Welcome to Tangier

I’ve finally settled in here in Tangier.  It’s been a busy week, so apologies in advance for the likely absurd length of this post.

As I sit and write this, the muezzin call is echoing out over the city, a constant reminder that I am away from the world that I have always known.  Tangier is a particularly peculiar place for me.  Neither European nor Arab, it’s a strange mix of the familiar and the exotic.  One moment finds you walking down a street lined with restaurants and hotels, reminiscent of the beach town where I lived in Spain, but the next finds you walking by an ornate mosque whose minaret towers over the skyline.

A mosque near our school

We have to get our own dinner each evening, and the communication with restaurant staff is typically a hodgepodge of Spanish, French, Modern Standard Arabic, and Moroccan Arabic.  (Ordering breakfast this morning, I requested “le petit déjeuner avec jus d’orange y café con leche.  Sa fii, shukran!”  The waiter didn’t even bat an eye.  That’s just how things are done here.)

In the midst of all this is our little compound at the American School of Tangier.  While our seclusion inside the walls of the school is probably not the best thing for our Moroccan Arabic education, it really simplifies life.  Our classes are held right next door to our dorm, and we have a soccer field, basketball court, swings, and very nice swimming pool.

Sitting outside on campus, doing some homework

The weather here is absolutely beautiful and a welcome escape from the heat and humidity of Arkansas summers.  The temperature during the day rarely exceeds the upper 80’s and a constant cool wind blows in from the ocean.  Nights are typically in the mid-60’s, just warm enough for wandering around without a jacket.

Lest all of you reading think that I’m once again living the idyllic life that I had in Switzerland, don’t worry.  There are certainly downsides to this program, namely the intense homework load.  The reason it has taken me so long to write again is that I was working on homework at least 3 hours every night for the past week.  For those of you who know me and my study habits (or lack thereof), this would normally be inconceivable.  They certainly meant it when they said that CLS would be an intensive program.  Each day we have class for 4 hours, and the afternoons are filled with optional tutoring and required half hour sessions with speaking partners.  The addition of homework to these already busy days makes for very little free time, but my Arabic will certainly improve by leaps and bounds over the course of the next two months.

Out for breakfast with the crew (minus one Sarah)

As for my social life, I’ve found quite a good group of friends in the program.  All 30 of us get along quite well, but a certain few of us have quickly gotten close (Mike, Megan, Sarah, Liliane, and Sarah: here is your blog mention).  The speaking partners and people working in the program have also begun bonding more with the group.  Many of us went together to a café on Wednesday to watch the US vs. Algeria in the World Cup.  Though Algeria and Morocco are not exactly on the best of terms, most Moroccans were strongly supporting their North African neighbors.  This made for an interesting afternoon as we alternated cheers and jeers throughout the game.  I felt especially bad for one Algerian man who decided to sit in the middle of the crowd of Americans (though he was very kind to us throughout the match and in the end, applauded our victory).

Of course, it would be very un-Walchuk of me to end a post without a mention of food and drink here in Morocco.  While Tangier does not have the greatest variety of dinner options – it seems that every restaurant has paninis and pizza – our food here at the American school is quite good.  We get breakfast and lunch every day, the former typically consisting of lots of bread, Laughing Cow cheese, hard-boiled eggs and cereal, and the latter packed with vegetable and whatever delicious thing the cooks decide to serve that day.  Fridays are the day for tagines, the quintessentially Moroccan meal of couscous piled high with slow cooked vegetables and meat.

As for drink, Morocco is a very homogenously Muslim country, meaning that there are not really any good wines or beers to speak of, but what they lack in alcohol, they make up for in the most delicious juices and tea that I’ve ever had.  Our classes every day are broken up by a 30 minute tea break, when we sit and drink green tea loaded with mint and sugar.  Breakfast each morning is accompanied by freshly squeezed orange juice that cannot compare to anything the US produces.  Most cafés also serve a variety of other fresh juices, ranging from strawberry to banana to avocado.  While avocado juice may sound strange, it’s actually a refreshing mix of milk, avocado, and sugar that is closer to a milkshake than actual juice.

That’s about all I have for now.  It’s time to head off and watch the US play against Ghana!  Check back soon!

5 Days in Rabat

Having finished our program orientation in Rabat, we are now headed off to our new “home” in Tangier.  As seems to be the trend with all of my study abroad programs, it hasn’t taken long for all of us to get quite close.  I’ve also seen the emergence of another trend: everyone is fascinated by the South.  As usual, I’m one of the only southerners on the program, and discussing this fact with everyone has been extremely entertaining.

Anyhow, back to my current continent, our time in Rabat was busy, but quite well spent.  My picture taking was not quite up to par given that I left my camera on a tour bus one day, and that I did not charge the battery, so it promptly died upon being returned to me.

The CLS staff is excellent.  Our site director is impressively energetic and very excited about seeing us learn Arabic.  Her zealousness can border on intimidating, but all in all, it’s for the best.  Without her watchful eye, I know that our preferred language of interaction would always be English.  The rest of the staff, all Moroccan, is laid back, but always willing to sit and work with us, both in darija and in fus7a.  (more explanation about that later)  One of them would even wander around the souq (market) with us during our free time, helping us barter and choose the right products. We were also very grateful to the staff of the two beautiful riads (homes in the old part of town that have been remade into small hotels) in which we stayed.   They tolerated our mix of broken Arabic and French, and the man who worked in my particular riad, Dar Aida, would sit out with us each night and help us as we studied.

Our days were filled with class, lectures, tours, and eating.  We were able to see some remains of the old dynasties that ruled Morocco and parts of southern Spain (including the Romans).

The stork nesting grounds in Chellah.  I sense a baby boom on the way...

One of these sites, Chellah, has become little more than a massive nesting ground for storks and egrets. While there, I was convinced that I had been transported into one of those Lion King games for Super Nintendo where you have to jump from nest to nest without falling into oblivion and losing a life.  Also memorable was the visit to Hassan Tower and the mausoleum of Muhammed V, the grandfather of the current king.

On Wednesday, we were able to go to the home of a woman who is friends with our site director.  The woman lives alone with her daughter in the heart of the old Andalusian part of the city, the qasbah.  From the roof, we had an amazing view out over the city and the river.

Making couscous with Sa'adia

In the kitchen, we were able to watch as a master showed us how to make delicious couscous with chicken.  (The Moroccan word for couscous clearly demonstrates their maddening penchant for dropping all vowels: ksksu)  The following day, after some annoying failed attempts, I finally succeeded in getting another Moroccan classic dish.  It consists of a semicircular piece of bread that is opened up and stuffed with a fried potato/garlic dumpling called maqooda.  You can add whatever you like to this, but I particularly like it with a fried egg and a spicy pepper sauce.  They then mash it all together and 70 cents later, you’re walking away with a very satisfied stomach.

As I mentioned in the last post, there are two different kinds of Arabic that we will be learning during our time here.  Primarily, we will be studying fus7a (the 7 represents a strongly aspirated h sound), or Modern Standard Arabic, which is the language of the media and of higher education throughout most of the Middle East.  However, we will also have classes in darija, Moroccan Arabic, which is essentially a language unto itself.   While its disregard for vowels can be annoying, it is saturated with French words, a fact that makes it somewhat easier for me to learn.  In addition, Moroccans often speak with little regard to whether they’re speaking French or darija. Being white, they usually begin speaking to me in French, but if I insist darija, they tend to accede.  Unfortunately, many of them are not educated enough to talk to me in fus7a, the Arabic that I learn at home, leaving French many times as my only option.

That should be all for now, but just know that I am loving the time that I have been given here, and I will write again soon.

بالسلامة!

Looking out over Rabat

New Season, New Continent

As you can see from my previous posts, my semester in Switzerland was not exactly what one might call a blogging success.  However, I fully intend on letting you all know what is happening this summer on my (mis?)adventures through Morocco.

First, to quickly explain why I am currently sitting in the old medina of Rabat rather than my humble Arkansas abode...  As a recipient of the State Department's Critical Language Scholarship, I will be spending the next two months in Tangier (طنجة).  (Per the blogging guidelines that we signed, I must mention that this blog does not reflect the views of State nor those of the CLS program.)  For those of you concerned that I'm passing my college years on vacation, don't worry.  I'll be having 5 hours of class daily, combined with mountains of homework.

We began with an orientation in Washington, DC, during which I used all of my free time to see friends.  I was able to have a reunion with some of my classmates from Geneva, complete with some delicious enchiladas loaded down with scallops and shrimp.  While there, I just happened on the 21st birthday dinner of another friend that I haven't seen in 3 years.  My 8th time in the city only confirmed for me that I need to live there for more time than I had last summer.  The orientation itself consisted of the usual warnings and advice (along with a lot of advertising for the Foreign Service), but I finished the day feeling confident that I was going to enjoy the next few months.

An abbreviated trip description: Bus to Dulles broke down due to radiator issues, place from DC to Paris delayed two hours, late Paris arrival changed flight plan for Casablanca, waited 7 hours in Charles de Gaulle, arrived in Casablanca, took 2 hour drive immediately to Rabat.

Anyhow, now we are here.  I am loving it.  Remembering all of the Arabic I've forgotten over the past year will be quite a challenge, but I think I'm up to it.  The issue will be using it.  Moroccan Arabic, or darija, is very different from the formal Modern Standard Arabic that we study.  In the street, more people understand French than MSA, thus making it really difficult for me to practice Arabic (the aim of my summer) and really easy to practice French (not exactly the aim of my summer).  Hopefully, our daily darija lessons will make the colloquial easier for me!  Si non, c'est pas très grave...

I had hoped to add some pictures, but it seems my camera has gone missing.  Here's hoping that I find it soon. As they say here, inshallah!

سأكتب لكم أكثر عن حياتي في المغرب الاسبوع القادم