Monday, October 5, 2009
4:06 PM | Posted by
Dan Ruemenapp
If I could sum up my entire Morocco experience in two words they would be: real and organic. Warning: This is a very long post due to the many amazing experiences I had.
After the 9 hour bus ride from Madrid with some sleep aids, we arrived in the port city of Algeciras on the southern coast of Spain at 5 a.m. After a 3 hour waiting period in the ferry terminal we took a ferry ride across the Mediterranean Sea and across the strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco under the guidance of Arnd, our very German yet very amazing group leader. Arnd actually founded the Morocco Exchange program and was also training former Peace Corps members to lead in the future on this trip. After a brief orientation bus ride through the city, we visited the women's resource center, DARNA, and partook in a discussion with three Moroccan students about cultural diversity, education, and the movement towards women's rights in Morocco. The history of women's oppression in Muslim/Arabic countries is a sad one. It has been ingrained in their culture for so long that only recently have women started to go to school or find work. So far Morocco is the leader in the movement towards modernism of all the Muslim/Arabic countries, but they still have a very long way to go before they even sniff the independence and freedom of women in the western world.
After a tremendous lunch of Chicken Tajine at DARNA we drove to the city of Asilah for a quick walk and a surprise waiting for us on the beach. We got to ride camels on a Moroccan beach. At first I noticed them hanging out on the beach, and then I realized when we stopped in front of them that we were going to go for a ride. It was an absolute blast. Now I can check off of my bucket list: ride a camel in Africa. After the camel ride we continued our bus trip over to the city of Rabat. When we arrived in Rabat we met with our host families (I lived with Sean) for the next two days and took a walk through the Medina (market) with our host brother before eating dinner and going to sleep.
After a shower and breakfast the next morning with the family we went to a Moroccan school to have a discussion with a woman teacher about the differences between the Western and Islamic worlds along with stereotypes, prejudices, and women's rights as well. This was some stimulating discussion and it made us reflect on our lives as Americans and the prejudices and stereotypes we make without rational thought. After our discussion we visited the ancient Roman ruins of Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V before returning for lunch with our homestay families. Friday is usually couscous day in Morocco so we ended up sharing a large bowl of couscous with chicken, potatoes, and vegetables.
When Sean and I returned home for lunch we met a student (he shall remain nameless) from Skidmore College, a small liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, NY. At first we were excited to meet an American who had already been in Morocco for a month and will continue to study abroad there for the rest of the semester. What we hadn't been expecting was a pretentious devil's advocate who would ask ridiculous pie-in-the-sky questions in a condescending voice to make us seem inferior to him.
After lunch the group explored the Andalusian (southern Spain rich in Arab history) neighborhood in the Kashba and the street life in the Medina market. Afterward, we met up with a group of Moroccan students from AMIDEAST/Rabat University who took us around the town and comparing life in Morocco to America. One of them gave me a gift of some Moroccan cologne; now I can smell like a true Moroccan. After the walk the group met up for discussion about the Peace Corps and the experiences the former volunteers had. During group discussion, Arnd invited the Skidmore student to join us. After high-energy and happy individual introductions from the group, the Skidmore student dropped the energy by talking about how terrible the homestay family had been treating him prior to Sean and I arriving.
After the group discussion, we had the option to participate in the public bath known as the Hammam. The Hammam consists of three distinct rooms. The first room was as hot or hotter than a sauna and all of us (the men's Hammam) put on this brown soap/paste made from olives. It was quite a bonding experience soaping my friends. After we sat in the hottest room with soap soaked into our pores, we moved into the next room which was warm, but not as hot as the first. There we would each be scrubbed intensely by a Moroccan man to the point of exfoliation. After being scrubbed we each were stretched by a sort of massage therapist and then rinsed off in the coolest and final room of the Hammam. It was probably the most clean I have ever been and probably one of the most liberating and unique experiences I've ever had.
After the Hammam we returned to our homestay for dinner before bed. That night Sean, the Skidmore student (who seemed to have cooled off a bit from before), and I had some very stimulating, deep, and frustrating conversation. He still came off as pretty pretentious and pie-in-the-sky, so we let him know how we felt so he could possibly change, but it was still a pleasure to meet him. I haven't had conversation like that in a while, even though he kept to the wrong side of an argument just for the sake of argument.
The next morning after breakfast with the family, we took off for the Rif Mountains. The bus ride was a front row seat to the part of Morocco as a developing nation. We ate lunch with a family who lived in the mountains and partook in some good arousing conversation about education, the simplicity of life, economic challenges in rural Morocco, and the custom of marriage in Morocco compared to that in the western world. After some Moroccan music, dancing with the family, and soccer with the kids, we packed up for the city of Chefchaouen.
After settling into our hostal, we were able to meet up with one of our good friends Christine who is studying abroad in Morocco this semester. We walked through the Medina and I was able to purchase a few things to bring home with me. Later we met up for a celebration dinner at a very nice restaurant in the Medina. I ate Pastilla, which is baked chicken covered in cinnamon and almonds which was delicious. I also enjoyed a great conversation with Arnd about the exchange program, my life and goals, and his experiences before he started the program. He really inspired me to pursue some sort of volunteer work after I my undergrad before I go on to graduate school. I will definitely keep in touch with him in the future.
That night we had a reflection time before our last night in Morocco. In the morning we drove over to the Moroccan/Spanish border at Ceuta. Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean, which separates it from the Spanish mainland. The originally Moroccan territory was conquered by Portugal in 1415 and taken by Spain in 1640. When Spain recognized the independence of Spanish Morocco in 1956, Ceuta and the other plazas de soberanía remained under Spanish rule as they were considered integral parts of the Spanish state. We actually walked across the border because our Moroccan bus driver wasn't allowed to cross with us. We then took a ferry back to Algeciras from Ceuta, and then another 9 hour bus ride back to Madrid.
This was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. The hospitality of the Moroccans was unbelievable and rather than a volunteer service or tourist trip, this was purely for immersing ourselves into the Moroccan culture. The two best words I can use to describe my weekend are as I previously stated: real and organic. The most important thing I learned about this trip was all of the things that make us human. People are all the same regardless of religion, race, economic background, social background, tradition, or culture. This trip really helped me become aware of the things innate to being human. When you are thrown into something so new and so different from what you are used to, all of your perceived identities and American social bullshit are stripped away from you down to the real core of your self. It is when you are stripped of the pressure to fit into your usual identity or social norm that you are used to, that your true, real, and organic self comes alive.
I hope you enjoy learning about my Morocco experience. Photographs will be up soon on http://picasaweb.google.com/djruemenapp. I'm going to go write a song now.
"We're never gonna win the world / We're never gonna stop the war / We're never gonna beat this / If belief is what we're fighting for."
After the 9 hour bus ride from Madrid with some sleep aids, we arrived in the port city of Algeciras on the southern coast of Spain at 5 a.m. After a 3 hour waiting period in the ferry terminal we took a ferry ride across the Mediterranean Sea and across the strait of Gibraltar to Tangier, Morocco under the guidance of Arnd, our very German yet very amazing group leader. Arnd actually founded the Morocco Exchange program and was also training former Peace Corps members to lead in the future on this trip. After a brief orientation bus ride through the city, we visited the women's resource center, DARNA, and partook in a discussion with three Moroccan students about cultural diversity, education, and the movement towards women's rights in Morocco. The history of women's oppression in Muslim/Arabic countries is a sad one. It has been ingrained in their culture for so long that only recently have women started to go to school or find work. So far Morocco is the leader in the movement towards modernism of all the Muslim/Arabic countries, but they still have a very long way to go before they even sniff the independence and freedom of women in the western world.
After a tremendous lunch of Chicken Tajine at DARNA we drove to the city of Asilah for a quick walk and a surprise waiting for us on the beach. We got to ride camels on a Moroccan beach. At first I noticed them hanging out on the beach, and then I realized when we stopped in front of them that we were going to go for a ride. It was an absolute blast. Now I can check off of my bucket list: ride a camel in Africa. After the camel ride we continued our bus trip over to the city of Rabat. When we arrived in Rabat we met with our host families (I lived with Sean) for the next two days and took a walk through the Medina (market) with our host brother before eating dinner and going to sleep.
After a shower and breakfast the next morning with the family we went to a Moroccan school to have a discussion with a woman teacher about the differences between the Western and Islamic worlds along with stereotypes, prejudices, and women's rights as well. This was some stimulating discussion and it made us reflect on our lives as Americans and the prejudices and stereotypes we make without rational thought. After our discussion we visited the ancient Roman ruins of Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V before returning for lunch with our homestay families. Friday is usually couscous day in Morocco so we ended up sharing a large bowl of couscous with chicken, potatoes, and vegetables.
When Sean and I returned home for lunch we met a student (he shall remain nameless) from Skidmore College, a small liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, NY. At first we were excited to meet an American who had already been in Morocco for a month and will continue to study abroad there for the rest of the semester. What we hadn't been expecting was a pretentious devil's advocate who would ask ridiculous pie-in-the-sky questions in a condescending voice to make us seem inferior to him.
After lunch the group explored the Andalusian (southern Spain rich in Arab history) neighborhood in the Kashba and the street life in the Medina market. Afterward, we met up with a group of Moroccan students from AMIDEAST/Rabat University who took us around the town and comparing life in Morocco to America. One of them gave me a gift of some Moroccan cologne; now I can smell like a true Moroccan. After the walk the group met up for discussion about the Peace Corps and the experiences the former volunteers had. During group discussion, Arnd invited the Skidmore student to join us. After high-energy and happy individual introductions from the group, the Skidmore student dropped the energy by talking about how terrible the homestay family had been treating him prior to Sean and I arriving.
After the group discussion, we had the option to participate in the public bath known as the Hammam. The Hammam consists of three distinct rooms. The first room was as hot or hotter than a sauna and all of us (the men's Hammam) put on this brown soap/paste made from olives. It was quite a bonding experience soaping my friends. After we sat in the hottest room with soap soaked into our pores, we moved into the next room which was warm, but not as hot as the first. There we would each be scrubbed intensely by a Moroccan man to the point of exfoliation. After being scrubbed we each were stretched by a sort of massage therapist and then rinsed off in the coolest and final room of the Hammam. It was probably the most clean I have ever been and probably one of the most liberating and unique experiences I've ever had.
After the Hammam we returned to our homestay for dinner before bed. That night Sean, the Skidmore student (who seemed to have cooled off a bit from before), and I had some very stimulating, deep, and frustrating conversation. He still came off as pretty pretentious and pie-in-the-sky, so we let him know how we felt so he could possibly change, but it was still a pleasure to meet him. I haven't had conversation like that in a while, even though he kept to the wrong side of an argument just for the sake of argument.
The next morning after breakfast with the family, we took off for the Rif Mountains. The bus ride was a front row seat to the part of Morocco as a developing nation. We ate lunch with a family who lived in the mountains and partook in some good arousing conversation about education, the simplicity of life, economic challenges in rural Morocco, and the custom of marriage in Morocco compared to that in the western world. After some Moroccan music, dancing with the family, and soccer with the kids, we packed up for the city of Chefchaouen.
After settling into our hostal, we were able to meet up with one of our good friends Christine who is studying abroad in Morocco this semester. We walked through the Medina and I was able to purchase a few things to bring home with me. Later we met up for a celebration dinner at a very nice restaurant in the Medina. I ate Pastilla, which is baked chicken covered in cinnamon and almonds which was delicious. I also enjoyed a great conversation with Arnd about the exchange program, my life and goals, and his experiences before he started the program. He really inspired me to pursue some sort of volunteer work after I my undergrad before I go on to graduate school. I will definitely keep in touch with him in the future.
That night we had a reflection time before our last night in Morocco. In the morning we drove over to the Moroccan/Spanish border at Ceuta. Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean, which separates it from the Spanish mainland. The originally Moroccan territory was conquered by Portugal in 1415 and taken by Spain in 1640. When Spain recognized the independence of Spanish Morocco in 1956, Ceuta and the other plazas de soberanía remained under Spanish rule as they were considered integral parts of the Spanish state. We actually walked across the border because our Moroccan bus driver wasn't allowed to cross with us. We then took a ferry back to Algeciras from Ceuta, and then another 9 hour bus ride back to Madrid.
This was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. The hospitality of the Moroccans was unbelievable and rather than a volunteer service or tourist trip, this was purely for immersing ourselves into the Moroccan culture. The two best words I can use to describe my weekend are as I previously stated: real and organic. The most important thing I learned about this trip was all of the things that make us human. People are all the same regardless of religion, race, economic background, social background, tradition, or culture. This trip really helped me become aware of the things innate to being human. When you are thrown into something so new and so different from what you are used to, all of your perceived identities and American social bullshit are stripped away from you down to the real core of your self. It is when you are stripped of the pressure to fit into your usual identity or social norm that you are used to, that your true, real, and organic self comes alive.
I hope you enjoy learning about my Morocco experience. Photographs will be up soon on http://picasaweb.google.com/djruemenapp. I'm going to go write a song now.
"We're never gonna win the world / We're never gonna stop the war / We're never gonna beat this / If belief is what we're fighting for."
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