First few days in Fez

Aselamu Aleikum everyone,

We are now ending our third day here in Fez and it feels much longer (in a good way)

When we arrived in Fez three days ago we stayed in a Moroccan Riad, which is a type of hotel with a large courtyard/garden in the middle. The have the most ornate decoration that you can imagine, from the intricate wall patterns to the ceilings.

Our Riad from the first night

The next morning after our first class in Dajria (Moroccan Dialect) we met with the families that would be hosting us during our stay in Fez. My roomate and I are under the care of of a woman named Nouza, in her early thirties. She lives with her mother, her sister, and her nephew. Sometimes there are men in the house but are not here all the time. Nouza and her mother speak no English, no French, and little Modern Standard Arabic. We get by piecing together standard and Moroccan Arabic, and we are very lucky that smiles and laughter are international, because I often find us resorting to that.

In Fez we live in the walled Medina or the Old City, first constructed in 808AD most of it has not been renovated since the 1700s. It is narrow stone streets, tall buildings, and hole in the wall shops. It is an amazing sight, something you would only see here in Fez.

A view from the roof of our house

We take a taxi every morning to the school, it is about a 15 minute ride and costs about 8MAD, or the equivalent of 90 cents American. Cats run the streets here and are taken care of communally and are well liked being that the Prophet Mohammed owned a Cat, dogs also run wild but they are left to fend for themselves.

The generosity of the Moroccan people is astounding, all food is eaten from a communal plate in the center of the table with hands (this has been tough to get used to), you only eat from the part of the plate in front of you. The meal starts with the head of the family, in this case Nouza's mother, distributing bread (served at every meal) to everyone, and declaring "bismallah", or in the name of God. The rest of the meal is almost a battle, as our host family pushes the best food towards us, and us trying to convince them we are full.
Breakfast and Dinner are the smaller meals here, with lunch being the biggest, and Mint tea being served as many times as possible.

The Community Plate

The Market

Today we also walked around the market, which is an incredible mixture of sights, sounds, and smells, as you dodge carts pulled by donkeys (cars are not allowed in the medina), and are hassled by Moroccans peddling there goods, this is combined with the smell of foods, animals, and tannery here.

The Tanning Basins

And in this hustle and bustle you realize how beautiful a country Morocco really is, different , but unique in its own way.

Messa al Kher

Kevin

Arabic word of the Day

خبز- HObs (Bread)

Arrival and first impressions

Aselamu Aleikum everyone,

I am now finishing up my second day here in Morocco and wanted to update everyone. I flew out of Newark at 8pm on Monday, where I was informed that my one suitcase was too heavy, so I had to divide the weight between my carry on and my checked luggage and was told that British airways had no agreement with Royal Air Maroc, so I had to pick up my luggage and recheck it when I landed in Paris for my connection. After I arrived in Rabat I changed my money over to Moroccan Diram (1 US dollar= 8.14 MAD), and proceeded with attempting to bargain for the taxi that would take me to the hotel. After agreeing on 150MAD and placing my luggage in the taxi, another driver appeared and told my driver not to take less then 250MAD, after settling at 200MAD, we were off. Morocco thus far has been an interesting experience, as soon as you reach Moroccan airspace you know you have entered Africa as it looks incredibly different, the ground below you goes from being green, to red.

Traffic laws here either do not exist or are rarely enforced, you have manner of vehicles driving on the road, with two or three people packed on old motor bikes, and six people shoved into one small taxi, you also have pedestrians. Chickens and cats roam the streets and the smell of diesel hangs in the air.

A picture of the Rabat Market

While this might sound frightening, it's not. It is just different, a different culture, a different way of life. you have tall buildings sitting next to the old market where carts sell fruit.

This morning I sat down for the breakfast that was a flat fee of 50MAD, there were three rolls on the table, and the waiter brought me an egg and a glass of orange juice.
I sat there and waited for him to come back for my order, and as I continued to sit, and sit...I realized that I was just served my breakfast, three rolls, and an egg. A holdover from the French colonial period.

The rest of the IES students arrived today and we all went to dinner which was a great, good food, good music, and everyone is enjoying getting
to know each other.

We leave for Fez in the morning for 12 days and I will post again as soon as I get a feel for the city

Messa al Kher

Kevin

Arabic word of the day

Asleamu Aleikum السلام عليكم

Greeting- means peace be upon you

Morocco- A Backround

Studying abroad was one of those ideas that came to me fast, and I acted upon it immediately, and now, in only a few hours I will be boarding a plane and flying to Morocco. Morocco if on the North-West coast of Africa, bordered by Mauritania to the south, and Algeria to the east, and Spain to the North. It is a Muslim country, but not necessarily Arab. Due to Morocco's proximity to both Europe, the Arab world, and Sub-Saharan Africa, it has become a mixing pot of cultures that become more unique as you travel throughout the country.

From what I understand they speak a dialect of Arabic call Darija, which is around 60% Arabic, while the rest is a combination of French, Berber (Native Moroccan), and some Spanish. All formal business, commerce, and news media is conducted in Formal Arabic, or French.

One thing that I think is important for non-Arabic speakers to understand is the significant differences in the dialects across the Arab world, while it is very common for an Arab speaker to understand more then one dialect, many of them are unintelligible and a Moroccan would not necessarily understand an Egyptian, unless one of them switched dialects or communicated in formal Arabic.

After 10 days of living in Fez (the country's cultural capitol), I will be returning to Rabat (the actual capitol) which is where I will be living for the fall semester with a Moroccan host family. I am anxious to begin my journey, and to experience a culture that I imagine is very unlike the Western world.

I will do my best to update my blog every couple of days to keep everyone in the know about whats going on here in Africa.

God Bless

Arabic word of the Day:

المغرب

Al-Magreb

Morocco