Come visit my new blog!

This fall semester, I will be studying in France, so read about my new adventures in La Belle Vie Parisienne!

Thanks!

Until next time...Inshallah!

I will miss......

- The breezy evenings, when the sun has set and the people are out and about, and the weather is perfect
- Orange juice! Freshly squeezed, and only 4dh at the side of the street!
- 7dh scoop icecreams
- 9dh sandwiches at Omar's
- Cafe Blueberry, out by the pier, cheesecake, tiramisu, icecream sundaes, pasta. Yum
- The ever so trusty La Mamma, where I ate a plate of Spaghetti Bolognaise, every week for nine weeks
- The staff at the CCCL - Nawal, Bouchra, Farah, Fadoua, Badrdine...and so many more
- The desert. Endless dunes, starry skies, and camel rides
- Shokran, salaam wa allais comme, inshallah, labass, hamdelilah...and all the other Arabic phrases I have learnt!
- The Medina. Despite the claustrophobic feeling when you venture onto Souika at 7 or 8pm, I have come to love the distinct smells and the feel of the Rabat Medina
- Label Vie - the market where I bought all my water!
- Sidi Ali, best water ever
- The kind street vendor that smiles and waves every day as I walk past. I gave him a pudding today!
- Mint tea, tajines, brochettes
- The tram - though they never did implement "Phase 2" of the project, each ride was still a well-spent 7dh
- Friends. Americans, Italians, Canadians, Belgium-ers, Russians

There are many more that I just can't think of right now. I'm sad to leave, but I'm also excited to go home. I do hope to come back one day.

Until next time, Morocco. Time to go home :)

Farewell, CCCL

Last Friday, I had a farewell lunch with the staff at the CCCL. It was a lovely event! Usually on Fridays, the CCCL staff get together and eat couscous for lunch. I was feeling a bit worried, because I have managed to skip 6 out of 8 couscous Fridays already. But the time came, and Brahim set up the tables beautifully, and they begin by serving some appetizers. Then he brings out the tajine, and opens up the pointy lid, and inside - tajine aux viandes et legumes! Meat and veggies! It was a delicious meal, and afterwards there was even watermelon and peaches.

Tajines aux Viandes et Legumes 

Watermelon and peaches!

After lunch, my supervisor got out a bag, and she gave a little speech, saying thanks for my work these past two months! It was so unexpected and wonderful. Then they gave me a present - a Moroccan jellaba! It's purple, and it is very beautiful and comfy. I put it on, and then we took lots of group pictures! They also gave me a card signed by the office, and some pretty CCCL earrings.

I'm definitely going to miss this place. I have two more days of work, not including today. This week I've just been finishing up the projects that I've been working on. But beside that, things are really coming to a close!

Saharan Dunes - An Unforgettable Weekend

What an amazing weekend! The desert trip was incredible, and I had such a wonderful time with wonderful people. I can't even begin to describe the beauty of the desert, the endless dunes that lay ahead of us, the skyful of stars that we slept under, the breath-taking feeling of sitting atop Erg Chebbi and watching the sun rise, and the impeccable silence of the desert. A picture is worth 1000 words, and this weekend I took 365 photos! I just want to capture it all down forever! I'll try to summarize most of our adventures here.

Friday
Alex, Kevin, and Mark came to pick up Jitske and I around 11:30pm, and we head off to their apartment. Our other plan with the car rental? Failed. But thank goodness! Everything worked out for the best. Instead of driving ourselves, Kevin's friend's brother had a grand taxi and he said he would drive us there and back for a pretty reasonable price. We agreed to leave at 1am. So, at 1am we pile into the grand taxi - Jitske in front, then Mark, Alex, me, and Kevin in the back. We slept on and off most of the way, and managed to take just one break at 5:30am to have some tea and use the bathroom.

Saturday
Our driver also drove super super quickly, so by around 9:30-10am, we were in Rissani! We begin looking out for signs to Auberge du Sud, and soon found it. The sign told us to take a left turn. This is what we saw when we looked to the left:

"Left"

Just nothingness! But we turned onto it anyway, and just decided to drive in that general direction. The road was very sandy and rocky, and before long, we were stuck. Stuck in the sand. We got out and all helped push the car (more like Mark and Kevin pushed the car....). We managed to get it out a little bit, but it was pretty stuck.

Stuck in the middle of nowhere :( 

Eventually, a van drove past and we asked him for some help. We even tried lifting the tire out of the sand! But it also didn't work. Finally, we were able to get through to the hotel on the phone, and they sent a jeep out, and he pulled us out of the sand with his jeep! We were stuck for about an hour and a half, but we finally made it to the auberge!
We sat down to lunch, a great view, and a nice and refreshing swimming pool. It was very pretty! Unfortunately, none of us brought our swimsuits, so undies and bras had to suffice. We figured, we'd only be in a swimming pool by the Sahara once in our lifetime!

We then got to stay in a temporary room that the hotel gave us, so we took that time to get some rest. Then at 7pm, we headed out on our camel trek! We camel-ed for two hours into the Sahara, and we stopped on the way to admire the sunset. Then it was onwards towards Erg Chebbi. Here are some photos!

In the evening, we had dinner at our camp-site, and then watched a short musical performance that they gave us. There were other campsites there as well, but just the 5 of us at this one. After the performance, it was around 11:30pm, and the girls headed to bed while Mark and Kevin climbed half-way up the dune. We all slept outside on mattresses, and looked up to a sky full of stars. It was breath-taking! The stars felt so close, and there were so, so, so many. We could see constellations, and part of the milky way! Sadly, we couldn't take only photos in the dark. But it was truly beautiful.

The next morning, we woke up at 5:45am and climbed up the dunes to the top of Erg Chebbi to see the sunrise. It was quite the climb! The hill was steep, and the sand kept slipping out from under my feet. But the view was worth it.

Sunrise on Erg Chebbi

After that we had breakfast, and then camel-ed for 2 hours back to the auberge. Then began the roadtrip home. Because of traffic, a 1.5 hour detour...., and dinner in Meknes, we didn't make it back to Rabat until about 10:45pm. But it was an amazing weekend, and I'm so thankful I had this opportunity!

Today it is back to work! Only 4 more days until I go home! I will most definitely miss this place, and I've had some really wonderful funtimes these past few weeks. Sadly, facebook isn't letting me upload photos right now for some reason, but once it does, I will definitely put up the rest!

Will keep you all posted on this last week in M-CO!

Dominos in Morocco?!

Yes, that's right! We found a Dominos in Morocco! I didn't think they would exist here, but the other day my friend said a Dominos guy delivered pizza to her door, because he got the wrong address. It was meant to be for their neighbor. But that meant there was a Dominos here!
So after research and google-mapping, we found it, in Agdal of course. The cooler part of Rabat. Yesterday after work, my friend and I head to Agdal for some shopping in the sales. There were sales alright. But there were no small sizes :( Everything was either X or XL. Afterwards, we went on our hunt for Dominos. After finding the right street, we walk and walk - almost giving up hope. But finally we pass a small construction side, and on the other side, there was the blue and white Dominos sign!
The store was quite small, and there was only one other couple there. We ordered boneless chicken kickers and cheesy bread. A familiar and iconic Wellesley order.
I must say though - it didn't taste nearly as good as how the greasy cheesy bread tastes when it finally arrives at 1:59am in front of Severance Hall at Wellesley. But it was good. It was a nice taste of home!

Also - I am going to the desert! This weekend! I found some great people to go with - my Belgium roommate, two American students who study at Princeton and are working in Rabat, and their friend visiting from London for the weekend. We are renting a car, and leaving Saturday early morning (5am? 6am?), and driving down to Merzouga. Should be an estimated 8-9 hours drive. From there we will be meeting with our hotel guide, and heading into the Sahara by camel. Yay! It's finally happening! I have wanted to go to the Sahara since I found out I 'd be going to Morocco, so I'm very thankful things are working out. I will definitely post pictures when I get back!


And some other odds and ends:
- After 8 weeks of being here in Morocco, I finally found the shortcut in the Medina from my home to work! For 8 weeks, I was taking the main streets, because who knows what can happen inside the Medina streets. And once you get lost, you get really lost. I've tried it a few times in the past, and I always ended up at the wrong place. But the other day, I took some new turns, and found the shortcut! Hooray!
- Today, people asked me for directions! I guess I look like I know what I'm doing now? I was walking down the street, with my usual angry walking face, and I see a group of Caucasians. They weren't speaking English (maybe Dutch?), but they approached me and asked me about any restaurants in the Medina, because they were very lost. So I helped them out, and was able to give some directions! That was cool.
- One of the ladies I work with at the CCCL told me I gained weight yesterday. I walked in, and she looked very surprised to see me, and she said "Oh Amy! You got fat!". She meant it as a compliment, and she is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. But it was silly! It must be all those desserts, chocolates, gummy bears, and cakes I've been eating...And I haven't been able to tell, because I've been busy wearing stretchy Aladdin pants and long flowy skirts. Oh dear!

Well, that's it for now. Countdown to home is now only 8 days! 

Adventures with Alice!

Apologies for the late blog post! Things have been going pretty well.
People have come and gone over these past few weeks! My roommate Maggie left to go back to Italy, but now I have another roommate who is from Belgium! So that's pretty cool. My host sisters also left, just today, to go to camp/work in the northern part of Morocco. And unfortunately, they aren't coming back until after I leave. So we said our goodbyes last night! The students from the BU group also left on Sunday, and it was sad to say goodbye to them! I did meet some more people though, some from Princeton, another from Chicago, and even some Moroccans!

In other news, Alice Su came to visit this past weekend! We had quite the adventure.

Friday.
After picking Alice up, we went to eat at Sbahi with some other people from Al-Alhawayne University. Then later that night, we went to the CCCL, where there was a farewell party for the BU kids. It was such a fun event! There was Moroccan music, and lots of dancing and shouting. They would call out someone's name, and that person would have to go into the middle of the circle and start dancing! Both Alice and I were called into the circle....But we had a fun time! The Moroccan families of the BU students were there as well, so that was really nice.
Afterwards, we met up with Djali, Alice's French friend, and we went to the Kasbah, and later on to Cafe Blueberry for dessert!

Saturday.
I gave Alice the shortened, super-quick, 90-minute tour of Rabat. Needless to say, we only saw 2 sights. We went to the Tour Hassan and the Mausoleum. But while we were there, there was an American/English/European tour group, and we kind of latched on to them and listened in on their tour. And a kind old couple start talking to us in English! They were sweet.
After lunch at my favorite pasta place, La Mamma, we met up with Alex, and headed out on our voyage to the beach. After much hassle - involving chasing down Djali for Alex's bathing suit, asking bus drivers for the correct bus, finding the grand taxi stand, figuring out prices to go to Temara - we finally squeeze into the grand-taxi along with 3 other people, and head out for the beach! (Note: grand taxis are not grand. Neither are they big. They are simply regular sized cars, but they fit 6 passengers in at once. 2 in front, 4 in back!).
We finally make it to the beach, and we meet 2 Moroccans, who become our friends, and decide to be our escorts. Alice and I set off to find a bathroom to change, but we end up on a 40-minute adventure, down a sketchy beachwalk, where there were sketchy plastic tables and chairs on the side, and random broken carnival-like cars, just sitting in the mud. Looked like a scene from a bad horror movie. We return safely, and join Alex and the guys. After some time in the water, we go back to our stuff, and take a giant 2 hour nap/tan on the beach. When we finally wake up, the 2 Moroccans were still there, watching us, and they ask: "Is it normal for you people to come to the beach and just sleep?" Why yes indeed, it is very normal :)

Our journey home was just as adventurous! We get onto the street and again ask our way around to get to the right bus stop. But we didn't know which bus to take, and we also didn't know if the bus was ever going to come. Didn't look like it. But right then, Djali calls Alice, and says "Alice! I'm right in front of you!". He had driven past with his Moroccan friend and saw us! So we sprint across the street, and piled into the car! Yay! We make it back to Rabat, and Alice and I get off at Agdal, where we did some shopping. Then we went to Yoka Sushi for dinner - our new favorite restaurant in Rabat. Dragon roll. Boston roll. Miso soup. Cucumber salad. Teppanyaki. Delicious!!

Sunday.
Our new Belgium friend, Jitske, joined us for church in the morning! Then afterwards, while trying to decide where to eat for lunch, we decide that it's not too soon to go to the sushi place again. So off we went, and enjoyed another delicious meal! Then we dropped off Alice at the train station.


So all in all, it has been a fun two weeks! Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures this weekend. But go to Alice's facebook, because she has lots of great photos from this weekend!


Some other updates!
- The desert trip last weekend didn't end up happening, but it may be happening this weekend!! Very possibly. Will definitely post about that soon!
- My poor packages from the US still have not arrived, and it has been over 1 month! :( :( let's hope it gets here before I leave!!

And countdown to home: 11 days!

The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Morocco

Souika. Bustling with people, pushing and pulling, some trying to make their way home, others trying to shop. The sound of men, yelling at the top of their lungs, "Solde, solde!", trying to attract you to the heap of clothes and shoes lying on the table. The smell of sweet corn, roasting. The smell of popcorn, popping in a black cauldron. The smell of snail soup (still haven't dared to try it!). The smell of freshly squeezed orange juice by the side of the street. 4dh.
The distinct smell of leather as you approach Rue des Consuls. The smell of scented aromas and oils. The smell of black soap, used in the hammams. The smell of mint tea, brewing at tea time.
The sound of the waves as you leave Rue des Consuls and approach the beach. The sound of the whistle as the tram guy blows it frantically, telling you to get off the tram tracks because the tram is coming (despite the fact that the tram is moving at 3mph!).
The smell of an empty Medina, when the shop-keepers have left and you realize how wide the street actually is. The smell of over-flowing trash, overflowing into the street.
The sound of the 4:30am call to prayer. The sound of the 5am parade that went by this morning (!!). The sound of the rooster at 6am, going off every single minute (I counted). The sound of honking.
The traffic. The cars coming at you as if he will never stop. The sound of screeching tires. The sight of the bus-stop, when masses are waiting for the bus. The sight of teenagers riding on roof-tops of buses, because the bus is full. The sight of masses gathering in front of the parliament building, carrying signs and shouting chants of protest. The sound of Moroccans, singing together as they wave the Moroccan flag.
The sound of silence. Which is rare, and precious!

Three weeks from today, I will be on a plane, heading home to the US! I am two-thirds of the way done! After six weeks here in Morocco, I am thankful for the experience I have had so far. I am thankful for all my French teachers over these years, because I would've never been able to make it here without the French! I'm thankful for the cockroaches, the tummy bugs, the man who scammed me for money, the lady who won't let me return my broken internet key, the many Jawal cards I used up trying to figure out how the minutes here work, the couch that is now my bed, the impossible task of crossing the street, the cold showers, the spiders in my shower, and all the things in between! I'm thankful because they are all learning experiences that have helped me appreciate the comfort of being at home! Though I am much more comfortable here now than I was six weeks ago, I still have lots to learn and experience. But for now, I am thankful.

And so, the countdown for home begins. 21 days :)

P.s. Souvenir shopping has begun! Taking any present requests now!

Fes: el-Bali, el-Jdid, Boulejoud gardens, hammam

This past weekend, my friends, Maggie and Rebecca, and I went to Fes! What a wonderful city! I had a great time, and there was just such an interesting feel about this imperial city. It wasn't just the monuments and sights that we saw - though those were beautiful as well - it was just the entire feel of the city! Did you know, that Fes is the largest populated area that has no car access? (fun fact thanks to Rebecca) And it's true - the streets are narrow and filled with blind alleys. But the people of Fes know their way around like it's just another city. This website has a great map of the Fes Medina - and even that doesn't encompass the thousands of winding streets of the city!

So bear (bare?) with me! This is going to be a long post - filled with pictures!


Fes El-Bali
The Old Medina was a gigantic maze. We first arrived at our hotel around 11:30am, and we headed out to try to get some lunch before our guided tour in the afternoon. We get onto the main street, and manage to find a road-side sandwich place for a quick lunch. Harassment in Fes is much worse than in Rabat! Men were shouting "konichiwa" left and right, and there were also a few "sister of Jackie Chan?" comments. Maggie and Rebecca also got lots and lots of attention, and it was just a crazy scene.
Our tour began around 2pm, and it was pretty good! Our tour guide took us to the Medersa Bou Inania, the Kaiorouine University (though we couldn't go inside), the tanneries, the carpet workshop, the oil-making store, and some other nooks here and there. Walking around in the Medina was crazy. There was trash everywhere, and kittens hiding in every little corner. There were also lots of mules, often packed with tons of boxes, and when you hear someone screaming "Balak!", you better get out of the way. It was quite the bustling scene! It is nothing like the Medina we are used to in Rabat, where there are about 2 main streets, wide and full of people, and the rest are little alleyways where people live. In Fes, everywhere we turend was another neighborhood. There was the market where they sold leather goods, handicrafts, and pottery. Then there was the neighborhood with the henna women, and argan oils and herbs. There was also the market where there were live chickens waiting to be ordered and taken home. It was just such a cool experience walking amongst it all.

After the tour, we took a little break and returned to our hotel. Afterwards, we went out for a walk and ate at Cafe Clock. We also found the gardens, which were closed. So then we walked some more and went by the Royal Palace. As we were walking, a man kept following us and talking to us, but we just kept ignoring him. He had some pretty sweet lines though: "Open your heart. I make you happy. Why you don't open your heart? Spice girls. Flowers. I like flowers. Show me your eyes. I miss you." When we finally got mad at him and told him to leave us alone or else we'd call the police, he says "You not spice girls! Why you not talk to me!" And finally left.
When we were walking down the street looking for dinner, we were bombarded by restaurant-owners, showing us their menu. All the restaurants offered the exact same food - so they kept trying to entice us by telling us they would give us massive discounts. Finally we chose one up on a terrace to avoid the massive crowds. Fes was a blazing 110 degrees in the afternoon. It's as though we stuck our face to an open oven and left it there. At night, it cooled down only to about 90 degrees, so we were still pretty hot. Finally after dinner, we walked back to our hotel, and relaxed for the evening. We also took the greatest showers ever in our bathroom. The water pressure was perfect, and it was just amazing. Here are pictures from the first day!

Walking in the streets of the Medina 

Tanneries of Fes!

At the Bou-Jeloud main gate! Also known as "The Blue Gates"

Inside the Bou Inania Medersa

At Cafe Clock!

Hammam
Oh, the hammam. What an experience! I had heard about the hammam before, because my host family goes there once a week to take their showers. It is the public bath, where they go inside, take off all their clothes, and take a shower there. Usually, there is a women that can do the scrubbing for you. They use what's called a "kiis", which is a prickly scrub, and scrub at you all over to get the dead skins off. Then they use black soap, and wash down your body.
So while we were in Fes, Maggie and I decided to try it out! But we were a little iffy about the whole public, standing-in-an-open-room-with-everybody-else kinda thing. So we found this place that did private hammams! It did cost a little more, but I think overall, it was definitely worth it.
Sunday morning, we wake up, and Maggie and I meet this kind women who took us on a 20 minute walk through the Medina. We arrive, and we change into bathrobes, and go in one at a time.
First, she asked me to lie on my tummy, and she used a soft oil. She would first rub it all over my back, and then use a bucket to pour water all over me to wash it off. Then she used the "kiis", and scrubbed scrubbed scrubbed. It was pretty sore! But I could feel the dead skin coming off. Being here in Morocco, where the medinas are often dirty and filled with smoke, my skin has become pretty gross. After washing that off, she used le savon noir - black soap - and rubbed that in. The soap smelled pretty good. Then I turned onto my back, and she did the front side. After all that, she washed my hair! With Pantene :) Lots of head massages and she also used the black soap for my face. Then she had me stand up, and she stood up onto the bench that I had been lying on, and poured the bucket of water from my head. It was like standing under a waterfall! I almost fell over because the water was so heavy. She did that a couple of times, and then I was done! Took a total of about 50 minutes.
It was quite the experience! Afterwards, my skin was very soft and I felt like my pores were not as clogged up. We were lucky, because on Sunday, the weather was slightly cooler, so we didn't start sweating as soon as we left the building!

Obviously no pictures from the hammam trip...

On our way home though, a Moroccan man approached the woman, and apologized to her. She asked him why, and he said "I am going to marry these two girls. They are beautiful. Tell them to wait for me. I will marry them. I love them."



Fes el-Jdid
After the hammam, we went back and got Rebecca, and we went to visit the gardens and Fes el-Jdid. This is known as the newer part of Fes, though it is still very old. Here, we visited the Jewish Quarter, Mellah, and some synagogues. We obviously looked out of place, and very lost, so a man approached us and said he would show us around. So we figured we had no better idea, and getting lost in the Medina is a big problem, so we followed him. He showed us around a little bit, and then we paid him for his service. Fes el-Jdid was not as exciting in my opinion, but it was still cool! And we got to see the Boujeloud gardens, which were very pretty. Here are pictures from that:

Maggie and I in the gardens

In Mellah - the Jewish quarter of Fes el-Jdid

After that, we ate a late lunch/early dinner, and returned to our riad to get our bags before going to the station. We really enjoyed staying at the riad! And everytime we came in, the owner would says things like "This is your home now! Want some tea? I can make tea right now. No? Okay, your room ok? Ok for you? Ok, bye bye now!" They were all super sweet. Bye bye Riad Ahlam!

Rebecca and I in the Riad 

For the whole Fes album, go to Facebook!

Well, today is back to work! And Happy 4th of July from Morocco!! Apparently, there was a 4th of July celebration at the US Embassy in Rabat yesterday. Sadly, I wasn't even invited, because I don't have a US passport...:( I thought they would at least email me....Oh well. Enjoy the fireworks everyone!

The little blue and white city on a hill

This past weekend, I went to the beautiful town of Chefchaouen and the coastal city Tangier! It was very very beautiful!
On Saturday, we left Rabat at around 8:30am, and drove to Chefchaouen, arriving around 1:30pm. After checking into our hotels (7 rooms total, we booked out the entire hotel) and unloading our bags, we went into the old Medina and ate lunch at the Casa Aladdin. It was a three-course meal that took 3 hours to eat! But it was yummy, and the waiters wore Aladdin pants and pointy-toed shoes. For my appetizer I had a French omelette, my entree was beef kebabs, and my dessert was crepes with chocolate and almonds. Delicious! After our 3-hour meal, we went on a guided tour with the cutest little Moroccan man ever. He would be like "Hello! Hello! come on! Yalla!" and when we were walking down a slope, he says "Don't ski without the snow! No skiing!" He was super cute. After that, we trekked up a hilltop and found ourselves on the top of a hill, looking down on the beautiful blue and white town. Here are some pictures!

On top of the hill: Chefchaouen

Tour guide explaining that these are the paints that they use for painting the houses!

A house in Chefchaouen 

On Sunday, we drove over to Tangier, on the coast of Rabat. There was a beautiful beach, where the water was very turquoise-y! We had lunch by the beach, then went on a guided tour of the Medina there.

My roommate, Maggie, and I

The tour guide took us to a "millionaire's house"

Moroccan shoes - in Morocco, they are called "Belgha". I do plan on buying a pair to wear in the States!

While leaving Tangier, we stopped by Les Grottes d'Hercules - Hercules' Cave. This Africa-shaped hole was very cool! There were little kiddies jumping off the edges here.

So it was a great weekend!
Upcoming:
- This weekend: Fes, Meknes, and Volubilis!
- Next weekend: Merzouga - the DESERT. Camel rides, turbans, sunrises on the dunes. All that good stuff.

Sending love from Morocco!

Late nights

Hello!

All has been going well this week! I have a new roommate now, Maggie, who is Italian and is here studying Arabic. Though sadly, she's only here for 3 weeks :( Anyway, Maggie is studying at the Qalam Center, so she has a bunch of classmates who also live in the Medina. We've been hanging out these past few nights, going to the cafe, the beach, and the carnival from last week. We mostly hang out with these two Russian guys, Arthur and Sergei, and there are sometimes two older adults who also join us. Here are some pretty pictures from these past few days!

Moroccan sunset by the beach 

I tried an orange juice by the side of the road the other day and it was pretty good! Here's my buddy Abdenol, who's squeezing my fresh orange juice. Only 4dh! (about 50cents)

This is Bab el Had, one of the main gates entering into the Medina. At night, there are lots and lots of people around here just hanging out, playing around

Late night Medina! This guy is selling fruit, but there are also other stands selling snail soup, corn-corn on the cob, and popcorn

So it's been a couple of late nights, going out with Arthur and Sergei, but then they always walk us back to our house when they drop us off. This weekend, I am joining them and some other people in their Arabic class on a northern excursion!! We are going to Tangier and Chefchaoun, which are two little towns up north. Supposedly, you can see Spain from the coast of Tangier! I will definitely take lots of pictures this weekend, but for now, here are some great photos of Chefchaoun and Tangier, courtesy of google. We will be leaving Saturday morning, and coming back Sunday night. I'll definitely write about the weekend when I return!

! وداعا 

Fun-Filled Moroccan Weekend

This weekend was fun! On Friday, I hung out with Beka, Teneshia and Melanie, from the BU group. After work/class, we went over to the Hassan Tower, which I went to with my dad back when he was still here. It was a nice breezy evening, and we had lots of fun. Then we walked along the beach, and we come across this lovely mini theme park!

So we decide to go on 2 rollercoasters! We went on the "Supermontana Rusa", which turned out to be much scarier than expected. Also, being in Morocco, there was no electrical switch to work the carts - the guy manually pushed us onto the slope! We went downhill for a bit, then there was one long track upwards that was powered, but then from there on, it was, well, just gravity. Becca took an awesome video of our faces throughout the entire ride, and once she posts it, I'll link you guys there! For now, Melanie took some pictures of us on the ride.

We also went on a second, more tamer ride. It was one of those rides, where it just goes in circles and lifts you high off the ground. Here is a picture of Becca and I on the ride!

Saturday: Rebecca and I went to Sable d'Or with Rebecca's Wellesley friend who was visiting for the weekend, Cat. It was a beach about 20 minutes away, so we took a Grand Taxi. But we were badly ripped off, it turns out :( For three people, the cab driver charged us 200 dh one way. And when we came back, we were also charged 200 dh. But talking to the people at the CCCL today, they told me we could've just taken the bus for 4 dh each one way!! Booo. It's okay - a learning experience!

Sunday: I went to church! My friends Ryan and Mandy found an english-speaker church in the Rabat! It's called the Rabat International Church  However, Moroccan directions are always very vague. We were told to "Stop between the pharmacy and the school". The map they gave was also "Not drawn to scale". Suffice to say, we got very very lost. Little did we know that in Morocco, there are pharmacies on just about every block. At first, we were super excited to see a pharmacy, but turning around, we saw three other pharmacies on the same block. "Schools" are also very hard to distinguish, so we had quite the difficult time. Finally, this very very kind man understood my French and led us all the way to the church - a good 10 minute walk from where we had been searching! We had arrived at Chateau d'Eau in Takkadoum around 8:30am, but we didn't find the church until 9:30am! But it was so nice to be with English-speaking people again. There were Caucasians, African Americans, and even Asians! Koreans I think!
Indeed a fun-filled weekend.

The Return of the Cockroach, Jellaba, and Mint Tea

Yes, that is correct. The cockroach came back! If you remember, I found a cockroach in my clothes last week while about to take a shower. Yesterday, while about to get into the shower, I see Mr. Cockroach, lying inside the bathtub, wounded. I did feel bad for him, but I was also screaming on the inside. So I may have kindly, sadly, drowned it....but then I was just too miserable and freaked out to do anything else, so I called Mama Hyatt and she laughed as she grabbed a tissue and just crumbled it up. Then I started to take my shower, but halfway through, I see baby cockroach in the bathtub!! No fun. I left that one alone though, and he scurried away. It was not a pleasant experience. Sad and confused.


In happier news, the other day, my family had me try on a jellaba! It is a Moroccan dress (usually there is a headpiece, but I didn't try that one on). This one they had me try on is for a Moroccan wedding. So if I were to ever have a Moroccan wedding, this is what I would wear!

Moroccan wedding dress

I'm looking a little pregnant here though, because the belt that goes around my waist was too big for me. Also, I recently learned that in Morocco, there is no such thing as boyfriends! It's either friends, fiancé, or husband. No boyfriends! (Sidestory: This makes sense now! The other day, a creepy guy was following me and asking for my number, and I just kept saying no, but he kept on insisting. After about 3 blocks of following, I tell him I have a boyfriend already, but he says it didn't matter to him, and that he just wanted us to be friends. No worries though! He finally left, and said "tu es une fille méchante!" ("You are a mean girl") Now I understand!)


Also a big Moroccan tradition is mint tea! Mint tea is delicious, and is usually drank daily during tea time. My family hasn't had tea time these past two weeks, but we do have it for breakfast every morning. They use fresh leaves from the garden to make the tea, and it is usually served on a silver platter, in little glasses. I will definitely be buying a set of teapot and cups to bring home to my family!

Typical Moroccan breakfast: bread, pancake-type things, cheese, mint tea, and more bread. 

Moroccan mint tea

Also, I now have an internet key! Which means I will have internet while I'm home, which means skype time with family and friends! My skype is awang4829, add me so we can talk!

Two Weeks

I have been in Morocco for about 2 weeks now! 7 more weeks to go! Work at the CCCL has been going pretty well. So far, I've done a lot of work in their databases, and also a lot of work with archives. I also did a little bit of translation, from English to French. Twas difficult...Next week I begin a lot of transcribing work with their lectures and such. The people I work with are all so sweet and kind. My immediate supervisors are Nawal, Bouchra, Youssef, and Rajae.

Yesterday, Saturday, my Wellesley friend Rebecca Turkington and I went out together! We first went to Chellah, an ancient ruins site. It was very beautiful, and it was cool to be stepping in such old ruins! What was interesting, is that a whole colony of storks have set up nest there! There are so many of them. Here are some pictures we took at Chellah:

Storks! 

View of Chellah from the outside

Inside the ancient ruins

More storks!

We had a lot of fun together, and we also went to visit the Royal Palace. Here are some pictures!

The mosque inside the palace grounds

The Royal Palace

And for our Wellesley friends: look what we found when we were walking outside the palace walls!!

The iconic Wellesley lamp-post!

Afterwards we took the tram (!!) to the next town over, Agdal. Agdal is much more modernized and developed than where I am in Rabat. There were lots of very expensive stores (Mango, Aldo, United Colors of Benetton), and the streets were well-kept. We ate lunch there and then just shopped around a bit. The stores were all very nice, but it made me want to run back into the Medina and buy super cheap $4 shoes!

Anyway, in other news, after two weeks, I have mastered the angry-walking face. When I walk, I put on my sunglasses (my invisibility cloak), I don't smile, and I angrily walk. When men approach me and say things, I just keep walking and since they can't see my eyes, they just give up! So that's been working well for me. Though the other day, a guy walks right up to my face and screams "WO AI NI!!" (I love you in Chinese). He was silly.
Also after two weeks, I have become a pro at crossing the streets. The trick is just to rudely barge your way onto the street, and wait until they let you cross. If it's a two-way street, you first make your way to the middle and just stand there as cars speed by behind and in front of you. Then you cross your way to the other side.

While things have been going well, and I'm learning all sorts of new things, I am still terribly homesick. I miss long hot showers, comfortable beds (not couches), and not being stared at on the streets!
7 more weeks!