Food + This Weekend + Name Change!

Another post! Hooray! This one's about those three things (food, this weekend, name change) in that order.

1) I've already had the chance to sample a healthy portion of authentic Moroccan food in the few weeks that I've been in Morocco, and its definitely something worth sharing! I've tried tagine, which is meat and vegetables slow cooked in a ceramic pot of sorts. Definitely a Moroccan staple, and definitely delicious. I've also tried Moroccan couscous, which is similarly fantastic. These two things I found at restaurants--however, my roommate Marouane has been incredibly generous, and routinely offers up different kinds of food (he conveniently forgets what its called until I've tried it). He's given me homemade Briwat بريوات, honey-covered pastries filled with a sugar/almond paste (I've also tried similarly treated dates). Wish they had them in the states! I've tried خاية, the Moroccan equivalent of beef jerky (the meat is soaked in a special Moroccan oil, and takes nearly forever to chew). It has a very unique taste--I didn't like it that much, but Marouane loves it. I've eaten سفوف, a grain based mixture that I don't really know how to describe (I didn't like that one either, so don't worry about it). But my favorite dish so far has been rafisa (رافيسة), which is a bunch of ripped up bread pieces (the bread is somewhat similar to Indian naan) cooked with tagine sauce. YUM!

2) Today, some friends and I traveled out to Volubilis, the ruins of an ancient Roman town. Dates back at least 2000 years. I must admit, I am not much of an ancient history enthusiast, but even I found this place to be pretty incredible. At its peak Volubilis was home to 20000 people--we spent three hours exploring the olive presses, column lined buildings, mosaics, and general remnants of Roman life.Then we spent the afternoon wandering around Meknes (where Ibtissam is from!). We explored an old granary and the stables attached to it (which at one point housed 12,000 horses...no wonder it was attached to the granary!), and the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail (A Moroccan King who fathered over 1000 children).  Check out some of the pictures below!

3) I've changed the name of the blog to "Speak Like A Moroccan" because I think its funny to steal Sharan Grewal's intellectual property, but more importantly because I'm writing another blog for an Arabic Class, and am using my original title for that one! So anyone who is studying Arabic should check out mcebul.blogspot.com and read about my travels in Arabic as well as in English! 

Exploring Fez (فاس)

I just returned from a brief trip to Fez--time for another post!

I went to Fez for Friday afternoon/Saturday morning with a group of friends this past weekend. After the taxi ride there, we spent the vast majority of Friday afternoon shopping in a Marjane (مرجان), the equivalent of a Wall-Mart, to get some school supplies/snacks/cake mix/other miscellaneous items, the most of important of which was a camera! It was nice to shop in a fixed price/hassle free environment for a change. Also, when we ate dinner that night many of the patrons went to a specially-prepared corner of the restaurant to pray before their meals; definitely something I've never seen in the states! We spent Saturday morning touring the Old Medina, which is really, really old (founded in 789). We were immediately stopped upon arrival by men demanding that we take guides into the city--after awhile we relented, but as it turned out a guide was a definite necessity! We first stopped by the famed leather tanneries; they smell absolutely horrendous, but the store owner there gave us large mint sprigs to ward away the noxious odors (and we were in a viewing balcony, three floors up...I can't imagine what it would be like to work there!). And of course, we got stuck in the store bartering with the owner over leather goods--he told me that I 'bartered like a Berber' because I would pay so little (which I took to be a compliment, seeing as everything is so purposefully overpriced!). We had such a good time, we took a picture with him (its below). We spent the rest of the morning following our supremely helpful guide to random historic cites in the city, and made it back to the hotel just in time for checkout. And I didn't lose my camera!

Darija Phrase of the Day: بوفة, pronounced 'poofa' (darija is a spoken language, so this word isn't actually meant to be written, and the closest letter to the 'p' sound is the letter b, ب). The name for the leather cushions hanging throughout the leather store.

الاخوين Part Two

My last post was rather long--so I'll try and break down my future posts into smaller chunks of info! So this post is about my first week of school/classes here at Al-Akhawayn. Classes here are taught like classes in the U.S, so most things are pretty similar (though no one raises hands...we all just blurt out answers). Though Al Akhawayn has taught me to really appreciate Haverford's bookstore and general campus organization; one of my professors won't be here for two weeks, and the textbook for another class wasn't ordered and won't arrive until mid-October! I won't bore you with my three political science/history classes, besides to say that the Moroccan students (and the European exchange students, for that matter) know far more about the regional history and political dynamics than I do. I'm sure the same thing happens to Moroccan exchange students coming to the U.S., but my relative lack of knowledge about major events/cultural relationships is somewhat disconcerting...why hadn't I been exposed to this stuff in the U.S? In any case, this post is really about my دارجة (Moroccan Colloquial Arabic) class. The professor is awesome--speaks 7 or 8 languages/dialects related to Arabic, and even understands Spanish "if he listens hard enough." He suggested to us that speaking in دارجة is key to understanding/participating in Moroccan culture, and he's right. Even when we manage to utter just a few words in Darija, people treat us differently, as they sincerely appreciate the effort we've put in to learning the language. Accordingly, after two days of class our homework assignments became "make a friend, and ask him some questions." In Darija, of course. At first, this task was rather daunting. However, I ended up 'talking' to a chef at the cafeteria named Nordiin, and it was an incredible experience. I'm looking forward to learning more Darija, so I can have some real conversations with him!

Phrase of the Day: لا باس (la bas; not bad). A typical darija greeting--one asks لا باس؟ and one answers لا باس

P.S. I got a Camera! here are some pictures of Al Akhawayn University (you can find plenty more on my facebook page)

Traveling During عيد الفطر

(Warning: this post is long. Read it when you’ve got some spare time :) So traveling! We had two brief days of orientation, and then the break for عيد الفطر (Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that signals the end of Ramadan) began. At this point, the study abroad students barely knew each other (except for those who came from the same school...there are a bunch of people here from military academies), but we don't have another break this long, so traveling was a must. I set out with a small group to Agadir (أكدير, spelled with a ك with a dot above to signify a G sound), a coastal resort city in southern Morocco. We left Ifrane at 11:30 PM, Saturday night, to catch a 2:30 AM train--we arrived in Agadir at 7:30 PM the following evening, marking another incredibly long day of travel. Our route took us through Marrakesh, where we were stranded waiting for a bus for half the day; we spent the time touring the Ali Ben Youssef Madrasa ( علي بن يوسف مدرسة), the largest Islamic college/school of learning in Morocco. Of course, we had gotten lost on the way there (Moroccan streets feel more like a mouse-trap/maze than an organized system); we ended up at a riad (large home) that served as a Berber Museum (an interesting 30 minute distraction). Then, to our surprise/dismay, a man discerned our confusion and quickly led us to the madrasa (two minute walk), only to demand payment for his guided directions! This quickly became a common theme--henceforth, we were much more careful about looking confused and lost, or telling people where we wanted to go (though sometimes there was just no helping it). In any case, the school was excellent; the exterior stone artwork was all hand crafted, which must have been painstaking work because the entire place was covered in gorgeous Islamic calligraphy and carvings. After the school, we attempted to find our way back to the main road, only to again become hopelessly lost in the city's large central market, or souk (سوق). The place is just impossible to describe in full; the dirt streets are narrow and cramped with pedestrians and motorcyclists alike, lined with small shops selling all kinds of goods (and store owners hailing you at every step). And talk about a maze--there is absolutely no discernible organization to the winding, twisting tourist trap that is the Marrakesh souk. After a while, we decided to walk in one direction for as far as we could--thirty or forty minutes later, we finally emerged on a major road, and grabbed a taxi back to the bus station. 

Our arrival in Agadir Sunday night was actually kind of haunting--because it was still Ramadan, and we arrived during dinner time, there was absolutely no one on the streets. Not a soul. A car drove past perhaps once or twice a minute, on the city's major road. We managed to get to our hotel, and by the time we came out for dinner at 8:45, the same street was crowded with people! The next day (Monday) was awesome--we spent the morning touring the قصبة (castle) that overlooked the city (of course, it was incredibly foggy out, so we couldn't see a thing, but no worries), and then we spent an hour in the local souk learning about Moroccan spices, herbs, and Berber tea (which is absolutely delicious).  We spent the afternoon relaxing at the beach and the hotel pool. The hotel must have been a French enclave--I think we were the only non-French residents! That night, I had some authentic Moroccan cuisine for the first time, in the form of طاجين (tajine: think ceramic crock-pot, featured as the background of this blog); this one was a 6-7 out of 10. The rest of the evening was spent watching television (BBC, Al-Jazeera, and what must have been an Arab sit-com), and preparing to travel back to Marrakesh the next day.

Tuesday. We planned on getting an early morning bus, and arriving in Marrakesh with time to explore in the afternoon. But that was not to be. Because Tuesday was the beginning of Eid al Fitr, many Moroccans were traveling home to their families--thus, all the morning buses were full, and the first afternoon bus never really came. So we ended up on a three o'clock bus, which got into Marrakesh at 6:30-7. We spent the next hour choosing a hotel (actually, a 15 year old kid gave us some seriously useful and unexpected advice), and finally got out to dinner around 9. This time, I ate brochettes (french for Kebabs), which were also delicious. However, the portions were super small--we thus decided that tonight was a good night to sample the local ماكدونالدز (figure it out for yourself). The rumors were true--definitely better than in the states! That night we also found an English movie with Arabic subtitles to watch, which I like to think was educational. And then Wednesday. We got up early and spent the morning on a walking tour of Marrakesh; our first stop was قصر الباهية (Bahia Palace). Again, the intricate designs and hand paintings/carvings were absolutely gorgeous, and the grounds were full of luscious gardens and courtyards. After that, we traveled to the central square in Marrakesh, the جامع الفناء . The square was somewhat less crowded in the morning, but street vendors and snake charmers were constantly demanding your business. I even held a snake...of course, I got ripped off for it, but the man did have a cobra so I was less likely to really drive a good bargain. Across the square, the جامع الكتبية (Koutoubia Mosque) towered over the city; we frequently heard the calls to prayer which came from the mosque's large speakers. And then, we dove back into the souk for a few hours (this souk is the largest in Morocco); after some bargaining, I bought myself a Moroccan shirt, though most things are still pretty expensive in this area. We had a late lunch of pizza in a restaurant overlooking the square, and then headed back to the hotel to relax. Nap time. And when we went out for dinner this time, the streets were packed--we ended up at a French cafe, where I had an exceptionally good set of Kebabs, and a milkshake to boot. And the next day we spent traveling back to Ifrane, by train and grand taxi (and by ‘grand’, I mean 6 people crammed into 4 seats). What an adventure!

So that’s all for now, except for one detail; why, Matthew, are there no pictures? Well...about that. I lost my camera on the train ride home!! WSDKLJSDFKJ NOOOOOOOOOOooooOOooOOOOOooooo! But it happened. We were asked to move cabins quickly upon sitting down, and I must have left it behind in the shuffle...of course I didn't notice until the moment I sat down to begin this blog! So all of my fantastic pictures of these wonderful places I've just described to you now belong to some lucky Moroccan (who probably thinks that we Western tourists are total suckers). There's a chance I'll get it back (إن شاء الله?)...but not really. So for now, this is all I've got to show you! I'll find a way to get a new camera soon enough, and post some pictures of Al-Akhawayn ASAP. But unfortunately, I doubt I will make it back down to Agadir or Marrakech (maybe Marrakech, we’ll see), so those memories will just have to be my own.

Until next time, مع السلامة!

Life at جامعه الاخوين

I've decided to pass over most of our study abroad orientation (boring), and move to the time I spent traveling this last Sunday-Thursday. But before that, I want to describe where I'll be living for the next four months! Interestingly enough, جامعه الاخوين feels a whole lot like Haverford. Campus is gorgeous and secluded, full of well maintained greenery and a thoughtful layout of academic and residential buildings. They even have an Olympic sized swimming pool (I'm just waiting for that Haverford faculty pool expansion...any day now...). My room just happens to overlook the three tennis courts on campus (happy coincidence), along with a large open space for club sports. While the few roads on campus were extremely crowded when everyone was moving in, traffic is usually rare; in short, slap a 13 mph sign down  (after converting it to kms, of course) and Fords would feel right at home....until they encountered some other facets of life at a Moroccan school. First, dorms are strictly divided by gender; no male can enter any female dorm at any time, for any reason, and vice versa. They even have little signs for men and women above the doors, in case I was to forget. This social conservatism also manifests itself in other areas; for example, while students can generally wear clothes of their choosing on campus, most everyone wears long pants during the day (yes, even in summer when it's really hot). Similarly, while 'lightly' holding hands (whatever that means) is appropriate on campus, it is frowned upon to be as close or touchy as students in the U.S. tend to be. And there is even a dress code for that wonderful swimming pool (swimming caps and suits without pockets? are required). The final major difference is the impressive mosque located at the center of campus (at Haverford, the equivalent placement would be Founder's Hall). I'll throw up some pictures later, and explain why I haven't yet done so in the following post.

Traveling to Morocco!

I've been in Morocco for a week now, but I still need to go back to the beginning to start my blog. So traveling. Packing was difficult, but not for the reason you might think; while I managed to pack all my stuff into one fifty pound bag with relative ease, trying to figure out how many bags I could take on the plane/check was really way more difficult than it should have been (so many phone calls to Royal Air Morocco + Delta)! And my computer exploded! After 10-15 hours chatting with Dell, I learned that my graphics card would have to remain exploded for my semester abroad. Those last minute details...fortunately, my computer is still able to send emails/facebook/blog/etc. Let's just hope it doesn't explode more in the coming weeks (somebody knock on wood)!

In any case, I got to the airport, said my goodbyes (sorry Mom), and was on my way...only to have a freak earthquake close down the entire east coast, and thus redirect my plane to Allentown, Pennsylvania for two hours. The plane had only taken on enough fuel for us to reach JFK; as the pilot said, "the weather conditions are just perfect today." Funny about that. So what would have been a very long layover turned into a mad dash to get to the plane (great success!). I was relieved when the plane finally took off for Casablanca. And then, my first cultural treat; food was served immediately after sunset, for فطور ( f'tour, normally means breakfast, but in this case, it literally means breaking the fast during Ramadan). We enjoyed honey covered dates and other sweets before our main meal (lasagna, which was surprisingly delicious). At the time, I didn't know that the small breakfast of bread and cheese served three hours later would be the last thing I would eat until 7:30 the next evening!

Fast forward 7 and 1/2 hours. Off the plane, through customs, and bag successfully reclaimed! During the flight, I met some other students traveling to جامعة الاخوين (Al-Akhawayn University); we traveled together on the train from then on. Due to Ramadan, none of the airport stores were open (we managed to buy bottles of water for the day, but even if stores had been serving food no one would have been comfortable eating in public). The rest of the trip was uneventful--a 4 hour train ride from Casablanca to Fez, waiting in the parking lot for a few hours, then a 1 1/2 hour shuttle up to campus. Our driver did stop twice on the way up to buy fruit from street vendors--we were confused. And after dinner in the campus cafeteria, I collapsed for the evening. Jet. Lag. But I made it, الحمد لله!

Soon, more to come about my traveling adventures from the past week!