Ok so before I tell all about the first week in Germany I should conclude my Morocco story.
Tuesday of the final week, my class took one final venture out for a lecture in Arabic and to see the Saudi Library and Cultural Center in Rabat only about a ten-minute walk from our school. Because there are a few Saudi students studying in Rabat, the country gave them their own library to use and to work in, not to mention other Arab scholars and people interested in the Saudi culture. With my fascination for libraries and the Arabic language, naturally I was intrigued by it and proud that I could finally understand a lot of the lecture (before our teacher then translated it for us, because most of the students that went were beginner 1 and 2 classes).
Tuesday of the final week, my class took one final venture out for a lecture in Arabic and to see the Saudi Library and Cultural Center in Rabat only about a ten-minute walk from our school. Because there are a few Saudi students studying in Rabat, the country gave them their own library to use and to work in, not to mention other Arab scholars and people interested in the Saudi culture. With my fascination for libraries and the Arabic language, naturally I was intrigued by it and proud that I could finally understand a lot of the lecture (before our teacher then translated it for us, because most of the students that went were beginner 1 and 2 classes).
Outside they even had a “traditional” Saudi tent complete with windows and a big screen TV. We talked about Ramadan and the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, before racing back to the school for our delicious lunch (complete with the best French fries on the planet!). BUT I did make sure our group got some pictures and I got a picture of my friend Juana and me, since it was our last week and she was one of the first classmates I met in Morocco.
Realizing that the clock was ticking and I still hadn’t gone to see my former host family in Meknes from 2010, or my awesome professors and director from ISA either, I had to make a whirlwind day trip over to see them all.
Leaving at “earlier than the crack of dawn” I caught a lone cab to the closest train station and RAN to get my ticket and jumped into first class at the end car, starting my day off with a bit of exercise. I slept the 2-hour trip to Meknes and was happily there around 10 am. I jumped in a cab and went to greet Dounia, a friend of mine I met in Meknes at an ISA party (who now lives and works in Flagstaff, Arizona) at the Café de Tulip. I scarfed down a full Moroccan breakfast as we caught up on the past two years, her work teaching Arabic in Arizona and our future plans. She then took me over to the ISA office where I caught up with Daniel, his girlfriend Christina, Iman, and the new student services coordinator Mouhsine.
In summer 2010 when I was there we had the grand opening of the ISA office in Meknes, and now after two years, it’s very homey with ISA logos, computers for the students, couches, the kitchenette and the desks of Iman, Daniel and Mouhsine.
Leaving at “earlier than the crack of dawn” I caught a lone cab to the closest train station and RAN to get my ticket and jumped into first class at the end car, starting my day off with a bit of exercise. I slept the 2-hour trip to Meknes and was happily there around 10 am. I jumped in a cab and went to greet Dounia, a friend of mine I met in Meknes at an ISA party (who now lives and works in Flagstaff, Arizona) at the Café de Tulip. I scarfed down a full Moroccan breakfast as we caught up on the past two years, her work teaching Arabic in Arizona and our future plans. She then took me over to the ISA office where I caught up with Daniel, his girlfriend Christina, Iman, and the new student services coordinator Mouhsine.
In summer 2010 when I was there we had the grand opening of the ISA office in Meknes, and now after two years, it’s very homey with ISA logos, computers for the students, couches, the kitchenette and the desks of Iman, Daniel and Mouhsine.
After about 4 hours of catching up, looking at photos, I had to bid adieu to everyone before getting some lunch and venturing to my host family’s house and going to the university to catch the current students and my former professors at break.
I was so nervous to see my host family after two whole years and hoped everything was ok because they weren’t hosting students anymore. As I climbed into a petit taxi and said farewell to Dounia, my heart raced. I told the driver to head to Hay Zitoune and told him I was seeing my family for the first time in two years. It was so strange to drive along the racetrack next to the “Haras” area and then approach the gate like no time had past. I re-introduced myself to the guardsman who was the same man from two years ago and asked him if it was ok to go in and visit the family. He generously shook my hand and welcomed me home.
The day before I left, I left my Meknes host sister a message that said that she should be home in the afternoon because I was planning on visiting.
I approached the door I had entered so many times and knocked. There seemed to be no answer, but I could hear my little host sister Isra somewhere inside, so I knocked louder. I hear a 7-year-old’s answer of “Schnoo?” meaning “What?” in Darija. I said it was Gwyneth and she seemed terribly confused by the answer, so I asked her in Arabic if she remembered the American student from two years ago from Nebraska named Gwyneth. Still not completely taking me at my word she called for her grandpa/ my host dad Rachid to come outside with her.
Then out in the garden I saw little Isra a bit taller and older gapping at me. I asked her in Arabic if she remembered me, but she still looked speechless as Rachid came around with the biggest surprised look on his face. He gave me the biggest hug on the planet a small, thin man of his stature can muster and pushed me towards the backdoor and to the living room, where he, Ibtissam (his daughter) and Isra (Tissam’s daughter) gathered for tea and talked about the family, what’s new and what I’ve been up to. Isra has started to fix the tea and she served me two cups (that’s a lot of caffeine if you know about Moroccan tea). About an hour into my visit he got a call, so I had to excuse myself so I would be on time at the university.
I quickly jumped in a cab to get me to Moulay Ismail University for the ISA classes. I got there in good time to have a quick coffee with Iman and talk about her studies before all the students came down for break. As the students joined us, Driss and Nachit walked in and it took them both a few seconds to realize I wasn’t one of their current students, but a student back to visit and say hi.
I was so nervous to see my host family after two whole years and hoped everything was ok because they weren’t hosting students anymore. As I climbed into a petit taxi and said farewell to Dounia, my heart raced. I told the driver to head to Hay Zitoune and told him I was seeing my family for the first time in two years. It was so strange to drive along the racetrack next to the “Haras” area and then approach the gate like no time had past. I re-introduced myself to the guardsman who was the same man from two years ago and asked him if it was ok to go in and visit the family. He generously shook my hand and welcomed me home.
The day before I left, I left my Meknes host sister a message that said that she should be home in the afternoon because I was planning on visiting.
I approached the door I had entered so many times and knocked. There seemed to be no answer, but I could hear my little host sister Isra somewhere inside, so I knocked louder. I hear a 7-year-old’s answer of “Schnoo?” meaning “What?” in Darija. I said it was Gwyneth and she seemed terribly confused by the answer, so I asked her in Arabic if she remembered the American student from two years ago from Nebraska named Gwyneth. Still not completely taking me at my word she called for her grandpa/ my host dad Rachid to come outside with her.
Then out in the garden I saw little Isra a bit taller and older gapping at me. I asked her in Arabic if she remembered me, but she still looked speechless as Rachid came around with the biggest surprised look on his face. He gave me the biggest hug on the planet a small, thin man of his stature can muster and pushed me towards the backdoor and to the living room, where he, Ibtissam (his daughter) and Isra (Tissam’s daughter) gathered for tea and talked about the family, what’s new and what I’ve been up to. Isra has started to fix the tea and she served me two cups (that’s a lot of caffeine if you know about Moroccan tea). About an hour into my visit he got a call, so I had to excuse myself so I would be on time at the university.
I quickly jumped in a cab to get me to Moulay Ismail University for the ISA classes. I got there in good time to have a quick coffee with Iman and talk about her studies before all the students came down for break. As the students joined us, Driss and Nachit walked in and it took them both a few seconds to realize I wasn’t one of their current students, but a student back to visit and say hi.
^Moulay Ismail University got a paint job since I was last here.
The current ISA students gathered to listen a bit to me about the Global Ambassador Program that I’m involved with and then went back to enjoy their precious few minutes between classes. I talked to Driss and Nachit about my Fulbright proposal and got some good ideas and impressed them a bit with my new found spoken Arabic before they had to go back to class and before I headed back to the Haras to see if anymore of my former host family had shown up. Happily I got to see the WHOLE family! My host brother Yessine, Meryam, and my host mom Amina had all come back from wherever they were and greeted me like a member of the family.
The girls took me back to stables and to “my” old horses that I would ride with Rachid. I think they remember me, because they were friendly and alert with me there. I was sad to learn though that Meryam quit riding after she got dumped on her head while jumping with the horses. Luckily she was wearing a helmet, but it’s such a shame because she was such a good rider!
My visit ended as quickly as it had begun, but I promised them I would return very soon and I ran back to the Ville Nouvelle to have a quick juice with Daniel and Christina before jumping the train back to Rabat.
And the next day was my final test AND presentation and I had a special guest coming to my presentation! Beligh my first ever Arabic teacher who taught me Alif Baa at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was visiting Morocco (while he was back in North Africa visiting his family in Tunis) and doing a quick week tour of the country with other former Fulbright students.
After the traveling of the past few days, the stress of packing for Germany and a MAJOR test, I was completely NOT ready for the presentation, but luckily I gave my presentation on fantasia (Tbourida), the topic of my private lessons for the last two months. Of course, all my former teachers were there and all asked questions, and Beligh as well. It was so much fun to answer questions on a topic I knew so well in Arabic. While I don’t think I aced the written test, I definitely excelled at this presentation.
In the afternoon I caught up with Beligh and his friends at the Kasbah in Rabat and showed him around the downtown, the Hassan mausoleum and took him to a Syrian restaurant to break his gorging on Moroccan tagines. It was nice to show him my city and also my final chance to see Rabat one more time before I leave.
And the next day was my final test AND presentation and I had a special guest coming to my presentation! Beligh my first ever Arabic teacher who taught me Alif Baa at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was visiting Morocco (while he was back in North Africa visiting his family in Tunis) and doing a quick week tour of the country with other former Fulbright students.
After the traveling of the past few days, the stress of packing for Germany and a MAJOR test, I was completely NOT ready for the presentation, but luckily I gave my presentation on fantasia (Tbourida), the topic of my private lessons for the last two months. Of course, all my former teachers were there and all asked questions, and Beligh as well. It was so much fun to answer questions on a topic I knew so well in Arabic. While I don’t think I aced the written test, I definitely excelled at this presentation.
In the afternoon I caught up with Beligh and his friends at the Kasbah in Rabat and showed him around the downtown, the Hassan mausoleum and took him to a Syrian restaurant to break his gorging on Moroccan tagines. It was nice to show him my city and also my final chance to see Rabat one more time before I leave.
Did I also mention I ran into another person I knew? It was such good luck that we met up with Othmane after dinner! He was one of the people I was going to be guilt-ing myself over if I didn’t meet up with him. He took us to his favorite juice stand before we all called it a night. Beligh and Hassan were off to Fez and Meknes the next day with Othmane.
Is my poor reader tired yet of just hearing about four days? The last day in Morocco was definitely the icing on the cake to be sure.
Friday: I got a sleep-in….sort of. I was planning on going to a fantasia with my friend/newfound sister Donia (not the Dounia from Meknes), but we hadn’t talked on the phone, so I skipped the morning class and starting to back up most of my clothes so when I came home I could relax.
Around 10am I got a call from Donia and we planned on meeting in Casablanca for lunch. I thought it was just going to be a quick trip and then back for the Qalam graduation. Oh what a day it turned out to be! Donia came and picked me up at the train station and we took about half a dozen taxis to make it out to her country home about 20 km outside of Casablanca, where we met up with her mother and cousin (?). Of course, it being Friday, we ate the traditional Couscous, this time with my hands (which is SUPER hard because one: it’s couscous and two: because it was STEAMING hot). We sat and talked in English and some Arabic and some translated Darija. Donia’s mother presented me with a new dress and her cousin gave me a beautiful ring!
Friday: I got a sleep-in….sort of. I was planning on going to a fantasia with my friend/newfound sister Donia (not the Dounia from Meknes), but we hadn’t talked on the phone, so I skipped the morning class and starting to back up most of my clothes so when I came home I could relax.
Around 10am I got a call from Donia and we planned on meeting in Casablanca for lunch. I thought it was just going to be a quick trip and then back for the Qalam graduation. Oh what a day it turned out to be! Donia came and picked me up at the train station and we took about half a dozen taxis to make it out to her country home about 20 km outside of Casablanca, where we met up with her mother and cousin (?). Of course, it being Friday, we ate the traditional Couscous, this time with my hands (which is SUPER hard because one: it’s couscous and two: because it was STEAMING hot). We sat and talked in English and some Arabic and some translated Darija. Donia’s mother presented me with a new dress and her cousin gave me a beautiful ring!
Donia’s big first surprise for me was dressing me up in her fantasia (Tbourida) clothes and taking about a million pictures!
And she showed me her medal from when she won the championship for Tbourida in Rabat at Dar Es Salam.
After the multitude of pictures and food, we ventured out to a neighboring town to the Moussem (festival of sorts) with its MASSIVE fantasia display! My second fantasia was just as thrilling as the first, more so with my new sister who is a seasoned champion rider. We walked around and she said “hello” to some of the male riders she knew and we ventured (or more fought our way through the crowd) to find a seat at the end pathway of the Tbourida. I discovered that part of the thrill of being at the front is the adrenaline rust from the possibility of being trampled by the horses if they don’t stop in time. A few times I think I jumped into the laps of a few children and their mothers, but no one was hurt and it was part of the fun. Sadly again there was no girl groups doing the fantasia, but I’m guessing that’s all I will be seeing when I come back (inshallah). I must have taken a million pictures the first time I saw the fantasia in Essaouira….this time I took a billion!!!!
We spent only two hours there, which flew by before I needed to catch the train back to Rabat. I was so sad to say goodbye to Donia, but she hopes to come study in the US, so hopefully we will see her soon.
Sadly I missed the train by a hair of a minute, and I had to wait on the platform for another hour putting me back VERY late at my home in Rabat. I was so sad because my whole family was asleep when I got home and I had to be awake and gone at 6am which I knew, no one would be awake for.
Luckily, Marouane was sleeping in the living room and my little sister Selma stayed up to say goodbye to me and give me a keepsake keychain from her. I shooed her off to bed because I knew it was WAY past her bedtime.
I pulled an ALL-nighter which I rarely ever do, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep well anyway, so I packed and watched YouTube videos until 6am came around. Marouane helped me out the door with my bags and gave me a big hug goodbye. That was the biggest regret of the whole trip…not being able to say goodbye to host family. They were by far the nicest people I’ve met my whole trip and I really connected with them. I’ll miss them so much! And that’s how I left Morocco…no sleep, exhausted and contented and not completely ready to leave…but I will always remember the awesome memories…
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Sadly I missed the train by a hair of a minute, and I had to wait on the platform for another hour putting me back VERY late at my home in Rabat. I was so sad because my whole family was asleep when I got home and I had to be awake and gone at 6am which I knew, no one would be awake for.
Luckily, Marouane was sleeping in the living room and my little sister Selma stayed up to say goodbye to me and give me a keepsake keychain from her. I shooed her off to bed because I knew it was WAY past her bedtime.
I pulled an ALL-nighter which I rarely ever do, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep well anyway, so I packed and watched YouTube videos until 6am came around. Marouane helped me out the door with my bags and gave me a big hug goodbye. That was the biggest regret of the whole trip…not being able to say goodbye to host family. They were by far the nicest people I’ve met my whole trip and I really connected with them. I’ll miss them so much! And that’s how I left Morocco…no sleep, exhausted and contented and not completely ready to leave…but I will always remember the awesome memories…
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