Oops

The most awkward incident of my trip so far happened just about three hours ago. To everyone who thought I could last this entire trip without doing something to embarrass myself (probably not many of you, I am well aware) you have been proven incorrect.

Where should I began. Well from the beginning of course. My friend Nick and I decided it was time for a haircut late this afternoon. While at lunch today, all I could notice was my hair, and how annoyingly long it was in the back. I know very well that I have certain fits of anal retentiveness and this long in the back look spawned one. Easy fix, right? Nick and I took off for the marche to get some new hair at about 6:00 pm. After the usual 20 minute walk into the Marche, we approached the usual street corner where we eat our weekly tajine. Their is a classy looking salon right across the way (the marche doesn't not have streets, it looks more like an outdoor mall.) The salon has nice furniture (which is usually hidden by lacy curtains that span the length of the boutique's ceiling to floor windows) and all of the salon technician's (coincidentally all women) seem very professional. Wearing traditional hijab's and white coveralls, they look as if they could cut hair for weeks on end without getting any of the pesky hair debris in their clothing. Surely, these are the people that should be cutting our hair. Or at least that is what we thought. Nick and I strolled into the marche as if we were regulars. Hell, we have been in Ifrane for about three weeks now, we ARE the regulars, at least at our little tajine shop. I remember being surprised at the ease with which we knew our way around. It seems like just yesterday I could not find my way around that crowded little marketplace, without being solicited by souvenir shop owners and/or gawked at by restaurant patrons for looking so out of place. But I digress...

Nick and I were both reluctant about asking for a hair cut in a strange tongue. I, for one, do not know how to ask for a haircut in Arabic. Asking for some chicken? That is no problem, but we haven't spent any class time learning to say obscure things like "take a little off the top please." But Nick and I remained dedicated to looking spiffy. As we approached the little salon across from the tajine place, I noticed that all of the flowing vanilla curtains were stretched width-wise, completely blocking the outside world's gaze, or maybe to keep the sun out. The door was ajar, so it could not have been closed. Nick led the way, and gently eased the door open. He pulled the curtains back, and we saw several women getting their hair cut, and a couple of salon technician's waiting around for additional business. We were met with awkward gazes from several of the beautician's and even more female patrons, whose hijab's were neatly folded in their laps. OH CRAP!!!!! The curtains are drawn because women have their traditional hair coverings off to cut their hair.... We were quickly, and dare I say forcefully, shooed out of the salon, and the curtains were drawn swiftly behind us. Of course it is faux pas (and in some situations more than that) for a woman to expose that much of herself to a strange man.... and that was us.

So, having realized that we may be the biggest idiots on the planet, Nick and I walked to the MALE hair salon (perhaps I will call it a barber shop), where we struggled to speak enough French/Arabic/Darija (Reminds me of the Adam Sandler movie Spanglish...perhaps we will call this quasi-mutant language Frarija) to ask for some new does. I was impressed with my stylist, who humored me as I used a lot of hand gestures and sputtered out a few sentence fragments in frarija. He pulled out an old-school, blade razor to detail the area around my hair (getting all of that loose stuff that grows independently of a hairstyle) whilst stopping with regularity to turn up the television and comment about the artist whose music video was on at the time. I didn't think I would ever hear the song "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas ever again, so that was a mighty fine treat.

I paid my 20 dirham (less than $3) , I was wished SaBaHa (basically wishing me good health to go along with my foxy new hairstyle) and Nick and I took the long walk back to campus, still a little ashamed of our cultural insensitivity, hoping we would never be so audacious again.

P.S. I will try and put up new pics from my class trip to the Souk in Azrou. Not much to report from that trip, except to marvel at the expansiveness of the tent village. Considering it is a one day a week market, it is really something.

Until Next Time

Dick

The Desert

Welp... Even though desert's are traditionally defined as barren wastelands, and very few people live in them, I decided I want to live in the desert. I had a blast during my trip to the Southeastern corner of Morocco. The trip started at about 2pm on Friday, after a four hour day of classes. With 1500 dirham, my passport, my sunglasses, and some clothes, I loaded the bus: destination Erfoud. Erfoud is a smaller Moroccan city, known for its conservative citizenry and its breath-taking fossils. After a six hour bus ride, anything would be a welcome destination, but Erfoud did not disappoint. We arrived at Hotel Tafilalet, at approximately 9:30pm, and we were immediately treated to a feast fit for kings. A grandiose buffet-style meal including, cucumbers, carrots, tomato and tuna salad, beef tajine, chicken tajine, vegetable tajine, lamb kidney tajine (surpisingly good...by the way), and 6 full size platters full of a garden variety of fruits. Needless to say my long trip was immediately forgotten. Our hosts danced to the sounds of drum beats and various metallic clacking devices until nearly 1am. It was a real treat. Saturday morning was spent in Erfoud, where I walked around with my friends Nick, Meaghen, and Jade. As we sauntered around the city, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of fossil shops. The fossils are primarily maritime, as this area used to be under seawater. Interestingly, just about everybody in the Erfoud has some link to the fossil trade, whether it be in digging, distribution, or sales. I am still amazed by the lack of regulations for fossil excavation. Perhaps I am viewing a different culture from an Amero-centric lens, but it seems that fossils are a sacred scientific discovery. Only scientists like Jack Horner uncover fossils, and it seems (I don't know the man personally) that he would be perturbed to know that fossils are being hoarded by Moroccan shop owners and negotiated away just like a touristy dagger or pair of Babush's. The group left Erfoud at about 4:30pm to head for Merzouga...right on the tip of the Sahara desert. Unfortunately, we did not get to sleep on the dunes in goat-hair tents, but the group was forced to stay in hotel rooms that remained oppressively hot even after the sun went down. The most amazing thing happened in the desert. As tacky as this sounds, I felt personally liberated after I climbed the tallest of the sand dunes within visibility. It was grueling...like riding a stair master, yet still having a goal to reach a higher elevation. It was exhausting. After getting to the top of the dune, however, I watched the sunset and looked on the microcosm that was our hotel. After getting little sleep, we rode camels to far away dune to watch the sun rise. Another beautiful moment, hopefully I captured it well in the pictures. The rest of Sunday we spent in a nearby Souk. The marketplace stretched indefinitely as we wandered through mountains of fruit, stacked neatly like an expansive urban development around the walk way. I was tempted to buy just about everything, but alas, I knew that a frugal disposition would pay dividends later.

I returned to my dorm room at about 8:00pm last night. My roommate, who spent the weekend in Jadida with his family, had already arrived. A freshly cooked rotisserie chicken under his right arm. But that's not all. In his left hand he carried a yellow bag, partially translucent, allowing me to give the stash of fruit hidden inside a cursory glance. What a meal! Samir brought even better tidings. He rented a car to drive around for 15 days. The car will be our mode of transportation when we go to Casablanca this weekend. I look forward to seeing the ocean (on a different continent) and having a look around at my roommates stomping grounds.

Stay tuned...

First Weekend

Ossallam Allaikum!

I am done with my first week of classes in the ARANAS program. What an exhilarating experience it has been so far. I am happy to say that I have started learning Arabic, and I am having (limited) success so far. Arabic is a particularly difficult language to learn, because the alphabet contains several letters which most English speakers are not accustomed to pronouncing. I love my professors (oostev for male, oosteva for female) Meriem and Abdullilah are spectacular instructor's with impressive resumes. Being in class 4 hours a day is particularly grueling, but I feel that the reward at the end of it all will justify the long hours spent in the classroom, and even the night's staying up late trying to do my homework!

The ARANAS program organized a trip to the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilus and to the medinah in Meknes today. What an experience! I knew nothing of Volubilus and was particularly impressed at how well preserved the ruins are. I will put up pics from the weekend to give everyone a look into my life. Next weekend we head to the desert, and I can not wait to ride the camels and spend the night perched atop a sand dune in the Sahara.

I thought I would make a little list of some of my favorite things about Morocco thus far... in no particular order:

1. My roomate Samir
2. The Tagine (a delicious Moroccan dish, if you don't know what it is I suggest you look it up on wikipedia, learn how to make it, and enjoy.
3. My fellow classmates
4. The Hamaam (Turkish bath) I haven't actually done this yet, but I will tomorrow morning. Sounds like it will be very interesting. (More updates to come.)
5. Writing in Arabic. Even though I have not learned all of the letters in the alphabet yet, I am surprised at how quickly I have familiarized myself with those I have learned.
6. The cheap prices. I have the luxury of not needing to buy gasoline, so the prices are spectacular so far.

Now a different kind of list...the list of things I don't like so much

1. The homework. I normally lead a lazy lifestyle during this time of the year. When I left I was so excited to be coming to Morocco. I completely forgot that I was going to an INTENSIVE (literally this is intense) language institute, and one that is widely regarded for teaching Arabic.
2. The large groups. I was frustrated during my trip to Volubilus and Meknes today, because we had to do everything in a group of 40+ people. I don't like viewing a mozzoleum, while simultaneously shielding my eyes from the constant flicker of bright camera flashes.
3. Missing my friends and family. As little as I have communicated with everyone so far, I am missing everyone from back home. Little things in Morocco remind me of time spent at my desk at work, or of my family, and I feel homesick. I am getting accustomed to my surroundings, but I still wish more people (that I am familiar with) could share in this experience with me.
4. The town of Ifrane. This place is surprisingly cold, because we are at 5000 feet in elevation. It is a wealthy town, and the culture of Al Maghrib does not seem to be represented very well. The university is practically a gated community, and the town is a vacation spot for some of the richest people in the Eastern hemisphere.

I am so glad that I made the decision to come to Al Maghrib. Hopefully I can make it through.

MaSallam
Dick

My Baggage

Quick update for everybody.... They found my luggage!

No need to even worry.