It rained on Monday!! Just a light drizzle at most, but still! It was absolutely wonderful. It rains for about five days out of the year here, and I got to experience one of them. My Fusha (modern standard Arabic) grammer teacher, Inas, said that people in Egypt all start to pray when it rains. It's like a direct link to God opening up, so this is the time to ask God for whatever it is you want.
Things are definitely setting into a routine here. I wake up early, go to class, come home, take a nap, study, go to sleep. Some days, if I don't have too much work, I'll go downtown or to Rehab for shisha and mint tea. Over the weekends I spend as little time on campus as possible, usually in shisha cafes downtown. Some friends introduced me to a great little place that has Stella (the Egyptian beer) for only 10 LE ($1 = 5.5 LE). At first glance, it looks like someplace that would be frequented only by gruff old Egyptian men. It's smoky and crowded, the lights are a little too bright, and the occasional chess board is set up in a corner. It took me a moment upon first entering to realize that next to the older Egyptian men trying to watch a soccer game were tons of international AUC students, mostly Americans living in the Zamalek dorms. Ah, cheap beer bringing people together. It's beautiful.
After the shock of how much I spent on food in September, I'm slowly figuring out how to lower my food costs. There's a place called El-Omda on campus that has pita sandwiches and koshary. Koshary is pasta and lentils with tomato sauce and some sort of dried onions or something on top, and it only costs 7 LE. The pita sandwiches you can get with falafel or ful (beans) for 3 LE, or my favorite, the magnum, which is falafel, ful, boiled eggs, french fries and lettuce stuffed into a pita pocket. It is so good and so filling, and only costs 6 LE. These are much better prices than the 25 LE I was spending on pizza from Tabasco or the 20 LE I would spend at McDonalds. I've also been stocking up on Cup of Noodles from the Quick 24 on campus. I'm still looking forward to my off-campus apartment. In just one month's time I will be able to cook for myself!
Not much else is new. I have my first midterm exam tomorrow for my Arabic media class. I like my media class because I'm reading news articles in Arabic, which makes me feel like the vocabulary is useful and relevant in understanding what's going on in the world. I can begin to have intelligent conversations in Arabic and move beyond talking about myself, my family, and the weather. It's strange to hear my classmates worry about what grade they'll get on the exam. I forget that most students in the ALI program are also students elsewhere, and that their home institutions have things like grades and GPAs that students are supposed to care about. Personally, I want to do well on this midterm in order to judge my own personal progress in the class and to see how much of the material is actually staying with me. But that's just me. Grades aren't something that mean a whole lot to me.
This weekend! Ein Sukhna (the Hot Eye) by the Red Sea to visit Sherif. Also, Halloween parties in the desert? We shall see!
Next weekend! Beyonce by the Red Sea!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
I miss you
Egypt makes me realize that I have feelings. Lots of them. It's refreshing, but also overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes I feel lonely and disconnected, and sometimes I feel exhilarated and ready for adventures, but I am always missing everyone so intensely. So please, family and friends, send me an email. Let me know what is going on with you. How is work/school/family/life etc? My email address is doolerfc [at] gmail [dot] com.
Sending lots of love, as always.
Sending lots of love, as always.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Few Things...
First: Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize!
Just one question, though... Why? What has he accomplished thus far to actually earn it? You can't hand out the Nobel Peace Prize to people with good intentions for "change." Meanwhile, our troops are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, maybe it will give more legitimacy to some of his proposals for change.
Second: Egypt and the Niqab!
Egypt is trying to ban the niqab, the full-facial veil, in all-female sections of universities. The argument is, if everyone in the class is female, including the teacher, then what reason do you have to wear the veil? On the other hand, what reason does the government have to ban it, if it supposedly doesn't matter either way? Politics! The sheikh of al-Azhar originally intended to ban the niqab in all public universities, but women aren't standing for it. My understanding, from past research on Sufism in Egypt, is that al-Azhar University was appropriated by the Egyptian government and is now used as a tool to grant religious legitimacy to government decisions. But whatever you think about the niqab, this is just one more instance of the (male) establishment trying to dictate how women should dress, without bothering to consult the women themselves. I know U.S. media would have people believe that the veil is a symbol of oppression, but the reality is that it is usually something women choose to wear, whether for cultural and/or religious reasons, and many find it quite liberating to be free from the male gaze. The niqab is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, but it is one interpretation of modest dress and covering oneself. Some women who wear the niqab also wear gloves in order to keep even their hands covered.
Somehow I was able to understand an entire conversation about the proposed niqab ban in Egyptian Arabic the other day in one of my classes. I'm very excited about the progression of my language skills now that classes are a little more reliable (though I've heard rumors they're thinking of closing school again). My vocabulary is becoming increasingly political, and includes things like "Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking discussions" and "settlements" and "minister of foreign affairs." It's a relief to not feel like I'm learning Arabic in a vacuum. I'm learning how to talk about issues that are of major concern in Egypt and the Middle East. Now I just need to review my notes on recent Egyptian history and politics, so I can use my new vocabulary with some degree of intelligence.
Lastly: Dooler and the Disturbing Dreams!
In completely unrelated news, just because I want to put it down, I've been having really bad nightmares lately. For the past two nights in a row, I've watched the people I'm with in my dreams become horribly disfigured or mutilated right in front of me. They start off as strangers, but as soon as I come to know them, their fingers are chopped off, or their bones begin to disintegrate, or a cat is being skinned alive. Really disturbing, messed up stuff. I even dreamed that I woke up screaming, and I'm not sure if I actually did. I wake up feeling groggy and physically sore, and have headaches all day. I'm getting 8 hours of sleep and I'm drinking plenty of water, so I don't know what the problem is. Dana tried to help me analyze my dreams, to maybe figure out what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but we couldn't come up with anything. Insha'allah (God willing) I will sleep better tonight.
Just one question, though... Why? What has he accomplished thus far to actually earn it? You can't hand out the Nobel Peace Prize to people with good intentions for "change." Meanwhile, our troops are still in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, maybe it will give more legitimacy to some of his proposals for change.
Second: Egypt and the Niqab!
Egypt is trying to ban the niqab, the full-facial veil, in all-female sections of universities. The argument is, if everyone in the class is female, including the teacher, then what reason do you have to wear the veil? On the other hand, what reason does the government have to ban it, if it supposedly doesn't matter either way? Politics! The sheikh of al-Azhar originally intended to ban the niqab in all public universities, but women aren't standing for it. My understanding, from past research on Sufism in Egypt, is that al-Azhar University was appropriated by the Egyptian government and is now used as a tool to grant religious legitimacy to government decisions. But whatever you think about the niqab, this is just one more instance of the (male) establishment trying to dictate how women should dress, without bothering to consult the women themselves. I know U.S. media would have people believe that the veil is a symbol of oppression, but the reality is that it is usually something women choose to wear, whether for cultural and/or religious reasons, and many find it quite liberating to be free from the male gaze. The niqab is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, but it is one interpretation of modest dress and covering oneself. Some women who wear the niqab also wear gloves in order to keep even their hands covered.
Somehow I was able to understand an entire conversation about the proposed niqab ban in Egyptian Arabic the other day in one of my classes. I'm very excited about the progression of my language skills now that classes are a little more reliable (though I've heard rumors they're thinking of closing school again). My vocabulary is becoming increasingly political, and includes things like "Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking discussions" and "settlements" and "minister of foreign affairs." It's a relief to not feel like I'm learning Arabic in a vacuum. I'm learning how to talk about issues that are of major concern in Egypt and the Middle East. Now I just need to review my notes on recent Egyptian history and politics, so I can use my new vocabulary with some degree of intelligence.
Lastly: Dooler and the Disturbing Dreams!
In completely unrelated news, just because I want to put it down, I've been having really bad nightmares lately. For the past two nights in a row, I've watched the people I'm with in my dreams become horribly disfigured or mutilated right in front of me. They start off as strangers, but as soon as I come to know them, their fingers are chopped off, or their bones begin to disintegrate, or a cat is being skinned alive. Really disturbing, messed up stuff. I even dreamed that I woke up screaming, and I'm not sure if I actually did. I wake up feeling groggy and physically sore, and have headaches all day. I'm getting 8 hours of sleep and I'm drinking plenty of water, so I don't know what the problem is. Dana tried to help me analyze my dreams, to maybe figure out what my subconscious is trying to tell me, but we couldn't come up with anything. Insha'allah (God willing) I will sleep better tonight.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Eventually I will have a normal week
First week back from Swine Flu Break has been a crazy one. The semester has been extended by four days for ALI students, but our exam schedule will stay the same. So we'll finish our exams, and still have almost a week of class left. The other three days we missed have to be made up, meaning Saturday classes and/or extended hours. There's a lot of work to be done in order to stay on track, but I'm grateful to actually be starting classes now.
There was a holiday this Tuesday for Armed Forces Day, so of course I got myself into all kinds of adventures. On Monday night I went to a wedding party with Sherif near his town, about two hours from Cairo. It was lots of fun, and went from 11-3am or so. There was a lot of dancing, mostly split into two groups: the men and the women. In more conservative families, men and women celebrate in different rooms, or on separate sides of a barrier. I was the only American at the party, as well as the only girl in a big group of guys, so I got a lot of stares. And Sherif's friends are so much fun! Nearly all of them are named Ahmed. One of the Ahmeds made a joke, saying, "We didn't have enough money to buy names for each of us, so we just bought one and shared it!"
At one point in the night, we went to a different wedding party, where Sherif's sister and her husband's family was. She wasn't expecting to see us, and the look on her face when she was trying to think of how much English she knew was priceless. That night, I stayed at Sherif's family's house, where I got to hold his 4 month old niece, Habiba (which roughly translates to "sweetheart" in English). I wore his sister's pajamas, which were bright orange with stripes and said "Princess" on them. Hi-larious. His mom was great, and frequently offered me cookies, tea, sandwiches, fruit, and anything else I needed/wanted. The best part was when she tucked me into bed under the mosquito net. The net was absolutely necessary. My feet and arms are completely covered in bites from the hour or so I was sitting in the living room before going to bed.
The next day we all slept in late, having not gone to sleep until 4am. Sherif and I caught a bus back into Cairo, where we met Ahmed the Chessmaster and some of his chess friends from the UAE at T.G.I.Fridays. Once again, I was the only American and the only girl. This is not a dynamic that I mind in the slightest. Everyone I've met has been really nice and been making concerted efforts to speak as much English as possible. I, in turn, use my sparse Arabic when I can. I'm getting better at picking up the gist of conversation, even if I don't understand specifics or am unable to take part in Arabic. Anyway, we watched the soccer game against Costa Rica (we lost, 2-0) and smoked shisha (of course). Smoking shisha at T.G.I.Fridays absolutely delighted me. Particularly because it was basically on a boat on the Nile. That will probably be the best Fridays I will ever go to in my life.
After dinner, we went to Ahmed's apartment to hang out. In order to get in, I had to be dressed up like a boy (not difficult for me) and snuck in. While there are many exceptions and some degree of flexibility, gender segregation is still a prominent part of the culture. So Sherif brought me a big jacket and a hat, and I took out my earrings and didn't smile or say anything on the way to Ahmed's apartment. My nose ring closed up as a result of taking it out for too long, but I'm not too upset over it. I think it's hilarious that in 24 hours I went from wearing princess pajamas to sneaking around in full drag.
I finally got home at 5am Wednesday morning to find that I had no electricity in my room. My computer was dead, as well as my phone because of the two days without charging it. So I had no way of setting an alarm for class. I was actually ok with this. I didn't really want to wake up in 3 hours anyway. So I slept through class, which turned out to be fine. My teachers just want me to write a page or so in Arabic about the wedding party I went to. I got the electricity fixed in my room, but now the internet isn't working on my computer. Sad face. Dana is being awesome enough to let me use her computer until I get mine fixed.
Otherwise, weekend has been pretty awesome. Found a bar that had beer for 8 LE (about $1.50) on Thursday. Last night Dana and I met up with Sherif and Ahmed and some of their friends at a cafe. Then Dana, Sherif, Ahmed's little brother and I went out dancing. It was supposedly a salsa dance club, but they played mostly techno music. It was a little expensive, but a lot of fun. Today, Dana is taking her international service exam thing, and then we're meeting up with Sherif downtown to watch the soccer game somewhere. Studying will have to happen at some point, but I really like getting the most out of my weekends.
There was a holiday this Tuesday for Armed Forces Day, so of course I got myself into all kinds of adventures. On Monday night I went to a wedding party with Sherif near his town, about two hours from Cairo. It was lots of fun, and went from 11-3am or so. There was a lot of dancing, mostly split into two groups: the men and the women. In more conservative families, men and women celebrate in different rooms, or on separate sides of a barrier. I was the only American at the party, as well as the only girl in a big group of guys, so I got a lot of stares. And Sherif's friends are so much fun! Nearly all of them are named Ahmed. One of the Ahmeds made a joke, saying, "We didn't have enough money to buy names for each of us, so we just bought one and shared it!"
At one point in the night, we went to a different wedding party, where Sherif's sister and her husband's family was. She wasn't expecting to see us, and the look on her face when she was trying to think of how much English she knew was priceless. That night, I stayed at Sherif's family's house, where I got to hold his 4 month old niece, Habiba (which roughly translates to "sweetheart" in English). I wore his sister's pajamas, which were bright orange with stripes and said "Princess" on them. Hi-larious. His mom was great, and frequently offered me cookies, tea, sandwiches, fruit, and anything else I needed/wanted. The best part was when she tucked me into bed under the mosquito net. The net was absolutely necessary. My feet and arms are completely covered in bites from the hour or so I was sitting in the living room before going to bed.
The next day we all slept in late, having not gone to sleep until 4am. Sherif and I caught a bus back into Cairo, where we met Ahmed the Chessmaster and some of his chess friends from the UAE at T.G.I.Fridays. Once again, I was the only American and the only girl. This is not a dynamic that I mind in the slightest. Everyone I've met has been really nice and been making concerted efforts to speak as much English as possible. I, in turn, use my sparse Arabic when I can. I'm getting better at picking up the gist of conversation, even if I don't understand specifics or am unable to take part in Arabic. Anyway, we watched the soccer game against Costa Rica (we lost, 2-0) and smoked shisha (of course). Smoking shisha at T.G.I.Fridays absolutely delighted me. Particularly because it was basically on a boat on the Nile. That will probably be the best Fridays I will ever go to in my life.
After dinner, we went to Ahmed's apartment to hang out. In order to get in, I had to be dressed up like a boy (not difficult for me) and snuck in. While there are many exceptions and some degree of flexibility, gender segregation is still a prominent part of the culture. So Sherif brought me a big jacket and a hat, and I took out my earrings and didn't smile or say anything on the way to Ahmed's apartment. My nose ring closed up as a result of taking it out for too long, but I'm not too upset over it. I think it's hilarious that in 24 hours I went from wearing princess pajamas to sneaking around in full drag.
I finally got home at 5am Wednesday morning to find that I had no electricity in my room. My computer was dead, as well as my phone because of the two days without charging it. So I had no way of setting an alarm for class. I was actually ok with this. I didn't really want to wake up in 3 hours anyway. So I slept through class, which turned out to be fine. My teachers just want me to write a page or so in Arabic about the wedding party I went to. I got the electricity fixed in my room, but now the internet isn't working on my computer. Sad face. Dana is being awesome enough to let me use her computer until I get mine fixed.
Otherwise, weekend has been pretty awesome. Found a bar that had beer for 8 LE (about $1.50) on Thursday. Last night Dana and I met up with Sherif and Ahmed and some of their friends at a cafe. Then Dana, Sherif, Ahmed's little brother and I went out dancing. It was supposedly a salsa dance club, but they played mostly techno music. It was a little expensive, but a lot of fun. Today, Dana is taking her international service exam thing, and then we're meeting up with Sherif downtown to watch the soccer game somewhere. Studying will have to happen at some point, but I really like getting the most out of my weekends.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Hamkatain fi al-maghreb (two crazies in Morocco)
You'll probably get more details about my trip to Morocco from Dana's blog (canyouhearthedistancecalling.shutterfly.com), because I just want to put these details down quickly so I won't have to worry about it once the crazyness of making up lost classes begins.
Left for Morocco on Sept. 23, the day after getting back from Hurghada. Seeing my host family again was like a dream. They are just as crazy and as loving as ever, and didn't seem to mind our last-minute intrusion whatsoever. It's nice that after over a year, I still feel the same connection with my family here. Even my old admirers in the souk remember me and pick up exactly where we left off, trying to kiss me and asking to marry me. This is the closest family I'll have for a while, so I'm very glad to know they'll always be here for me. When Dana and I arrived, their new study abroad student, Ashley, was there, as well as the study abroad student before me, Kacey. When I was here last year, my host family could not stop talking about Kacey, so I was very excited to meet her. She is now here teaching English, something I could definitely see myself doing here in the future.
After a couple days of being extremely well fed in Rabat, Dana and I started our crazy backpacking trip through the country. It looked something like this:
Friday, Sept. 25: train to Marrakech, where we arrived in the afternoon. Marrakech is still not my favorite city, with its tourist traps and all, but I liked it much better this time around than last year. The heat was bearable in late September, and Dana and I were not restricted to the time-table of my study abroad group. We explored the souk, and only got ripped off once. We were dragged to a tannery and received a tour that we didn't ask for, with all the old familiar nauseating smells of the one I went to (hungover) in Fes last year, only to be told at the end of the tour that we owed them 100 dirham. But hey, it's not Marrakech if you don't get ripped off. After getting sufficiently lost in the souk and temporarily making friends with a Mexican tourist, we spent the evening in a hotel lounge drinking Moroccan beers. They were better than Stella, the Egyptian beer, and more alcoholic, but less then half the size and a bit more expensive.
Saturday, 9/26: Visited the tombs of Saadin Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour ed-Dahbi (c. 1603?), then to Bahia Palace (c. 1860s). Both were gorgeous. For lunch, we had lamb meshuie in the middle of the souk, and after we finished we were shown where the lamb is cooked. After a feast for lunch, we walked to they cyber park and tried to get on a finnicky free computer, then walked the long way to the Jardin Majorelle. The gardens are my favorite part of Marrakech, and even one of my favorite parts of Morocco as a whole. It started to rain a bit while we were at the gardens. First rain I'd seen in over a month! It was a blessed sight to see, sheltered under the trees of the garden, with the bright blue and yellow terracotta vases around us. Zweena bzef (very beautiful). That night, we took an overnight train from Marrakech to Tangier. Our bunkmates, two British citizens from Gibraltar, realized as soon as the train pulled away from the station that they had left their passports in their hotel. Oops! After frantically trying to figure out what to do, including a brief period in which Dana and I thought we might have the room to ourselves, they found a solution with the help of a couple Moroccan men. They got their hotel to send their passports on a commercial bus to Tangier, which would arrive about an hour after them, with still time to spare before their 9am ferry to Spain. As awful as it was to see their initial panic, I was grateful that it was not Dana and me in that position, and that they were able to work everything out.
Sun., 9/27: Arrived in Tangier early in the morning, and immediately got on a bus to Chefchaouen, about 3-4 hours away. Chefchaouen is absolutely gorgeous! It was rainy and foggy, and there were mountains everywhere with a huge lake nearby. It would have felt like home, if it weren't for the cacti also nestled in the mountain. We didn't do much in Chefchaouen, but made it to a cyber cafe and made some friends at a restaurant in the old medina: Ibrahim, who was nice enough to speak in Modern Standard Arabic so we could communicate; Sliman, the sheep-herder who speaks English to spite the French; and Omar, the inspirational speaker who showed up a documentary/conspiracy theory film on 9/11. They gave us free food as we talked about absolutely everything.
Mon, 9/28: Got up early and left for Tangier. Had paella and beer for lunch before making our way through the old medina in search of Spain. With the uninvited help of a local who showed us the five important features of the kasbah (mosque, communal water fountain, baker, Qur'anic school, and hamam) for the meager fee of 30 dh, we finally made our way to the lookout point. Spain was a bit overcast, but we could definitely see it! As with most liminal spaces, I felt very connected to the Strait of Gibraltar, that body of water that connects Spain to Morocco, Europe to Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Once we'd had our fill of the view, we went to the American Legation Museum- the only U.S. national monument on foreign soil. Apparently, Morocco was the first country to recognize the U.S. government after we'd split from England. We saw a letter in George Washington's handwriting to the then-ruler of Morocco. Very cool! Also saw a picture of King Muhammad VI with George Bush that made me cringe a little. After our little piece of America in Morocco, we went to Caid's bar in the basement of Hotel el-Minzah. This bar was the inspiration for Rick's Cafe in the movie Casablanca. Dana and I each got ourselves a gin drink, with promises to actually watch Casablanca as soon as we can. At some point during the day, we were given free Tangerines from Tanger, which absolutely made my day. Then we took then 9pm train to Fes.
Tues., 9/29 - We arrived in Fes around 3am. We went to three full hotels before finding one that would take us. Then woke up at 8:30 to explore the medina before our noon check-out. Fes's old medina was not quite as steep and horrible as I remember it being (like I said, I was horribly hungover and it was dreadfully hot when I was there last), but the streets were still fairly steep. It was raining hard when we woke up, but luckily it stopped while we were eating our breakfast (Moroccan crepes, chocolate croissants, and mint tea: yum!). Most interesting thing I saw in the medina was a bunch of guys cutting into a camel's head. I watched with the morbid fascination of a 12 year old boy, and wished I'd gotten a picture. Around noon, we took a train to Meknes, where we found a place to chill and smoke shisha (a thing surprisingly hard to do in this country). Dana and I talked about issues of identity, privilege, orientalism, etc, and it made me miss Hampshire like whoa. After our shisha and a delicious lunch, we got on a train back to Rabat, where we smoked more shisha on the roof with Mehdy, Hamid, and Zechariah.
Now we're just chilling in Rabat with the fam for a few days until we head back to Egypt. Yesterday Bahia took Dana and I to the hamam, along with Aya (my little sister). Dana scrubbed herself so hard she broke skin, which I think my host mom found pretty funny. She loves telling stories about how we screw up. The first story she told when I arrived was about the time I lost my glasses in the ocean one day last summer. It was then brought up again three more times that evening. This time around, Dana knocked the hookah over and left burn holes all over their rug. We like to make sure we're not forgotten.
Today Dana is in Casablanca, visiting the Hasan II mosque (third largest in the world), while I stay home with the family. And tomorrow we leave for Egypt! I can't believe what a month it's been! In September, I: started classes, went to Alexandria and Hurghada, had classes canceled, and backpacked all over Morocco. It's been great, but it's definitely time for things to settle down. And this post is much longer than I was expecting, so I'll leave it at that.
Love!
Left for Morocco on Sept. 23, the day after getting back from Hurghada. Seeing my host family again was like a dream. They are just as crazy and as loving as ever, and didn't seem to mind our last-minute intrusion whatsoever. It's nice that after over a year, I still feel the same connection with my family here. Even my old admirers in the souk remember me and pick up exactly where we left off, trying to kiss me and asking to marry me. This is the closest family I'll have for a while, so I'm very glad to know they'll always be here for me. When Dana and I arrived, their new study abroad student, Ashley, was there, as well as the study abroad student before me, Kacey. When I was here last year, my host family could not stop talking about Kacey, so I was very excited to meet her. She is now here teaching English, something I could definitely see myself doing here in the future.
After a couple days of being extremely well fed in Rabat, Dana and I started our crazy backpacking trip through the country. It looked something like this:
Friday, Sept. 25: train to Marrakech, where we arrived in the afternoon. Marrakech is still not my favorite city, with its tourist traps and all, but I liked it much better this time around than last year. The heat was bearable in late September, and Dana and I were not restricted to the time-table of my study abroad group. We explored the souk, and only got ripped off once. We were dragged to a tannery and received a tour that we didn't ask for, with all the old familiar nauseating smells of the one I went to (hungover) in Fes last year, only to be told at the end of the tour that we owed them 100 dirham. But hey, it's not Marrakech if you don't get ripped off. After getting sufficiently lost in the souk and temporarily making friends with a Mexican tourist, we spent the evening in a hotel lounge drinking Moroccan beers. They were better than Stella, the Egyptian beer, and more alcoholic, but less then half the size and a bit more expensive.
Saturday, 9/26: Visited the tombs of Saadin Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour ed-Dahbi (c. 1603?), then to Bahia Palace (c. 1860s). Both were gorgeous. For lunch, we had lamb meshuie in the middle of the souk, and after we finished we were shown where the lamb is cooked. After a feast for lunch, we walked to they cyber park and tried to get on a finnicky free computer, then walked the long way to the Jardin Majorelle. The gardens are my favorite part of Marrakech, and even one of my favorite parts of Morocco as a whole. It started to rain a bit while we were at the gardens. First rain I'd seen in over a month! It was a blessed sight to see, sheltered under the trees of the garden, with the bright blue and yellow terracotta vases around us. Zweena bzef (very beautiful). That night, we took an overnight train from Marrakech to Tangier. Our bunkmates, two British citizens from Gibraltar, realized as soon as the train pulled away from the station that they had left their passports in their hotel. Oops! After frantically trying to figure out what to do, including a brief period in which Dana and I thought we might have the room to ourselves, they found a solution with the help of a couple Moroccan men. They got their hotel to send their passports on a commercial bus to Tangier, which would arrive about an hour after them, with still time to spare before their 9am ferry to Spain. As awful as it was to see their initial panic, I was grateful that it was not Dana and me in that position, and that they were able to work everything out.
Sun., 9/27: Arrived in Tangier early in the morning, and immediately got on a bus to Chefchaouen, about 3-4 hours away. Chefchaouen is absolutely gorgeous! It was rainy and foggy, and there were mountains everywhere with a huge lake nearby. It would have felt like home, if it weren't for the cacti also nestled in the mountain. We didn't do much in Chefchaouen, but made it to a cyber cafe and made some friends at a restaurant in the old medina: Ibrahim, who was nice enough to speak in Modern Standard Arabic so we could communicate; Sliman, the sheep-herder who speaks English to spite the French; and Omar, the inspirational speaker who showed up a documentary/conspiracy theory film on 9/11. They gave us free food as we talked about absolutely everything.
Mon, 9/28: Got up early and left for Tangier. Had paella and beer for lunch before making our way through the old medina in search of Spain. With the uninvited help of a local who showed us the five important features of the kasbah (mosque, communal water fountain, baker, Qur'anic school, and hamam) for the meager fee of 30 dh, we finally made our way to the lookout point. Spain was a bit overcast, but we could definitely see it! As with most liminal spaces, I felt very connected to the Strait of Gibraltar, that body of water that connects Spain to Morocco, Europe to Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Once we'd had our fill of the view, we went to the American Legation Museum- the only U.S. national monument on foreign soil. Apparently, Morocco was the first country to recognize the U.S. government after we'd split from England. We saw a letter in George Washington's handwriting to the then-ruler of Morocco. Very cool! Also saw a picture of King Muhammad VI with George Bush that made me cringe a little. After our little piece of America in Morocco, we went to Caid's bar in the basement of Hotel el-Minzah. This bar was the inspiration for Rick's Cafe in the movie Casablanca. Dana and I each got ourselves a gin drink, with promises to actually watch Casablanca as soon as we can. At some point during the day, we were given free Tangerines from Tanger, which absolutely made my day. Then we took then 9pm train to Fes.
Tues., 9/29 - We arrived in Fes around 3am. We went to three full hotels before finding one that would take us. Then woke up at 8:30 to explore the medina before our noon check-out. Fes's old medina was not quite as steep and horrible as I remember it being (like I said, I was horribly hungover and it was dreadfully hot when I was there last), but the streets were still fairly steep. It was raining hard when we woke up, but luckily it stopped while we were eating our breakfast (Moroccan crepes, chocolate croissants, and mint tea: yum!). Most interesting thing I saw in the medina was a bunch of guys cutting into a camel's head. I watched with the morbid fascination of a 12 year old boy, and wished I'd gotten a picture. Around noon, we took a train to Meknes, where we found a place to chill and smoke shisha (a thing surprisingly hard to do in this country). Dana and I talked about issues of identity, privilege, orientalism, etc, and it made me miss Hampshire like whoa. After our shisha and a delicious lunch, we got on a train back to Rabat, where we smoked more shisha on the roof with Mehdy, Hamid, and Zechariah.
Now we're just chilling in Rabat with the fam for a few days until we head back to Egypt. Yesterday Bahia took Dana and I to the hamam, along with Aya (my little sister). Dana scrubbed herself so hard she broke skin, which I think my host mom found pretty funny. She loves telling stories about how we screw up. The first story she told when I arrived was about the time I lost my glasses in the ocean one day last summer. It was then brought up again three more times that evening. This time around, Dana knocked the hookah over and left burn holes all over their rug. We like to make sure we're not forgotten.
Today Dana is in Casablanca, visiting the Hasan II mosque (third largest in the world), while I stay home with the family. And tomorrow we leave for Egypt! I can't believe what a month it's been! In September, I: started classes, went to Alexandria and Hurghada, had classes canceled, and backpacked all over Morocco. It's been great, but it's definitely time for things to settle down. And this post is much longer than I was expecting, so I'll leave it at that.
Love!
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