My time in Paris has flown by extremely quickly. I can hardly believe that the month is over. Today was the last day of classes. Last night was our farewell dinner. It really has been in the blink of an eye. I will be posting a few blogs in the next couple of days to let you all know what has been happening the last couple of weeks.
First I would like to talk about my trip to Loches. Many of you know that Mimi's mother was a Deloach and the name hailed from Loches, France. When I made plans to come to Paris, Mimi insisted that I visit the town of my ancestors. The weekend of the 16th was a free weekend for our program so my friend Mariam and I set out for Loches. We took a train from Paris to Tours then a bus from Tours to Loches. All in all, the travel was painless and inexpensive. I did only a little bit of research befoe we left. When we arrived, I was armed with only a few names of hotels in the town. However, Loches was so small that it was not hard to navigate, even with luggage and a tiny bit of French. Hardly anyone in the town spoke French but we managed well. In Paris, one can speak English almost everywhere. This was an interesting change for us and we took it as a challenge to test our skills. We went to two hotels before we found one that had a free room. The hotel was inexpensive and the people were kind. They spoke slowly for us and were patient. After checking in with the hotel, Mariam and I went up to the chateau. The chateau de Loches sits a the top of a hill and it can be seen from almost everywhere in town. In addition to the chateau, there is also an old fortress and a church. All three are in very good condition. On the first day, we saw the church and the fort. By the time we got inside the fortress and started touring, we only had about 2 hours to see the whole thing. Hardly enough time! The fort was really cool. We walked all the way up the tower and onto the roof where soldiers would lookout onto the countryside and defend the fort if necessary. This sight was amazing. We could see for miles of the most beautiful countryside. It took a moment of concentration to imagine what this sight might have looked like in the Middle Ages. We took so many pictures! The fort also had a torture room, underground tunnels, and a surprisingly beautiful garden. After we finished at the fort, we went to a bakery to pick up a snack and then we went to the banks of a smalll river that cuts through the town. We walked up and down the river for a while and then went back to our hotel to go to bed.
The next morning, we had a list of things to accomplish before returning to Paris so we started early. First, a quick breakfast then we checked out of the hotel and went to explore the town a little. We went to the top of the hill to see the inside of the chateau and to dig into the gift shop. In the chateau, we saw the room that Joan of Arc met with the king of France, Charles VII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_arc
We also saw the Tower of Agnes Sorel. Agnes was the mistress of King Charles VII and the chateau de Loches was her country home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agn%C3%A8s_Sorel
To say that the chateau is picturesque would be a gross understatement. The chateau, fort, church, and town are all extremely beautiful. After visiting the chateau we stopped by the gift shop and I picked up the things that I think Mimi would like. We left Loches for Tours via bus around 3pm. I simply loved this town and everything in it. I want to return and I would love to move there one day although I don't know if my mother would let me move to France!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Loches
We walked around Tours a bit while waiting for our train to leave for Paris. It was nice to see another city besides Paris. We didn't spend enough time here.
The whole weekend was so wonderful. I don't even know how to express it in words! When I get back to DC, I will post pictures so you can see for yourselves! Thank you for reading. Check back again soon.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
So much Paris, so little time
Hello everyone!
I have officially finished my first week of classes here in Paris. It has been an interesting first week, to say the least.
I was originally put into a class level that is a bit too difficult for me and I thought I would be able to switch. But as it turns out there is not enough space in the level below me so I must stay where I am. This has proven to be quite frustrating and difficult. My faculty advisor from Mason advises me that he has the final say on the grade that I will get through Mason and he will take all aspects of the study abroad into consideration, not just the classroom grade from the institut. This is all good news for me.
My class schedule is set up as follows: daily class from 9am-noon, phonetics workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm, and writing workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm. This schedule is giving me a wellrounded approach to learning French. Moreover, I have three professors from which to learn giving me even more exposure to the language.
During this first week, I got to see quite a bit of Paris. On Saturday, the group took a walking/metro tour of Paris.
The first and most interesting stop was the Paris catacombs. Deep under the city lies the final resting place for thousands of people. The bones of these are stacked floor to ceiling through an underground chamber of tunnels. The whole thing is extremely eerie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Catacombs
Next, we stopped at Canal Saint Martin. This was pretty much only interesting because Audrey Tatou famously skipped rocks at the canal in the film Amelie.
Then we mae a quick stop at the American Embassy just to see it, and then a stop at the home of the French President, Sarcozy.
After this, we stopped by the Moulin Rouge long enough to snap a few pictures and then went to Sacre Coeur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_du_Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris
On Sunday, a group from our study abroad went to Versailles for the day. This was so much fun. I really enjoyed seeing it. We roamed around the extensive and beautiful gardens for a while, toured the chateau, and stopped by Marie Antoinette's garden home.
We left Versailles just in time to make it to the Eiffel Tower to watch the World Cup final match. Fifa sponsored huge projection screens right next to the Eiffel Tower to show the game. The crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of Spain and went absolutely bananas when the game ended. There was some rioting, some flares, fireworks, and finally some teargas. In the end, we made it out alive. I loved seeing the spirit of the youths out here. I cannot even imagine what Barcelona was like last night.
For those of you with Facebook, keep an eye out for pictures. They are on the way!
Enjoy Bastille Day and thank you for reading!
I have officially finished my first week of classes here in Paris. It has been an interesting first week, to say the least.
I was originally put into a class level that is a bit too difficult for me and I thought I would be able to switch. But as it turns out there is not enough space in the level below me so I must stay where I am. This has proven to be quite frustrating and difficult. My faculty advisor from Mason advises me that he has the final say on the grade that I will get through Mason and he will take all aspects of the study abroad into consideration, not just the classroom grade from the institut. This is all good news for me.
My class schedule is set up as follows: daily class from 9am-noon, phonetics workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm, and writing workshop once a week from 2pm-5pm. This schedule is giving me a wellrounded approach to learning French. Moreover, I have three professors from which to learn giving me even more exposure to the language.
During this first week, I got to see quite a bit of Paris. On Saturday, the group took a walking/metro tour of Paris.
The first and most interesting stop was the Paris catacombs. Deep under the city lies the final resting place for thousands of people. The bones of these are stacked floor to ceiling through an underground chamber of tunnels. The whole thing is extremely eerie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Catacombs
Next, we stopped at Canal Saint Martin. This was pretty much only interesting because Audrey Tatou famously skipped rocks at the canal in the film Amelie.
Then we mae a quick stop at the American Embassy just to see it, and then a stop at the home of the French President, Sarcozy.
After this, we stopped by the Moulin Rouge long enough to snap a few pictures and then went to Sacre Coeur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilique_du_Sacr%C3%A9-C%C5%93ur,_Paris
On Sunday, a group from our study abroad went to Versailles for the day. This was so much fun. I really enjoyed seeing it. We roamed around the extensive and beautiful gardens for a while, toured the chateau, and stopped by Marie Antoinette's garden home.
We left Versailles just in time to make it to the Eiffel Tower to watch the World Cup final match. Fifa sponsored huge projection screens right next to the Eiffel Tower to show the game. The crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of Spain and went absolutely bananas when the game ended. There was some rioting, some flares, fireworks, and finally some teargas. In the end, we made it out alive. I loved seeing the spirit of the youths out here. I cannot even imagine what Barcelona was like last night.
For those of you with Facebook, keep an eye out for pictures. They are on the way!
Enjoy Bastille Day and thank you for reading!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Paris and I
Hello everyone!
I am abroad again for the summer and I thought I could easily let everyone know about my trip by starting up this blog again.
Last summer I was mumbling a little French in Morocco. This summer I am still mumbling French but now I am in Paris attempting to actually learn something! Tomorrow will be the end of my first week. My trip is a four week French language program through George Mason. After two years of language classes, I will finally satisfy my language requirement for my degree. And what better way than to do it in Paris?
I am taking classes through a Parisen institut and living in an international student hostel. I am living in what is called the Fifth Arrondissement. It is known for the nightlife and student population. There are several universities in the area and I constantly hear a number of different languages spoken on the street. I am living across the street from the Luxembourg gardens and just a brisk walk down the road from Notre Dame; the Louvre is walking distance (albeit a bit far) from our hostel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_arrondissement_of_Paris
As I wrap up my first week here in Paris, I make note of my first impressions. I haven't met any rude Parisens. Weird, eh? Everyone seems to be very friendly. Two friends and I even received assistance from random people on the street when we were struggling to carry our luggage up stairs and on sidewalks. In fact I was pleasantly surprised when we were treated with such kindness. The city is very clean and is always lively. One stereotype that seems to be true is that of the city of love... We have an ongoing count of couples we find kissing in public places. The count is at 13 today. I have seen a couple French poodles and lots of very French fashion. AND an average size block of brie cheese is only one euro! Amazing.
Since I have been here, I have been to the Louvre, walked around Notre Dame, and sat at a number of cafes. I have been to the Pantheon and into the Luxembourg gardens at least twice a day on school days. This upcoming weekend we have a walking tour of Paris planned, so I will surely see more of the city and I can't wait to explore more of this beautiful city.
Until then, I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for reading!
ps, hi natalie.
I am abroad again for the summer and I thought I could easily let everyone know about my trip by starting up this blog again.
Last summer I was mumbling a little French in Morocco. This summer I am still mumbling French but now I am in Paris attempting to actually learn something! Tomorrow will be the end of my first week. My trip is a four week French language program through George Mason. After two years of language classes, I will finally satisfy my language requirement for my degree. And what better way than to do it in Paris?
I am taking classes through a Parisen institut and living in an international student hostel. I am living in what is called the Fifth Arrondissement. It is known for the nightlife and student population. There are several universities in the area and I constantly hear a number of different languages spoken on the street. I am living across the street from the Luxembourg gardens and just a brisk walk down the road from Notre Dame; the Louvre is walking distance (albeit a bit far) from our hostel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_arrondissement_of_Paris
As I wrap up my first week here in Paris, I make note of my first impressions. I haven't met any rude Parisens. Weird, eh? Everyone seems to be very friendly. Two friends and I even received assistance from random people on the street when we were struggling to carry our luggage up stairs and on sidewalks. In fact I was pleasantly surprised when we were treated with such kindness. The city is very clean and is always lively. One stereotype that seems to be true is that of the city of love... We have an ongoing count of couples we find kissing in public places. The count is at 13 today. I have seen a couple French poodles and lots of very French fashion. AND an average size block of brie cheese is only one euro! Amazing.
Since I have been here, I have been to the Louvre, walked around Notre Dame, and sat at a number of cafes. I have been to the Pantheon and into the Luxembourg gardens at least twice a day on school days. This upcoming weekend we have a walking tour of Paris planned, so I will surely see more of the city and I can't wait to explore more of this beautiful city.
Until then, I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for reading!
ps, hi natalie.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
This is the start of a beautiful friendship
Well as I write this, it is 10:30 pm in Casablanca. Literally just finished packing all of my things.. Packing=cramming everything in. I didn't think that I could do it but I finally fit everything. I am leaving tomorrow at 7:45 for my 10:45 flight to Paris then to Dulles. My flight should land at 7pm EST (midnight in Casablanca and by my current sleeping patterns.) I will spend an entire day in transit; The next 24 hours are going to be a whirlwind. It is all very bittersweet. I love Morocco and feel at home here but I miss everyone at my real home. It is time for me to go. In addition to all of the airplanes and whatnot, I still need to finish writing my 8-10 page paper that is due by midnight on Friday. So what all of this means is that the next two days of my life are going to be stressful.
Saying goodbye to everyone at the Consulate was quite difficult. It was mostly difficult with the Moroccans; the Foreign Service are used to the comings and goings and there is always the possibility of linking up with FS folks in DC. Goodbyes are never fun and although I think I get a lot of practice with doing them, it never gets easier. So here I am, finishing up this amazing experience. Just a little white girl that never does anything too fun or exciting. It's been an amazing summer and I loved everything. I hope all of you get a chance to come to Morocco at some point. Everything about it has been enjoyable. I wish I could tell you all the stories but it is much better in person, so the next time you see me, ask me and I will be happy to tell you.
Shukran bizef for reading my blog and for all of your kindness. God bless America, and I can't wait to get home. Mamma, I will see you soon!!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Only a week left in Morocco
I cannot believe that I have been so negligent towards my blog! I’m sorry! I just get so busy all during the week that I simply forget to write.
For my birthday, I went to Marrakesh with a friend from the consulate and his friends. Marrakesh is about a three hour drive away. My friend’s family has an apartment there and often goes to visit for the weekend. The first night (Friday) we went out to dinner at the most amazing Moroccan restaurant ever. The food was so good.. I had beef tajine with dried apricots. Seriously, I am going to try to introduce tajines to America. That is definitely going to be one of the main things I will miss when I leave. So anyway, dinner was fabulous and afterwards we went out to ring in my 20th birthday. Afterwards the group went back to the apartment and tried to sleep. The next morning we got up bright and early, had a fabulous Moroccan breakfast, and then spent the day at a water park absorbing the sun and going on those ridiculous water slides. That night after taking a shower and a nap, we went out again where I was treated to dinner, birthday cake, and the club full of people singing me happy birthday. We walked like zombies back to the apartment after that, so tired from the long day and long night. That birthday was one of the best I have ever had. The only thing that could make it perfect was if Natalie had been there! On Sunday we went to the markets where I bought myself a birthday present, and I picked up some gifts for the family. The group reluctantly got into the car after that and we started the roadtrip back to Casablanca and back to work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrakech
The week following the amazing birthday was uneventful. Work was the same, busy most of the time and stressful. The following Friday I went to Rabat for a newcomer orientation. It gave some background on the Embassy and the functions of most of the offices. The duties of the Embassy are quite different from the consulate and it was interesting to compare the two. In addition, the Embassy has a large compound and a huge American community including the Foreign Service and their families of about 300 people, whereas the Consulate is small and I think I have met everyone, including most of the family members. After the orientation, we went to the touristy sites in Rabat. Like an idiot, I left my camera in Casablanca so I couldn’t take pictures of all the cool stuff, including the very beautiful ancient Islamic ruins. It is on the list to go back again, with a camera.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabat
There is not much news other than this because work is the same and the weekdays are usually uneventful. We have been invited to dinner with many consulate folks so that has become increasingly appreciated. Everyone is so nice and it really has been enjoyable to get to know everyone.
Last week we had our monthly consulate barbeque out on the back patio. It is usually kind of potlucky where people bring things to share and we all just take the afternoon to relax. This time we had meshwee/mechoui/meshwi, which is a huge roasted lamb on a spit that is heavily spiced and oh so good. We also had bastilla, a Moroccan pastry that is, hands down, my favorite thing to eat here. Oh man, I want one right now..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastilla
http://www.fabulousfoods.com/index.php?option=com_resource&controller=article&category_id=18&article=17548
I have been making a mental list of all the things I love about Morocco as I am sure that I will continue adding to the list, here is what I have so far:
1. Food. The traditional food is fabulous (couscous, meshwee, tajine, mint tea, bastilla) but also in Casablanca the accessibility of all restaurant styles is very good. There is a lot of Italian, French, some American, lots of cafes, and cute bakeries and amazing produce. Really, any type of food can be found. This was one aspect of Morocco that I found the most surprising, considering it is a developing country. The other interns and I joke when we see something that is so not third-world, we look at each other and note “this is not a developing country!” At least, not so much in the major cities. I bet out in the country and in the mountains it is a different situation.
2. The produce, which could be part of #1. The produce is beautiful, cheap, and very tasty. Last week I went to the local grocery store and picked up some produce for the consulate barbeque. I made a tomato and cucumber salad. I bought seven tomatoes, three large cucumbers, an onion and two lemons for about 12 dirhams, which is about a dollar and a half. Additionally, after I washed the tomatoes and cut into them, I was astonished to see that each tomato was absolutely perfect; sweet and juicy and perfectly ripe. The same goes for the cucumbers; they were the most perfect cucumbers I have ever seen. When I go back to the genetically engineered produce of America, I know the first thing I will miss is the naturally perfect veggies of Morocco.
3. Taking shoes off as a sign of respect. I love this. Shoes are taken off when entering homes and anywhere else to show respect. If it were up to me, I would make everyone go barefoot all the time.
4. Eating with the hands. It took a little bit of getting used to for me but once you get the hang of it, it is more fun than forks and knives and just overall better.
5. The country as a whole. I haven’t been to a city that I didn’t like and I don’t have a favorite city because I just like them all so much. I love Casablanca because you can find just about anything. Although it is a big city, it feels small to me especially since you can pretty much walk everywhere if you live in the middle. Rabat is simply beautiful and is slower paced and friendly. The countryside is beautiful as well.
6. The weather in Casa in the summer is perfect. We had two overcast days the entire time I have been here. And there has been only one painfully hot day. All the rest have been perfect, bright sunshine, blue sky, slight breeze, and perfect temperature. It is impossible to have a bad time in this city when everyday is this beautiful.
7. The people. I haven’t met a Moroccan that I haven’t liked. They are all super friendly and always happy and welcoming and just great. When I told one of the drivers that I was leaving in a couple weeks he broke into crocodile tears. It was so nice. Some of the other Moroccans that I was talking to about my departure insisted that I switch to a University here in Morocco. Then when I said I couldn’t do that, they said that they would raise money from everyone in the Consulate for my flight back to Morocco next summer. I said if they got me a ticket, I would be back as soon as possible.
Friday, July 3, 2009
The life of an intern is hard work!
The past couple of weeks have been quite busy out here! On Thursday the 18th Nora and I gained another roommate! His name is Patrick and he goes to college in Colorado. His parents live in Cairo and he spent most of his school years out there. He knows Arabic pretty well but it’s the Arabic that is spoken in Egypt, which is quite different from the Moroccan dialect. Anyway, he is working in Consular Affairs and after his first couple of weeks likes it very much. It is really great to have a guy around now for so many reasons. Our group of three has had a good time so far. We walk to work and go out to lunch together and spend the weekends exploring.
Last week we were informed that the apartment that we moved into initially is to be given back to the landlord, that our lease is up. So we moved on Tuesday and Wednesday to the new apartment. The move was difficult for me because, as being a Management intern, it was my job to organize most of the logistics of the move in addition to my current duties. I ended up making about six trips from the old apartment to the new apartment with most during the day so I had to miss some work. But despite the stress and frustration, everything worked out. Unfortunately we now live about 20 minutes walking from the consulate, verses the eight-minute walk we had previously. The apartment is bigger, though, and we are in a more interesting neighborhood with lots of restaurants and shopping. As for most moves, my most recent one has been good for some things and bad for others but this is the way it goes.
I have been in charge of the motor pool here for a little over three weeks now and it is becoming easier to manage the more understanding I have of it. The most difficult part is not managing the drivers and cars but managing the requests and issues that come from all the people in the consulate. I had a breakthrough on Friday that was another one of those surreal moments that I will remember for the rest of my life. As I said, the motor pool has been difficult at times and I have been driven to the edge of sanity. A few people have missed their rides and there have been misunderstandings, lack of information, and language barriers. Fortunately, though, these problems are coming up fewer and fewer as I get to know the drivers and I understand the system in place. I still have a fear that I am a complete and utter failure; I worry that I am doing everything wrong. Some of these drivers have been working with the consulate for 15+ years and truly know what works and how to best operate. I come in after no training and try to take over this huge task. I’m sure it was difficult for them as well to try to work with this American teenager (yep still a teenager until tomorrow) that speaks neither Arabic nor French and is quite culturally ignorant. Anyway so on Friday afternoon I was sitting in my office waiting to bring the stressful week to an end when I received a phone call from one of the drivers requesting me to come to the driver’s room. I had never been summoned like that before so I really had no idea what was going on. My first reaction was that they were planning an intervention. I thought they were going to sit me down and explain everything that I had been doing wrong. They were going to pick my bones clean, or at least I thought. I prepared for the worst. I gathered up my planner and notebook and walked out to the driver’s lounge trying to look confident but prepared to be humbled. As I approached their room, which is more like a trailer detached from the main consulate building, they could see me through the windows and I was greeted at the door by one of the drivers. He announced “staff meeting!” and I felt a little bit better but still worried that they were going to let me have it. I walked in and approached the sofas arranged in a circle and saw in the middle on the small coffee table a massive plate of couscous. “Just kidding!” they joked. I could not be more surprised. You see, couscous is a huge cultural thing here in Morocco. It is eaten every Friday (the Sabbath) and the whole thing, starting with couscous, then fruit, and ending with traditional mint tea, could last a couple hours. And being invited to share couscous with Moroccans or in a Moroccan home is a huge deal. I was so overwhelmed with joy and surprise and simply filled with love. The kindness I experienced was astonishing. Picture it… me, this white girl that is not outstanding or extraordinary, just plain and simple me that doesn’t have big adventures or interesting stories to tell, but there I was. I was the only white person, the only female, and the only person under 25 in the room. I was surrounded by five Moroccan men, completely outside anything I have ever known but yet having one of the greatest moments of my life. It was amazing. We joked about how I thought it was a real meeting and I had brought my notebook and planner. They poked fun and one of them said "it's Friday. There's no work today!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MoroccanCouscous.jpg
The weekend was happily welcomed by the three exhausted interns. Saturday afternoon was good for catching up on sleep and relaxing. That evening, though, we went to poker night with some consulate folks. The poker started around 9pm and lasted until about 1 or 1:30 in the morning. I ended up losing only 60 dirhams (about $7.50) haha.. and it was a lot of fun.
The next morning on Sunday, Nora and I travelled to a place called Sidi Moumen which is a suburb of Casablanca and one of Casablanca's first shantytowns. We went with a Moroccan that opened a community outreach center there. The town became notorious for being the hometown of all of the Moroccan suicide bombers from 2003 and 2007. The people here, especially the children, are living in dire situations and are vulnerable to persuasion. The man we went with explained that he wants to provide the children of that area with opportunities for success. There is a library, tutor centers, computer lab, sports equipment, and so much more. The facility is in great condition but could always use more money and more volunteers. The center is truly a great thing. I felt so inspired just by visiting it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3930349.stm
After visiting Sidi Moumen, Nora and I rushed back to the apartment to get ready to go to the Embassy in Rabat for the annual Independence Day party. We shuttled out there, ate some food, met the Rabat interns and pretended to mingle with the some 500+ guests. They also had a nice fireworks display that woke up the entire neighborhood. I was so glad to get to see some fireworks this year. It is starting to really feel like my birthday. My life right now is so far from any other normal summer that having even a little connection to home means a lot. Especially around my birthday. We returned to Casablanca that evening after the party and prepared to start another week of work.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Elections, cooking, & more
Hi everyone! Wow it has been a while since my last post. Let’s see, what has happened since last Tuesday.
Friday of last week was election day in Morocco for local elections. The embassy in Rabat and consulate in Casablanca sent representatives to observe the polling locations in their respective areas. We split up in groups of 3-4 to travel in certain nearby cities with 3 groups remaining and observing in Casablanca. I went with the head of the Econ section and we went out to two cities: El Jadida and Safi. We also stopped at some polling locations on the way to those cities. Overall I think we checked out maybe 7 or 8 polling locations. We would generally just walk to the poll and introduce ourselves as reps from the American consulate and that we wanted to observe how things were going. We asked if there were any problems throughout the day. We also observed security forces outside and we would take note of anything out of place. In one location, a voter thanked us for coming and observing. In another location, a police officer asked us if their elections looked like the ones in America. Not all reactions to our presence were positive. At one location, we had to show our IDs and the police we talked to called their bosses, then their boss’ bosses were called and eventually, maybe 15 minutes later, we were allowed inside the polling location. This hullabaloo eventually reached the ears of some very important people and our bosses called us up and told us to lay low when we observe. For the rest of the day, though, there weren’t any problems like this for the most part. Most of the locations that we went to were schools, both rural and urban. We also went to some magistrate buildings that were polling locations. I enjoyed observing the elections but I also enjoyed seeing more of the country. It was determined that there were no irregularities at the polling locations observed by all the consulate people. A significant amount of the voters were female. Additionally, adults would bring their children to the polling location. I thought that this was good because it would create a culture of voting in the society starting at a young age. Unfortunately my personal discovery of the day was that I so naively believe in and support democracy that I didn’t critically observe the practice here in Morocco as much as I could or should have. I heard later that vote buying can be prevalent and that oftentimes voters are persuaded to vote one way or the other. One woman we spoke with, who is I would say mid-upper class, said that she and her husband didn’t vote. Usually poor uneducated people vote here in Morocco. She asked us how the uneducated voters could understand what they are voting for if they can’t read. It is an interesting situation. People don’t vote because they don’t believe what they are doing makes a difference or they do vote but may be persuaded to vote because they don’t entirely understand the system.
For more information on the Moroccan elections:
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/06/14/feature-01
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/06/200961322143190653.html
After the election observing on Friday, I went with a group of consulate people to go to a different city called Meknes to take a cooking class & tour the imperial city. (More Meknes info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meknes) Meknes was very beautiful. My favorite part was seeing the Moulay Ismail’s mausoleum. I will post pictures so you can see for yourself how beautiful it is (unless you have already seen the pictures on Facebook). The city itself is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco. It was founded by Moulay Ismail. The story goes that Moulay Ismail wanted to marry King Louis' daughter of France. He wrote the king asking for her hand but Louis refused him (Moulay Ismail, legend says, had 550 wives). Moulay Ismail’s was upset and his response was to build a city that would rival Louis’ Versailles, thus creating Meknes. In its day, Mekens was elaborate and extravagant. It has been nicknamed the ‘Versailles of Morocco.’ Today it is still beautiful, and the water reservoir, stone wall and elaborate entrances built by Moulay Ismail as well as his mausoleum are still standing two and a half centuries later. After the tour we had our cooking lesson. The owner of this cooking thing is an American that moved out here to live and teach people how to cook. Check out their website: http://www.savormorocco.com/ and if you are ever in Meknes, I highly recommend taking this class. We broke up into two groups, one toured in the morning and the other cooked in the morning. After lunch we would switch. My group cooked beef tajine and the other group cooked chicken tajine. A tajine is a traditional Northern African stew-like that is named after the pot in which it is cooked. We didn’t use a tajine (pot) when we cooked but a pressure cooker instead. My favorite was the chicken tajine. Although these are stews, they are traditionally not eaten with utensils. Usually pieces of bread are used to scoop up the veggies and meat, making this meal significantly more fun to eat. :-) I had one on Friday when we were observing the elections. It was actually a kind of funny situation Friday because we stopped in this very small town for lunch. As couscous is a traditional meal for Fridays we were kind of on the hunt for that. We drove around looking at the “normal” restaurants in the town but some were closed and none of them really looked appealing. So we kind of come off the beaten path and pull into this strip with a fruit stand, a butcher stand and a convenience store, and some other misc shops. In the back corner wedged between two shops there was a tajine restaurant. But to call it a restaurant would be a gross overstatement. It was just a couple guys in a hole-in-the-wall kitchen cooking tajines. Seating was limited to plastic patio chairs and tables with Coca Cola advertisements on it. I was there with one Moroccan and one Foreign Service guy so I felt comfortable just eating whatever they gave me (if you know me you know that I am very picky about strange food.. I don’t even eat seafood! But it seems that Morocco has released some of my reserve). Anyway, I ate this tajine with some kind of meat in it (possibly beef haha) and with the most delicious vegetables imaginable. (I am really going to miss these fresh vegetables when I head back to the hyper-productive, commercialized, industrial America.) The whole meal and experience was just absolutely wonderful. Afterwards we were allowed to walk into their hole-in-the-wall to use their one rusty sink to wash our hands. Man, oh man I love this culture. So anyway, the cooking school will email me the recipe for the meals that we cooked; I will be happy to forward them on to anyone that is interested. Here’s the wiki page for the traditional tajine meal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine
On Sunday we slept in after getting up ridiculously early (for college kids) for the past 10 days. We headed out to the shopping district here in Casa around 2pm. We just kind of wandered around shopping and we headed back to the apartment early. I am sad to say that after such an elaborate description of the wonders of Moroccan food illustrated above, on Sunday night Nora and I ordered pizza. Not just any pizza, though, Pizza Hut delivery. We decided on delivery because we were just not interested in going out and we pretty much had no food at the apartment. So we ordered the pizza and 45 minutes later, we were still sitting around wondering where why it hadn't come. Nora called them back and apparently the Pizza Hut delivery boy couldn’t find our apartment. So after some huffing and puffing (on my part) we decided to walk to Pizza Hut and pick up our pizza. The guys at the restaurant were very nice and sorry about the mixup. They gave us a free 2 liter 7-Up for our trouble, and they also asked us if we were American to which of course we said yes, and they promptly said “you are very welcome.” In the two+ weeks that I have been here, I have not encountered any hostility or negativity due to being American. Truly, I think for the most part that Moroccans like Americans. I walked into a grocery store alone one day and the workers were falling all over themselves to help me. To add to it, this culture is very consumer oriented. Service people, I have noticed, are the ones that are the most helpful and least likely to stare. They are friendly and all around just genuinely nice. I definitely see a class divide, though. There are the Moroccans (usually men) that I see sitting at the same café every day, every time that I walk by. No job, no income, really some of the lowest social and economic standing. Men like this are all over the place. Next are the service people, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. They are making money (probably very little) but nevertheless have an income and there may be room to develop and improve. Next are the educated. These are the doctors, politicians, any government worker, police etc that can be seen at social gatherings but not seen on the streets. Most of these people have been educated in France or America and speak several languages. The economy here in Morocco, for the most part, is service. There is not a very high demand for educated people. For this reason when Moroccans leave to study, they often don’t return because they have a better chance in these other countries to get jobs. The major cities are the places that educated people can get jobs but one must keep in mind that the rest of Morocco is mostly farmland and countryside. If a person leaves their farm for the city, they probably won’t come back. And it is unrealistic to say that they leave the farms to go to school; the illiteracy rate is exceedingly high. Additionally, as observed at the elections, the poor people are the ones that vote in Morocco. And a significant amount of the voters are women, which surprised me. In some rural areas that we observed, the rate was as high as 40%. In the cities the rate was lower, more like 20-25%. This was surprising as well. The official number I think released is 53% but I never saw a rate that high during my observations. Overall we noticed, as non official observers, that the elections seemed free, fair and consistent.
After this exhausting weekend of traveling all around the country, we tried to get back to work. Things at the consulate are going well. I am still working with the motor pool. Maybe next week I will be getting into the Homeland Security stuff. I am pretty much just taking the work as it comes for the moment. But as of this week, the summer semester at GMU for my internship credit has begun and I will be writing papers every Sunday for a grade. Oh so much fun…. Luckily they are only 2-3 pages and the topics are narrative/analysis/reflection on different topics or experiences I have had. So anyway. As the excitement of being here kind of dies down and the work begins, I am really missing everyone! 10 weeks is going to be a long time away from America. Nora and I have begun craving food that we really can’t get here, like Chipotle burritos or Taco Bell. Although the food is good here and almost any restaurant style can be found, Mexican/Tex-Mex is the one major exception. But I’m sure I will have plenty of chances to eat that stuff when I get back, but it is just kind of funny.
I am going to try to write my blogs more often so that they aren’t as long, like this one. This has taken me about three days to write because there is just so much going on and so much to write! Anyway all is well out here. I am still having a good time and everything is working out. I miss you all and thanks for reading and also thank you for the comments!
Friday of last week was election day in Morocco for local elections. The embassy in Rabat and consulate in Casablanca sent representatives to observe the polling locations in their respective areas. We split up in groups of 3-4 to travel in certain nearby cities with 3 groups remaining and observing in Casablanca. I went with the head of the Econ section and we went out to two cities: El Jadida and Safi. We also stopped at some polling locations on the way to those cities. Overall I think we checked out maybe 7 or 8 polling locations. We would generally just walk to the poll and introduce ourselves as reps from the American consulate and that we wanted to observe how things were going. We asked if there were any problems throughout the day. We also observed security forces outside and we would take note of anything out of place. In one location, a voter thanked us for coming and observing. In another location, a police officer asked us if their elections looked like the ones in America. Not all reactions to our presence were positive. At one location, we had to show our IDs and the police we talked to called their bosses, then their boss’ bosses were called and eventually, maybe 15 minutes later, we were allowed inside the polling location. This hullabaloo eventually reached the ears of some very important people and our bosses called us up and told us to lay low when we observe. For the rest of the day, though, there weren’t any problems like this for the most part. Most of the locations that we went to were schools, both rural and urban. We also went to some magistrate buildings that were polling locations. I enjoyed observing the elections but I also enjoyed seeing more of the country. It was determined that there were no irregularities at the polling locations observed by all the consulate people. A significant amount of the voters were female. Additionally, adults would bring their children to the polling location. I thought that this was good because it would create a culture of voting in the society starting at a young age. Unfortunately my personal discovery of the day was that I so naively believe in and support democracy that I didn’t critically observe the practice here in Morocco as much as I could or should have. I heard later that vote buying can be prevalent and that oftentimes voters are persuaded to vote one way or the other. One woman we spoke with, who is I would say mid-upper class, said that she and her husband didn’t vote. Usually poor uneducated people vote here in Morocco. She asked us how the uneducated voters could understand what they are voting for if they can’t read. It is an interesting situation. People don’t vote because they don’t believe what they are doing makes a difference or they do vote but may be persuaded to vote because they don’t entirely understand the system.
For more information on the Moroccan elections:
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/06/14/feature-01
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2009/06/200961322143190653.html
After the election observing on Friday, I went with a group of consulate people to go to a different city called Meknes to take a cooking class & tour the imperial city. (More Meknes info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meknes) Meknes was very beautiful. My favorite part was seeing the Moulay Ismail’s mausoleum. I will post pictures so you can see for yourself how beautiful it is (unless you have already seen the pictures on Facebook). The city itself is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco. It was founded by Moulay Ismail. The story goes that Moulay Ismail wanted to marry King Louis' daughter of France. He wrote the king asking for her hand but Louis refused him (Moulay Ismail, legend says, had 550 wives). Moulay Ismail’s was upset and his response was to build a city that would rival Louis’ Versailles, thus creating Meknes. In its day, Mekens was elaborate and extravagant. It has been nicknamed the ‘Versailles of Morocco.’ Today it is still beautiful, and the water reservoir, stone wall and elaborate entrances built by Moulay Ismail as well as his mausoleum are still standing two and a half centuries later. After the tour we had our cooking lesson. The owner of this cooking thing is an American that moved out here to live and teach people how to cook. Check out their website: http://www.savormorocco.com/ and if you are ever in Meknes, I highly recommend taking this class. We broke up into two groups, one toured in the morning and the other cooked in the morning. After lunch we would switch. My group cooked beef tajine and the other group cooked chicken tajine. A tajine is a traditional Northern African stew-like that is named after the pot in which it is cooked. We didn’t use a tajine (pot) when we cooked but a pressure cooker instead. My favorite was the chicken tajine. Although these are stews, they are traditionally not eaten with utensils. Usually pieces of bread are used to scoop up the veggies and meat, making this meal significantly more fun to eat. :-) I had one on Friday when we were observing the elections. It was actually a kind of funny situation Friday because we stopped in this very small town for lunch. As couscous is a traditional meal for Fridays we were kind of on the hunt for that. We drove around looking at the “normal” restaurants in the town but some were closed and none of them really looked appealing. So we kind of come off the beaten path and pull into this strip with a fruit stand, a butcher stand and a convenience store, and some other misc shops. In the back corner wedged between two shops there was a tajine restaurant. But to call it a restaurant would be a gross overstatement. It was just a couple guys in a hole-in-the-wall kitchen cooking tajines. Seating was limited to plastic patio chairs and tables with Coca Cola advertisements on it. I was there with one Moroccan and one Foreign Service guy so I felt comfortable just eating whatever they gave me (if you know me you know that I am very picky about strange food.. I don’t even eat seafood! But it seems that Morocco has released some of my reserve). Anyway, I ate this tajine with some kind of meat in it (possibly beef haha) and with the most delicious vegetables imaginable. (I am really going to miss these fresh vegetables when I head back to the hyper-productive, commercialized, industrial America.) The whole meal and experience was just absolutely wonderful. Afterwards we were allowed to walk into their hole-in-the-wall to use their one rusty sink to wash our hands. Man, oh man I love this culture. So anyway, the cooking school will email me the recipe for the meals that we cooked; I will be happy to forward them on to anyone that is interested. Here’s the wiki page for the traditional tajine meal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine
On Sunday we slept in after getting up ridiculously early (for college kids) for the past 10 days. We headed out to the shopping district here in Casa around 2pm. We just kind of wandered around shopping and we headed back to the apartment early. I am sad to say that after such an elaborate description of the wonders of Moroccan food illustrated above, on Sunday night Nora and I ordered pizza. Not just any pizza, though, Pizza Hut delivery. We decided on delivery because we were just not interested in going out and we pretty much had no food at the apartment. So we ordered the pizza and 45 minutes later, we were still sitting around wondering where why it hadn't come. Nora called them back and apparently the Pizza Hut delivery boy couldn’t find our apartment. So after some huffing and puffing (on my part) we decided to walk to Pizza Hut and pick up our pizza. The guys at the restaurant were very nice and sorry about the mixup. They gave us a free 2 liter 7-Up for our trouble, and they also asked us if we were American to which of course we said yes, and they promptly said “you are very welcome.” In the two+ weeks that I have been here, I have not encountered any hostility or negativity due to being American. Truly, I think for the most part that Moroccans like Americans. I walked into a grocery store alone one day and the workers were falling all over themselves to help me. To add to it, this culture is very consumer oriented. Service people, I have noticed, are the ones that are the most helpful and least likely to stare. They are friendly and all around just genuinely nice. I definitely see a class divide, though. There are the Moroccans (usually men) that I see sitting at the same café every day, every time that I walk by. No job, no income, really some of the lowest social and economic standing. Men like this are all over the place. Next are the service people, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. They are making money (probably very little) but nevertheless have an income and there may be room to develop and improve. Next are the educated. These are the doctors, politicians, any government worker, police etc that can be seen at social gatherings but not seen on the streets. Most of these people have been educated in France or America and speak several languages. The economy here in Morocco, for the most part, is service. There is not a very high demand for educated people. For this reason when Moroccans leave to study, they often don’t return because they have a better chance in these other countries to get jobs. The major cities are the places that educated people can get jobs but one must keep in mind that the rest of Morocco is mostly farmland and countryside. If a person leaves their farm for the city, they probably won’t come back. And it is unrealistic to say that they leave the farms to go to school; the illiteracy rate is exceedingly high. Additionally, as observed at the elections, the poor people are the ones that vote in Morocco. And a significant amount of the voters are women, which surprised me. In some rural areas that we observed, the rate was as high as 40%. In the cities the rate was lower, more like 20-25%. This was surprising as well. The official number I think released is 53% but I never saw a rate that high during my observations. Overall we noticed, as non official observers, that the elections seemed free, fair and consistent.
After this exhausting weekend of traveling all around the country, we tried to get back to work. Things at the consulate are going well. I am still working with the motor pool. Maybe next week I will be getting into the Homeland Security stuff. I am pretty much just taking the work as it comes for the moment. But as of this week, the summer semester at GMU for my internship credit has begun and I will be writing papers every Sunday for a grade. Oh so much fun…. Luckily they are only 2-3 pages and the topics are narrative/analysis/reflection on different topics or experiences I have had. So anyway. As the excitement of being here kind of dies down and the work begins, I am really missing everyone! 10 weeks is going to be a long time away from America. Nora and I have begun craving food that we really can’t get here, like Chipotle burritos or Taco Bell. Although the food is good here and almost any restaurant style can be found, Mexican/Tex-Mex is the one major exception. But I’m sure I will have plenty of chances to eat that stuff when I get back, but it is just kind of funny.
I am going to try to write my blogs more often so that they aren’t as long, like this one. This has taken me about three days to write because there is just so much going on and so much to write! Anyway all is well out here. I am still having a good time and everything is working out. I miss you all and thanks for reading and also thank you for the comments!
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