Getting lost (again)

As many of you know, I have no sense of direction whatsoever (I also didn't realize that that was all one word... spell check may be lying to me... I've always gotten the feeling that it would like to make me look stupid.)

Aaaaaaaanyways.

When I first got to Meknes I was convinced that I would never be able to find my way around because it was "such a big city."  This is patently untrue.  Meknes, especially the area I live in (the Ville Nouvelle or Hamria), is actually pretty small.  For instance, it takes me about 45 minutes to walk to school.  This is one of the furthest journeys I can take and still be in Meknes, the trip goes almost from one side to the other.  Therefore, I have come to a startling conclusion.

It is actually very difficult to get lost in Meknes.

(At least in Hamria.)

((The Medina is another beast entirely.  You will most likely be eaten by Faux Guides who will try to sell you a toothpick for $50 or something like that.))

This would be great, if I didn't really want to get lost.  In fact, I set out today to do just that.  My Arabic class was cancelled (for the second time!  Yayyyy!)  and I wanted to explore the sights.  Unfortunately I seemed to keep ending up in the same place, or at least in a place I recognized.  I'm not sure what I was looking for, but I did stumble upon several things.

1) A playground/park that had no children in it.  It was entirely populated with couples.  Who all glared at me (except some of the guys who made the stupid ssssst sssssst sound... Having an actual, live girl sitting next to you is obviously not enough here.)

2)  Many fine examples of Morocco's favorite substitute for barbed wire, which is putting pieces of broken bottles into the plaster that covers the tops of the walls surrounding houses/schools/etc.  It makes them look like they have bottle green teeth.  I chalk this up to either Perrier or Heineken (although I've seen more Heineken bottles than anything else.  Anything you want to talk about, Morocco?)

3) Lots and lots of wildflowers I'd never seen before.  Next time I go wandering I'll have to be sure to bring my camera and document.  The flowers take over any spot that doesn't have active construction or a building on it.  It's also nice because the flowers conceal holes.  I Morocco, I believe the standard response to seeing a hole is, "Oh, we should fill it with trash! It looks so lonely all empty like that..."  What a sweet gesture.

4)  Lots of guard dogs.  Including one missing a large portion of its face.  Yuck.  This makes up for the fact that I saw the cutest little, fat puppy the other day.  It was so young it didn't really know what it's legs were for and kept falling over itself.  I'm going to keep imagining that one...

5) I can't really think of a #5 except that the sun was out today and that's the first time in a while.  I think spring might actually be coming!  I certainly hope so.

Zwina

Zwina (or Zwine if you're a guy) means beautiful in Darija.  It's also one of the words I hear the most on the streets of Meknes.  Unlike in the US where the phrase "cat calling" is an idiom, Moroccan boys/men actually yell at women the way they call cats.  It's mostly a hissing noise, "Tssssst, tsssssst, tsssssst."  Also kissing noises.  I've honestly heard people try and get cats' attention the same way. Sometimes walking down the street sounds like being surrounded by snakes and fish.  It's honestly kind of amusing.  But also gross.  Especially when they have almost no teeth and they follow you down the street.  (This happened to my friend and I yesterday... Super fun!)

You also get some very amusing pick up lines.  As one of my professors here noted, many boys only learn English from American TV and movies.  This means that they often say the stupidest things to you on the streets. So here, for your viewing pleasure, are some of the most amusing pick-up lines I've heard on my trip so far.

"Are you looking for me?  Because here I am!"

"Hello, I speak English very good.  Nice ass."

"Hey girl, it's your birthday."

"Have we met before?  Somewhere on the planet Mars?"  (I'm not really sure what was up with this guy, but the line seemed very practiced... Maybe it's worked before?)

(Something involving Barack Obama.  Sometimes just "Barack Obama!" yelled in a wannabe seductive voice.  It's quite disturbing...)

"You're starving?  You're starving for me!"
(after my friend mentioned that she was really hungry while we were walking.)

"Punch me in the face, you're beautiful!"  (After a conversation between my friend and I about how street harassment makes us want to punch people.)

"Very nice, I like."  (Ironically, Moroccan accents can sometimes sound very much like Borat, making this line extra amusing."

"Setta"  (Some more explanation for this.  Setta is the word for six in Darija.  This lovely gentleman was offering me 6 Dirhams (approximately 75 cents) because he hoped I was a prostitute.  Aren't guys sweet?)

"Ca va?"  (Which really just means "how are you doing" in French, but it now means "I'm an annoying boy, you should hit me")

After all this, I've decided that the only men worth bringing home from Morocco are under the age of 6 (because Moroccan children are the cutest.  Hands down.)

I accidentally ate liver today.

It was unpleasant.  I hope to never do that again.
               (The restaurant sneaked it in with my all carbohydrate meal, because they couldn't get my order right even after several promptings.  Oh well, there were some tasty, non-liver covered fries.)

I also got to play with chameleons and boxes of turtles.
               (You can buy all kinds of things in the medina or Rabat including, on the animal front, hamsters, guinea pigs, and fish.)

What else have I done recently... Let me think...
1) I finished my first Arabic course, which went very well.  Now I'm moving into Arabic 102, which will be a lot harder... Uh-oh.
2) I went to the hammam (Turkish bath where naked old women scrape off your skin for you) again with my family and didn't burn myself this time! Score for me!  (Also, my previous hammam burn is healing up nicely. It should be totally gone in week or two.)
3) I saw a double rainbow while it was raining over the mountains behind my house.  The sky was also grey and gold.  I was pretty sure the world was going to end/it was going to rain on me as I walked to school, but it didn't.
4) I have played with many cute children.  It's totally acceptable to play with strangers' children here in Morocco.  After playing peekaboo the parents will often bring the child over so you can kiss it.  I'm going to develop some bad habits that will make me seem really creepy back in the states... Fortunately, American children are far less cute than Moroccan children.  Thank goodness for small blessings.
5) I might bring a Moroccan child back with me
6) I bought bracelets with little bells and eye-balls on them.  I don't think they're a very popular item here in Meknes, since the shopkeeper gave them to me for almost nothing.  I think they're super awesome though... I'm not sure what that says about me...
7) I found out that "Al Manbat" is actually a private high school, which means that you can learn how to be batman.  Why didn't I go there?
8) Every time I think my French is improving, I have a conversation with someone and they flat out tell me that I can't speak French... Apparently some terrible non-language is coming out of my mouth... Oops.
9) About a week ago, I was trying to get into my apt. and the door was sticking. Pushed harder and finally got in and saw that the reason the door wasn't opening was because there was a woman passed out on the lobby floor.  There was no one around and I couldn't get her to wake up.  Finally a maid from another apt. came down and we moved her off the floor onto a couch and got her to wake up and drink some water.  All this was done with me speaking no Arabic/Darija and both the maid and the sick lady not speaking any English.  That is the scary story from my trip so far.  I now understand what Clara was talking about when she said that I put her into "emergency mode."  I'm sorry about that, Clara.  At least you have some form of first aid training (unlike me.  My response was to try and wake her up by yelling at her in English.  Not helpful.)
10) On a lighter note, here are some random pictures from my trip!

Me with the columns in Rabat that were stolen from Volubilis (Roman ruins near Meknes)

Roman ruins - Grainery

Roman ruins turned field.  Waste not, want not.

The sky full of birds over the ocean in Rabat.  Those of us who had never seen Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" were very excited about this.  Those who had were less so.

This is the castle I go to school in.  Parts of it are much pinker than this.

This is my Arabic professor and the drawing of a mouse he made for us.

I wasn't lying about Al Manbat.  Also, you all probably care a lot less than I do.  So be it.

Pottery at a ceramic house in Fez.  The entire room was packed with thousands of different pieces.

AJ, Karissa, and I in our beautiful djellebas AKA most comfortable articles of clothing on earth.

I hope everyone is having a happy March!

Random photos

I have managed to put my pictures on my computer, but I can't actually see what each picture is very easily.  Soooooooo, I'm going to put in random pictures and then tell you about them.  Ok? Ok.

Gena made me promise to take a picture of my feet when I got to Morocco, so I did.  Aren't I the best sister?  I know, I know.  There's another picture somewhere of my bare feet in the only mosque I was allowed to go into (you have to take off your shoes before entering.)

This is my friend Susanna in the fancy salon (Moroccan living room) in our hotel in Casablanca.  In general, all Moroccan salons are this plush and fancy.  I just went to a house today that had 5 different rooms set up like this.

This is me feeding pigeons (AKA flying rats according to everyone else on the trip.  I thought they were cute.)  

This is the inside of a public bakery in Marrakesh.  It's a pretty bad picture, but I did promise random.  I'm not exactly a great photographer.   

Moroccans are really, really, really into topiary.  Also, they line their streets with orange trees.  Sometimes there is orange tree topiary.

This is a picture of a pond at the Jardin Marjorelle, which was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life.  I'll have to post more of the pictures from here another time.  

BEAUTIFUL MOROCCAN LAKE

A poor quality picture of Hadija (our cook) sleeping on my roommate Shavon in one of the three living rooms in our house. 

I'm not entirely sure what this is.... Hmmmmmm......

The inside of the tomb of Moulay Ismail (King of Morocco back in the day.  17th century I think...) in Meknes.  

And, for your viewing pleasure, two lovely pictures of some of my friends and I riding in a carriage around Meknes.  We were hungry at the time and the horse was crazy.  Christine, Susanna, and I all got the grumpy-face message, but Cathleen missed it. 

Goodnight y'all.

Walk to school

Hello all! It's been a while, hasn't it?  Oops... I've been busy adjusting to my new city and my classes.  Everything is great here, and I honestly have WAAAAAAYYY too much to talk about and not enough time/motivation.  So, instead of recounting everything I've experienced, I'll tell you about what I see on my walk to school.

Moulay Ismail University Faculte des Lettres (arts and humanities campus) is located approximately 2.5 miles from my house and, due to the way classes are set up, I generally have to make 4 trips in between the two places a day.  It should be noted that I don't always walk, I sometimes take a taxi (I have yet to work up the courage to ride the bus... I'm not really sure where it stops.)  However, when I do walk, here are some of the things I see:

No traffic lights, designated pedestrian crossings, or apparent traffic laws.  Crossing the street involves either waiting for a break in traffic or simply stepping out into the road and having the cars swerve around you.  There is no penalty for cutting someone off, making U-turns, driving like a crazy person... If I survive this (inshallah) I will never be afraid of cars again.

I also pass some interestingly named businesses.

1. Coq Magic
     (It's a restaurant that specializes in chicken. Obviously)
2. Al Manbat
    (It's the residence of the Moroccan Batman. Obviously)

Along with these stores, Meknes is home to the most terrifying mannequins on the face of the earth.  Think Chucky but with less blood and worse hair.  And they aren't like American mannequins that stare tastefully into the distance or don't actually have features.  No, they stare RIGHT INTO YOUR SOUL.  It makes me a little afraid of retail here.  Alternately, there's the medina, but that's a completely different kind of shopping experience.

I also pass a field that contains a variety of adorable animals such as cows, donkeys, and sheep depending on the day.  The graze right up to the sidewalk.  Yesterday there were 3 lambs!  They were so cute and then I realized that they were also very delicious and then I got a little sad/hungry (oh by the way, I'm not really vegetarian anymore. Shwoops!)

Unfortunately, I also pass a lot of dead animals.  For some reason they are not on the road, but basically on the sidewalk.  I'm not sure how they die there, since the traffic is crazy and the pedestrians don't go around killing dogs (from what I've seen so far.)  Anyway, it's very sad... and gross...

Then I get to school! The university is built inside the walls of an old castle and it's pretty amazing to walk through these huge gates every day.  It's also filled with palm trees, which make it seem extra exotic.  Beyond that, it's like a normal school, except that they give you coffee in glass cups at the cafe, which is much classier than normal.

OK.  Now I'm just rambling. I'll fill you in on my classes/family/amusing pick-up lines I've heard ("Nice ass. Barack Obama" for example) soon.  Hopefully :)

I'm sorry I haven't been writing...

I've been very busy for the past few days.  I had my first day of class yesterday and my first 8 am class this morning... So far I like my teachers and the city.  I've been lost a couple of times, but I think that that is normal for me.  Right now I should be working on my first homework assignment (for my arabic class... We'll see how that goes...)  

I know that I haven't posted any pictures yet. I haven't figured out how to put them on my computer (and by that I mean that I haven't tried very hard yet.)  I'll try and do that this weekend when I should have some more time and be a bit more caught up on sleep.  

So, to recap: I'm safe, busy, and not purposefully ignoring all of you!

I made it to Casablanca (and promptly got lost)

The trip here was blissfully uneventful.  I always had a widow seat and an empty seat next to me (which sounds a bit like a modern airplane blessing.  "May you always have the window seat and may there always be an empty seat next to you for your stuff." )  I accidentally sat first class on the train with a second class ticket, but apparently I look pathetic/white/obviously new to this/cute that the conductor didn't say anything.  I also didn't drop my bags on anyone's head trying to get it out of the overhead compartment (that was a close one though...)

Once you leave the train station you immediately get ATTACKED by taxi drivers.  In fact, you keep getting attacked the entire way to your cab.  I imagine that the feeling is similar to being in a school of piranhas.  Except without teeth.  Thankfully there were no teeth.  My taxi driver was this tiny man who spent most of his time yelling at people in Arabic (despite the fact that he was clearly moving against traffic as we were trying to get out of the parking lot.)  Taxi drivers don't wear seat belts because that would prevent them from leaning out the window or leaping out of their cars (in the middle of the street) to yell at someone.  He was very pleasant to me and to his friend (another taxi driver who also got in the cab) and both of them kept trying to get me to book a tour with them the next day.  Very persistent those two.  This was happening while ALL THE PEDESTRIANS IN CASABLANCA kept stepping out in front of everything.  I was convinced that there are no traffic laws in Casablanca, but then I saw a lone street light.  The rule of law is rather thin here, at least in the traffic department.  

Once I got to my room in the hotel, my roommate (Shavon from Chicago) immediately rushed me out into the streets of Casablanca (well, not immediately - I demanded a shower first) and we preceded to get lost.  We assumed we'd be able to get back to the hotel because we knew some of the tall building landmarks around it.  Unfortunately, Casablanca is not at a loss for tall buildings.  It is also not set out in a grid-like street plan.  It's more like a bunch of starfish all vaguely connected.  Also, Casa after dark is approximately 90% male, so Shavon and I decided the best plan was to walk like we knew where we're going.  This sort of sped up the getting lost process (although, if you ask Shavon, she was NEVER lost.)  We kept walking taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the city (cats, car-horns, and the sewers :P )  and trying to find the BCMI bank or the MarocTelecom buildings so that we could get home.  It was a nice night and we weren't being stared at too much, so we decided to keep searching.

We did try and ask for directions, but either our French is REALLY bad, or the directions were wrong, because all we got was a group of guys following us and asking for our numbers. Very persistently.  The one guy kept shoving his (very fancy) phone in my face.  Unfortunately, I'm terrible at getting Moroccan guys to leave me alone, so I was too soft spoken as I told him NO repeatedly and put up my hands (it didn't help that he WAS quite attractive despite the creepy follow-you-around-and-hit-you-with-my-phone thing).  Shavon didn't have the same problem.  She just yelled at him like a crazy person, which is apparently the best way to deal with situations like these.  I'm pretty sure the initial conversation was my fault because I said "hi" back to one of the guys when he talked to me.  I really have to break my nice-small-town-girl habits because they're just going to get me in trouble here.

Then it started to softly rain.  We immediately found a cab (what can I say? We aren't THAT adventurous.)  It turns out that we were on the opposite side of the city.  Oops. The cab driver "ripped us off" by asking for the equivalent of 4 dollars for the trip.  I really have to start seeing DH as real money and not (as Shavon says) "monopoly money"...

That's all the adventure for now.  I'm just sitting in my room listening to all the perfectly functioning car horns of Casablanca.  So melodious!