Ifrane in the Fall

It has been a fabulous Indian Summer here, though the leaves are now mostly gone. I took these around the town about two weeks ago. 

Talkin' Politics

Current events in Tahrir Square and Morocco's general location have led some back home to inquire as the the political stability of the country and my general safety. Although I too watched with anxiety as exchange students at the American University in Cairo were captured, imprisoned, and luckily sent home this week, I fear of nothing like that here in Morocco.

Morocco held it's first elections since the new political referendum, as a New York Times Article discusses here. A CNN Article also explains the situation.

In other news, today marks the New Year in the Islamic Calendar. Therefore, Today is the 2 of MuHarram 1433 A.H.  Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite my cynical remarks about Americans celebrating the genocide of the Native American culture with overconsumption of goods, I really do love a good turkey-day.  Having the whole family at the ranch, hunting pheasants, and eating smoked turkey are rituals that make for a wonderful holiday. However, since I'm here without those things, I still believe that this is a day of thanks for the wonderful things this life has to offer. To celebrate, I’m posting a list of things I’m thankful for.

-My wonderful, loving family. They have made me who I am, and without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today.

-My fantastic friends, from all different places, backgrounds and views. I love being able to learn new things from them. I also love knowing that I have people that care about me not in one place, but on three continents. 

-Being in Morocco! This time last year, I was just beginning to formulate my goals for this experience, and hadn’t decided where I wanted to go. Through the amazing experiences I have had this past year I have changed and grown so much.

-Hand Turkeys! This morning before my 8am bio class I made traditional “Hand Turkey” dating all the way back to the third grade. I pinned it to my shirt, and have had people write what they’re thankful for on it all day.

-Traveling, Horses, Skiing, Rock Climbing, Reading, Writing, and all things that make me happy. I love having things I can loose myself in, things that make me feel alive.

-Food! Food here, food at home, food I haven’t yet tried. In a broader perspective, I’m thankful that I have never had to go hungry.

AND for this song. That I love. :D Happy Thanksgiving. 

London!

Let us consider the stereotypes of London as a city:  the people are unfriendly, the weather and food drab, things outrageously expensive. In my whirlwind 72 hours in England, the stereotypes failed me terrifically.

            My 7:30 flight from Fez via Ryanair was a bit like flying in an infomercial. Literally every ten minutes, a flight attendants selling everything from booze to cigarettes to snacks and bikini calendars (featuring their flight attendants nonetheless!). I made it to central London by 1am Friday and crashed in my fabulous hostel, which is both hostel and 24 hour bar. I feel a blow-by-blow of the rest isn’t necessary so I’ll list the highlights.

In no particular order:

            -Getting lost in the hipster-est (and gayest) part of London, Soho, for some excellent vintage shopping.

            -Asking for directions and meeting an old man named John, who had both interesting stories of the Middle East and surprisingly prophetic insight into my life.

            -Riding the tube and buses and feeling un-harassed alone in public. No one stared, catcalled, followed me, or assumed I was selling sex. I’ve missed that.

            -Crashing a pub-crawl and meeting a cool new British friend, backpacking Austrailians, and a French magician.

            -Seeing most of the tourist sights –Westminster Abby, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, Newton’s Tower, London Eye, ect. Everything I’ve seen on TV is so much bigger in real life!

            -Eating and drinking! Fish and chips, English breakfast, bacon, buying beer at a shop after 5pm…. All of the fabulous convinces of a cosmopolitan, non-Muslim city.

My camera did die before I got any really good pics, so here's just a few: 

This cool church in Soho served as a landmark on multiple occasions

I thought this was funny

As was the ridiculous color of this shop.. Where do you buy this paint??

However, at the end of it all I had a very interesting and surprising realization. While doing all these “Londoner” things, I very seriously considered running away to London, getting a job, and becoming a vintage-wearing, coffee-drinking hipster. But when I thought about it, I had the same feeling that led me to Morocco in the first place. London, although charming and wonderful, is not the challenge I desired. I came to Morocco for challenge, to have a year different from the typical hard-partying, English-speaking, study abroad semester that many students have in places such as London or Australia. I'm not saying those things are bad or undesireable, but they aren't what I wanted out of this experience. 

When I arrived back in Fez walking into the rain and was called a spice girl within ten minutes of deplaning, I was still perfectly ok with being here.  AUI still feels, well, oppressive, and there are still days that get me down. But I’ve made a life for myself here over the past three months, with all the trials and tribulations that go with life abroad.  As my peers prepare for re-assimilation, Christmas at home, and classes at their own Uni, I’m going through a different type of assimilation. I’m using next semester to create new challenges for myself and new plans to travel. Three more weeks of classes, finals, EuroTrek 2011… There is much more in store for this adventurer! 

Back Up and Running!

Hamdulaluh!!!! (An all-ecompassing Arabic expression praising God, but used to describe gratitude for anything pleasant). After almost a month, I finally have a computer again. The hard drive crashed the first week in November, and since logging into this blog from the French computers changes all the blog commands to French, I've been a little lax. But I've missed writing this, so I'll try to use a couple entries to catch everyone up. 

November 4th-9th was the Eid Al-Adah, very similar to Muslim thanksgiving. According to the Q'ran, Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Issac. Allah, being the great and merciful he is, at the last minute let him sacrifice a sheep instead. Therefore, every year around this time, Muslims all over the world celebrate with the slaughter and feast of a sheep. Early in the morning, they bring the sheep, usually on the roof, and the man of the house slits it's throat. If there is no man, sometimes the knife is placed in the hands boys as young as two, and their hand is used to kill the sheep. They then butcher the animal, keeping a third for their family, giving a third to their relatives, and giving a third to the poor.They then slow-roast it over a spit and feast away. 

An Unfortunate Sheep.. I felt like it knew...

I originally planned to go use my much-needed break from school to go to the desert, but at the last minute changed my mind and decided to make a second visit to Merrakech and Essouria. This turned out to be a wise choice, since the group that did go ended up getting caught in a blizzard driving over the mountains, and had to sleep in their rental car until they could be rescued. The irony of this amused me greatly, especially since I wasn't the one spending over 24 hours stuck in a car. 

The trip overall was very relaxing. Having seen the major sites of both cities my first week in Morocco, it was great to just chill with my friends and eat good food. We arrived in Merrakech late Friday night, and Saturday morning rented a car to road trip to Essouria. It was a pleasant change to travel by personal car after being squished into so many grand taxis. We spend out time hanging out on the beach and exploring the medina, where we met some interesting characters:

This random shop owner with his un-politically correct black cat "Obama"

Our goofy selves- Always strange...

What could compete for the world smallest bookshop-All english language!

The Mustafas- They own this shop and split their time between surfing and selling shoes. Not a bad life.

The Fortress at sunset

We almost took this one home

Some sweet art in the city park

Viagra for Women anyone?

Regretfully, Sunday we headed back to Merrakech to spend the Monday holiday making a proper Moroccan/American/Danish Eid feast. Before returning to the car we stopped at the Marjane, which is basically the Moroccan version of Walmart, only smaller, more cramped, and much more disorganized. The shopping stress was very similar to trying to buy a turkey the day before Thanksgiving. First world problems, I know. We arrived late Sunday to our apartment in Merrakech. It's worth noting that this was by and large the best apartment I have stayed in since coming to Morocco: not a single cock roach, hot water, and a sparkling-clean kitchen with marble counter-tops, all located in the Ville Novelle, the richest part of Merrakech. 

Monday morning the five of us prepared our own Eid feast, planning to share with several of our friends who were also in town. We watched the king slaughter a sheep on TV, which was accompanied by much praying and singing by men in white robes and tasseled fez hats. No Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but quite interesting. We also visited the Djam El-Fnna square, one of the most famous sites in Merrakech. Usually a carnival full of tourist-trap shops, street food, and entertainers, on the holiday the square was practically deserted. After exploring the emptiness for a bit, we cooked our feast and celebrated with our friends. The menu was lamb, mashed potatoes and a veggie stir-fry, with fresh salsa and bri cheese on crackers for appetizers. My friend Quinn brought here Aunt and Uncle who were visiting from Chicago, and they entertained us with guitar-playing and stories of being Peach-Corps volunteering in Hondouras. 

Our Beautiful Apartment.. I'll get around to blogging about the wonders of a Moroccan-style living room

An eerily deserted Souk.. Usually every door is open and goods are spilling out and it's so crowded you cannot walk. We probably saw this on one of the three days a year it looks like this.

I fell in love with this door. The decorations are the hand of Fatima, which protects against the evil eye. 

Fountain in central Merrakech

The Mosque

Tuesday we took in the square at night, with was only partially back up and running. It was great to just chill, explore, and use our beautiful apartment to cook in. We also had a Tangea delivered, which is a ditch prepared only in Merrakech. Mutton is cooked in a deep earthenware pot with a special blend of spices for about twelve hours. 

Wednesday it was an 8-hour train and taxi ride back to Ifrane and real life. We had classes on Saturday to make up for the "extra" day of vacation they gave us (don't ask), so I really didn't have a weekend. Instead, I took three major tests and gave a lab report. Taking off the adventure hat to put on the thinking cap hasn't become any easier… but I know saying "poor me, I must study MacroEcon in between trips to the beach" will not win me much sympathy. I really have grown to love my life here. I've probably said this before, but I am living the adventure of a lifetime.. and plan on fitting many more in. 

We had last Friday the 18th off of school, so Thursday I headed to London to get my computer fixed. More on that trip in another entry. 'Ma-Salamma!