AdventuresintheMaghreb

I’m constantly amazed at what a dynamic place Morocco is.  There’s such energy and movement and color that seems to never stop.  If you get into a cab, the driver seems to feel it his personal mission to get you to your destination as if your business was life-or-death and as if you were the only person on the road!  The market bustles and chatters and froths with buying, selling, haggling;  arguments break out constantly accompanied by theatrical hand gestures and eloquent words, and a crowd quickly gathers to shout encouragement to both of the participants.  There is constant construction taking place to improve the city, which never quite seems to be completed.  Especially during Ramadan, Qu’ranic recitation is the continuous soundtrack to the day, playing out of every shop window and punctuated by the five daily calls to prayer from the numerous mosques around the city.  By contrast, the private life of Moroccans is serene and unhurried.  Apartment buildings that appear beat-up on the outside actually house lovely homes, with gorgeous mosaic tiles, a large family room for gatherings and modern Western appliances.  Family is the center of life here, and mealtimes are especially important.  A meal that lasts several hours is nothing out of the ordinary, with everyone talking and joking in a blend of Arabic, French and occasionally English.

I absolutely love my host family so far, and find it hard to believe that I’ve only spent about three days with them!   I spent all day yesterday at home, since I had decided to fast with the family this weekend and had been advised not to be really active when I was fasting.  So instead of exploring the city as I’ve been doing on most days, I watched an absolutely horrendous early 90’s era movie called “Funky Monkey” with my host brothers, which they adore and were delighted to share with me.  Mamoune, my younger host brother, had a playdate at a friend’s home, so Amine (the 14 year-old) and I hung out for the rest of the day and played cards with his younger cousin (I taught them “Go Fish!” which was a lot of fun), practiced various magic tricks (Amine loved the dumbfounded looks on my face when he would pull off a particularly spectacular card trick), and talked about life in America.  I feel like I’m really getting to know him well, which is a great feeling.  Both of my host brothers are absolutely fantastic, and I’m so lucky to have them.

All of the Amideast students and professors met at T.G.I. Fridays for ftoor, incongruously enough, although the food resembled nothing that we serve in America!  Fasting all day was not nearly as difficult as I had envisioned, and I wasn’t terribly hungry for dinner, but it was nice to be able to drink water!  During Ramadan, you eat ftoor around 7pm when the sun goes down and you can break your fast, and then a lighter dinner at midnight, and then you get up at 4am to eat suhoor, the meal before the dawn prayer.  I’ve been doing this schedule for the past couple of days, and haven’t had too much difficulty, although I did a lot of walking this morning and it is extremely hot!

I tried to get Skype to work last night so I could wish Mom a happy birthday, and I did manage to connect with Mom, Dad and Will even though their webcam wasn’t working.  Mine was, so my family got to see Amine, Mamoune and my host mother, which was really special.  My host mother especially made a point of saying “Kathryn est ma fille, comme Amine et Mamoune” to Mom (“Kathryn is my daughter, just like my other children), which was lovely.  Hopefully we can get the webcam working so my two families can see each other!  My host family is really interested in my family, since it’s such a big part of life here.  This is when my French skills become indispensable, because I can explain to them exactly what my parents do, how Will’s a senior in high school and is looking at the military academies for college, and about all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I brought some pictures from home, which they absolutely love!

I woke up this morning and went to the cathedral in Rabat for Mass, which was an incredible experience.  The congregation is almost entirely young men and women from West Africa, with a few scattered Westerners, Filipinos, and Koreans.  The church is beautifully light and open, with high arching ceilings, stained glass, and gorgeous mosaics of the Stations of the Cross mounted on the walls.  I went with a couple friends from the program, and we got there early enough to grab a pew, because the church soon filled up with a couple hundred people! Who knew??  My favorite part of the service was definitely the music, which was primarily African, with drums, what sounded like a hammered dulcimer, and the most beautiful harmonies I have ever heard in my life.  Hearing this choir’s African take on some of the traditional Latin songs like “Kyrie Eleison” was absolutely breathtaking.  The service was in French, which meant that I could follow along well enough to sing the songs and say most of the responses, which made everything a lot more meaningful.  I absolutely loved it, and would definitely go back.  People stayed to greet each other after the service, so hopefully I can get to know some of the members of the congregation!  The service did make me (and everyone else!) a bit homesick; some of the girls started to cry at various points, so it was really nice that we were all there together because we understand what each other are going through. 

I’m at the Amideast building now, steeling myself to plow through the mass of Arabic homework that we got from our professors last night in preparation for the first week of classes!  Eek!  I’m planning on attending a few more classes then I will actually take this week, so I can figure out what I like best.  I’m really excited to get into a rhythm and to be in an academic setting, because that will make me feel more settled here.  Love to everyone!!  My skype address is kathryn_mcnamara if anyone wants to chat!