Translating & Soccer!

Yesterday a group from England arrived at my home-stay. They were staying the night before traveling on to see their Sheik (a type of wise Islamic holy man) today. Last night one of their friends from Morocco was at our house so she served as the translator (the people from England do not speak any Arabic), this morning though their friend was not around. Wouldn't you know I was the only person in the house who spoke both English and Arabic (and saying a speak it is a stretch at best still!). So it was quite exciting for me to try and translate between my host mother and the English guests as they prepared for the day and got ready to go! I would say I was fairly successful (I tried to translate exciting things like they wanted bread to make sandwiches for their journey), although I am sure my grammar was abysmal. Still it was a fun experience and we managed to get them ready and out the door basically on time!

The other excitement today was the world cup game between the US and Algeria. Those of you who know your geography will know that Algeria and Morocco are neighbors. Now there is some animosity between Algeria and Morocco over certain political issues (see the western Sahara), but in general the Moroccans tend to support the Algerian soccer team in the world cup.


In addition the Moroccans will generally support any African team in the world cup as they would like to see them do well, especially this year as the world cup is in Africa for the first time in the tournaments history. So needless to say it was a fun environment when the US and Algeria clashed this afternoon. A bunch of students and I went to a local cafe to watch the game and the atmosphere was crazy. The Moroccans were constantly cheering against the US and for Algeria and they got particularly loud as the end of the game neared and the US was looking like they would be unable to win and advance in the tournament. Luckily though fate intervened and the US scored in stoppage time (the last couple minutes of a game) to win the match. the Americans of course went crazy and the Moroccans had to endure our prolonged cheering and chants of U-S-A, U-S-A! Most of them were very nice and congratulated us on the victory (remember at least it was not "their" team that lost).

Landon Donovan after scoring the winning goal for the US

Also funny to note is that towards the end of the game the director of our school showed up at the cafe and exclaimed "So this is where all the students are!". Class was technically in session during the game but there were basically no students at school as most of us choose to play hooky in order to watch the second half of the game. Once the game was over like a good student I quickly made my way back to school in order to catch the last hour of my afternoon class.

Thus all in all it has been a crazy and full day of events here in Morocco between translating and world cup drama. At this point I am basically a bit past half-way done with my classes here in Morocco which is hard to believe. Time sure does fly!

Chefchaouen

After living in Fez for the past three weeks I decided it was finally time to mix it up a bit and see a bit more of Morocco. So this past weekend I went with some friends for an overnight trip to Chefchaouen, which is located in northern Morocco in the Rif Mountains.

We left Saturday Morning and made it to Chefchaouen by early-afternoon. The ride was fun as it was through the countryside and the mountains offering a very different view of Morocco then urban Fez. Chefchaouen was immediately very different as well. The enviornment was much more laid back and even the old city seemed very different (might of had something to do with the fact it was painted almosty completely blue!). Another obvious difference was that a lot of people now spoke Spanish to us. As Northern Morocco is extremely close in proximity to Spain and the two countries have mixed time and time again throughout history this is does not come as a huge surprise, still it is a big change from French and Arabic.

Country side in Morocco

All the blue in the medina

Chefchaouen

After exploring the old medina (city) and enjoying some of the local cuisine we decided to embark on a hike up a mountain. This hike was to be unique though because we decided we would hike part way, camp for the night somewhere in the woods, and then finish the hike the following morning. Most of the first evening was spent looking for a suitable camping site that would be off the main trail and suitable to sleep at (easier said then done on a slopped and rocky mountain!). Finally though we found a suitable spot and made ourselves at home. As we are all students abroad we did not have much camping supplies so basically this involved just putting down our bags, a few blankets, and finding some good dirt to sleep on (no tents!). Then we ate our meal we had carried up and hung out before sunset signaled it was time for bed. As one might expect on a mountain in a mostly desert climate it gets quite cold at night! While we had expected and somewhat planned for this we were still somewhat cold and did not get the best sleep of our lives (or maybe that had something to do with all the rocks, roots, and dirt we were sleeping on). In the morning we were up before sunrise and began climbing around on the mountain as the sun slowly crept over other distant mountains to begin warming the land back up again (and us). Shortly after we left the trail and began to hike straight up the mountain trying to avoid the random array of thistles, poky plants, rocks, uneven footing, and other mountain obstacles we encountered along the way. Eventually we made it to the "peak" we wanted to get to (there were many more higher peaks around us though) and began to go back down. Of course going down a mountain that has no trail always seems to be significantly harder then going up. None the less we eventually made it down, gathered up our stuff, tidied up our camp (it did not take long), and went back into Chefchaouen.

Chefchaouen from the Mountain

Sunrise over the mountains

Our amazing campsite

Me on the Mountain

Back in the city we mostly just relaxed and ate a bunch of food before walking over to the train station midday where we were able to catch a bus back to Fez. As always the Bus was a bit of an adventure as it took five hours to travel just 120 miles. We had to transfer buses once (something we were only told when it happened), and we later spent 30 mins hanging out in a cafe (I think the bus driver just got off and ordered a meal...) before we finally made it back to Fez. All in all though the weekend trip proved to be quite the adventure.

Moroccan Wedding

Well it has finally come and gone. The last two days were quite the whirlwind. Things at the house had constantly been building to the wedding and it was quite the couple of days. It started on Friday with the Henna Party in which the a henna lady comes and puts henna on the hands and feet of the bride, while the rest of us enjoy socializing, music, snacks, and eventually food. The henna day started at 3:30 pm on Friday but did not really get started until around 5:00 and then it continued till about 3:00 am when we finally ate dinner! It was quite the evening/morning. The second day of the festivities was the actual wedding and party. Most of what is involved is parading around the bride and groom (but mostly the bride) to a bunch of amazing live music. This party officially started around 6:30 pm, but did not really get going till around 9:00 pm, and while the guests left at around 12:30 am the family stayed later to enjoy a meal until around 3:00 am again! So it has been really crazy these last couple of days! Overall though I enjoyed it a lot. The music was amazing all the time and it was cool to see how different a wedding here was.

Instead of pictures I made a movie that includes pictures from the two days, music (all the music heard is from the wedding), and several movie clips. As you will see it is quite the festive atmosphere. Bonus points from anyone who can correctly count the number of dresses the bride wears during the two day celebration! Another quick note, it is generally expected that the bride should not smile during her wedding, so do not think she is unhappy if you see her looking less excited then would be expected.

The answer is eight dresses, you might of thought seven but the two white dresses are different! Could you imagine a bride in the US wearing that many different dresses (or being paraded like that) considering how long it takes them to get ready to just put on one dress!

Moroccan Wedding Preparations

Tomorrow the official ceremonies for my host sister’s wedding will begin. On Friday it is henna day, and on Saturday there will be the official ceremony and celebration. I will no doubt have a lot more to say about them after I have experienced them, so stay tuned!

As anyone who has ever been involved with a wedding can attest things get progressively crazier the closer it gets to the big day. Morocco is no different. Each day more and more family and friends are showing up. I honestly have no idea who is living in the house right now and who is not, as there are so many people here. My host sisters aunt actually came an extra week early (she had the date wrong), but stayed anyways to help with preparations. The house right now with all the people and preparations is rarely quiet and constantly engaged in numerous wedding related tasks. I have assisted with some of the preparations such as making a mountain of cookies and biscuits, but in general I just make sure to stay out of the way!

Another common occurrence around the house right now is a certain song. It is an Islamic religious song that is often sung at wedding times. It is not a normal day here if I do not here the women break out in song at least a handful of time with another rousing chorus. To top things off the song ends with basically everyone sing/screaming very loudly at very high pitches (so one cannot miss it when it is sung!) and everyone takes pride in how well they do this part (in other words no one is shy when singing the song).

As the first official ceremonies take place tomorrow preparations are now in high gear! The house is abuzz with cooking and other activities. One thing particularly stood out to me today when I got back from school. When I reached the top of the stairs and the second level of the house I was greeted by a slaughtered cow! Apparently they had marched the cow right up the steps just a while earlier and then proceeded to kill it and start butchering it! Luckily I am a whole hearted carnivore and I did not find the site disturbing, although it was a bit weird to see a severed dead cow head staring at me when I reached the second floor of the house (as this is not something that one sees every day!). At any rate I can be assured that the meat we will eat will be very fresh, and as I know from visiting our family farm in Iowa, that is always the best type!

The only thing I need to take care of before tomorrow is to decide what I am going to wear to the festivities. Before I came to Morocco I shipped most of my nice clothing home, as I assumed I would have no need of it while I was in Morocco. This was a good assumption until I found out that my host sister here was getting married! So I have to either acquire some good cloths from my new friends here at school or perhaps do as the Moroccans do and get my hands on a djellaba! I am leaning towards the latter, but I need to find something that is acceptable and affordable first, so we shall see.

Well I think I have rambled on for long enough, but as you can tell things are getting a bit crazy here as the big day is basically upon us! Stay tuned though as I will definitely blog about the wedding ceremonies as well once they take place!

Moroccan Life

Well so I decided after almost a week here in Morocco that is was finally time to post something on my blog! I arrived in Morocco last Saturday (after my original flight several days before had been canceled). My first night here I stayed in a cheap Riad in Fez, but then on Sunday I was already meeting up with my home stay and moving in! (Picture - Gate to the old city of Fez)

My home stay has been great so far. My host sister Fatima speaks perfect English, so if there is something I do not understand in Arabic (which is most of the time) we can still communicate. My home stay also makes amazing food! I am sure I will put on several pounds here for sure as they will not let me leave the table until I have stuffed my face several times over! Their home is in the old city of Fez and has been in their family for over 500 years! So I am definitely getting to experience a very authentic Morocco home-stay experience. Another exciting element about my home-stay is that my host sister Fatima is getting married one week from today! Which means the house has been really busy with preparations! The family is constantly baking all types of things for the ceremonies and parties and there is always tons of people always dropping by to help with preparations. I am invited to the wedding so I am sure I will have to say more about Moroccan weddings at a later point once I have actually experienced one!

Class is going well. They keep us quite busy, we have four hours of class each day and a lot more time spent doing homework each day. This is definitely not a leisurely program, but that should be good as I am here to study and not as much to travel. I am sure I will do some traveling around Morocco, but as I have already traveled to most the major cities, I am planning to spend most my time experiencing life in Fez while studying here.