As I said in my last post, my Moroccan days have cemented themselves into a recognizable routine, namely one that does not include updating this blog and does include a lot of lying around doing nothing. Case in point, two weekends ago I didn't leave my house or change out of my PJ's for two whole days (stop judging, I did at least take a shower on Saturday). Two events have unsettled my usual schedule of eating, sleeping, and avoiding homework at all costs. These are the visit from my dad three weeks ago, and my trip to Paris last weekend.
The visit from my dad was amazing. It was so nice to see someone from home, when I haven't been home in seven months, and it's great knowing that when I go back the the US there will be at least one person who can picture Rabat, my host family, and Morocco in general when I talk about it. My poor parent had to put up with a very busy schedule during his trip to the Maghreb. Half an hour after his plane landed we were in a car with my independent study adviser driving to Sale to watch a candle festival annually held to celebrate the birth of the Prophet. The parade itself as really interesting, with the giant candles held by members of different organizations, the many religious brotherhoods with their own performances, and the crowd of celebratory Moroccan all clamoring to get closer to the action and being pushed back by police officers. My dad actually held up remarkably well and came out of the experience no worse for wear. That night we ate couscous with the host family and my French comprehension was put to the test as my Moroccan host dad (Baba for purposes of clarity) sees European/American and immediately thinks French. My family found great amusement and mild confusion with my dad's lack of language skills, but were pleased with his response to the food, so everything was fine.
On Saturday we headed over to Meknes and the Roman ruins of Voloubilis. It was a scorching February day with temperatures nearing the nineties. I got my first sunburn of the year and my dad got some nice exposure to the Moroccan countryside. The Middle Atlas region is particularly lovely. Sunday was spent running around Rabat, seeing the standard tourist sights, drinking overpriced mint tea in the scenic Kasbah, and souvenir shopping for the family back at home. My dad also got to see where I go to school and meet a couple of my AMIDEAST friends, which was nice. Monday was also pretty laid back and we ate dinner with my host family again Monday night. This dinner was much more amusing than the last, as it involved Baba tripping over the bread basket and almost falling into the tajine, as well as an intense shouting match over the meaning of one of my vocabulary words when Neda tried to help me with my Arabic homework. All in all, I was very impressed by my dad's ability to just go with the flow, and cope with my crazy, loud Moroccan family. He says that he particularly enjoys telling the folks at home about our trip to the neighborhood vegetable souq with my Moroccan mom, during which she advised me to hold his hand and make sure he didn't get lost or bothered by any of the neighborhood denizens.
After my dad left, I spent the next two weeks chilling in Rabat. I finally broke down and bought a pair of skinny jeans (ostensibly to wear when I went to France, but also to fit in better with the Moroccan crowd) and managed to find an English bootlegged version of The Ugly Truth (after having bought the same move twice before both times in French). We take our victories where we find them here in Morocco.
Anyways, by the time this past weekend rolled around I was in the mood for some adventure, and found it in PARIS! My friend Kathryn and I boarded a jet plane to the City of Lights where I spent the weekend hanging out with my roommate from last semester, Evelyn and my friend Janelle from AU. Friday Kathryn, Evelyn, and I wandered around Montmartre and Pigalle. We saw the gorgeous Sacre Coeur, street artists, an I Love You wall (a wall with I Love You written on it many times and in many languages...including MSA and Darija). Highlights of Pigalle included the Moulin Rouge and a three story sex store (the theme of this trip was pretty much do things that we can't do in Morocco). Friday night we ate great Chinese food, went to a bar, and watched movies. Absolute Perfection. Saturday we got a late start, saw Notre Dame, and I met up with my friend Janelle. Janelle took me to the oldest church in Paris, her school, and Bon Marche, Paris's most expensive department store. Janelle touched a dress that cost 1000 Euro and we sat on a couch with a 300 Euro price tag for one pillar. I got a death glare from a store employee when I impersonated Sherlock Holmes in a fabulous velvet arm chair. Upon return back to Evelyn's apartment, Kathryn attempted, and succeeded in making Moroccan food for Evelyn's French host mom, who talks all the time! She is never quite, it was really impressive actually, although slightly awkward when she would look at me and say "Oh your friend doesn't understand anything." (Which I totally understood!). Saturday night involved dancing the night away in Parisian club with Kathryn, Janelle, and Evelyn. Overall, a very good time was had by all and I cannot wait to get back to Paris! The only losers this weekend were my feet, who still hate me after forcing them to run all over cobblestones in high heeled boots. Ah well, wearing heels and not feeling like a prostitute was well worth the potential nerve damage.
Not much excitement is in the cards for the next week. I have begun conducting interviews for my independent study project, which is an adventure given the fact that I am more uncomfortable that my interviewees most of the time. I think I have an official from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Dar al-Hadith (an imam school) next week. What I am really living for, though, is my trip to Ireland in less than two weeks! I will spend my spring break touring around the Southwestern part of the Emerald Isle and I cannot wait! English, alcohol, and my 21st birthday, what more could I want! Anyways, I probs won't update this blog until after Ireland, so wish me safe travels and a Happy Birthday among the Irish!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
January: School and Beachy Vacations
The first month back at school has been pretty good. The first week was a little chaotic. I got a new roommate, another AU student named Rachel, and was told I have to do an independent study project in lieu of a third humanities class. My roommate situation changed when Rachel, who had requested to have a roommate, was put in a family without one. I am the year long student who lives closest to AMIDEAST and my family wanted another student, so Rachel moved in. At first I was a little wary as I had just started to settle into a roommate-less routine with the host fam, but Rachel is really great and settled right in, so all is well. She's different enough from Evelyn that the experience will not be comparable and the two of us are both AU Honors students. It turns out that we have tons of mutual acquaintances, but had never gotten to know each other. Rachel also speaks French, but is an Arabic beginner. Thankfully, my family has decided that they are only going to speak to me in Arabic, so I still get lots of practice there. It's actually kind of funny because my mom now only speaks Arabic to Rachel as well, so I had to play the role of translator for the Rachel's first week in the house.
As for the independent study project, I was supposed to take a sociology class about North Africa, but everyone else signed up for the class dropped it. My only other option was a French literature class (discounted for obvious reasons) and so I now have to an independent study project in order to have enough credits to keep my scholarship. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really want to do this project. It works out to more reading than any of my regular classes, and I spent all summer doing an independent research project. I also meet with the professor I'm working with twice a week for at least an hour, so it's a considerable amount of pressure. That being said, my topic of research, the relationship between the political and religious spheres in Moroccan society, really interests me, and my advising professor knows a lot about it. He's been pretty good about helping me sort out what kind of research will be feasible given me lack of sociology experience and French language skills. Given these rather important hole in my knowledge, all I'm hoping for is a reasonable well put together paper to turn in at the end of the semester. At least I should come out of this experience with a cool capstone topic to explore further next year.
My other classes are also fine. My Amazigh (or Berber) history and culture class is taught by the guy who practically invented the field of Amazigh studies, so it's interesting. My political science class is also OK, although we talk about a lot of things that I covered last semester, so not the most exciting three hours in my week. Surprisingly enough, my language classes are actually the highlight of this semester. My MSA class is taught by my Darija teacher from last semester, which had me slightly concerned in the beginning. As it turns out, my worry was needless because Toriyya is an absolutely fabulous MSA teacher. She is very receptive to questions and willing to work with us outside of class to fill gaps in grammar knowledge. She also holds us accountable for memorizing and retaining all of our grammar and vocab, which is more than any other Arabic professor I've had to this point. My class is also really small, 5 people, so it can be tailored to fit each of our needs. Darija is also good. My teacher is the head of AMIDEAST's Arabic program and she really knows her stuff. We use Darija to reinforce what we're learning in MSA and each of us has to give an in class presentation before the midterm.
Outside of class, life is falling into a pretty standard routine. I wake up, go to class, procrastinate by screwing around on the internet for a few hours at AMIDEAST, do some homework, go home, drink tea, avoid doing more homework, eat dinner, sleep. Pretty boring, truth be told. Last semester everything was new and exciting, now life in Rabat has the comfortable familiarity of routine. It's kind of nice, actually. My family seems to have achieved a certain level of familiarity with me as well. Neda and Sarah, having discovered that I startle easily, try to scare me at least three times a day. Rahma and I have conversations about school, cooking, and her family while I drink tea. My mom has finally started remembering my name with some consistency, and my dad told me I peeled my orange like a Moroccan last night. (Interesting side note, oranges are in season, and delicious so I'm averaging about three a day in consumption.) I've even managed to insinuate myself in neighborhood life. My tailor friend who I walk past whenever I take a cab home invited me in for tea last week, and the hanut guys all say salaam! when I walk past. It's nice to feel solidly comfortable with my family, my neighborhood, and my day to day existence.
I suppose I shouldn't feel too complacent though, as this weekend proved that there's still a lot of Morocco that I have yet to explore. This weekend was the first time that I've gotten out of Rabat since Erin went back to London. Emily, Shino (another AU person), and I went to Essaouira while all of the other AMIDEAST people went on the school sponsored trip to Fez. We started out our adventure on Thursday afternoon with a train ride to Marrakech. We spent the night in a hostel, and had an enjoyable evening chatting with four brothers who owned the soup stand we ate dinner at in the Jamaa alFna. The next morning we took a bus to Essaouira, a small beach side town and apparent tourist mecca during the summer months. One of the AMIDEAST administrators is from Essaouira and he reserved us a room at a great hotel, complete with a roof terrace and breakfast. Our first afternoon was spent walking along the dock, exploring the medina, and eating tapas at a fun little restaurant. Saturday found me knocked out with a weird stomach virus, but I rallied in time to enjoy an afternoon of ice cream eating, people watching, and sunset viewing from the dock. It was the perfect weekend after a month back in the school routine. Emily, Shino, and I spent hours chilling in a cafe, watching life go by and soaking up the seaside atmosphere. There was no rush, no hurry to see everything, or have a super-structured trip. It was relaxation, pure and simple. I was reluctant to return to Rabat on Sunday, but glad to see my host family again, especially when Neda greeted me with a yell of Catherine! and three kisses on my cheek. It was good to be home.
As for the independent study project, I was supposed to take a sociology class about North Africa, but everyone else signed up for the class dropped it. My only other option was a French literature class (discounted for obvious reasons) and so I now have to an independent study project in order to have enough credits to keep my scholarship. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really want to do this project. It works out to more reading than any of my regular classes, and I spent all summer doing an independent research project. I also meet with the professor I'm working with twice a week for at least an hour, so it's a considerable amount of pressure. That being said, my topic of research, the relationship between the political and religious spheres in Moroccan society, really interests me, and my advising professor knows a lot about it. He's been pretty good about helping me sort out what kind of research will be feasible given me lack of sociology experience and French language skills. Given these rather important hole in my knowledge, all I'm hoping for is a reasonable well put together paper to turn in at the end of the semester. At least I should come out of this experience with a cool capstone topic to explore further next year.
My other classes are also fine. My Amazigh (or Berber) history and culture class is taught by the guy who practically invented the field of Amazigh studies, so it's interesting. My political science class is also OK, although we talk about a lot of things that I covered last semester, so not the most exciting three hours in my week. Surprisingly enough, my language classes are actually the highlight of this semester. My MSA class is taught by my Darija teacher from last semester, which had me slightly concerned in the beginning. As it turns out, my worry was needless because Toriyya is an absolutely fabulous MSA teacher. She is very receptive to questions and willing to work with us outside of class to fill gaps in grammar knowledge. She also holds us accountable for memorizing and retaining all of our grammar and vocab, which is more than any other Arabic professor I've had to this point. My class is also really small, 5 people, so it can be tailored to fit each of our needs. Darija is also good. My teacher is the head of AMIDEAST's Arabic program and she really knows her stuff. We use Darija to reinforce what we're learning in MSA and each of us has to give an in class presentation before the midterm.
Outside of class, life is falling into a pretty standard routine. I wake up, go to class, procrastinate by screwing around on the internet for a few hours at AMIDEAST, do some homework, go home, drink tea, avoid doing more homework, eat dinner, sleep. Pretty boring, truth be told. Last semester everything was new and exciting, now life in Rabat has the comfortable familiarity of routine. It's kind of nice, actually. My family seems to have achieved a certain level of familiarity with me as well. Neda and Sarah, having discovered that I startle easily, try to scare me at least three times a day. Rahma and I have conversations about school, cooking, and her family while I drink tea. My mom has finally started remembering my name with some consistency, and my dad told me I peeled my orange like a Moroccan last night. (Interesting side note, oranges are in season, and delicious so I'm averaging about three a day in consumption.) I've even managed to insinuate myself in neighborhood life. My tailor friend who I walk past whenever I take a cab home invited me in for tea last week, and the hanut guys all say salaam! when I walk past. It's nice to feel solidly comfortable with my family, my neighborhood, and my day to day existence.
I suppose I shouldn't feel too complacent though, as this weekend proved that there's still a lot of Morocco that I have yet to explore. This weekend was the first time that I've gotten out of Rabat since Erin went back to London. Emily, Shino (another AU person), and I went to Essaouira while all of the other AMIDEAST people went on the school sponsored trip to Fez. We started out our adventure on Thursday afternoon with a train ride to Marrakech. We spent the night in a hostel, and had an enjoyable evening chatting with four brothers who owned the soup stand we ate dinner at in the Jamaa alFna. The next morning we took a bus to Essaouira, a small beach side town and apparent tourist mecca during the summer months. One of the AMIDEAST administrators is from Essaouira and he reserved us a room at a great hotel, complete with a roof terrace and breakfast. Our first afternoon was spent walking along the dock, exploring the medina, and eating tapas at a fun little restaurant. Saturday found me knocked out with a weird stomach virus, but I rallied in time to enjoy an afternoon of ice cream eating, people watching, and sunset viewing from the dock. It was the perfect weekend after a month back in the school routine. Emily, Shino, and I spent hours chilling in a cafe, watching life go by and soaking up the seaside atmosphere. There was no rush, no hurry to see everything, or have a super-structured trip. It was relaxation, pure and simple. I was reluctant to return to Rabat on Sunday, but glad to see my host family again, especially when Neda greeted me with a yell of Catherine! and three kisses on my cheek. It was good to be home.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Journies to Distant Lands and a New Semester
Well, I'm officially back in Morocco after a whirl wind of a winter break full of lots of exciting travels. Whew.
To begin the recounting of my winter break adventures, let us travel back in time to December 19, 2009 when I boarded a plane to Cairo, Egypt. My mother and I had plans to spend ten days traveling in Egypt, first in Cairo, and then on a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan, and finally back to Cairo for another two days of sightseeing. Our first day of Cairo sightseeing was great. We explored all of the pyramids in Giza, and several "step" pyramids built in the surrounding area. It was incredible to see the pyramids standing there against the backdrop of smog filled Cairo. Talk about places where the past a present walk hand in hand! Our guide was entertaining and knowledgeable, and a good times was had by all. The hotel we stayed at was also a total trip. Apparently late December is a big time in Egypt's tourist season, because all of the little resorts in Giza were absolutely packed with foreign tourists. Going outside the hotel was strongly discouraged, as my mom and I found out when we attempted to take a short walk after dinner, and each hotel had a whole complex of restaurants and shops. Our first night we ate at a Tex Mex restaurant in our hotel. It was wild.
After our day in Cairo we boarded an early flight to Luxor. The rest of that day was spent touring the monuments along both the East and West banks of the Nile in Luxor. We went to the Valley of the Kings and actually walked through three tombs with all of the original hieroglyphics still in place! We also visited the temples of Luxor and Karnak, which were amazing in their scale and detail. It's so hard to believe that all of these buildings were erected thousands and thousands of years ago, and still mostly standing!
The next few days were spent sailing down the Nile and stopping at various points so that all of us tourists could disembark with our various guides and visit the historic monuments located close to the shore. It was absolutely crazy floating down the river seeing ship, after tourist filled ship passing by in both directions. On the cruise, my days were mostly spent reading novels and chatting with a group of Sri Lanken teenagers who befriended me (I think in large part because I was the only person under 35 who spoke English on our ship), and avoiding the remarkably persistent spa workers who absolutely refused to believe that I did not want a massage.
Probably my favorite place that we visited was Aswan. In Aswan we saw that high dam, the Nubian Museum, and a temple devoted to Isis, which was one of the twenty or so monuments that a UNESCO project moved to a new location when the rising waters behind the Aswan dam threatened to flood them. I had no idea that so many temples were physically moved to new locations, or that so much Nubian history had been lost because of the dam. Anyways, the temple was located on an island, and was absolutely gorgeous. Especially with the water and flower filled backdrop. My mom and I also visited the Coptic cathedral in Aswan on Christmas day (their Christmas wasn't until our Epiphany). After Aswan it was back to Cairo for another couple of days of sightseeing within the city itself. The biggest highlight here was a trip to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities where all of the loot from King Tut's tomb, plus a number of mummies were on display.
Overall, I'm really glad that I went to Egypt and got to see all of the incredible monuments, temples, and historic artifacts. That being said, going to North Africa when it quickly became apparent that I really wanted a break from North Africa was not the best idea. I am so thankful that I got to spend Christmas with my mom at least (and she was a perfect saint for putting up with all of my whining and emotional moments that frequently occurred during this trip), but it was still depressing. It was high sixties and sunny on Christmas day, and I missed cold weather, familiar carols, trees, and traditional decorations. Instead of being at home with my family, I was in a weird sort of tourist limbo and it made me ache with homesickness in ways that I cannot even begin to describe. I think my lowest point came while waiting alone in the hotel (my mom's flight was much earlier than mine) for my ride to the airport. "There's No Place like Home for the Holidays" came on the loudspeaker as I was wandering aimlessly through the sprawling complex full of tourists three days after Christmas. I felt like crying. Ah well, next year I'm going to be so full of Christmas cheer that my family will probably want to strangle me long before the holiday season is over.
Egypt was also difficult, surprisingly enough, because of my Arabic skills and Moroccan background. People on the cruise, and both of our guides (we had a different one in Luxor and Aswan, nice guy but not nearly as knowledgeable as our Cairo guide) were stunned to hear me speak Arabic. Sometimes this worked in our favor. My mom and I made good friends with the barman on our cruise, and our Luxor/Aswan guide told us more about his personal history than he would have if he hadn't developed some personal interest in us. Other times though, I just wanted to be left alone and that was simply not an option. Waiters came up to me just to see if it was really true that I spoke Arabic, and I was given a significant amount of teasing for not knowing how to speak Egyptian Arabic, even though I can get along fine in Moroccan Darija, and Classical Arabic. Also, Morocco is just close enough to Egypt culturally that I thought I would be able to successfully navigate Egyptian streets and markets without a problem, but also significantly different enough that my mom and I still ended up getting ripped off when taking taxis or shopping. This frustrated me to no end, as I felt like I wasn't able to relax and act like a complete tourist, thanks to my Morocco experience.
OK enough whining! Sorry for the angst in this post! I hope I haven't further alienated my already dwindling readership with all my complaining. Luckily, my depressing Egyptian Christmas was followed by a spectacular New Years in London with my friend Erin. Erin and I spent an enjoyable few days visiting museums, such as the Natural History Museum, the Royal War Museum, and my personal favorite, the Sherlock Holmes Museum. We also saw the Sherlock Holmes movie, ate in pubs, drank alcohol, and took a thoroughly touristy trek past Westminster Abby and the Houses of Parliament. Erin took me to an Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral, a wonderful Anglican tradition that once again had me in tears, and on a slightly more contemporary note, we saw a fabulous hip/hop rendition of the Pied Piper story. The highlight of the trip, though was seeing my AU friends again and ringing in the new year, on the bank of the Thames, with some of the most wonderful people I've had the pleasure of knowing.
Erin and I finished both of our vacations with a trip back to Morocco. We toured Fez and Chefchaouen, two of my favorite places in the country, and managed to get around by ourselves just fine with a strange mix of French (on Erin's part) and Darija (on mine). Despite the rain (it rained all week) and several travel setbacks, including having to spend the night in Portugal after missing a connecting flight, forgetting the PIN to my debit card, and leaving my Moroccan cell phone on the train to Fez (I know, I apparently really do not travel well) I haven't passed a more enjoyable week in quite some time. For those of you who don't know, I spent the summer working on a research project with Erin, which involved several trips up and down the eastern seaboard, and it was really fun to carry on the Adventures of Catherine and Erin in Morocco. Erin is a wonderful travel companion, as she did not complain about the general dampness or lack of indoor heating in most Moroccan buildings, and she charmed the pants off my host family. It was great coming back to Morocco with her, as I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to handle coming back all by myself. I'm living alone with my host family now and I was not looking forward to the lonely space left by Evelyn's absence. Luckily, a week of fun was just what I needed, and although I certainly suffered bouts of homesickness, especially after I dropped Erin off at the airport, my transition back to Moroccan life has been OK.
My classes started today, as I mentioned earlier, and so far everything seems to be going well. The new group of students seem great, it's just a little weird figuring out our relationship, since the six of us year-long folks are on a rather different plane now. I'm sure that in a couple of weeks everything, including the new dynamic with my host family and the new American students, will have settled and I'll be back at an equilibrium again. For now, I'm going to sign off, start my Arabic homework, and try my best to get back in the swing of things!
To begin the recounting of my winter break adventures, let us travel back in time to December 19, 2009 when I boarded a plane to Cairo, Egypt. My mother and I had plans to spend ten days traveling in Egypt, first in Cairo, and then on a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan, and finally back to Cairo for another two days of sightseeing. Our first day of Cairo sightseeing was great. We explored all of the pyramids in Giza, and several "step" pyramids built in the surrounding area. It was incredible to see the pyramids standing there against the backdrop of smog filled Cairo. Talk about places where the past a present walk hand in hand! Our guide was entertaining and knowledgeable, and a good times was had by all. The hotel we stayed at was also a total trip. Apparently late December is a big time in Egypt's tourist season, because all of the little resorts in Giza were absolutely packed with foreign tourists. Going outside the hotel was strongly discouraged, as my mom and I found out when we attempted to take a short walk after dinner, and each hotel had a whole complex of restaurants and shops. Our first night we ate at a Tex Mex restaurant in our hotel. It was wild.
After our day in Cairo we boarded an early flight to Luxor. The rest of that day was spent touring the monuments along both the East and West banks of the Nile in Luxor. We went to the Valley of the Kings and actually walked through three tombs with all of the original hieroglyphics still in place! We also visited the temples of Luxor and Karnak, which were amazing in their scale and detail. It's so hard to believe that all of these buildings were erected thousands and thousands of years ago, and still mostly standing!
The next few days were spent sailing down the Nile and stopping at various points so that all of us tourists could disembark with our various guides and visit the historic monuments located close to the shore. It was absolutely crazy floating down the river seeing ship, after tourist filled ship passing by in both directions. On the cruise, my days were mostly spent reading novels and chatting with a group of Sri Lanken teenagers who befriended me (I think in large part because I was the only person under 35 who spoke English on our ship), and avoiding the remarkably persistent spa workers who absolutely refused to believe that I did not want a massage.
Probably my favorite place that we visited was Aswan. In Aswan we saw that high dam, the Nubian Museum, and a temple devoted to Isis, which was one of the twenty or so monuments that a UNESCO project moved to a new location when the rising waters behind the Aswan dam threatened to flood them. I had no idea that so many temples were physically moved to new locations, or that so much Nubian history had been lost because of the dam. Anyways, the temple was located on an island, and was absolutely gorgeous. Especially with the water and flower filled backdrop. My mom and I also visited the Coptic cathedral in Aswan on Christmas day (their Christmas wasn't until our Epiphany). After Aswan it was back to Cairo for another couple of days of sightseeing within the city itself. The biggest highlight here was a trip to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities where all of the loot from King Tut's tomb, plus a number of mummies were on display.
Overall, I'm really glad that I went to Egypt and got to see all of the incredible monuments, temples, and historic artifacts. That being said, going to North Africa when it quickly became apparent that I really wanted a break from North Africa was not the best idea. I am so thankful that I got to spend Christmas with my mom at least (and she was a perfect saint for putting up with all of my whining and emotional moments that frequently occurred during this trip), but it was still depressing. It was high sixties and sunny on Christmas day, and I missed cold weather, familiar carols, trees, and traditional decorations. Instead of being at home with my family, I was in a weird sort of tourist limbo and it made me ache with homesickness in ways that I cannot even begin to describe. I think my lowest point came while waiting alone in the hotel (my mom's flight was much earlier than mine) for my ride to the airport. "There's No Place like Home for the Holidays" came on the loudspeaker as I was wandering aimlessly through the sprawling complex full of tourists three days after Christmas. I felt like crying. Ah well, next year I'm going to be so full of Christmas cheer that my family will probably want to strangle me long before the holiday season is over.
Egypt was also difficult, surprisingly enough, because of my Arabic skills and Moroccan background. People on the cruise, and both of our guides (we had a different one in Luxor and Aswan, nice guy but not nearly as knowledgeable as our Cairo guide) were stunned to hear me speak Arabic. Sometimes this worked in our favor. My mom and I made good friends with the barman on our cruise, and our Luxor/Aswan guide told us more about his personal history than he would have if he hadn't developed some personal interest in us. Other times though, I just wanted to be left alone and that was simply not an option. Waiters came up to me just to see if it was really true that I spoke Arabic, and I was given a significant amount of teasing for not knowing how to speak Egyptian Arabic, even though I can get along fine in Moroccan Darija, and Classical Arabic. Also, Morocco is just close enough to Egypt culturally that I thought I would be able to successfully navigate Egyptian streets and markets without a problem, but also significantly different enough that my mom and I still ended up getting ripped off when taking taxis or shopping. This frustrated me to no end, as I felt like I wasn't able to relax and act like a complete tourist, thanks to my Morocco experience.
OK enough whining! Sorry for the angst in this post! I hope I haven't further alienated my already dwindling readership with all my complaining. Luckily, my depressing Egyptian Christmas was followed by a spectacular New Years in London with my friend Erin. Erin and I spent an enjoyable few days visiting museums, such as the Natural History Museum, the Royal War Museum, and my personal favorite, the Sherlock Holmes Museum. We also saw the Sherlock Holmes movie, ate in pubs, drank alcohol, and took a thoroughly touristy trek past Westminster Abby and the Houses of Parliament. Erin took me to an Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral, a wonderful Anglican tradition that once again had me in tears, and on a slightly more contemporary note, we saw a fabulous hip/hop rendition of the Pied Piper story. The highlight of the trip, though was seeing my AU friends again and ringing in the new year, on the bank of the Thames, with some of the most wonderful people I've had the pleasure of knowing.
Erin and I finished both of our vacations with a trip back to Morocco. We toured Fez and Chefchaouen, two of my favorite places in the country, and managed to get around by ourselves just fine with a strange mix of French (on Erin's part) and Darija (on mine). Despite the rain (it rained all week) and several travel setbacks, including having to spend the night in Portugal after missing a connecting flight, forgetting the PIN to my debit card, and leaving my Moroccan cell phone on the train to Fez (I know, I apparently really do not travel well) I haven't passed a more enjoyable week in quite some time. For those of you who don't know, I spent the summer working on a research project with Erin, which involved several trips up and down the eastern seaboard, and it was really fun to carry on the Adventures of Catherine and Erin in Morocco. Erin is a wonderful travel companion, as she did not complain about the general dampness or lack of indoor heating in most Moroccan buildings, and she charmed the pants off my host family. It was great coming back to Morocco with her, as I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to handle coming back all by myself. I'm living alone with my host family now and I was not looking forward to the lonely space left by Evelyn's absence. Luckily, a week of fun was just what I needed, and although I certainly suffered bouts of homesickness, especially after I dropped Erin off at the airport, my transition back to Moroccan life has been OK.
My classes started today, as I mentioned earlier, and so far everything seems to be going well. The new group of students seem great, it's just a little weird figuring out our relationship, since the six of us year-long folks are on a rather different plane now. I'm sure that in a couple of weeks everything, including the new dynamic with my host family and the new American students, will have settled and I'll be back at an equilibrium again. For now, I'm going to sign off, start my Arabic homework, and try my best to get back in the swing of things!
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