I’m writing this in a moderate state of delirium because I
chose to fast today (though I chose to drink water because it wouldn’t be
healthy to be dehydrated in this heat), so bear with me. I get to eat in two
hours, so please go down sun. Ftar is waiting! Anyway, I have quite a bit to
tell.
I have been uber busy with going to the beach, Villa des
Artes, packing for Tangier and Chefchaouen, running in the Hilton, catching up
on sleep, bathing awkwardly in the hamaam, celebrating a birthday, and
obviously most importantly.. Learning SO much Arabic! Just a week ago I could
hardly construct a word and now I can conjugate verbs! Well, sort of. I still
have a lot to learn. Who knew that there was more than one way to address a
group of people depending on how many there were? Are there more than two
people? My host family laughs endearingly when I practice my choppy Arabic with
them, but they are fabulously helpful as well. I apparently have a heinous
accent though, so I definitely need to practice speaking. I am getting a little
faster at writing though, which is a plus!
Ramadan here is incredible to see. In the day, all
restaurants and cafes are closed and Rabat is a ghost town. At night, the world
comes alive and festivities abound. There are about three cafes in Agdal (the
neighborhood I go to school in) that are actually open.. One of them being
McDonalds. So really, if I want to eat food to have energy to run each evening,
I have pretty limited options. During Ramadan, people are on edge and
irritable, especially towards the end of the day, and it isn’t exactly safe to
be out and about. I had a taxi driver nod off while I was in the back, and it
was terrifying. Driving around is unsafe and there are tons of car accidents. Any time between 6:45 and ftar is a bad time
to be out, so we aren’t supposed to go out until around 8:30 if we want to.
Since most people in
Morocco fast during the day, working hours are shorter or people are sleeping
during the day. The mosque is brimming with people all day, and it is so
incredible to see hear the calls to prayer. The sky becomes filled with the sounds
of calls to prayer and it’s inexplicable just how beautiful it is. Ftar
(break-fast) is just the first meal, and my family continues to eat every
couple of hours until sun rise at 3 AM. Some kids in my group are waking up
before 3 each morning to eat, but since I’m not fasting for religious reasons,
I am eating breakfast when I wake up and only fasting a couple of days. If you
want to know more about Ramadan, here is a website that talks a bit about it!
The beach here is really beautiful! It is crazy to think
about the fact that I am swimming off the coast of Africa, on the side of the Atlantic
I always wish I could see when I am standing on the Atlantic coast back home.
Another group outing we did was a trip to the Villa des Artes, an art museum,
in which we were able to meander about without a guide and see North African
art. It really made me want to start painting again.
The most awkward cultural experience I have had thus far on
my trip: the hamaam. Let’s just say I feel really, really clean after that
experience. I’m relatively positive that three layers of my skin were scrubbed
off, so I guess I’ll be keeping my new tan for a while! It was pretty awkward
lying down on the floor of this hot sauna room, without much on, getting scrubbed
- a little painful, too. Quite the cultural experience though. I can now say I
have been to a public bathing house and lost three layers of skin in the
process. Interesting.
Well, I’m probably forgetting to mention a few or a lot of
things in this post because of my current state of fasting delirium. Tomorrow
we leave for our weekend trip to the beautiful (and sweltering) cities of
Tangier and Chefchaoun. Insh’Allah I will be able to focus on my homework
before it’s time to eat tonight. With or without food though, Morocco is still amazing.
Ramadan Kareem to everyone! Love from Morocco,
Marg
No comments:
Post a Comment