February 5, 2010

As the tenth day of semester here rolled around, I figured I would post a brief update on life here in Rabat. After a rather hectic arrival surrounding a brief sojourn in Washington, I begin my term 21, in Morocco. My family here is of Berber descent of the Souss clan. Baba, Professor Zekri, is an international economics professor at Muhammed V. Mama Adija is lovely and helping me with the colloquial Moroccan Arabic, dirija, spoken here. Zakaria is my older brother who is working on a thesis in Economics and keeps my French in check. And like all Moroccans, the family has endless hospitality introducing me to their large family. Miriam is 17 and in her last year of high school. She is a gem and reminds me much of Danielle.

Over the weekend, I had the honor of accompanying my host mother, Adija, to an engagement party in the town over, Sale. My introduction to Moroccan culture was most definitely the endless amounts of food; couscous after Friday prayer, delicious tarjines pretty much everyday for lunch, the freshness of all the fruits and vegetables, and mint tea that would overwhelm even the sweetest of teeth (countless experiences in my case). After copious amounts of couscous at our director, Madiya DeRosa's house in Hassan, I cabbed it back to my home, Hay el-Nadha, to get ready for the festivities. Adija lended me a caftan (traditional gowns) of hers, berber jewelry, and shoes. The engagement party was not unlike a Bridal shower states. Prayer was observed meticulously amidst the rambunctious, yet equally delightful music in the other rooms. The home in Sale is traditional Moroccan style with rooms to accompany guests. I stayed with Adija for most of the beginning, using the little Arabic I know to accept delicious desserts. My cousins Naima and Raschida introduced me to countless members of their family, aunts, nieces, cousins. Labas? L'Humdullah was repeated countless times giving thanks for each other and to God. The bride-to-be's family had a group of four women come to play traditional Berber songs, and following mid-day prayer and tea, dancing galore! While my Arabic is in the works, I could not have been happier when after a couple hours I had dinner with Adija and her family. I think they were really surprised that I picked up on the Berber way.

Otherwise, this week has been a whirlwind of Arabic. We begin our semester classes this week, but the first week and a half has been intensive Arabic, five hours a day taught in French. Professor Saida had us over to her place for tea on Wednesday afternoon. The students in the program are a lot of fun; I even have found time and folks to run with in the afternoons. I have spent a lot of time with the family here, loving the food (especially camel burgers), meeting extended family daily, and going out with Zakaria, Miriam, and their friends. In addition to the excursions to the Royal Palace, the Chellah, and the Medina, I have spent a lot of time getting to know Moroccans in our school and students from Tunisia and Algeria. I will post more in the future, but I figured I would give all a briefing thus far. More to come! On to Meknes!