Now It's Different

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We arrived in Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport at about midnight. Other than us and some German tourists, the airport was quite empty, and we quickly went through customs and baggage claim before heading outside into the (surprisingly) cool African air. We hopped into two vans and headed for Rabat, about 100 kilometers away. We were told that it would be easier driving to Rabat, the capital rather than going all the way into Casablanca, just to drive back out again the next morning. We were still on Istanbul time, three hours later so it was fair to say that we were exhausted. We arrived at our hotel around two in the morning, and crawled into bed, excited to start our time in Fez the next day.

The next morning we climbed into the vans and continued the journey to Fez. What struck me as interesting was that this part of Africa did not seem nearly as arid or like a desert as I had imagined. Palm trees were everywhere, and the landscape didn’t seem radically different from much of the other scenery we had seen along the trip. Fez was unlike anything I had seen before. Even though we were to spend the next two days in the Ville Nouvelle (The New City) it wouldn’t be hard to cross the street into a traditional market complete with chickens running around, beggars, and to everyone’s shock, the hanging carcasses of animals we could only imagine that were alive that morning. We quickly agreed that just because we liked the meat, didn’t mean we wanted to meet the animal.
After spending a few days in the new city of Fez, getting acclimated to the area, we had orientation at ALIF (Arabic Language Institute in Fez) and then it was off to meet our host families. We met our families at around 4’o clock and then were quickly whisked away in order to catch a taxi to make it home in time to break the Ramadan fast. This was an activity that we quickly became used to repeating.

We have been taking three classes at the Institute--Sociology in the Fez Medina, Arabic (which makes us want to return to Turkish), and of course, Chuck’s class. We spend most of our time at the institute, and return home in taxis (or any other means of transportation for that matter) to break the fast with our host families. Nights are often spent in a café just outside the walls of a medina. Cafes are almost exclusively frequented by men, which served as an interesting experience for us, who are not quite used to this type of ‘segregation’. Morocco has been distinctively different from Turkey which had a very European and cosmopolitan feel to it. In Morocco it is definitely apparent that this is a man’s world and that Islam has a much deeper hold in this country than in Turkey. Alcohol is forbidden in Islam, and this is taken seriously in Morocco any many other Islamic countries, with the exception of Turkey, where it is quite free-flowing. This discrepancy is something we have been focusing on in Chuck’s class.

We have all been glad to be temporarily stationary for the moment, as the previous two weeks had been ones of intensive traveling and moving around, in which we hadn’t stayed in the same hotel for more than two nights at a time! However, we look forward to moving on and exploring more of Morocco in a week when we visit the Sahara and Marrakesh, where we will spend a week volunteering at a girls’ school.

Morocco has been a challenge for all of us. Whether it be physically (most of us have been mildly ill at some point), or philosophically (the double standard that is very evident for women, the heavy tobacco presence), it has been a trying experience for everyone on this trip. However, this is not to say that it hasn’t been a great experience and adventure. We have all discovered interesting people, food, and places and will have many interesting stories to share when we arrive home.

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Photos

Gate
This is one of the main gates to enter the Medina, where no cars are allowed.

The Tannery
These can be commonly found throughout the city. Leather is a big business here, however very smelly as well.

Volibulis
The Roman ruins of Volibulis. This is the furthest west establishment of the Roman Empire.