Blog # 5

October 28, 2006
The weather has changed drastically, and I am thrilled, in spite of the cold I seem to have caught. At last I have the right clothes! Mostafa and I were talking about weather, because I had accessed the temperature in Nottingham yesterday. Once translated into Celsius, he assured me that Fes never got that cold. (It was supposed to get to 37 last night.) We then talked about summer temperatures, and we discovered that Fes averaged the equivalent of about 113 in the summer! I would absolutely curl up and die! And Hind assured me that this was NOT the hottest! I can't imagine!
It seems impossible that three weeks have gone by already. Ramadan is at last over, and the nights are quieter. I still find myself remembering things, however. For example, there was a heated discussion the night before Eid between Hind's aunt and Mostafa about why there is more than one holy night, because the moon is viewed differently from Morocco than it is from Saudia Arabia. They concluded that there should be just one holy night, based on Mecca. Also, I no longer hear the horn at 2 a.m. I finally asked Mostafa what this was: it is based on the old tradition of waking people for the last meal before the sunrise and the beginning of the fast. Also, I noted that there doesn't seem to be the same activity in clothing stores. Much like “back to school” in the States, people bought new clothes to usher in Eid.
I have been back to the medina of Fes once again, because before we left for Casablanca, Mostafa wanted to get gifts of food specific to Fes. So he bought rose water, bottled in old Johnny Walker bottles or the like, and nougat of different sizes, shapes and colors. Not just any nougat would do, however. He had to buy from one of the shops that line the Mausoleum, because it had been blessed. The negotiations were interesting to watch. This trip is what resulted in the picture of the fruit seller, the camel's head and the street with the dyers. I still wonder at the sanitation of food (especially meat) left out to the air and hovered over by flies. And I saw stacks of eggs set out in the hot sun waiting to be purchased. Perhaps because things are sold on a day to day basis, rather than the weeks our food can sit in coolers, they can stand the exposure. While still on the subject of food, I have come to really like the sweet mint tea, even though at home I never drink tea or coffee with sugar. When in Rome, right? And the bread is delicious. I found the neighborhood ovens in the medina fascinating. These ovens are not for commercial use. They remain ovens where households can come to have their bread baked for that day. So the bread is always fresh.
Homes. Mostafa and Hind are waiting for the final touches on their new apartment. Houda indicated that she is buying an apartment too(which as I said, must be much like our concept of condos). She says hers will cost her about $35,000. This sum sounds so much more reasonable than the sums we pay in the States, even in consideration of the difference in salaries. Teachers make considerably less here than in the U.S., but a good retirement is guaranteed, and most of the teachers I have met seem to be in a similar financial situation when compared with the teachers I know in the U.S. Houda is a “notaire” for which there is no real equivalent in America. It is much like a lawyer, without any of the burdens of trials. It mainly entails the writing of contracts and similar legal paperwork. She does well, even drives a brand new Volkswagen. But because she is considered a civil servant, she is “placed”; she does not choose where she sets up her practice. She is sent where there is a need. El Jadida is lovely, but she misses the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Casablanca.
I continue to be impressed by the layout and set up of the homes (apartments) I have seen. The room that dominates is the salon. It is usually the largest room, but Hind's mother actually has two. It is surrounded on three sides with a couch-like furnishing covered with cushions. This is where the family gathers for tea, for conversation, for dinner, for discussions. It is where the guest is brought, so its décor is very important. Most of the salons are sumptuously decorated, and if the ceiling displays any of the elaborate plasterwork, it is usually in this room. It is a very comfortable room, and unlike the living rooms one sees in the States, which rarely get used and seem only to be there for display, the salon is the most frequented room of the home. This is where you will find the beautiful rugs Morocco is famous for. And the ceilings here are about double the height of ones in the U.S., giving one the wonderful impression of space.
Each apartment building has a concierge. This person is not only responsible for the security of the building but is available for all kinds of small tasks. The concierge will help you carry your groceries up the flights of stairs (everyone I've met so far lives at least on the third floor; it's about the only form of exercise I've been getting. I'm much less active here.) He is even available to run errands for you. Hind has often called upon hers to buy milk or fruit or mint from the local vendors. Although I have never lived in an apartment, I do not think these sorts of services are available in the U.S. The concierge's accomodations and salary are miniscule, but his income is supplemented by tips given for running errands, and he has the security of a place to live.
I am going to miss Hind and Mostafa a great deal when I return home. We have had some spirited discussions about politics, spirituality, marriage, raising children, you name it. What I keep saying over and over is that the more I see of the world, and Morocco is no different in this respect, the more I am convinced we have more in common than we have differences. Religions, for example, when examined at their core, speak of love of one's neighbor as a brother or sister in the family of God, no matter how that God is perceived. Religions, when stripped of their rituals, speak of tolerance and compassion. People, at their most basic level, are consumed with their love of families, their need to find expression and to be understood, their need to find their place in the world, as well as their need to answer the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. The emotions are the same: love, anger, hate, disappointment, fear, greed, compassion, etc. One of the things that I think we could take from Morocco is the lack of racial distinction. People are black, white and various shades in between. Eyes are brown, black, hazel and occasionally blue. Their origins are Arabic, Berber and European. And from what I can see, there is no one group valued over the other. Why we can't recognize people, despite differences in circumstances and traditions, as recipients of that most precious gift of life that needs to be protected at all costs, never taken for granted. Good place to stop for the time being, don't you think?

November 2, 2006

I haven't written in five days, because I have been concentrating on preparing a 2 hour talk for the baccalaureate students who had given me five areas they wished me to speak about. Number 1 was immigration in the United States (specifically for Moroccans). Second was the perception of Arabs in the U.S. Third was the attitudes towards women in the U.S. in comparison with Morocco. Fourth was a comparison of our two educational systems. And finally, there were a series of questions relating to crime, racism and the war in Iraq which I left until last. I spent several days amassing data from the internet (the U.S. Census was a great resource as well as the U.S. Immigration site), the U.S. Civics and History books I'd brought from home as well as my own personal observations as I've recorded them here. I was so nervous the night before that I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and could not get back to sleep. Consequently, I was too tired to do much of anything last night, much less catch up on the last couple of days. When one of the students asked me at the end of the presentation how I felt, I said “tired”. They were surprised that I was nervous until I explained that I was conscious of the fact that for them, I am the face of America. My final question for them was, “Has my presence here changed your perception of the United States?” The answer was very clearly, “yes.” So I consider the presentation a success.
Briefly, as far as immigration goes, I recounted my father's experiences as an immigrant from Norway in the early 1900s. I explained that we are a nation of immigrants where over one third of our population growth is due to the influx of immigrants; that the prediction for 2050 is that 1 person in 3 will be from a minority population with the Hispanic and Asian populations tripling in size. I then spoke briefly of the Fulbright/MACECE programs as a means of immigrating to America and that new government initiatives are encouraging the teaching of Arabic which would provide yet another venue for prospective immigrants from Arab nations.
Before I began talking about the U.S. perception of Arabs I asked the students what their perception was of Americans. They (communicated very eloquently by a teacher of French) were honest with me. We are seen as aggressive, taking what doesn't belong to us, violent, racist, rich, monopolizing the majority of the world's resources. I was honest with them explaining that since September 11th, Arabs are seen as ruthless, violent, fanatical, militant, extremist, and repressive of women. I talked about how these perceptions, on both sides, are inaccurate. That the media in many ways is responsible for promoting these stereotypes and that the only way to fight them is through exchanges such as this one and through education. Students in the U.S. need to know that many prominent American individuals are of Arab descent such as John Sununu, Ralph Nader, Paula Abdul, Debakey, Zewail (scientists), even Christa McAuliffe.
As far as the role of women in our two cultures, I pointed out that my experience was colored by the fact that the women I had met were educated, articulate and consequently very independent. But I also mentioned that from what I have read, there is a great deal of concern that although the new family code protects women's rights, many women do not have knowledge of the new law, that many judges remain conservative in their interpretation and application of the law, and that there is a discrepancy of resources for women vs. men.
This led into my discussion of education. Whereas the literacy rate is 97% for both men and women in the U.S., the overall literacy rate in Morocco is 51% with 67% of that population being male and less than 40% female. I emphasized that education is the door to opportunity for women (and men) everywhere. I was honest in pointing out what I see as flaws in our system: the lack of a national curriculum with national standards applied in every state, that education is funded locally in New Hampshire leading to discrepancies in resources, and that the cost of higher education is prohibitive to the point of being ridiculous. But I highlighted what I see is good: smaller classes allowing for more individualized instruction, a student centered approach to curriculum, the availability of services to those in need, access to technology, and counseling on individual options for the future. Finally, I felt I could not ignore the question of our involvement in Iraq, the high statistics of violent crime and the evidence of continuing racism. I told the students that one of the gifts of democracy is freedom of speech, that I can say that I am not in favor of our current foreign policy. I said that I can not explain our propensity for violence and crime. But at the same time, I feel that any positive changes that have been made over the years, changes that have “stuck” have been effected by non violent means. I spoke of the examples of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King as models of non-violent protest that effected long term changes.
At that point, I was asked a series of questions for about a half an hour. Many had to do with my perceptions of Morocco and the Moroccan people. Some had questions about religion. Many continued to ask questions about perceptions of the Arab world and of our foreign policy (Israel came up). For me, it was pretty intense, but I felt it was a positive experience for all the students who attended.
And now, where to begin. Today several students asked if I would be willing to find them penpals among my students. All of a sudden, I discovered that the students are avid users of cyber-cafes and most of them have e-mail addresses! I started by asking them to write out their names and ages and e-mail addresses, but this seemed to take forever, and I had a hard time reading their writing. SO Mostafa came up with the suggestion that they send me an e-mail introducing themselves and in that manner, I would have their e-mail addresses typed out. I also discovered that many of the students are what would be considered college age by our standards. I will have to work on that one.
Three of the girls actually gave me “les bises” when they entered the classroom this morning. I was quite touched. During the break between second and third hour, I watched the students from the balcony. It is interesting to me how much more physical people are with one another here. I've actually seen men exchange “les bises”, and young boys walk around arm in arm as often as the girls. Things are expressed with arms and hands flying. It was a fun way to pass ten minutes.
Earlier in the week, one of the maintenance people brought a small scorpion into the staff room. I was informed that this was a tiny one and that usually they are much bigger and darker in color. No thanks! I had a hard enough time with the three inch cockroach that fell out of my blouse when I was getting ready to iron it. It ran around on my bed and ended up hiding under my pillow. I shouted such that Hind and Mostafa came running. I felt embarrassed that Mostafa had to be the one to remove it for me. I was better about the flying thing in the car on our excursion last weekend. Because it was in the back seat, I had the responsibility of catching it and letting it out of the car.
Which brings me to last weekend's excursion. On Sunday, operating at a different pace, we didn't set out until nearly 1 in the afternoon for Ifrane in the mountains. We arrived at a lovely lake around 2:30 and while Salah rode around on a horse, we ate our picnic lunch in a wind that blew curtains of sand across the lake. We then headed onto the resort town of Ifrane. Ifrane really has a European feel. The roofs are pitched, because here there is snow in the winter, and people can actually ski. The buildings are a departure from the beige I see everywhere. Instead, they are a light pink with tile on the roofs. The air was fresher and cooler, and the leaves crunched underneath our feet. The water we washed our hands with was ice cold, and apparently, there is a Vittel water source here. I took pictures of small cascades, streams, and a woman washing her clothes on the riverside. I had Mostafa take a picture of me standing in front of the Ifrane lion, something left by the French during the colonial period which has become associated with the city, such that there were groups of people waiting to take their pictures beside the lion as we did.
We then headed to the imperial city of Meknes. By the time we got there, the sun was beginning to set. We parked the car below the medina and walked up to the square to take pictures of the gate to the city. There were caleches (horse-drawn carriages) parked at the square, and Mostafa negotiated a 45 minute tour around the city. Although it swiftly became dark, most of the monuments were illuminated, and it was almost romantic as we viewed the beautiful stables that had once been a castle built in the hopes of wooing the daughter of Louis XIV. The proposal was rejected, because the sultan already had about 500 wives at the time, so it became a stable that housed as many as 1200 horses (to give you an idea of size). We also drove past the dungeon that once held over a 1,000 slaves below ground. Salah sat up front with the driver, and once when we stopped to look at one of the monuments, he decided to take the reins and start off on his own! It was a scary second or two, but I'm sure it was one of the highlights of the evening for Salah. We didn't get home until quite late.
Backtracking to Saturday, after school and a quiet afternoon, we went to the home of Rachid and Malika (spelling). Rachid is one of the administrators at the school, and I have always seen him in western dress. At home, he appeared in a caftan. His wife was also dressed in traditional clothing. The two daughters, ages 10 and 12, were dressed like American teenagers and watching T.V. Malika served us cake and tea and a number of different cookies on beautiful trays and in beautiful glasses. We were there til about 8, and although Arabic was spoken 70% of the time, I was able to follow most of what was being discussed as certain things were elucidated in French. There was an interesting discussion about the difference between raising sons and daughters. Daughters stay at home! It is for their own safety, but in many ways, it keeps them locked out of the world. It is at times like these I am glad I (and my daughter) live where I do. So many freedoms we take for granted. Once again I was impressed by the Moroccan hospitality. It is legendary, and when I spoke to Mostafa about it, he indicated that it is not unheard of to have people show up at all hours unannounced. Even if you had been asleep, you would rise and serve your guest tea or coffee and something to eat and count yourself lucky, because the visit would have indicated you were blessed with friends.
I was also invited with Hind to visit another teacher from Hind's former high school: her name is Salwa, and she is apparently a second wife. She was married, was divorced, and had no intention of remarrying, but eventually agreed to be this man's second wife. She has her own apartment that she shares with one of her two sons. She is full of energy, constantly cracking jokes, clearly independent. The arrangement obviously suits her, although I can't imagine it. Polygamy just came up at lunch today. It began with my observation that many men, at middle age, remarry women much younger than they are. Mostafa asked why the younger women would marry obviously older men, and I proposed that it might be because of the financial security they represent. Mostafa then asked why women agree to be second wives, and we decided that it might be for the same reason. Life is so complicated at times.
Another aside, as we ride to and from school each day, in spite of the fact that it is absolutely breathtaking, I am more and more convinced I would never be able to drive in this country. People pass in no passing zones (they just peek around the trucks and surge forward if they THINK they have enough space to pass...we have actually passed in the space in between two cars going in opposite directions!) People drive through stop signs and red lights. People cross in front of traffic and make U-turns in the middle of the street. Petit Taxis are fearless as they drive through traffic. I'm amazed at the brazen nature of Moroccan drivers. I've seen a couple of accidents, and heard about one horrendous one just the other day, but I am surprised there are not more. And have I mentioned the gardiens. There are men whose sole job is to watch the cars, make sure they are parked carefully and are able to get out of the tight spots they are put. For this service, they are paid a small pittance, usually less than a dollar. So I THINK I'm caught up, but I've been so absorbed with the presentation that I might have forgotten something. I had asked if I could visit Swera's school, but the headmaster said no. Apparently they had a bad experience with another American visitor (bad press? We're not sure), so I won't be going there. So tomorrow is a free day and Monday is a holiday. I think we will be going back to Meknes, but I'm not sure. There is still so much to see, and I am really hoping that the trip south we have planned during the next holiday week (that starts the 13th, I think) will be realized. Until next week, then.