More tajines, the one on the far right was my favorite- beef with a sweet sauce and prunes, with an egg on top. The middle tajine had chicken, potatoes, and chickpeas. The one on the left has become my favorite Moroccan food- tride poulet- chicken and lentils served over pieces of trid pastry (flaky bread similar to that of a croissant). Pastries are everywhere! I've never eaten so many carbs in my life. This was served during our break in meetings, as a "snack" around 10:00am. There were croissants, fried pastries with meat, delicate combinations of pastry and fruit, chocolate, prunes, raisins, and crème. Many of these were almost too pretty to eat... almost. :)
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I apologize for not blogging the past few days- our wi-fi in Rabat never improved and sleep became a priority. I spent several nights staying up until the early hours of the morning trying to load pictures, videos, or even short messages, but to no avail. I am now in Meknes (Fri, Mar 14) and will try to catch everyone up on what I have been doing the past several days. For the sake of chronological order, I will post-date my posts to keep everything in order of when it occurred during my trip. Thank you for being patient with the progress of my blog.
This afternoon we visited the American Embassy and heard from Embassy Cultural Affairs attache Jennifer Bullock and The Regional English Language Office director, Mr. Robert Lindsey. It was quite interesting entering the Embassy, as the security was quite thorough. I unfortunately do not have photos of the inside of the embassy, as this is disallowed, but the building itself set in an area of Rabat with considerable French architectural influence. I searched online for a photo of the embassy so you could get an idea of the area and the building, but due to even the outside of the embassy being off-limits to photographs, this is the best I could find. (Getty Images) Ms. Bullock began by providing information about the roles the State Department's Moroccan Embassy plays in providing services to both Moroccans and Americans. The embassy provides:
Ms. Bullock is the director of the Cultural Affairs Department, a division of public affairs that advocated cultural understanding and diplomacy. The Cultural Affairs office also supports and sponsors the following educational and cultural programs:
Our hotel has been very accommodating- the rooms are nice, the breakfast great (more chocolate croissants and espresso for me), and the meeting room was very official looking- much nicer than us teachers are accustomed to. Our break from meetings this morning included a buffet of beautiful pastries- I had to take a picture before eating anything- they were “bneen” (delicious). We are struggling quite a bit with the internet connection being slow, so updating my blog has been difficult. I have been recording my blog posts in a separate program and hope to load these to the internet as soon as I find better connection. The hotel tries to appeal to international visitors- complete with Frank Sinatra music playing in the lobby last night and Aerosmith “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” playing right now. There is also a bar in the hotel, yet I have not seen anyone drinking at it, as drinking of alcohol is forbidden in Islam. I
would imagine this is also catered specifically to a foreign audience. After arriving at the hotel and getting settled in, several of us went exploring- I firmly believe the best way to see a city is to walk the roads. The roads here, however, are a bit more, errr... exciting than back home. There aren't really lanes and very few crosswalks- in fact, people just cross streets wherever they please, or even walk in the middle of the "lanes" so they can cross efficiently. I haven't seen anyone run down yet, but it's madness to watch, with lots of honking to add to the chaos. We visited the medina, or "old city" market to get a feel for the prices of things before bartering for things like water, gifts, and food. The exchange rate is $1 = 8.11 dirham, so this also involves a bit of math on the go! When bartering, it is suggested that you offer half the asking price, expecting to receive a counter offer from the vendor, in which you will counter with another offer, until you get to the price you can both agree on. I have yet to barter for anything yet, but I enjoy watching other people- if the vendors continue to ask for a high price, the buyer can sometimes walk away saying, "bzef!" (too expensive!) and often the vendor will come after you with a higher price. Would you like to barter and haggle over prices in the United States? Our incredibly talented Moroccan TGC coordinator, Meriem Lahrizi, presented two information sessions this morning about the history and culture of Morocco. While I had done some research prior to my trip, I now have a much better understanding of the country, its history, and its people. The area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited by an indigenous tribe, the Imazighens (Berbers), for nearly 5,000 years. The area was unified under the Isrisid dynasty in 789AD. In following dynasties, the Moroccan control extended in to Spain until the Reconquista in 1492, when the Muslim Moors and many Jews fled from the Iberian peninsula in to Morocco. The Saadi dynasty was created, and they successfully defended themselves against Ottoman and Portuguese conquest. Perhaps the most famous Saadi ruler was Ahmad al-Mansur, who ruled from 1578-1603, The next dynasty to control the area was the Alaouite, the same family that continues to rule the country. During the 18th and 19th century, Morocco remained independent under the Alaouite dynasty as the majority of Africa was being colonized by major European powers. Morocco maintained its independence until 1912, when the Sultan Abdelhafid signed the Treaty of Fez on March 30, 1912, making Morocco a protectorate of the French government. Of course, this meant the Moroccans were pulled in to WWI, and unbeknownst to many, the Moroccan military assisted the Allied forces in both WWI and WWII. Flying in to Rabat was interesting- a green landscape with fields planted with trees in rows, what I can only guess were olive orchards. Minarets of mosques stood out above the homes and businesses, and there were squatter settlements made of tarps and metal scraps on the outside edge of the city. Upon landing, we waited some time to clear customs and then ventured out to the main terminal, a very open space where it was interesting to again "people watch". We loaded up our luggage and then made a quick currency exchange before heading toward our accommodations at Hotel Rabat.
This afternoon we traveled to Hassan Tower- a structure that was supposed to be the largest minaret of the largest mosque in the world. The mosque construction however, stopped in 1199AD and the tower was left only reaching half of its intended height. There are also many columns that were started for the construction of the mosque, but like the minaret, they were left unfinished. Opposite from the tower is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, an incredibly ornate building housing the tombs of King Mohammed V, King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. All three kings are members of the Alaouite dynasty, with King Mohammed V being responsible for negotiating independence for Morocco in 1956 after years of French rule. King Hassan II ruled from 1961-1999, and his son, King Mohammed VI is currently the king of Morocco. The site, with both Hassan tower and the mausoleum were added to the World Heritage Sites list in 2012. The site had a few others tourists and some women trying to draw henna tattoos on people's arms in order to make money. This was the day I learned the Moroccan Arabic word for "no". When a woman approaches you wanting to "give you a gift of henna", she is inevitably going to want money- so it is important to be firm in saying "la" (no) and "socran" (thank you) in order to get out of the situation. Unfortunately a few of the teachers I was traveling with were blindsided by the henna women and ended up with unwanted tattoos on their arms. I will admit, when the women approached me, I pulled my sleeves down so no skin was showing and practiced my pronunciation of "la" rather loudly.
Peace be upon you, I have made it to Morocco! I left Kansas City Saturday morning around 8:00am, landed in Atlanta, and flew to JFK to meet the other teachers traveling to Morocco. Our flight to Paris left around 6:40pm and landed around 8:30am. The flights were uneventful, but the morning was beautiful in Paris, with clear skies showing the outline of the Eifel tower as we approached the city. The landscape of France is truly beautiful, with rolling hills, farm fields, and small villages. Upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle, we had some boarding pass paperwork to take care of prior to our Rabat flight, but was able to enjoy an espresso and chocolate croissant- my personal favorites when traveling Europe. While enjoying my breakfast, I "people-watched" and particularly found it interesting to see what destinations were being served by AirFrance. There were flights headed to N'Djamena, Cairo, Kinshasa, and of course, Rabat. I tried to stay awake during the flight to Rabat, but I will admit, I struggled a bit. I did stay awake long enough, however, to get a picture of the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain- an area my AP Human Geography students should know for its population of people wanting to remain ethnically independent from both France and Spain- characterized by the isolated language they speak. One extra credit point to the first student that can answer in the comments section from each class!
This week has been a whirlwind, and from speaking with other TGC participants, it seems to be that way for all of us. After finalizing lesson plans for next week and grading papers in preparation for my students' midterm grades, I spent much of my afternoon reading up on Morocco- particularly about its government and gender relations. After administering the pre-travel questionnaire, I noticed many of my students were stumped about questions surrounding the Moroccan government. I will admit that when I began researching Morocco, I wasn't certain of their government structure either, but I guessed it to be a constitutional monarchy. While I was correct in my estimation, I was surprised to learn that the current king of Morocco, King Mohammad VI, serves as both a secular leader and a leader in the Islamic faith- literally translated as "Leader of the Faithful". It is believed the King is a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and therefore should lead the country in the Muslim faith. Interestingly, I learned the King proposed several policy changes that were deemed "too secular" including Mudawana (providing more rights for women) in 2004, and various social and political reforms in 2011. The Mudawana increased the minimum age of marriage for females to 18, set standards addressing polygamy, allowed women to file for divorce and go before a secular court rather than a religious court in divorce proceedings, and a rights to inheritance were granted to daughters as well as sons. While these reforms are applauded for improving the human rights of women, in many families, a more strict code will survive, regardless of these governmental policy changes. During what many would call the "Arab Spring" in 2011, many Moroccan protests began over alleged government corruption, political discontent, and difficult economic conditions. King Mohammed VI responded with a televised speech to the Moroccan people, proposing changes that included shifting more power to Parliament and the Prime Minister and making the Berber language an official language as well as implementing the preservation of Hassaniya, the language of the Sahrawi people in the southern region of the country. These proposals were generally well liked by the Moroccan people and much like Mudawana, the reforms were applauded by democratic powers of the world.
I am eager to discuss these changes with my host teacher or other Moroccans I meet- particularly those that may indirectly effect education. For example, increasing the minimum age of marriage is likely to increase the average years of education a female will complete, thus improving her economic status. Including Berber as an official language opens up political and economic advantages to those citizens who only speak Berber, and preserving the Hassaniya language suggests the King (and the people of Morocco) are interested in sustaining the heritage of the area. While I realize not every Moroccan will appreciate or support these reforms, as an American, I see them as exciting. In my opinion, these reforms have improved human rights, thus improving access to business, education, and foreign diplomacy. I am intrigued by the idea of a country being led by a man who is both an Islamic religious leader and a social reformer- the delicate balance that is being asked for by many Muslim populations. |
AuthorI'm a high school AP geography and world history teacher, traveling to Morocco with Teachers for Global Classrooms to bring cultural insight back to my community. Archives
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