I recognize this feeling: I had it in Guatemala frequently. It's when my head has been working hard in some unfamiliar language for a long time, and really, what I need to do is study; what I'm ready to do just to relax into some English. So, tonight I am anxious to write my blog, or watch Netflix. Blog wins while I still have a bit of energy. I had my second Darija (Moroccan Arabic) lesson today. I wish that I had thought to bring card stock with me to make flashcards so I could follow my own oft-cited advice, but I didn't. I'll make them with notebook paper though because flashcards are THE BOMB! I'm learning conversational phrases and some vocabulary, and some basic grammar. So far, it's going OK, except that there are some sounds that are hard for me to make, and that are especially hard to put into the middle of a word! After a 90-minute class this morning, I found my way to the university on my own for the first time, and hunted down my advisor, who then handed me off to another professor who was teaching a class in "Management of Sports Enterprises". This is a masters' level course. It was taught in French and they discussed two short pieces of literature (one a Native American story about two wolves, and one a 19th century French literary account of a dream.) How these were connected to Sports Management, or why this course is part of the school of education, I am not entirely sure, but it was interesting at least and I could follow the French. Then we finished the class with a 15-minute meditation (again, a surprising element of the class) but it was lovely and relaxing. The professor explained to me that she thinks it's important to teach some elements of relaxation and self-care because we all lead such stressful lives, and I understood that! I got a name and a phone number from one of the students who lives in southern Morocco and works for a business that does desert treks and "camel bivouacs." One way or another, I want to do a camel trek while I'm here. I again found my professor, who was going to take me to her class on "Theater in Enterprises" (again, absolutely no idea how this fits in to anything) but I begged off until tomorrow's class for the French teaching license, and came back to the riad. It is a one-hour commute using the tram and walking through the medina. I am really hungry since the schedule today hasn't allowed for any food since breakfast (which is just coffee and some bread with orange jam), and Nejat is making a big feast tonight for a some kind of an international delegation who are coming here to eat. She's been working on it for a couple of days, so I wanted to make sure that I'm back for it! (Tajine--which is a kind of stew-- Moroccan salad, and a baked something that looks very much like the Russian teacakes we bake in my family at Christmas.) But in the meantime, walking through the medina, I was really hungry and all the street food looked great, and I thought-- oh! this is how you can get in trouble! So I practiced self-control until I finally found a small stand to buy a packaged cookie (10 cents), and that has staved off the hunger for awhile. Here are some photos of the Université Mohammed V. (I saw the abbreviation UM5 today, so I'm going to use that from now on.) English graffiti! classroom building
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On Friday February third, the waves were exceptionally high for some reason. I could hear the surf from the rooftop terrace at the riad, and when I first saw the waves breaking on the beach, they were spectacular! Sadly, I was traveling light and only had my new phone with me-- so here are three pictures taken at sunset on the phone. To appreciate the height of the crashing waves, look at the people standing to the far left above the rocks in the first photo. With the constant mist in the air, and the dispersed glow of the sunset, it was all a little exotic I thought.
This morning I took a leisurely stroll through the Medina, starting nearby in the rug area, slipping into the leather and jewelry, and ending up in the cheap knock-off stuff imported from China or India. Throughout, there are people selling prepared food and spices, veggies and meats that I don't recognize, and oh, I don't know, live turtles and chickens. I was trying to surreptitiously take photos, since some people really don't like it. So here are a few highlights: tiled fountain at the top of Rue des Consuls They're all figs! No! They are dates! I will learn to tell the difference! Lamp shades and home décor It's February, and it's colder than you might imagine-- 40s at night, mid sixties by day, and coats are selling! The olive bar... Get your live chickens! (or some greens) I can identify garlic, ginger root, and home hair coloring... These are desserts, and they are delish. I must admit that I was a little worried the first time that I saw one sitting on my plate, but they are made of pastry and and honey and deep fried. So no strange insect desserts here! Fresh orange delivery! Common style of door in the Medina-- I think it's beautiful.
I am feeling a bit proud of my self this evening. I was able to navigate myself to two different appointments today in two different parts of the city! This involved some walking in the rain, a taxi, and a very long walk home that allowed me to stop in a grocery store to check out prices and buy and the most delicious 10-cent orange, and to take photos along the way. The first meeting was with a man named Adil who was recommended to me as a tutor for Darija. He is pretty experienced at it, working for a number of American universities and private language schools, but he really sold me when he told me that he has been teaching Arabic for the Defense Language Institute of Monterrey-- really the gold standard of world language instruction in the US. So we are going to begin in earnest on Monday, three days a week, and see how it goes. This is essentially the way that I learned Spanish, and it was very effective for me, but Darija is so different from English that I think I may have a tougher time with it. My second appointment was with Driss, an apartment broker, and it was a bit like HGTV's House Hunters International, except that I haven't already chosen one of the apartments! I toured two apartments today in a neighborhood called L'Océane, because--- it's along the beach. Neither of the apartments actually has a view of the water, unless maybe you could access a rooftop terrace, which I didn't in either case. Here are a few shots from the neighborhood: Tomorrow I will see one that actually does have a water view, but of course it is both smaller and more expensive. This neighborhood has restaurants and grocery stores and pharmacies and is a nice urban neighborhood, accessible to the university by tram, while also pretty close to the medina. I have also had repeated suggestions to search for apartments in a neighborhood called Agdal, which is nearer the university, but also more expensive. Hopefully, I will have a few to check out there as well. The third option is to stay here in the medina in a room in another riad. Look at the oranges hanging in bags next door to the party supplies! Also note the smooth, wet sidewalk. It was awful trying to walk quickly today because all the streets and sidewalks were slick and slippery due to the rain. I had on shoes with what I thought was a non-slip sole, but I was mistaken! View from Driss' apartment that is NOT for rent, but it shows the possible view, and also you can see the tram station. This neighborhood would require a 20-30 minute tram commute to the university. This amused me probably more than it should have: in the grocery store where I bought the fantastic 10-cent orange and a box of tissues, I saw this very colorful stack of name-brand SHAM-WOWs! Do you remember when they used to sell these at state and county fairs with a hawker? I love them.
One more photo: do you recognize this place? It's the cover page of my site moroccofulbright. I couldn't get exactly the same angle because the Blood Mobile was in the way. Really. Today is the official first day of my Fulbright project, and I arrived on the campus of Mohammed V University of Rabat at the college of sciences, school of education. It's the largest university in Morocco with nearly 80,000 students. Good thing I have some campus experience at Ohio State! I went to a class that my advisor will be teaching this semester that concerns the teaching of French to secondary students. There were about 48 would-be teachers sitting in the classroom when I arrived, every seat in the first six rows taken, no one at the back of the room. The professor introduced me, the students applauded politely, and several minutes later she dismissed the class. This was surprise #1 of the day. Apparently, since this is the first day after vacation, many students were still gone, and so she cancelled the first class until next week, advising them that they may be here till the end of July. But none of the students seemed shocked by this, and all left amiably. Afterwards, we spent a lot of time discussing my goals and the ideas that she has for how she might connect me with both university students and schools in which to observe, and she described for me the crazy, complex system of education in Morocco that has public and private strands, multiple languages of instruction, universities that are public, private, and international, and in which the language of instruction is dictated by the discipline-- but now that is changing, and there are (for example) two law schools at the university, one with instruction entirely in Arabic and one instructed entirely in French. I think that getting my head around this system will be one of the big challenges of my research here, but I will post further thoughts about it on one another page of this site. So then she took me on a tour of the buildings and offices of the department and told me that I may make myself at home in one of the offices where I can use the computer, office supplies, library, and whatever else I need. I found that generous and I plan to take her up on it. She is enormously busy-- teacher, chair of the school, involved in organizing university-wide events (I'm invited to my first gala next week, the awarding of academic prizes). OK, remember about the cats? They are everywhere. There are university cats, too. And daily surprise #2 is that my advisor keeps a large supply of cat food and water in the trunk of her car, and every day she puts out food at two different locations for about two dozen of the cats on campus! So I accompanied her on those rounds today, and then she drove me around the campus to get oriented. Not content with feeding just the university cats, she took me to a Moroccan restaurant where we had both friendly conversation and an incredible feast of soups and tangines and dates and salads and pastries, all of which were delicious. I know I am going to have to walk 20,000 steps a day just to make up for the food I'm going to eat. And, truth be told, I had already eaten a feast before I left for the university! My hostess here at the house in the medina told me yesterday that she would be preparing a lunch for 28 American students, and so she did -- a beautiful couscous that was super tasty. And it was a fortuitous luncheon for me. The students who came were Americans just arrived in Morocco for their study abroad semester learning Arabic. I ate lunch with them, and the director of their program and one of their teachers sitting at the table with me are also Fulbrighters. I came away from the table with a full stomach and two important contacts in the ministry of education and at a progressive private school that teaches English, and an invitation to visit. Wahoo! I feel so happy to be making contacts early in the process! The scariest thing about this project for me is the necessity of meeting contacts and getting invitations to visit schools to observe. So I am beyond grateful for the brotherhood of Fulbrighters and the generous nature of those who work with them! Couscous with the American college kids Moroccan mint tea! Check out the height of this pour!
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Marcie StutzmanTeacher, Researcher, Adventurer, Explorer; Maybe crazy; Possibly too old for this Archives
October 2018
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