AdventuresintheMaghreb

Hello again from Rabat! I know that I have been horribly, inexcusably remiss in writing this blog, and I apologize for that. I got caught up in finals, papers, and travel planning for my winter break, and completely got out of the habit of writing. But now that I’m settled back in Morocco, hopefully I’ll be better at keeping up.

I promise at some point I will tell the story of my adventures over winter break, spending a magical Christmas in Northern Ireland with Aunt Paige, Uncle Rob and my cousins, going to London for New Year’s and seeing the fireworks over the Thames River, and falling in love with Istanbul during my week in Turkey. But that will have to keep for another rainy day.

I am thrilled to be back in Rabat for another semester, and I can already tell that time is speeding by. I’m living with my same host family, who keep telling me how much they missed me over break, and how hard it will be to say goodbye in May. My host dad keeps asking me about possible jobs I could have in Morocco, and my host mom about possible husbands I could meet and marry here, both as strategies to persuade me to stay! If nothing else, they tell me, I have to come back to visit. “Wallah!” my host brothers make me say: “I promise.”

Me with Maman and my little brother Mamoune in Rabat

I’ve got a whole slew of exciting classes and activities this semester, and am a little worried about being overcommitted, but I think I can juggle everything. I’m continuing with my study of Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Media Arabic (so I can watch the evening news and not be completely lost!). My new classes are The Islamic World and the West – which is fascinating, we’re doing a study of Moorish Spain at the moment – and Amazigh History and Culture, which focuses on Morocco’s indigenous population (otherwise known as Berbers). In addition, I’m interning at the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women), Morocco’s oldest women’s rights organization. It’s a vibrant, fascinating place to work and I do a little bit of everything, from translation of human rights reports between English, French and Arabic, to combing newspapers and magazines for articles relating to our mission, to administrative work for their shelter for battered women. I’m also teaching English classes, taking yoga and painting, and of course trying to find time to travel in the midst of everything!

There’s a whole new group of students at Amideast, the organization where I take classes. Most people only spend a semester in Morocco, although there are five other girls besides myself from the last group. It makes for a completely new dynamic, and as I live by myself now since my roommate from last semester is back in the States, I’m still getting to know people.

One exciting thing I have to look forward to is Dad, Mom and Will’s visit to Morocco at the end of March! We’re starting out in Madrid, spending a few days in Marrakesh, and then the rest of the time in Rabat as I have to be there for classes. Travel plans are flying back and forth fast and furious on both ends, and I can’t wait to see them and to have them see my world here. Will’s already asking me to teach him useful phrases in Arabic (of course, his idea of useful is “thou son of a jackal!”) so I’m sure we’ll have a lot of stories to tell at the end of their visit.

This post is already a bit long, so I’m going to end here and pick up with the tale of my trip to a very traditional Moroccan wedding in Oujda, as far east as you can go in Morocco before literally running into Algeria! Stay tuned!