I've already been here a week! It feels like I’ve been here forever and that I just arrived yesterday, and unfortunately I can’t explain it more intelligibly than that. (And apologies for the lateness in posting, I’ve been busy and just got a hold of internet.)
Wednesday I moved in with my host family and they are absolutely wonderful. The apartment is large and airy and much cooler than the rest of Rabat thanks to its proximity to the ocean. All of the food here has been so so much better than in any of the restaurants we ate in during the first three days. By far the best thing I’ve eaten here is a chicken tagine with green beans and onions, and on the first day our host “sister” taught us how to make traditional Moroccan mint tea.
Wednesday I moved in with my host family and they are absolutely wonderful. The apartment is large and airy and much cooler than the rest of Rabat thanks to its proximity to the ocean. All of the food here has been so so much better than in any of the restaurants we ate in during the first three days. By far the best thing I’ve eaten here is a chicken tagine with green beans and onions, and on the first day our host “sister” taught us how to make traditional Moroccan mint tea.
The apartment is a short walk to the medina and souk, the Kasbahs, and within walking distance of all of Rabat (which is a much smaller city than I originally thought). We’re right down the street from a حمّام (Hammam), or bath house, as well as a beautiful mosque. I’m slowly becoming more used to the calls to prayer (not so much the ones at 4 a.m., but that'll come. I hope.)
My past week has been full of “survival Moroccan Arabic” lessons, taught by our amazingly spirited teacher, Tulia, in the Amideast program building. So far learning Darija has been an interesting process, as it seems to me that the Moroccans took Modern Standard Arabic, removed as many vowels as possible, and pushed all the consonants together. Case in point: the word for “Nice to meet you,” in Darija as متشفين, is an eight letter word with one vowel: Mtshrfin. I assume I’ll get a quick handle on it though, as my host mom (and one of my host sisters) doesn’t speak English. Side note: everyone here speaks at least two languages, and speaking 4 is not uncommon. Makes me feel lazy.
My past week has been full of “survival Moroccan Arabic” lessons, taught by our amazingly spirited teacher, Tulia, in the Amideast program building. So far learning Darija has been an interesting process, as it seems to me that the Moroccans took Modern Standard Arabic, removed as many vowels as possible, and pushed all the consonants together. Case in point: the word for “Nice to meet you,” in Darija as متشفين, is an eight letter word with one vowel: Mtshrfin. I assume I’ll get a quick handle on it though, as my host mom (and one of my host sisters) doesn’t speak English. Side note: everyone here speaks at least two languages, and speaking 4 is not uncommon. Makes me feel lazy.
Tomorrow regular classes start. I'll be continuing Darija and adding in Modern Standard for my Arabic classes, and taking three humanities courses. I'm in Islamic Reform & Islamism, the Arab Spring, and Gender, Islam, & Society. The Arab Spring course should be especially interesting, as we'll be connected with a classroom in Jordan and a teacher in Egypt via Skype every day.
Yesterday a whole pack of the students studying here with Amideast (myself included) travelled to the beach with someone’s host sister, which was beautiful and not too crowded. Picture courtesy of Brittany Dawson :)
p.s. Pillows here are hard. Ouch.
You sound like you are having so so much fun! How was the mint tea? When I stayed in Costa Rica for a summer my host mom made me mint tea whenever I felt sick and it now holds such a dear place in my heart, I absolutely adore it! (yum)
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