Recap: First Moments in Morocco

Week Three... and it's still impossible to keep up with this blog. I've given up trying to promise myself I'll write everything down at once, so I'll write what I can.

But I can tell you this much...Every minute and every day here in Morocco has been such an adventure that today was the first day I actually caught up on all of my sleep.. I woke up at 6PM! 

So here it goes. 

I am currently sitting on my desk, here at Al Akhawayn U which is located in a town called Ifrane, that has a very European Holiday feel, which is unlike any other place in Morocco.I have a pile of almonds piled to the right of me and a tall carton of strawberry yogurt on my left as I wrote in my kick ass journal Andrea gave me before I left for abroad. 

From the moment I stepped on Moroccan soil, I have been having the most unbelievable experiences and the pivotal point is that it has only been week three. So let me start from the VERY beginning.

The ride from Fez airport to Ifrane was the scariest experience of my life: Moroccan driving. Enough said. I will let you figure that one on your own, you'll need the experience. Other than the scary driving, the landscape and the atmosphere was one to keep me from falling asleep after the 24 hour travel time I had until prior. Everywhere I looked was brown, except these green leaf trees that were peculiar being vegetated in this desert-brown environment. As we continued, I could see these "apartment" buildings- which may be too luxurious of a word to describe these buildings- but as I looked closer, there were sure signs of civilization indicated by loads of laundries hung to be dried. It was quite a culturally different thing to see.

Yes, we were driving on the left lane, and No, it is not a one way road.

These buildings looked pretty broken down, but there were laundry hanging in the window

I knew that we were getting close to our final destination when the towns crept up being more and more civilized and inhabited As we drove by this one town called Imouzer, which can be described as a sad looking town was such narrow roads that it would be more appropriate to call them allies than roads, we came to a stop caused by heavy two way traffic. We stopped by this one small alleyway where a dark Moroccan man was drinking water out of a faucet that ran through a cold water spring. I immediately grabbed my camera and took a picture, and when the man saw me do this, he grinned at me the friendliest grin and came over to offer us a sip of his water from his freshly filled water bottle. It was the coldest and freshest water I have had since my departure- I was pretty thirsty at this point. This was the first true sign of how welcoming and generous the Moroccan people were through and wide.

Town of Imouzer

After thanking the man, the car got to moving again and by then, I was too exhausted to try to push myself to stay awake, so I dozed off to sleep. 

The man with the fresh water:)

When I awoke, I woke up to a language that I have never heard before in my life. As I looked out, I saw the friendly gate of Al Akhawayn University and a security guard with a friendly smile asking us to see our passports. Once they checked our IDs, we drove into the driveway of the school and it opened up to this beautiful circle with a giant golden globe placed in the center. Along the sidewalks surrounded this beautiful and freshly cut rosemary bush, where I later made a habit of grazing my hands along its soft leaves so that my hands would smell of rosemary for a good hour or so. The pointed roofs of all the buildings were a unified burgundy color and the shape in itself was so unique to the city of Ifrane because the pointed rooftops were to prevent the snow from piling on top. In cities such as Fez, Asilah and Casablanca it is more common to see flat rooftops. 

Sign at the front gate

The Circle in the front of the campus with the Globe.

We pulled into Building 38, which had the main desk for Housing where we received our cash wallets (student IDs), room keys, and hand book, and finally, finally got into our rooms to rest for the very first night in Morocco.............

....is what I should have said, but I was too excited to call it a day. So this is what really happened. This moment is quite important because I met some of the key characters that were able to make all of my adventures a reality. 

So after we received out welcome home packages, the drive was driving us to our rooms when all of the sudden, two tall guys with sun-darkened skin and surprisingly modern clothes stopped us and introduced themselves as our student ambassadors. A goofy looking kid, who we later call Dweeb- and I his Dweeba- with black rimmed glasses over his wide, gum showing smile, introduced himself as Marouane in a lispy Moroccan accent, and the other introduced himself as Reda. 

Marouane on the left, Reda on the right. 

Reda deserves a whole page for his introduction. As I looked over, he was this tall, conservative looking kid with black rimmed glasses, a little smaller than Marouane's, with a cool gaze and a crooked smile. He ends up being our go-to man for hooking us up with the best Moroccan experiences. Reda has the best connections on and outside the campus because he just has his hands in every aspect of the school, including being president of the interfaith alliance club and exec board of the extreme sports club, along with a few other clubs that I don't really know about yet. He provides the most convenient fun anywhere, at anytime. You'll learn to love him as I continue my story. 

They tell us to drop off our stuff in our rooms and meet them after so that we can go into the marche (the market), which I had mentioned I wanted to do during our introductions. We set out right away and headed for the marche which is a good mile and a half to about two mile walk down the road from the university. As we walked, I noticed a lot of people on the streets and tourists, mostly Moroccans, that were exploring the town with their cameras. I learned that lots of Moroccans from all over the country come to Ifrane for vacation. 

We walked by this big park with a round pond in the center with sidewalks and benches around and along its radius. There were trees everywhere and a path that lead towards the main part of the town. We eventually passed this one bar, the closet bar within a five minute walking distance from the school called Aguelmam, which the students here call Aggies. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that kids at AUI do drink and party, even though it is law in Morocco that alcohol is not to be served to the people since Moroccans are not allowed to drink by law because of their Muslim faith. However, as Marouane told us from the very beginning, that in Morocco, laws were made to be broken. This abides to be true to some extend as my time here progresses. 

I have noticed that Moroccan culture is very gravitated towards religion and the laws implemented are heavily influenced by religion as well. The students, although they do and like the same things most teenagers in the US like, I have noticed that their attitudes and their mannerisms towards the party and college scene is more "in the dark" and behind closed doors than the ever exposed college culture of the US. But quite contrarily, I have come to find that really, anything goes in Morocco. It's quite hard to explain it in plain words so you'll see what I mean as I continue on my story.

At the marche, as I posted earlier, we had our first Moroccan dinner with the tajine kefta, Moroccan salad, and tea with mint leaves (and extra extra sugar) which the boys ordered for us. It was delicious and definitely a culturally welcoming meal. When we got back, it was nearly nine but we continued to hang out afterwards where we got to meet Simo. All of us became good friends quite fast. 

Marche

Advice: Get there at least a few days earlier. I was so lucky to have been here about a week earlier before everyone else moved in because right off the bat, I got to meet some awesome Moroccan kids who I became very close to since they were my first friends here in Morocco. I am so blessed to have met them. 

For the next week or so before Orientation started, I explored the city of Ifrane a little, got to know the campus, and got closer to most of the student ambassadors. Along with Reda, Dweeb, and Simo, I became really close friends with this awesome girl named Boutayna, who reminded me a little of Andrea from home, with long wavy hair that was died half blonde at the bottom (she rockeddd it). She is one of the craziest and coolest girls I know, very down to earth and now I call her one of my best friends here at AUI. 

KJ, Me and Boutayna

Along with Boutayna, I met KJ, who also become very close to Boutayna and I who is from New York. KJ is also a very down to earth girl that just has the biggest smile on her face every time I see her. She knows how to have a good time as well but at the same time brings balance to Boutayna and I, being the most responsible one of the three. KJ and I just got along so well right from the start, and we always joke that we always catch each other during our goofy, clumsy moments, either when I spill tea as I miss my mouth or misphrase the saying " haters gonna hate, ballers gonna ball" to "haters gonna hate, balls gonna roll"..which made sense just the same and later becomes our constant inside joke to every situation imaginable. 

Extended Pirates Group!

Our group slowly grew bigger and bigger as more and more exchange students started to move in. You'll eventually meet the rest of the crew (we named ourselves the Pirates haha) But more on the people later. It's  nearly 4 am and I have to wake up in an hour to work out with the extreme sports club (I'll get to it). GOOD NIGHT!