On Monday, we discussed health, travel and safety. Our instructor warned us about potentially dangerous foods in Morocco. She mentioned that ice cream here should only be purchased if it is a widely sold name brand and that products from local vendors can contain salmonella. Mrs. Fishburn noted that such foods can have dire effects on visitors, including projectile vomiting, dysentery and "expulsion from everywhere." She also stated that the exchange students would soon be comfortable discussing the size, color and consistency of our bowel movements. Lovely, right?
Luckily, if we do get sick, the pharmacy on campus is well equipped. A fellow exchange student, Anna, developed a cold within the first few days of orientation. After going to the pharmacy, she returned with an array of medications (shown below). The university has its own ambulance for medical emergencies. Housing services also offer to look after sick students and will bring food and medication to those in need.
She also discussed healthcare options in Ifrane, Fez and Meknes. In the local clinic in town, there are four physicians and three nurses. Translators are always available to help international patients communicate with the doctors. We also filled out forms for health insurance, which turned out to be incredibly frustrating. To receive reimbursement, we must save our medicine boxes and prescriptions to turn them in to the insurance company. Most procedures and visits are reimbursed by 80% of the original cost.
We also discussed photography in Morocco. Certain areas are restricted, such as royal palaces and embassies. In some remote villages, taking pictures is seen as disrespectful. Generally, it is best to ask for permission to photograph others. Sometimes Moroccans even expect tourists to pay for the images they take.
Mrs. Fishburn mentioned the different kinds of taxis found in Morocco. Petit taxis only run within city limits. There are 12-15 petit taxis in Ifrane and they are green and white. These taxis have no meters and run on a fixed rate. The rate is generally 5 dirhams to town and 10 dirhams to the merche. When the sun goes down, the rate increases, almost doubling. To go out of town, we must use the grand taxis, which are old green Mercedes sedans. We rode a grand taxi to go to Azrou. The front seat included the driver and two others. Four more people sat in the back. It was slightly cramped, to say the least. The picture below is of Rebecca (another exchange student) and me in the grand taxi.
Other modes of transportation are available to students. Trains are useful for travel within Morocco and aren't too expensive. We we warned not to take the trains on major holiday weekends, when they are packed. Airlines, including Easy Jet, Arabian Air and Ryanair, offer flights out of the country. I am hoping to fly to Madrid, Spain over one of our breaks using Ryanair, which is generally very cheap. However, the cheaper airlines often have issues like long layovers, frequently cancelled flights and excessive charges for anything extra.
I also look forward to visiting Tangier, which is further north. Spanish is much more widely spoken there, which will give me a chance to practice my (fairly rusty) speaking skills. Countless people have asked me if I plan to ride a camel and the answer is yes! Apparently, large caravans are usually led through the desert in the winter, when the weather isn't unbearably hot. There are actually 4 and 5 star tents in the desert, which I found pretty interesting. The less glamorous aspect of camel excursions is found in the fleas that many of them have. To avoid getting bitten, riders are encouraged to wear closed shoes and long pants. There are also "blue men" in some regions of the desert in Morocco. These Berber speaking Moroccans wear clothing died with indigo, which rubs off on their skin. There are actually people that imitate these blue people in order to make money and attract tourists.
We also discussed Moroccan products available in the markets. The carpets here are absolutely beautiful! In Azrou, a shop owner explained the meaning behind the symbols woven into his rugs. There are two types of carpets: knotted (zerbia) and flat weave (hanbel). Painted tajines (like the photo shown in my earlier post) are also commonly sold. However, no pottery in Morocco is certified lead free. For this reason, it is not recommended to cook or eat out of painted tajines.
Mrs. Fishburn also mentioned the dangers posed by animals on campus. Wild dogs can crawl under fences and chase runners. She noted that the act of grabbing a rock generally scares them away. Monkeys also venture on to campus in search of water. They actually take and unscrew water bottles from students. Is it bad that I kind of want to see a thirsty monkey? Haha..
The laws in Morocco governing bars and intoxication seem to be fairly strict. Public intoxication is a serious offense and is not defined liberally. Just having the smell of alcohol on your breath can warrant action by the police. Visiting bars regularly is also frowned on in Morocco. Another interesting offense is the act of "shaking the faith" of someone else, or encouraging one to change his or her religion. It is illegal and has resulted in school expulsion and deportation. According to my roommate, this often occurs with Christian missionaries who come to Morocco and do volunteer work in poor areas. She noted, "The intention behind these acts is to convert us to Christianity." She said that if these groups are identified by the government, they are often immediately deported.
We also had to fill out residency documents, which were written entirely in French. Even those students who do speak French had trouble and many of us had to fill out about twice as many as we needed. Luckily, some of the other documents we had included Spanish translation of the requirements for each blank.
After dinner on Monday, traditional Moroccan folk dancers performed. We were encouraged to join the dances and it was pretty amazing! Most of us had no clue what we were doing, but at least we had fun! Ha :) All of the girls in our exchange group were mesmerized by the bedazzling young man performing in the middle of the group..
On Tuesday morning, the exchange students and incoming AUI freshman had a collective breakfast in Ifrane. Our breakfast consisted of a couple different kinds of bread (can't remember the names) and mint tea. I am in LOVE with the mint tea here! Sometimes, it's a little sweet, but it always tastes so fresh! The bread was very good too. One had cheese and herbs inside and the other was similar to cornbread in taste. The breakfast was a great way for new students to get to know each other.
After breakfast, the group from breakfast participated in a treasure hunt. In theory, a treasure hunt sounds fun. In reality, it was exhausting and fairly frustrating. Our team took about half an hour to find the first location. We did get a good workout though! I'm pretty sure we ran to every corner of the campus multiple times.
Later in the day, we headed to Azrou, which is about 20 minutes away from Ifrane by grand taxi. We joked that if we wrecked, we wouldn't be injured since we were packed so tightly into the back seat. Driving in Morocco is slightly unnerving when done in a taxi. I was pretty sure our car was going to take out a herd of sheep at one point.
When we got to Azrou, we wandered around shops and small cafes. In smaller cities in Morocco, women do not generally go to cafes. In every cafe I saw, there were only men. I did buy a few things in Azrou, including a small wallet, earrings and a keychain. I paid 100 dirhams total, which might have been slightly high (according to my roommate). I knew it was a little over $10 though, so I didn't mind. The earrings cost the most (80 dirhams) because they are real silver. My roommate made sure of this by scratching them against the wall.
The shops were filled with beautiful tajines, pots and different kids of jars.
We also went to an overlook, which was gorgeous!
The sunset before we left Azrou was incredible! We heard the call to prayer while watching the sunset.
Today was my first day of classes. In the morning, I had Arabic and French. In French, I kept accidentally incorporating Spanish into the phrases we learned. Fortunately, according to our teacher, 40% of French vocabulary is similar to Spanish! I found Arabic to be more difficult, especially the writing. After class, I ate lunch. Below, my breakfast is shown. I am having trouble adjusting to the very small size of coffees in Morocco...
After lunch, we went into town to buy cell phones. For a sim card, phone and 130 minutes, I paid 390 dirhams (about $45 in the US). The phone only works in Morocco, though. We also wandered around the market, which included fruit and meat stands.
Tonight, we celebrated the birthday of one of the exchange students downtown. I ordered mint tea, shown below. Unfortunately something was wrong with my teapot (or me) and I spilled quite a bit of it.
More pictures and blogs to come! I hope everyone is having a good week! :)
Katharine, I am really enjoying reliving Morocco through your blog! I have something I want you to research for me. The last time I was there, in 2005, we hired a car and driver and drove from Fes to Marrakech, down through the Atlas mountains (yes, we were in Ifrane) to Er Rachidia, Ouarzazate, and Merzouga. On the road in the mountains near Ifrane, there were dogs everywhere. They would pop up as we drove past, obviously begging for food. We never stopped. I wonder where these dogs actually lived and how they survived. They didn't look like they were starving.
ReplyDeleteOuarzazate - when I was in Morocco with the Peace Corps and the group were getting our two-year assignments, the leader called out the name of our friend David and then, Ouarzazate!!! David called back, "Wherez 'za at?" Now it is the center of Moroccan film-making and has become much more cosmopolitan.
Keep writing!