bslama el Magrib!

I’ve been adding things up in my head and onto this list for a few weeks… forgive the out of order-ness! J And also forgive the fact that I sound like I’ve been away from all civilization for years instead of simply in a different country for a few months… but it’s funny how appreciative of the small things I’ve become.

Can’t wait to:
Shower on a regular basis (Thus shave my legs and have clean hair regularly as well)
Wear make up
Use a hair dryer/put any effort into my hair whatsoever
Have running hot water—especially out of a sink faucet
Eat Indian food
Eat sushi
Eat Mexican food
Eat Trader Joe’s frozen mac n cheese
Eat mac n cheese everyday for one week
NEVER eat meat again!
Go to Taco Bell
Drink Sprite Zero/Fresca and cheap vodka—with a lime—with my best friends
Catch up on Desperate Housewives and Grey’s
Drive a car
Have the freedom to take a vehicle to the destination of my choice
Buy new clothes
Have my old clothes back!
Wear any clothing other than the 6 outfits I’ve been wearing for 3 months
See my entire family
Laugh with my grandma
Read a good new book of my choosing
See Twilight and HSM3
Have the option of wheat bread
Eat good quality cheese and crackers
Have a glass of wine with my mom
Give my gifts to everyone
Send the gifts to the people I still won’t see for a while
Know at least a smidgen about current sports news
Go swimming with my brothers and sister (yes I promise!)
See Ash and D
Pinkberry
Snuggle with Quinn
Rent movies
Drink tea without sugar!
Have available to-go cups
Ordering a regular coffee without it just being espresso and cream
Having my own water glass at the dinner table
Quick internet access on a much more regular basis
Noodles that don’t taste like play-dough
Men whispering—or shouting—in my ear as I walk by
Not feel genuinely oppressed because I’m a woman
Hot showers that aren’t over the toilet
Exercise without being harassed
Wear shorts/tank tops/dresses
Listen to the radio
Watch the news
Not having cookies for breakfast
Getting mail in a somewhat timely manner
Have some sort of income to counter balance my love of spending money
Two very important words that I miss a lot: Cream.cheese.
Washing machine/ clothes dryer (aka feeling as though my clothes are actually clean)

So although I’m ecstatic and so anxious to fill all those wants, I also have been collecting in my mind all the things I love about Morocco that I will miss a lot. I’d be crazy to assume that I only want my old life back. There are actually so many things I will miss terribly!

What I’ll miss:
Tea being served 3 times a day no matter what
The tea being real and freshly made with just tea leaves, mint leaves and sugar. (Although I complain, I will miss the fact that the tea is ALWAYS soo sweet that it makes it like a legitimate satisfying dessert!)
Street meat sandwiches that are to die for and only cost 50 cents
The fact that you can buy a freshly made, legitimate meal for less than one dollar
There’s always another pastry shop around every corner
I can go anywhere by foot
I can walk 20 yards from my front door and be in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city
Hearing the call to prayer outside and knowing almost everyone in the country is, at least for a second, thinking in a peaceful, pious way
Headscarves as just another accessory to match an outfit
Bootleg DVDs for one dollar or less
Everything in general being cheaper
Being forced to take off my shoes before I walk onto carpet (It’s really an ingenious idea! The carpets are hardly ever dirty!)
The Hammem (the entire concept of this oasis for women away from men where we can spend hours and hours AND the woman herself who you can pay to scrub your entire body for $1.50)
Pastilla!!! (food overall is one of the things I miss the most from home… but chicken pastilla in Morocco is now on the very top of my “all time best foods” list)
Having cookies for breakfast (I realize this is on both lists… but you can imagine why haha)

Leaving Morocco tomorrow will really be bitter sweet. I can’t believe it’s over! This time around (compared to being in Costa Rica) was totally different and I think a lot of that was my maturity level and the amount of time spent away. First of all, I was definitely ready and equally (if not more) anxious to go to Costa Rica but spending 6 months in that foreign, third world country when I was 16 and not used to living away from my family was, imaginably, very hard! I also didn’t have regular communication with other Americans when I was there and that just intensified the cultural differences. I’ve really loved being with other American students on a regular basis here simply because it’s made this entire experience more fun and it’s allowed me to analyze and think about this cultural experience in an out-loud way—and I think this has actually really deepened my cultural gain of Morocco.
But more importantly, I’ve begun to realize recently that 3 ½ months is a better amount of time than 6 months—unless you’re going to commit to at least a year in a foreign country. In other words, if I were to go abroad like this again it would either be for 3 ½ months or a year. Anything in between (like 6 months in Costa Rica) seems like an awkward time. I say this because after 3 ½ months, I really feel like I understand this country and culture. And although there’s always going to be SO much more to explore, I couldn’t do so within just few more months. I think this was the perfect amount of time because I never felt really anxious to leave and like I was being punished by being stuck here so long (I did in Costa Rica).

Anyway, I can’t believe I’ll be on an airplane in 12 hours! (We have to be ready to go at 4:30am tomorrow morning YUCK) I’m spending 12 days in Europe with my friends Hanne in Paris, Irina in Basel and Val in Spain. It’s going to be a crazy, very tiring few days but totally jammed packed of awesomeness tooJ hahaha. I’ll be in 9 airports and 2 train stations throughout the 12 days and 6 airports in the last 48 hours… AH!

Also, thanks so much to everyone who was a committed blogger!! It was so great to write for you and it totally enlightened my entire experience, so you all deserve a big thanks on my part!! I will also try to upload one more blog of photos when I get home at the end of Dec. if you’re still interested!!!

Eid Kabir/ ISP is OVER!!!

So Eid Kabir is the name of another grand Muslim holiday in Morocco and we were lucky enough to still be here to witness the whole process. The main tradition for this holiday is to slaughter/sacrifice a sheep. As far as I know, the sheep represents a family member in a sense. It’s like instead of sacrificing a child, you sacrifice a sheep as a sign of loyalty to God or something of the sorts… Anyway, for the past week there have been SO MANY sheep being sold. If I haven’t drawn this out well enough before, everything in the Moroccan medina is just sold at little kiosks throughout the streets. New “products” come in and out and you never know what you’ll find—kind of like isles of a grocery store or better yet, a super Target, laid out throughout the streets. So now you see sheep, new sharp knives, literal tree stumps (chopping blocks), charcoal and lots of other things I don’t understand.
So this is kind of like “Muslim Christmas“ in a way. On TV before each commercial an “Eid Moombarik” (Happy Eid!) slogan pops up. And nothing was open all day. So when my host family invited me to come over to celebrate I was really excited! I was thinking it was going to be like Christmas morning! Everyone’s so happy and excited on Christmas morning, right? Well… who knew slaughtering a sheep was so much work!!! I couldn’t make it over there until 1pm so I missed the butcher coming over and actually killing the sheep, but my sister told me it was probably best I didn’t witness it—she doesn’t even watch herself. (Also, this is apparently a butcher’s BUSIEST time of the year b/c everyone needs the butcher himself to actually kill the sheep and then sometimes they filet the meat and sometimes dads do, but almost every household needs the butcher there for at least a little while…) Anyway, I guess in our family we do the filleting and when I got there 2 hours after they started, they were still cleaning up blood and such. (This is just not what I call a relaxing holiday)
So traditionally, on the day of the sacrifice, you just eat the stomach and/or the liver, heart, testicles etc. They let the rest of the meat sit out for at least one day then split up all the meat into 3 sections that you apparently give one to the poor, send one to extended family then keep one section for yourself. ALSO, the sheep head is also a key ingredient to the whole festival. When I was walking to my house there were lots of groups of men and small boys surrounded around a make shift grill of sorts, shaving the fur off the heads, cutting off the horns and then just GRILLING the entire head! It was such a bizarre grotesque thing! On Friday they apparently eat couscous with sheep head and brain? I mean the whole situation was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life simply b/c no one around me found it odd or gross in any way!! I really wish I had taken a picture of the 6 year old boy running down the street trying to hold onto 4 or 5 bloody sheep horns.
Anyway, I got to my house while they were finishing cleaning up on the roof and the large sheep body was just hanging up in the front hallway with a newspaper under it catching the small drips of excess blood. They gave me TWO skewers full of meat (remember day one is the stomach/heart/liver day) and they most definitely prepared them very rare. I was avoiding them at all cost at first and just paying attention to my salad until my sister said “be sure to eat that meat before it gets cold!” I asked what it was and she said the first piece was heart and I admit, I tried it—actually I ended up eating the whole piece but DID NOT like it. I mean, seriously… I really am not a picky eater. I’m actually quite adventurous but this crossed the line. I don’t even want to be eating meat in general let alone undercooked sheep heart. But I did try it, and didn’t vomit. My family also knows I don’t really eat meat normally so they didn’t force it on me. And if you’re wondering what it tasted like, it literally tasted like blood. (I know blood is what makes a good steak taste good but still… considering the heart is the blood-pumper, I just felt like it was EXTRA blood tasting. Ew…)
So tomorrow is couscous day with sheep head—but mom’s making me chickenJ

Also, I am officially done with my final paper and turned it in today. The research I did do ended up being really awesome and I felt like I actually discovered some fairly new information. It was at least pretty interesting to me! I mean of course in three weeks I did not do legitimate, real research that could actually be used as real social science data BUT I still felt good about itJ I simply used interviews as my sole source of data but this made sense for my project. What I wanted to find out was about what effect modernization was having on the current youth of Morocco and whether or not the changes in society were having an effect on how children today are growing up and being raised—and what adults of all ages thought about that.
I originally assumed that most people would tell me that with an increase in internet use, satellite TV and more access to the western, “modern” world, the way of life for Moroccans would be drastically improving. But, what I actually found out (to my surprise) was that most adults thought that morals, values and tradition is on such a decline that this meant that these changes in the social world were actually more detrimental than progressive and helpful. There is actually more homelessness today than ever before. (I hope that made sense…) Anyway, I wrote a 30 page paper about it and I’d be lying if I said some of it wasn’t partially full of bullshit. BUT I’m somewhat proud of it anyway! Hahaha and considering it’s been consuming my life for 3 weeks, let’s just say I’m happy I’m done!
I’ve moved into the hotel I’m staying at for the last week and I’m leaving this country in like 5 days!!! Crazy…

Chefchouen

So these past few days I’ve spent my time away from Rabat in a town called Chefchouen. It was my last little trip to travel throughout Morocco and I just can’t believe I hadn’t been there before now!! It was the most beauuutiful little town! I went with a few friends who went earlier in the semester and they were so anxious to get back and I understand why! This is a city that is known for being awesome and one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country. But it doesn’t attract the same tourists as the big cities like Marrakech. It’s a very chill, relaxed place in the mountains with lots of great hiking—although we didn’t commit to a hiking adventure given the cold temperatures and the short time we had. BUT it was sooo great anyway and I BOUGHT SO MUCH STUFFFFF. At least now I’m almost done with all my Christmas/gift shopping which is nice to know…
Also, this city is BLUE. The whole medina is painted blue. I’m not sure why although I’m sure there is a story behind it. But, yes, all the walls are painted blue and it’s so beautiful! This was one of the first cities I liked so much that it made me think I’d like to return someday and visit again. Not that I haven’t enjoyed other places in Morocco, but this was the first time that I really thought I may make a legitimate effort to return one day.
Anyway, time is quickly ticking away now and I have less than 10 days left in this country! I have a few days left to finish my paper then only a few days left for presentations and “de-orientation”! I can hardly believe it!!