Sorry for the break in reporting.
I am approaching the homestretch with approximately 10 days left before I journey home. Next week I take the final exam covering about a year worth of material which we attempted to learn in less than six weeks. Well, six weeks is clearly not enough time but I think it was an overall great experience. I definitely needed some sort of abroad experience before I graduated from Yale University and what better way to do it than by taking an extremely intensive language course funded by the State Department?
I learned about a different culture, a different social class, a different religion, a different way of life. I learned I love America. I learned I am VERY American. I learned how to bargain with a shop owner, eat a whole sardine, use ALL my language knowledge (French, Arabic, Spanish and English…yes even my eighth grade French), how to be vigilant while walking through a city, what being hot really means, the cheapest forms of international communication, graduate schools (several people in our program were well into their late twenties), how to be sensitive of culture, standards that are universal, how not to get taken advantage of, stereotypes of Americans, cultural customs versus religious customs, Ranger School, the Peace Corps, colonialism, developing countries and their growing pains, the importance of basic education, the difficulty of learning a language, and hospitality.
As much as I enjoyed learning all these things and surely more, I am very happy to be returning home to a place where I can do what I damn well please. I am excited to see my family. I am looking forward to making my little brother cute lunches, being my mother’s coworker, student, friend, workout partner, hanging with my friends by the pool (to even out my horrible farmer’s tan that was caused by all the conservative clothing I had to wear) while reading several books (first Harry Potter OF COURSE), working out in spandex again, and seeing the rest of my relatives in the south, yes you GMA, GPA, Cynthia, Erica, and Jackson! Lance, I will have to see you in the Fall…but we will have fun so no worries, and NO I am not stopping by DC I am going from Tangier to London to NY to Chicago to Des Moines.
If I do not manage to write between now and the end of the program it’s because I am SWAMPED with work. I love you guys and feel free to contact me via Email.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
more of Fez
Alright, here it is.
So as most of you all know I am in Morocco studying Arabic. Last weekend I travelled down south from Tangier to the old city of Fez with a several girls in my program. Fez in a nutshell is: crowded streets, lots of smells, outdoor market, lots of beautiful mosaics and no sense of personal space.
We arrived late Friday evening, exhausted, and dragged ourselves through the giant ancient gate to enter the old city (there is a old city in Fez and a new city). I am not really awake, and my first welcome is from this man passing by, "Ohhhhh myyyyy gooodddddddddd, youhavenicebreasts!" Usually, I just brush aside these comments because they typically happen to all tourists, but at this point I am just so damn tired, I just laugh in his face.
So we get to what looks like some hole in a wall for a hotel but it turns out to be AMAZINGLY beautiful on the inside. We all pass out and wake up the next morning for our private tour guide/ the man who takes us around to his friends shops they can rip us off.
After 6 hours of getting ripped off, we were really tired and dirty as hell. I managed to step in horse shit TWICE, ok it could have been donkey doo doo but who knows, not important. Anyways, before the day is done we stop by this medicine shop. I am curious about the alternative medicines used in Morocco so I begin asking questions (bad idea). This guy sits us down and shows us the first jar of some herb, in parenthesis it says "Viagra". He told us it was good for the "Jiggy Jiggy". He pulls out another jar of some black powder and says its good for everything. Headache, hangovers, whatever. He puts some powder in a pouch comes up to me and SHOVES IT UP MY NOSE takes his hand and closes my other nostril and orders me to sniff. I do so, idiotically. He then does the same to himself, and then COMES BACK TO ME with the SAME POUCH to shove it up my other nostril. Siiigggh. I looked up this powder on wiki and it turns out to be safe, and is used for a cooking sometimes. Thank goodness. Black Anise...if youre curious.
Ok, so next adventure, so we are all dirty and decide we should go to the Hammam, the public bath. You have to keep in mind the Hammam is something normal in the Arab world. We grab our towels and toiletries and head out in a giant group (nine girls). We arrive and disrobe to our undies until the old ladies start yelling at us. So basically our bras came off and I will never be shy about being naked AGAIN. In our undies we head to the first steam room. We gather we are supposed to sit and pour the buckets of water on ourselves. The women who work there are all old, fat and also in there underwear bottoms. Side-note: Saggy breasts are icky. So we paid to be "washed"...we all weren't really sure what this entailed, apparently I was the first to find out. As I was sitting in the corner of the room dumping buckets of hot water on myself with my peers, this old women comes up to me, turns me around and starts scrubbing my back. I try to tell myself this isn't awkward and the next thing you know, and I don't know how to put this nicely but whatever, she lies my head back into her lap and starts scrubbing my front, yup, I basically had my breasts fondled by a naked old women. Although going first was awkward, I was thankful because they definitely, used the SAME scrubber one everyone else. To top it all off, I walked into the next room and stood while I was "rinsed" which involved dumping three buckets of water over me. The first bucket was the normal dump over the head bucket, the second one, however, involved the old naked saggy breast woman pulling open the front of my underwear and dumping a bucket of water down my undies. And then repeat for the back of my underwear with the third bucket. Flabbergasted, I completed my journey through the hammam and walked home with the rest of the girls who were in my program...just stunned. No more hammam for Sarah.
Well, back to hours of hw. BYEEEEEEEE!!!!
I'll end with another pick up line heard in Morocco, (said in funny accent) "You have Crrrrrazy butt....but I like it."
So as most of you all know I am in Morocco studying Arabic. Last weekend I travelled down south from Tangier to the old city of Fez with a several girls in my program. Fez in a nutshell is: crowded streets, lots of smells, outdoor market, lots of beautiful mosaics and no sense of personal space.
We arrived late Friday evening, exhausted, and dragged ourselves through the giant ancient gate to enter the old city (there is a old city in Fez and a new city). I am not really awake, and my first welcome is from this man passing by, "Ohhhhh myyyyy gooodddddddddd, youhavenicebreasts!" Usually, I just brush aside these comments because they typically happen to all tourists, but at this point I am just so damn tired, I just laugh in his face.
So we get to what looks like some hole in a wall for a hotel but it turns out to be AMAZINGLY beautiful on the inside. We all pass out and wake up the next morning for our private tour guide/ the man who takes us around to his friends shops they can rip us off.
After 6 hours of getting ripped off, we were really tired and dirty as hell. I managed to step in horse shit TWICE, ok it could have been donkey doo doo but who knows, not important. Anyways, before the day is done we stop by this medicine shop. I am curious about the alternative medicines used in Morocco so I begin asking questions (bad idea). This guy sits us down and shows us the first jar of some herb, in parenthesis it says "Viagra". He told us it was good for the "Jiggy Jiggy". He pulls out another jar of some black powder and says its good for everything. Headache, hangovers, whatever. He puts some powder in a pouch comes up to me and SHOVES IT UP MY NOSE takes his hand and closes my other nostril and orders me to sniff. I do so, idiotically. He then does the same to himself, and then COMES BACK TO ME with the SAME POUCH to shove it up my other nostril. Siiigggh. I looked up this powder on wiki and it turns out to be safe, and is used for a cooking sometimes. Thank goodness. Black Anise...if youre curious.
Ok, so next adventure, so we are all dirty and decide we should go to the Hammam, the public bath. You have to keep in mind the Hammam is something normal in the Arab world. We grab our towels and toiletries and head out in a giant group (nine girls). We arrive and disrobe to our undies until the old ladies start yelling at us. So basically our bras came off and I will never be shy about being naked AGAIN. In our undies we head to the first steam room. We gather we are supposed to sit and pour the buckets of water on ourselves. The women who work there are all old, fat and also in there underwear bottoms. Side-note: Saggy breasts are icky. So we paid to be "washed"...we all weren't really sure what this entailed, apparently I was the first to find out. As I was sitting in the corner of the room dumping buckets of hot water on myself with my peers, this old women comes up to me, turns me around and starts scrubbing my back. I try to tell myself this isn't awkward and the next thing you know, and I don't know how to put this nicely but whatever, she lies my head back into her lap and starts scrubbing my front, yup, I basically had my breasts fondled by a naked old women. Although going first was awkward, I was thankful because they definitely, used the SAME scrubber one everyone else. To top it all off, I walked into the next room and stood while I was "rinsed" which involved dumping three buckets of water over me. The first bucket was the normal dump over the head bucket, the second one, however, involved the old naked saggy breast woman pulling open the front of my underwear and dumping a bucket of water down my undies. And then repeat for the back of my underwear with the third bucket. Flabbergasted, I completed my journey through the hammam and walked home with the rest of the girls who were in my program...just stunned. No more hammam for Sarah.
Well, back to hours of hw. BYEEEEEEEE!!!!
I'll end with another pick up line heard in Morocco, (said in funny accent) "You have Crrrrrazy butt....but I like it."
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Fez
Fez (Day One, Friday)
Fez is an old city in Magrib (Morocco) that attracts many tourists because of its architecture dating back to the 9th century and all of its traditional crafts like leather, ceramics and woven rugs. It’s important to know that Morocco is trying to develop itself into a nation that attracts tourists. I observed this growth process and concluded Morocco is experiencing growing pains. Its drawing people from advanced countries, and all the money pouring into Morocco allows for it to attempt to advance out of its third world status. By doing this, Morocco loses its charm of unexploited communities, rich with culture. Half the items for sale look like they were made in China and the rest of the items seem to originate from this one giant factory that has a monopoly on that particular market. For example all the jewelry looks the same at every single shop, and there are hundreds of shops.
So my rihla (trip) began by taking a five hour train ride to Fez from Tangier. We had to switch trains about halfway through, and WOW, these trains are so unorganized. They are overbooked, people take the incorrect seats, trains are late, and the train number never corresponds with number listed on the ticket. I arrived with several other girls in the program in the evening. Exhausted, we took a taxi to the old city (Fez has a section called the old city and a section called the new city). I walk in with my girls, dragging my suitcase and as soon as we pass under the giant archway, and I apparently grab this mans attention and he exclaims as I walk by, “Ohhhhhh mmyyyyy Gooooodddddddd, Youhavenice BREASTS!” I am stunned for a few seconds, and then burst out into laughter as I walk away with my friends. “Welcome to Fez,” I think to myself.
We walk down this narrow street surrounded by tall buildings and come across our hotel. There is this shanty sign jutting out from the window indicating the name which I don’t remember at this moment and I begin to get worried at this point that our hotel is going to be some hole in the wall. We open the door and walk into the main room and I am speechless. The house turned hotel is BEAUTIFUL. It has intricate mosaic tiles, woodwork, and detailed plaster designs everywhere. There are GIANT French doors covered in mosaics and vibrant colors that lead to each of the bedrooms. The main lobby has a ceiling that is about three stories high. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to transfer any of the photos from my camera to the computer, I am not sure why it’s not working, but no description could do this hotel justice. There is a giant room for me and three other girls and it costs us 500 dirham a night, so 125 dirham for my share which equates to about 12.5 US dollars. Got to love that exchange.
The other two days of my trip will be recounted over the next few days…sorry for the infrequent posting as of late. I have been SWAMPED with work. You have to realize I am covering a year + of work in about 6 weeks.
Love to you all!
MUAH!
Fez is an old city in Magrib (Morocco) that attracts many tourists because of its architecture dating back to the 9th century and all of its traditional crafts like leather, ceramics and woven rugs. It’s important to know that Morocco is trying to develop itself into a nation that attracts tourists. I observed this growth process and concluded Morocco is experiencing growing pains. Its drawing people from advanced countries, and all the money pouring into Morocco allows for it to attempt to advance out of its third world status. By doing this, Morocco loses its charm of unexploited communities, rich with culture. Half the items for sale look like they were made in China and the rest of the items seem to originate from this one giant factory that has a monopoly on that particular market. For example all the jewelry looks the same at every single shop, and there are hundreds of shops.
So my rihla (trip) began by taking a five hour train ride to Fez from Tangier. We had to switch trains about halfway through, and WOW, these trains are so unorganized. They are overbooked, people take the incorrect seats, trains are late, and the train number never corresponds with number listed on the ticket. I arrived with several other girls in the program in the evening. Exhausted, we took a taxi to the old city (Fez has a section called the old city and a section called the new city). I walk in with my girls, dragging my suitcase and as soon as we pass under the giant archway, and I apparently grab this mans attention and he exclaims as I walk by, “Ohhhhhh mmyyyyy Gooooodddddddd, Youhavenice BREASTS!” I am stunned for a few seconds, and then burst out into laughter as I walk away with my friends. “Welcome to Fez,” I think to myself.
We walk down this narrow street surrounded by tall buildings and come across our hotel. There is this shanty sign jutting out from the window indicating the name which I don’t remember at this moment and I begin to get worried at this point that our hotel is going to be some hole in the wall. We open the door and walk into the main room and I am speechless. The house turned hotel is BEAUTIFUL. It has intricate mosaic tiles, woodwork, and detailed plaster designs everywhere. There are GIANT French doors covered in mosaics and vibrant colors that lead to each of the bedrooms. The main lobby has a ceiling that is about three stories high. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to transfer any of the photos from my camera to the computer, I am not sure why it’s not working, but no description could do this hotel justice. There is a giant room for me and three other girls and it costs us 500 dirham a night, so 125 dirham for my share which equates to about 12.5 US dollars. Got to love that exchange.
The other two days of my trip will be recounted over the next few days…sorry for the infrequent posting as of late. I have been SWAMPED with work. You have to realize I am covering a year + of work in about 6 weeks.
Love to you all!
MUAH!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Sarah’s Daily Schedule
5:30 or 6 am Alarm, Shower, Dress
6:30 -7:45am E-mail, study
7:45-8:00am Walk to school (1 mile)
8:00-8:30am Breakfast
8:30-9:00am Study before class
9:00-11:00am Class
11:00-11:15am Tea
11:15-1:00pm Class
1:00-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-2:00pm Lie down outside
2:00-3:00pm Class
3:00-3:15pm Walk home (1 mile)
3:15 -6:00pm Study, email, get ready to workout
6:00-6:25 pm walk to gym, get dressed
6:25-8:30pm Workout, shower, dress, walk home.
8:30-9:00 Find some type of dinner and eat
9:00-12 or 1AM Study, Email, Get ready for bed
REPEAT!
5:30 or 6 am Alarm, Shower, Dress
6:30 -7:45am E-mail, study
7:45-8:00am Walk to school (1 mile)
8:00-8:30am Breakfast
8:30-9:00am Study before class
9:00-11:00am Class
11:00-11:15am Tea
11:15-1:00pm Class
1:00-1:30pm Lunch
1:30-2:00pm Lie down outside
2:00-3:00pm Class
3:00-3:15pm Walk home (1 mile)
3:15 -6:00pm Study, email, get ready to workout
6:00-6:25 pm walk to gym, get dressed
6:25-8:30pm Workout, shower, dress, walk home.
8:30-9:00 Find some type of dinner and eat
9:00-12 or 1AM Study, Email, Get ready for bed
REPEAT!
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