't know going about their everyday jobs, but I certainly considered it in there. There was a whole row of cookie-making people. Soooo pretty and soooo tasty, I'm sure. The problem is that the bees agree with this tastiness. It used to creep me out a lot, but then you kind of get used to bees being everywhere. But there were more here than anywhere else I've seen, due to the density of the cookie people. Still, we walked through, drooling, and decided we'd come back. We passed some vegetables and meat and then it happened. Another girl said 'ah!' and looked like she almost tripped. The Moroccan guys who saw her said (in French) 'it's ok, he fell' and I'm thinking, 'what? yeah, it's ok, but SHE is fine and didn't trip.' Then she asked if we could see a bee stinger near her collarbone. Oh, THAT 'he' fell. So I guess the bees aren't as friendly as I'd like to think. We waited a bit before we got cookies, and we got them from a stand separated from the rest (and therefore with much fewer bees.)

In other news, my class schedule changed. Now it's 10-12 and 2-4. Gives me a nice amount of time to eat lunch and then get back. I am off to a nearby hotel and see if I can get a pool membership for 3 weeks. We'll see how it goes. There's a rumor that it's $13. And another that it's $13 EACH TIME you go. I'm good with the first, not the second. And I do have lots of sunscreen, don't worry :)

***UPDATE**** Neither rumor was true. It's *just* $11 per swim. (grumbles rude things about snooty hotel)

Slow it downnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

There are plenty of things at home that I miss. And will be thrilled to do/see/smell/taste/touch/etc when I get back. But there is still a lot left to do here! Most of the people who got here when I did are leaving this weekend, or shortly after. So I've heard a lot about their plans and about what they are gonna do back home.

Now I have one month left. I leave crazy early the morning of August 8th from Casablanca. That gives me 3 weeks of classes to enjoy (or not enjoy, depending on the specific class period) and loads of things to see and do and eat.

Lately I've been walking home with a couple of other girls. We've been stopping now & then to try different sweets and other foods sold by the guys on the street. Today I got a giant macaroon-like thing. It was tasty. I've also had a savory chickpea thing, a very thin-doughed pastry (kind of like phyllo) filled with 'sweet,' as the guy told me. I think it was left over fried honey-cookie-things, chopped up and wrapped in the pastry and either baked or fried and then coated in honey. Mmmmm, delicious honey. There was also a night that we got a box of different kinds of pastries from this one place and each had 1/4th of each. They were pretty big. And the other time that I got about a pound of petits-fours for $6. So tasty.

I'm sleepy, I may try to take a nap now.

Some pictures from Asilah

I'm not sure why, but some of the others didn't want to upload. I'll have to try them again later, but this should get you started:

On the floor in the hotel

At the beach

And still the beach

The beginning of sunset (ate during it.)

A small fair we found while looking for suitable dessert (didn't find any I liked)

shta, shta, shta!**

For some reason, my host mom sometimes repeats things, like a single word, 3 times. I think it might be b/c the last student did. Or maybe it's a typical thing here. Hard to know. Today seems to merit it, though, from all of the 'shta'-ing that happened.

Tonight there was a concert for free at the school's residence. I went over and saw that it was some sort of drumming group. They also had something like a tambourine as well as 2 long horn things (silver colored and seriously like 6-8 ft long when assembled) and two short oboe-ish things (dunno, reed instrument that reminded me of a recorder due to its open finger holes).

Here, people don't just listen to music. They clap. They sing along. They dance (shta). So I think that for these groups it must be really weird to play for Americans who don't know when to clap. Or any of the words. And sit and watch politely and silently. One of the drum/tambourine players would motion at us to all clap along, and it would happen for a bit. Then he came down and started trying to encourage people to stand up. We were sitting in the front row & felt like we should play along, so me & 2 others got up. We found ourselves soon drug along into dancing. Sometimes there would be two rows of people facing each other, and it was like a scene from West Side Story, as one person later said, as a person from one side would show the rest a movement and then the group would walk up the other row doing the movement (shaking a finger, clapping a certain way, kicking, holding hands and bringing them up in the others' faces, anything it seemed) and then back off. Then it was the other guys' turn to step up.

There was some really cool dancing, too. Some of the guys could do some cool footwork with jumping around - one of the American girls said it looked like they were made for stepping. And some of the dancing looks sooooooooo suggestive to us. It's funny that I, a person who has no hesitation dancing in ways that are absolutely suggestive (in the right company,) am surprised by it. But there is lots of hip and lots of shoulder movement. After a while, an older lady (guessing by her face alone, her body and hair were all covered) started dancing. And WHOA could she move. It was amazing. She danced with me for a little bit and I tried to imitate her movements. After maybe 15 seconds of one, she'd add something or change something and I'd try to follow along, mostly just mesmerized that her hips and torso could still be attached while doing all of those things.

We also had cookies and tea and got rose water sprinkled on us (traditional for the type of music, apparently for religious reasons as well as cooling affects) but, seriously, at one point I thought that I might just collapse from jumping around so much. And I was wearing a linen dress that went just past my knees. I can't imagine in a long-sleeved jellaba, with a full outfit underneath, how they keep going. I know, I know, they're used to it. But you know what I mean.

** Disclaimer: I keep mixing up the words for rain and dance because they're pretty similar to me as a non-speaker-of-the-language. I think this is dance... and that rain is 'stash'... but I could have it backwards. Or both of them wrong, come to think of it....

So, I paid $90 for this and it's not waterproof

I went to Asilah with 10 other Americans this weekend. We all had a nice time, I think, except for the girl who apparently got sick from last night's dinner. Sad. It was much cooler, we got to swim in the ocean, and just relax and not worry about stuff.

Travel here is so much less expensive than France or the US. Obviously it's due to the general wages and cost of living, but it was about $25 for my roundtrip ticket to the city 3 1/2 hours away. I am well aware it's a lot for locals, but at least I can make it work for once. We stayed in a hotel a couple of blocks from the beach, ate food at a restaurant that I thought was pretty good (I had the same thing as the sick girl, so either I got lucky, her system is just different, or it was something else. Or all of the above) and mostly just had fun being somewhere different.

It was also pretty amazing that when we came back, it was actually chilly in Fez. It was a very pleasant surprise, and it's supposed to be a bit cooler this week than last. Wait, I'm feeling like I may have already told you that. Well, whatever.

I'm actually feeling tired now, though there are still guests in the main room. I may just close the door to my room. For now, then the mystery $90 item? ........................ Wait for it. Chimney's passport. Yep, boys are bright at times. Like when they run into the Atlantic with a passport in the pocket. Oops. (Chimney = nickname for the only one that smokes out of the group who went.)

Ok, goodnight!

I wake up in the morning feeling incredibly sweaty

Yesterday some dark clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up a bit in the afternoon. A lot of places I have been, that means that it is going to rain and get cooler. Which seemed like a nice idea and we all started hoping for rain - as long as it started after we were in a taxi home because they seem to disappear the second that rain starts.

It didn't rain while we were at class, or later when we went to wander the medina to look at potential future purchases. It didn't get around to it til about 12:30 when I was finally going to bed. I don't know why I stayed up so late, but I planned to get up at 8:45 today, so no problem.

At 7:45, though, I woke up just nasty sweaty with sun in my face. I closed my curtain, but the darker curtain that blocks the sun, but still lets in a breeze, has been reappropriated to a window in the main room. I'm sure it needs it, too. It probably wouldn't have made a difference today anyway, it is just hot and pretty humid for once. I couldn't sleep anymore, but I remembered that I haven't updated all week, so here I am. It's supposed to be a little cooler this weekend, but if it stays this humid it won't be much of a relief, if any.

That's ok because I'm headed to the beach! It's supposed to be 91 tomorrow and 85 Sunday there. Doesn't that sound beautiful??? (It's supposed to be 100 and 94 here each day, which is actually cooler than it has been.) There's a city on the coast only 3 1/2 hours away that is the movie-typical mediterranean style (white walls, blue doors & trim.) It has about one paragraph on travel sites, which call it a break from the bigger cities and a 'sophisticated' introduction to Morocco, whatever that means. All I care is that it's got water to play in. And probably sand to sit in :) And I do have sunscreen, don't worry!

This week has been surprisingly packed with stuff to do. I've been hanging out with my roommate and a girl who grew up about 10 minutes from where I did, as well as a few others. Wandering the medina on your own isn't fun for me because you get too much attention in certain areas, and some people try to intimidate you. With several of us, we each get slightly fewer offers of 'help,' massages or aphrodisiacs (did you know that dates, olives and oil are among those? Just ask the guys here!) And if a shop-keeper tries to get you to buy stuff (we told them all we were just looking and most were ok with that) it's easier to just leave when you have company.

Tuesday night I went and bought some groceries (and wine and desserts!) with a couple of other grad student girls studying here and then we went back to the apt one of them has and made dinner. And ate it. It was wonderful. Really, it was just afriheims (taste like bell peppers, but shaped like big anaheim peppers) with rice, egg, spices, almonds 'in,' or on, them and some couscous. Plus the wonderful petit four things. We will probably do it again, but the boys will have to buy the wine and desserts if we are cooking. They were all properly appreciative of good food and even since then have been saying that they are for buying the expensive stuff if we cook. Yay for grateful people.

I'm very excited about my new clothes. Tuesday while shopping we saw that there is basically a used clothing market just up from where the food is, and one of the girls really wanted to go back. Wednesday she asked if I wanted to come and, having nothing better to do, I agreed. It was actually fun to look through all of the stuff. Some of it was obviously used or crap, but a lot of it was in really good condition. I got 2 skirts, 1 dress, 1 shirt. The shirt is 100% linen, white, and fits me very well for something to wear over a tank (gaps at chest when buttoned.) It was 10MAD ($1.25). The dress I actually can't wear here, but couldn't pass up. It is missing a strap to go around the neck, but it was still worth the 15 MAD ($2). It's cream and will go just above my knees, with a halter-style top. One skirt is a linen/cotton blend (50/50) and the other doesn't say but looks and feels like it could also be, but probably more cotton. Each 15MAD as well. For a grand total of 55MAD, or just under $7. I don't think I could have gotten 2 of them for that at an American goodwill. Goodwill is actually getting kinda pricey lately.

More to say, but I should be getting ready for class!