Ramadan and Iftar in Morocco

I love food. I know everyone claims to love food, but I am not kidding. I. LOVE. FOOD.

Studying abroad in Egypt changed my life in many ways. As you know, I now have more knowledge about Egypt, its culture, Islam, its culture, and Arabic. Most importantly, however, it opened me up to many amazing foods. The exchanged broadened my taste in food, and I'm grateful because, as we've established, I love food.

Couscous part one

Food is an essential part of every culture. A lot of what I know about Morocco, I know through food.

Right now, it is the month of Ramadan. This is the month where Muslims fast and refrain from bad behaviour (gossiping, smoking, being a jerk). This month is for muslims to practice their religion devoutly and get closer to God. I think it is similar to Lent in Christianity. I wrote a little about Ramadan back when I was in Egypt. Click here to read it.

More from couscous part one

In Morocco, it is prohibited from Moroccans to eat or rink in the streets. It is highly frowned upon to eat around people who are fasting. The school provides us breakfast and lunch in order to keep us from being disrespectful.

Almost all restaurants are closed and a lot of other businesses are also closed. Traffic is crazy around 7 and it becomes hard to get a taxi because everyone is trying to get home for Iftar, the breaking of the fast. No one is really around until about 10 or 10:30 pm, after Iftar.

Ice cream after Iftar

Iftar is my dream come true. Since no one has eaten all day, Iftar is a big meal. Instead of one meal, it's more like two or three meals. Instead of beef or fish or soup, we'll have beef and fish and soup. There will also be a lot of little sides.

Iftar from day two

A lot of people begin the Iftar by eating dates and drinking milk. I've been told that they break their fast like this because this is how the prophet broke his fast. Dates also have a lot of energy in them so that could be another reason they eat them.

Other Moroccan Iftar staples include: Chebakia, a honey and sesame seed sweet; Harira, soup with pasta, chickpeas, beef, spices, etc.; olives, a middle eastern classic; and juice, forever and always delicious.

Couscous part two

I have had everything from a Moroccan dish called Tanjine to Couscous to Kebabs to fish to pizza. Moroccan food is benin (delicious) and I have been stuffing my face every minute possible.

At every meal, I am pushed to eat. Food is love, more food is more love. My Moroccan mom tells me to eat. My American-Moroccan mom (resident director) tells me to eat. My American mom does not tell me to eat but she probably would if she could.

Bae, the teapot

Finally, Moroccan tea aka Atai bnaanaa aka my true love. I learned how to make tea on day one. I made some the other night for my family. The tea is so sweet. In a teapot (berad) that holds about 2-3 cups of tea, my host mom puts about 7 cubes of sugar in. I guess sugar equals love too. I frickin' love the tea, man.


That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as loved eating all the foods. Remember the #1 rule for exchange students: eat now, ask later. Thanks for reading.


Learn something today.

Byeeeee

Corie.

End of Week One

Another week older, 30 words in Darija smarter. I am done with the end of my first week in Morocco. 

From the beginning, I've had a schedule. School all day, then I hang out at night. This makes it really easy to adjust and so far, I've had no problems (knock on wood).

Darija

For this first week, we've been learning Darija. Darija is the Moroccan version of Arabic. I thought Moroccans only speak Darija, and that it was a mixture of Classic Arabic and French. Actually, Moroccans speak a mixture of Darija and French. Most people know little Classical Arabic. 

The Darija we've been learning is basic, survival Darija. We learned to introduce ourselves (what's your name? where are you from?), take a taxi, order at a restaurant, and how to bargain. 

We had a test yesterday. I think I nailed it, but i don't know for sure. 

I've been trying to practice my Arabic, but I'm also practicing my French which is an unexpected surprise. The "business" language in Morocco is French, not English because the world does not revolve around English speakers, fun fact. 

We've been learning Darija all together. But starting tomorrow, we split up and we start learning the classic Arabic. 

In-school Cultural Activities

Everyday, along with the Arabic classes, we have speakers come and we have culture discussions. 

We had some people come and talk about culture differences. We've had a speaker on social activism. We've had a speaker on Islam (my personal favorite). And yesterday we had a tour of Rabat. 

Touristy Tour of Rabat

Yesterday, after our Darija Test, we went and looked at different places in Rabat. I can't remember any names or facts about them, but I took a bunch of pictures. 

Out of School Fun

I have also done things after school. 

One night I went out with some of the Americans and their host siblings. I've hung out with my host sister and her friends a few times. Eating lots of food, having lots of fun, and making lots of memories. 

We also went to an elderly home to seve Iftar and eat with them. It was fun and a little strange, but almost everything is just a little bit strange. 

The time at the old people home was good practice of my Arabic. It was hard because my Arabic is so limited and almost no one spoke English. But one of the ladies that works at the school was told me I did a great job. I was talking to ladies left and right. I even made a joke in Arabic that got some laughs. It really boosted my confidence in my ability to speak Arabic. 

Today was our day off. We only get one day off a week. It really is an intense educational experience. Today we went to the souq and to a museum. I saw some beautiful contemporary art by Moroccans. I've seen a lot of art in my short 17.5 years on this earth, and I really enjoyed the exhibit. 

In the souq, my friend used his newly learned bargaining skills. I did a little bit but not much. I let my host dad do most of the bargaining for me. I got gifts for my American family that I cannot reveal yet, but I got really great prices on them. I love souqs because everything is so cheap, I feel like Bill Gates. 

Later today, we went bowling. Most of the Americans and their siblings came bowling and then we got ice cream. It says a lot about our group that when we only get one day apart from each other, we choose to hang out still. 

The Experience So Far

The biggest part of the experience I was looking forward to (other than Arabic) was having an exchange experience with other exchange students. In Egypt, I was the only exchange student that lasted through my year. 

In Rabat, there are 11 other students plus our American Resident Director. It's really great having other people to relate to and use as support. 

It's also really nice to have a host sibling at my age. This allows me to hang out with her friends and do things with her. If this was a longer experience, I would have other opportunities to make friends. But the school in Morocco basically pairs us up with a student our age so we have people to hang out with because otherwise we'd be pretty bored. 

Morocco itself is so beautiful. Rabat is much smaller than Cairo, but then again everything is smaller than Cairo. Our resident director said it the best "there's just something about Morocco."

Thanks so much for reading. If you have any questions about Morocco let me know. 

Also my host sister, Salma wants you to know she's pretty. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeee

Corie. 

D.C. to Lisbon to Casablanca to Rabat

Hello. I am writing from my home for the next couple of weeks, Rabat, Morocco. I've been here for about 26 hours and it is a very lovely place to be. It's not too hot because we have the sea breeze, and I love my host family. Getting here, though, was a looooong journey. 

The flight from DC to Lisbon was delayed an hour, which means we were at the Dulles airport from about 5 pm to about 11 pm. The flight to Lisbon was 7 ish hours. It was late at night so after a little tv, I slept a lot of the flight. Even still, the seats were uncomfortable, and we landed  in Portugal tired, groggy, and kind of gross. 

In Lisbon, we got in the wrong line to transfer flights. Instead of going through a little extra security, many kids and one of the adults went through customs into Portugal. It all worked out in the end. We got to our gate and connected to wifi, so we were happy. 

After 5 hours in Portugal we got in a plane to Casablanca. We were finally, actually going to Morocco. That flight was quick and easy compared to the one across the Atlantic. We got our passports stamped and finally made it to Morocco. 

Being in America for so long, I forgot how fun and great it is to be surrounded by Arabic. Since it is Morocco, I am also surrounded by French. This is also really fun. 

In Casablanca, the first night, we stayed in a hotel and ate dinner there. After we went to the Hassan II Mosque. It is like the third biggest mosque in the world. Some 250,000 people pray there every evening. 

The next day we had a security briefing by an American Cultural Center. After that, we had an entrance Arabic Exam and left for our cities. 

Leaving the kids going to Marrakech was hard because we got so close. I miss hem already. 

The first night in Rabat was good. Iftar (breaking of the fast after Ramadan) was amazing because I got to eat so much food. The tea is amazing. I don't know why I never drink tea in the States, but Moroccan tea is good. 

Today was my first Darija class. Darija is the Moroccan dialect of Arabic, and it is so SO different than MSA. We also had some other cultural activities today. 

That's been the beginning of my trip. Thanks for reading. I'll post again soon. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeee

Corie. 

Pre-Departure Orientation - Legacy International

Hello hello hello!

Sorry I haven't updated yet, but honestly not a lot has happened yet. 

The past few days was my pre-departure orientation before leaving for Morocco. It's been fun. 

Day One

Thursday, I got up and went to the airport. I had a 5(ish) hour nonstop flight to Washington DC. 

I landed in DC in the afternoon. I met up with some other students and we took a shuttle to the hotel. 

The first day was mostly getting to know the other students. There are 29 of us from all over the US. 

We stayed in a hotel in DC. There were four of us to a room. My roommates were great. Two of them are going to a different city than me, so that's a bummer. 

That night we ate Chinese food and I had tofu for the first time. It was alright. I still prefer meat. 

Day Two

The next day, was more orientation. We learned about some of the things we'll do in Morocco. We had Afghan food for lunch which was another first. 

We took the metro to the zoo. We were only there for the last half hour it was open, so most of the animals weren't around. We did see some, but they were mostly birds. 

We split up for dinner and went back to the hotel. There, we had cake because there were two birthdays. 

Day Three 

Yesterday, we did more orientation. It was mostly about the culture of Morocco. We also had a State Department mandated secual abuse talk... That was uncomfortable. Important, but uncomfortable. 

We had trips to CVS for all the last minute things we didn't bring. I bought beef jerkey and stickers. 

We had dinner (other meals too, but not important). I had Vietnamese food for the first time. I had Pho and it was good. 

I spent the rest of the night talking to the other students and watching John Tucker Must Die on MTV with my roommates. 

Day Four

Today we had a little bit of orientation. Then we had time to pack up all our stuff.

We took a bus to a strip mall and ate lunch. I had Mac n Cheese as a second to last hoorah at Noodles and Company. 

Then we went to a branch of the Air and Space museum and saw many an airplane. 

After a while there, we went to the aiport and that's where we've been ever since. 

(Actual final hoorah)

Okay. That's all I have for now: food and orientation. I have a few flights, a hotel stay, and a bus ride until Rabat. 

I'm so excited for all that's gonna happen. 

See you in Morocco. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeeee

Corie. 

Countdown to Casablanca

Hello. It's me. 

I am so excited. I leave for Morocco (technically DC) in 11 (?) days! 

As you all probably know, I am spending 6 weeks studying Arabic in Morocco. I found out a little while ago that I will be living in Rabat, the capital. 

I will be flying through Lisbon on the way there and Frankfurt on the way back. As per my rules of life, I can say I've been there if I eat, sleep, and pee there. 

As part of the placement and NSLI-Y processes, I have had to do two pre-trip Arabic speaking examinations. One for the imementing organization, Legacy International, and one for NSLI-Y. 

The Legacy International one was over a Skype-like app. He asked about me and my life in English and I responded in Arabic. It was super short, but it took a while for the technology to work. I thought I did okay, but I did forget some words. 

The NSLI-Y pre-exam was over the phone. It was the first time I've used my land line in years. She asked questions in Arabic. I tried to answer in Arabic as best as I could. If I didn't understand, she'd repeat the question. If I still didn't understand, she'd reword it and I usually got it by then. 

I'm excited to leave, but I still have a lot to do. I need to pack, but before that I have to go shopping. I have to get gifts for my host family. I need to get to know my family. It'll be an adventure. Let's go!

Also here's a prom picture because I haven't been to Morocco so I have no Morocco pictures yet. 

Learn something today. 

Byeeeeee

Corie.