Adjustments are being made

The title of this blog is a phrase I have been telling myself in order to deal with the onslaught of language and culture that has become my daily routine.  As wonderful, exciting, eye-opening, and breathtaking as it is, at the same time it wreaks havoc on me physically so I just have to keep reminding myself that I am a student, I am learning, I need to be flexible, and that adjustments are being made.

I spent the majority of my first day on my homework which is not entirely unexpected.  I always knew I was going to be hit hard with a heavy workload early on but I guess I was a little overconfident and underestimated the resolve of the curriculum writers when they used the word "intensive" to describe this program.  All of my Arabic classes since the beginning of my first year in college have been considered intensive so I assumed this summer would be on that level.

I neglected to remind myself however that I am supposed to be covering two of those semester-long
Arabic classes in 7 weeks meaning lessons that normally take 2 to 3 weeks will now take 2 to 3 days. Wake up calls ensued for the remainder of the first day.  I have to say though, once I got into it, the class became as engaging and energizing as all my classes before.  We have an hour each day dedicated to either the Moroccan Darija dialect or to reading the news which is the sort of practical, utilitarian Arabic that I was looking for.

Darija is incredibly difficult as itself and the Modern Standard Arabic are not mutually intelligible and as my host brother says about his mother when I asked her what languages she spoke besides Arabic: "She does not speak Arabic, she speaks Darija."  It's like being in ARAB 104 at UMD all over again.  But hopefully by the end of the summer I will be able to barter in the souqs and talk about sports with some of the locals.

My host family is made up of some of the nicest and most delightful people I have ever met. Ishmael (no he has not read Moby Dick, I asked) is the brother and the one who shows us around and talks to us at dinner.  He speaks Formal Arabic, Darija, French, and fantastic English for only studying for 2 years.  He and his mother have been doing this for a few years and he has used the opportunity to practice his English with people from all over Europe and Asia.  His knowledge of American culture and Politics is impressive to say the least as he can talk intelligently about the past 2 or three American presidents.

So far on my journey I have walked all around Tangier, the old medina where the first people settled, stumbled in a James Bond set (some people claimed to have spotted Christoph Waltz), and done some Arabic calligraphy (pictures to come).  We've also planned a trip to Rabat, the capital, for this upcoming weekend and CLS has a group trip planned for Meknes and Central Morocco next weekend.  They definitely like to keep us busy and luckily the American school in Tangier campus has plenty of activites to go around.  There is an indoor and outdoor basketball court, multi-purpose natural grass athletic field, swimming pool, locker and shower facilities, and WiFi.  The last one's important because I can't access the internet to talk to all you wonderful people without this campus. There's also a playground for use during our hourly breaks.  They sometimes last a little longer than our teachers would like but if you saw the weather here it would be hard to spend most of the day inside for you as well I'm sure.

People always ask what's different between here and home, both Moroccans and people back in the states and there are a lot of small things but there are also a few "Snuu?" moments that occur in the day-to-day grind.  Snuu? meaning "what" in Moroccan Darija.  For one when there's an accident or any kind of medical emergency and someone calls and Ambulance, it takes at least 30 minutes to an hour to arrive if you are lucky.  There are a few reasons for this in my opinion.  One, traffic is horrendous and people are stubborn but also if you do not have insurance in Morocco or cannot pay money then you are not treated to the best of my understanding.  If you are dying they may operate to keep you breathing, maybe.  I will have to investigate further to find a definite answer, nonetheless, the state of health in Morocco is utterly abhorrent and reforms need to be made but unfortunately the government is uninterested in doing anything else then maintaining the status quo and the citizens to the best of my knowledge are uneager to demand action from elected officials.  Additionally, some people like Ishmael, who are incredibly intelligent and well-educated do not vote because they have no confidence in their government.  I should inquire further into the politics of Morocco with my Language partner.  FYI, Language partners are native Moroccans who you meet with 3 hours a week or more to practice your Arabic.  All very nice, sharp, funny, and as eager to learn things about you are you are about them.  Nothing but positive experiences to report thus far except that my language partner had an emergency with work in Rabat and had to leave this week but he will be back in shaa allah and I will have more to report at that juncture.

If there is anything else anyone would like to know about and like me to talk more about in this post (I can edit or comment if necessary) or my next post, please feel free to ask.

All for now,

Johnny M.