Home Again in Fes

Faisal, Labib, Jessie and I went to a really nice beach in Bosneka outside of Rabat last weekend. Unfortunatly the undertoe was really strong and I was attacked by a wave that, lucky me, Faisal caught on videotape. I have been taking pictures but haven't had any time to post them. I have to download some software and I really haven't had too much down time here. Right now I'm back in Fes, but I'm leaving tomorrow for Marrakesh to meet Jessie and her parents and Faisal and Labib. We'll be taking a taxi to a gnawa festival in a town a couple hours away. Marrakesh is supposed to be amazing, so I am really looking forward to it. Hanane and Rob told me that I have to eat Tangia while I'm there. Apparently it's some type of delicious meat.
The wedding is a week from tomorrow and I will be going with Hanane's family and staying with them at their friend's home in Rabat. I will miss Jessie's henna party, which is disappointing. I'm borrowing a kuftan (traditional Moroccan dress) from their friend's family to wear to the wedding. It is a beautiful midnight blue with silver bead work and a silver belt. I can't describe it really...insha Allah I will have a picture posted soon.
On Tuesday I went with Labib and Rob's friend Roshd and his sister Sehem to some natural hot springs outside of Fez called Moulay Yacob. We walked down maybe a hundred steps until we reached the bath. Labib and Roshd went into a room and Sehem and I in another. There were two bath tubs in the room, each with two faucets: one for cold water and the other for the hot, slightly yellow (from the sulfur) water. We stripped down and got into the baths, shampoo and loofas in hand. To my disgust, I found what appeared to be a huge wad of mucus floating in my bath. My mind raced, thinking of all the places and people that this could have come from. Then Sehem laughed at me, and told me it came from the water because of the minerals and the heat. "Makeinsh mushkeil" or "no problem" she said. After about 45 minutes or so we got dressed and met the boys in the lobby. I felt really really dizzy afterwards, due to the mid-day African sun combined with being dehydrated prior to our trip to the sauna. But after chugging a couple of liters of water and sleeping on Sehem's lap on the way home, I felt better. Labib said he thought I died.
Yesterday was quite interesting. I went walking with Hanane's mom Fatima in the Centre Ville, which is the really nice commercial center of Fes. We talked a lot about relgion and Islam, to the best of our ability that is. I'm actually very comfortable talking with Fatima. We have our own sort of broken up language consisting of classical arabic, Moroccan, a little english and a lot of hand motions. That evening while walking with her and her daughter, Fatima Zahra, we were walking out of a shop when a woman approached us and began talking with them, motioning towards me. After a second she left and Fatima Zahra explained to me that she had asked them if I was married, and secondly if I was Moroccan (noticing that I wasn't speaking for myself). I must say that I was flattered, and this has definitely never happened before! I guess that this is just the way that it goes here. A woman is looking for a wife for her brother or son, and just approaches you on the street. Something new everyday.
Well, I am waking up in 6 hours to go to Marrakesh, so this is goodnight. Next time I write I'll tell you all about the trip and the monkeys that Rob tells me I'm going to see! :o)
salaama

Wedding madness in Rabat

I am in Rabat now, staying with Faisal's family who is very sweet. Things are more cosmopolitan here than in Fes, and the weather is a lot cooler since we're on the ocean. Fes is HOT. But this is what I expected, and it's not too bad, yet. On Wednesday we went to Casablanca and saw Masjeed Hassan Ithani, the second largest mosque in the world. The night before Faisal's mom had given me a gorgeous handmade, orange silk jalaba (long tunic style dress for women) that she had made herself. I was so touched, which brings me to my biggest frustration here: I can't EXPRESS myself, especially my gratitude, which leaves me feeling helpless and ungrateful. Saying "shukran" just doesn't cut it with everything. Anyway, I wore the jelaba to the mosque and Jessie and Faisal's mom and I went up into the women's section to pray the afternoon prayer. It was a really intense spiritually...being inside this majestic mosque surrounded by intricatly carved pillars and ceilings and Qur'an scripture written in beautiful caligraphy all over the place in gold and black. Just hearing the call to prayer from inside the mosque, hearing the words echoing through the mosque and off the walls was awesome in the true sense of the word.

The food here is delicious. I have been eating meat, which has taken some getting used to, but I am learning. Breakfast is usually cafe au lait with bread and cream cheese and jam or honey. Then, the ladies cook until lunch time, which is the main meal of the day, usually a huge dish placed in the center of the table where we all eat with our hands (usually assisted by bread). Couscous with steamed carrots and beef, chicken with almonds and figs ontop of rice...amazing feasts everyday! Then dinner is around 10 pm or so, and is small like breakfast. Maybe some soup and dates or "bagheer" which are like crepes and the most delicious of all. You soak them in butter and honey and fold them up. Mmmm. Sometimes we eat only yogurt and dates and that is plenty. I like eating this way, I think it is healthier. Oh, and all the juices here are homemade and taste like no juice in the US. I know I am talking about the food too much, but it is such a big part of life here. I am learning how to cook all the dishes too, and hope to share when I get back home.
Rabat is full of wedding madness. We are tediously hand-making cookies everyday in preperation for the event. We went to the Moroccan equivalent of a wedding planner with Jessie to get her dresses. She looked so stunning trying them all on. You rent dresses here, rather than buy them, because the bride usually wears 3-9 dresses throughout the night. Jessie has a flowy white dress with silver beads, a traditional Berber dress, and Faisal's aunt is hand making the 3rd, which is a sort of brownish-red and should be the most beautiful of all. Everyone here is very kind to us, and very enchanted by Jessie's fairness. Little girls love playing with her hair, it's so cute.
Today Faisal's friend Labib arrived from Saudi, so more sight seeing is bound to begin. He came laden with gifts, like an Arabian santa. It is nice having a 4th person in the group, since sometimes I have felt like a third wheel with Jessie and Faisal. They are lovebirds you know.

The language barrier has been so frusterating. Moroccan arabic is so different than classical arabic! So I get by with saying words like "water?" "come" "I go" etc. I am determined though, and know I will improve. I've learned a lot just in a week and a half! And school will help of course. I really made a good foundation in Fes, and feel like it is my home. I love Hanane's family and their friends. I feel very welcomed, yet lonely at the same time since I cannot communicate as I want to.

I miss everyone, and thank you to those who have written me! It is nice to hear from the other side of the world. :)

Asalaamu alaikum

Here at last

I can't believe that after a year of anticipation I am finally here. The plane ride was so long, and we hit a thunderstorm causing everyone's dinners to end up all over the floor and eachother, and the lady sitting behind me fainted because of the turbulance. Once I got to London, I was less than thrilled to get on another plane, but the second flight was much better, alhamdu Allah. I sat with an older British gent, who was very talkative but a little hard to understand through his thick York accent. When we got to Morocco, the first thing I noticed was HEAT. Air conditioning is an extreme luxury here, and isn't wasted cooling off huge buildings like an airport. I got through customes with no problem, as I immediatly began speaking with the officer in classical arabic. He seemed very amused and hardly even looked at my pastport. Then I got on the train to Casablanca ("caza") I switched trains there, and a nice man who I thought was moroccan helped me with my bags. but then I found out that he was from uae and almost as lost as me. Just as the bustling crowd at the station surrounded us, I saw the face of a man wh had been on the plane with us from London. He shouted at the man in arabic to follow him up the stairs, and then to my suprise smiled at me and said in an english accent "trust me, it's this way". so I found out that the british man, Imad, is moroccan but hasn't been home in 7 years. I met his aunt who had been waiting for him to arrive there for almost 12 hours! they were traveling to meknes on the same train that was going to fez (my destination) and told me to sit with them...i would be safer this way. so we sat and talked and shared our water and airplane food until the train came. imad was really worried that I was traveling alone, and critical that no one was there to pick me up. he and his aunt tried to convince me to stay with them in meknes that night and they would take me to fez in the morning. i must have declined 20 times or more! if there is one thing to say about moroccans it is that they are extremely persistent. so we say together on the train, and talked and laughed, and by the end of the ride i felt like they were my good friends. his aunt was hugging me and kissing me when they left, telling me to come to meknes and stay with them. imad was also telling me to come, and was so happy to meet a friend that speaks english and gave me their number so he can visit us in rabat and go to the beach. I really dont know what i would have done had i not met them that night, i owe them so much. but this is how i feel with everyone here! i owe everyone so much and i dont know how to repay their kindness or express it in words. saying "shukran" doesn't cut it all the time.

Hanane's family is so sweet to me and very accomadating and treat me like family. I am so lucky to be staying with them. Her sister speaks english very well and it is very helpful in situations where I have no idea what is going on. since i got here, me not knowing what it going on is pretty much the theme. My first day here was insane! We got after jessie and i has stayed up until 7 am catching up, and went to Hanane's mom Faitma's friend Leila's house. she is married to an american man who has lived her for 6 years. we ate so much food...and i ate chicken, which was so weird! jessie asked me what it tasted like...and I said...chicken. It is hard on my stomach though, eating meat after not for so long. anyway, we met the friends of the family ahmad and his wife fatiha and their children. after delicious tea and pancakes their son Roshd (who i had heard a lot about from Islaam and Hanane) took faisal and jessie and I to concert in the old city. It is part of the world music festival going on, and it was sufi musicians playing. It was crazy...there were people spread out on rugs everywhere, and when the musicians played...everyone stood and clapped and danced and the four of us joined in too. It was a wonderful experience. I wish i could type more but there is just too much to say. sorry for any typos, i am too lazy to re-read this. MISS YOU ALL.

Welcome to the blog

Don't worry, the site is working, I just have no posts up since I'm not there yet! More to come very soon...until then, salaam!