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Published: October 30th 2004
Life is good here in Fez, school is going well, though the task of actually learning Arabic is a daunting one to say the least. EVERYTHING is different in this language: the sounds are strange, the script is strang, and tiny little changs in pronounciation make drastic differences in the meaning of the word. We still haven't gone through the whole alphabet yet, but we've started with some vocabulary. My class is nice, there's an Englishman and an American girl my age, an elderly Swedish woman and An American man who came with his family. I have two teachers, Zaim and Si Mohammed, who alternate two hour sessions. Classss are from 9 am to 1 pm though I think that's going to change after Ramadaan.
I moved in with Driss Zocar and his wife Ameena on Tuesday. They live in the medina (old city) in a wonderful 4 story villa with a great rooftop terrace. There's also an American girl, Tiffany, living with us from a college group that's doing a 2 month psychology program here. Both Driss and Ameena are incredable cooks: We have Hareera (tomato and rice soup) with sweets and fruit every night when the cannon fires to signal the end to the fast, then we eat tagine (Moroccan pot roast) at 9:00 pm. Driss speaks only Arabic and French and Tiffany speaks neither, so I do all the translating. My French has improved immensely as you can probably imagine.
Driss seems to be somewhat of a local celebrity: he has pictures of himself with the king hanging in the main salon, and I've seen others with the same king from at least 20 years ago and still others with the previous king from probably 30 years ago. Apparently Driss is a retired tinsmith and leather worker and his meetings with the kings came from some commision work he did for the royal palace here in Fez. He also worked at Disneyland is California for a few months on 2 seperate occasions doing traditional craft demonstrations at Epcot. Thy have 2 sons and a daughter, but they've all moved to Marrakesh with their own families so I haven't met them.
I'll continue to live with the Zocar family for another 2 weeks, then move out to the residence hall for the remaining 3 weeks of the session (if only because its much cheaper). After that, we have almost a whole month off from December 5th to January 2nd during which I plan to do some trekking and camping in the Sahara. I'm hoping to meet some traveling nomads or join a trans-sahran camel caravan. After that, I'll come back to Fez and try to find an apartment. From what I'v gathered, I can get a nice apartment with a terrace in the medina for about 60 dollars a month. Food will cost me less since the markets are super cheap. I plan on mastering the art of Moroccan cuisine.
living here is fun, I've met several folks, young and old, that I stop and say hi to everyday on my walk to school and back. They all insist on inviting me to their homes everytime I see them. Next week I'm going to start accepting. I still get completely lost everytime I try to walk through the medina, but some of the streets are starting to look familiar. The weather is cold and rainy, but its still nice to stroll around. I'll have pictures coming soon, I promise.
B'Salaama
Brad
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anonymous
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I Love Morocco
after read your travel jounal let me remind my wonderful trip in Morocco....i like the moroccan, they are very friendly, i love the moroccan food, Hareera is my favourite soup and chicken tagine...wow its delicous!!! Enjoy your holiday, have fun!!!