Hello everyone! Well I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm already almost done with the summer! This upcoming week is our last week of classes complete with a final recording for our Moroccan Arabic class (~10 minutes covering 5 different cultural topics like souqs, clothing, music, etc.) and a final paper for Modern Standard Arabic (800-1000 words). The last week of the summer program involves final interviews, signing up for fall content courses and direct enrollment classes, and finalizing community service placements. I will most likely be volunteering at a local community center potentially teaching (hopefully not, I don't particularly want to work with kids but I'm always flexible). The director of the center knows some doctoral students in Linguistics who may want to do some sort of project with me so more details on that will follow as I get them.
This past week I finally joined a gym and its really invigorated my daily routine. The gym's not the fanciest in the world but it gets the job done. My main issue is the club also has group classes which would be fine but they blast odd remixes of Western techno and 80s music so regardless of what's in my headphones I get to listen to odd remixes of Western techno and 80s music. Additionally, there are no clips for the barbells to hold the weights but I haven't had any problems as of yet. At first the fact that everything was in kilograms threw me off but I got used to that fairly quickly. The last major issue is there are about 3 or 4 different styles of dumbbells and some styles have complete pairs and some don't so you have to mix and match but the more difficult part is you have to guess the weight cause only 1 or 2 of the styles are labelled. As much as I seem to be complaining about this place, its maybe a minute from my host family's place and its like 16 bucks a month. There are cheaper places but I'm paying for the convenience of a close place so I can't talk myself out of going (I went 4 days last week so I think it's working!).
That's all for now. As always questions, comments, and concerns are always welcome!
Johnny M.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Weeks 5 and 6: Second trip to Rabat and Gearing up for the end
Long time no see! Sorry I neglected to post last week. I normally take my Sundays to make these posts but we left around 9am and did not return until late Sunday night so alas, I did not write a post.
At the end of the last post I was asked if I would go back to the Hammam and if Moroccans usually eat late. To the first question, I will go back but not in the summer. It's too damn hot to go back in the summer as going from 105 degree into a sauna and strenuously scrubbing yourself is a helluva time and it makes me feel clean but it's a bit too hot. I've heard its great to go in the fall when its cooler and the sauna and scrubbing warms you up and feels refreshing but at the same time it gets more crowded and the one thing I hate more than crowds is being sweaty and wet...and in a crowd...of equally sweaty and wet men. But nonetheless everyone goes so it can't be that bad.
On the topic of dinner, yes most Moroccans tend to eat pretty late but after awhile you kind of get used to it. The only downside is I usually wake up in the early morning hours having to pee. Then again this happens fairly often even in the US, as those who know me will tell you, because I have a tiny bladder and drink a lot (usually water and coke and juice here because there's not much in the way of beer, especially with the Host fam, very haram).
This week, I have a debate to moderate for my formal Arabic class and next week as well as final presentations and interviews for Moroccan and Egyptian Arabic classes in the next two weeks. Only two more weeks of class before final exams and then summer break!
All for now,
Johnny M.
At the end of the last post I was asked if I would go back to the Hammam and if Moroccans usually eat late. To the first question, I will go back but not in the summer. It's too damn hot to go back in the summer as going from 105 degree into a sauna and strenuously scrubbing yourself is a helluva time and it makes me feel clean but it's a bit too hot. I've heard its great to go in the fall when its cooler and the sauna and scrubbing warms you up and feels refreshing but at the same time it gets more crowded and the one thing I hate more than crowds is being sweaty and wet...and in a crowd...of equally sweaty and wet men. But nonetheless everyone goes so it can't be that bad.
On the topic of dinner, yes most Moroccans tend to eat pretty late but after awhile you kind of get used to it. The only downside is I usually wake up in the early morning hours having to pee. Then again this happens fairly often even in the US, as those who know me will tell you, because I have a tiny bladder and drink a lot (usually water and coke and juice here because there's not much in the way of beer, especially with the Host fam, very haram).
This week, I have a debate to moderate for my formal Arabic class and next week as well as final presentations and interviews for Moroccan and Egyptian Arabic classes in the next two weeks. Only two more weeks of class before final exams and then summer break!
All for now,
Johnny M.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Week 4: All the dialects and all the homework
Hello everyone! I just capped off my first month back in Morocco with a trip to the hammam. For those who don't know, a hammam is basically a spa, but unlike in the US, both men and women frequent hammams and they are gender specific. The layouts of hammams vary somewhat but in general they are like big shower rooms with a single sauna room. You usually start by spreading a special olive or argan oil infused soap over your entire body. You can do this yourself or pay someone to do it for you. After sitting in the sauna for a few minutes you use a rough wash cloth called a "kish" to scrub all off the dead skin off your body. After that you finish with a shampoo and body wash of your choice. You can either bring shampoo and body wash with you or buy some there but not all hammams sell shampoo and body wash. It's about 20 or 30 MAD (2-3 USD) to go and 40 to 50 MAD (4-5 USD) if you want someone to do the scrubbing.
This past week was our first week of Formal, Egyptian, and Moroccan Arabic all together. Every day we have 4 hours of class for a total of 20 hours a week. We have 2 hours per day of Formal Arabic and 2 hours of a dialect. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we have Moroccan Arabic and Formal Arabic. Tuesdays and Thursdays we get Egyptian Arabic and Formal Arabic. Fridays we get all three; 2 hours of Formal and 1 hour for each dialect.
A received a request from last week's blog for more info on my daily routine. It's not all that much different from routine in the US. Classes start every day at 10am at the Center and I live about a 25 minute walk from it so I get up every morning around 8:45am to get dressed and eat breakfast around 9 or 9:10 after which I brush my teeth get my things together and am out the door between 9:25 and 9:35 each morning. Normally, I get a break for lunch between 12pm and 1pm and there are two places I frequent. A sandwich place and a lentils place, the former of which is my favorite. The sandwich place makes sandwiches with an egg, cheese and your choice of fried meat (Sausage, turkey, Kefta, liver, or intestines). No, I have not tried the intestines (but I might). The lentils place sells...lentils, among other things. But they also give you bread and a big jug of homemade pulpy juice (I had carrot and orange, which was delicious) to go along with your meal. The mother of the two owners makes everything in the morning and they carry it to their shop for lunch everyday. You can get a complete and filling lunch at both places for less than 20 MAD (about 2 USD). Classes usually end between 2 and 4pm depending on which day. I then work on homework for 2 to 3 hours. Additionally I have to meet with my language partner 4 hours each week, which I prefer to spread out across 4-1 hour sessions. After I finish with school work, I will sometimes go running in a park across the street from my homestay before eating dinner between 8 and 9. I'm usually in bed and asleep between 11:30 and 12am after reading for a bit.
Keep the questions and comments coming!
Best,
Johnny M.
This past week was our first week of Formal, Egyptian, and Moroccan Arabic all together. Every day we have 4 hours of class for a total of 20 hours a week. We have 2 hours per day of Formal Arabic and 2 hours of a dialect. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we have Moroccan Arabic and Formal Arabic. Tuesdays and Thursdays we get Egyptian Arabic and Formal Arabic. Fridays we get all three; 2 hours of Formal and 1 hour for each dialect.
A received a request from last week's blog for more info on my daily routine. It's not all that much different from routine in the US. Classes start every day at 10am at the Center and I live about a 25 minute walk from it so I get up every morning around 8:45am to get dressed and eat breakfast around 9 or 9:10 after which I brush my teeth get my things together and am out the door between 9:25 and 9:35 each morning. Normally, I get a break for lunch between 12pm and 1pm and there are two places I frequent. A sandwich place and a lentils place, the former of which is my favorite. The sandwich place makes sandwiches with an egg, cheese and your choice of fried meat (Sausage, turkey, Kefta, liver, or intestines). No, I have not tried the intestines (but I might). The lentils place sells...lentils, among other things. But they also give you bread and a big jug of homemade pulpy juice (I had carrot and orange, which was delicious) to go along with your meal. The mother of the two owners makes everything in the morning and they carry it to their shop for lunch everyday. You can get a complete and filling lunch at both places for less than 20 MAD (about 2 USD). Classes usually end between 2 and 4pm depending on which day. I then work on homework for 2 to 3 hours. Additionally I have to meet with my language partner 4 hours each week, which I prefer to spread out across 4-1 hour sessions. After I finish with school work, I will sometimes go running in a park across the street from my homestay before eating dinner between 8 and 9. I'm usually in bed and asleep between 11:30 and 12am after reading for a bit.
Keep the questions and comments coming!
Best,
Johnny M.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Week 3: Day trip to Rabat
Hello again. We have just completed our last full week of only Moroccan Arabic and will be moving into Egyptian and Formal Arabic next week, which marks our first full month in Morocco and what a month its been. I have finally found a great place to go for daily runs and it happens to be located across the street from my home-stay!
This week we started and finished a unit focusing on health and family not only in terms of vocabulary, expressions, and grammar used to talk about those topics, but also the topics themselves. We had a great discussion on alternative forms of medicine both in the US and in Morocco, particularly the use of Medical Marijuana, a topic I have seldom touched upon even in the US.
I capped off the week with a day trip to Rabat, the Moroccan capital, which round trip only cost about 14 USD (its about a 2 hr train ride from Meknes). We journeyed all over the city from the site of some old roman ruins to the Mausoleum housing the tomb of a previous king (Hassan II) and of course, to the beach.
I'm going to try something new. Some people dive really deep into different topics and are extremely detailed and thorough in their posts. I can do that but normally choose not to as I find it difficult to decide on what to write about at length in my posts. If a particular questions poses itself to you I invite you to post it in the comments and I will cover it in my next blog post.
Until next time,
Johnny M.
This week we started and finished a unit focusing on health and family not only in terms of vocabulary, expressions, and grammar used to talk about those topics, but also the topics themselves. We had a great discussion on alternative forms of medicine both in the US and in Morocco, particularly the use of Medical Marijuana, a topic I have seldom touched upon even in the US.
I capped off the week with a day trip to Rabat, the Moroccan capital, which round trip only cost about 14 USD (its about a 2 hr train ride from Meknes). We journeyed all over the city from the site of some old roman ruins to the Mausoleum housing the tomb of a previous king (Hassan II) and of course, to the beach.
I'm going to try something new. Some people dive really deep into different topics and are extremely detailed and thorough in their posts. I can do that but normally choose not to as I find it difficult to decide on what to write about at length in my posts. If a particular questions poses itself to you I invite you to post it in the comments and I will cover it in my next blog post.
Until next time,
Johnny M.
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Week 2: Back to the North
After Eid al-Fitr and celebrating the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, we set out on a little vacation to Northern Morocco. Specifically, we visited Asilah, Tetouan, Tangier, and we stayed in an Iqaam in the beach town of Martil, right on the Mediterranean. The drive by bus was about 5 to 6 hours both ways so there was plenty of time to nap, snack, and take lots of pictures of the passing scenery whether it be farms, towns, villages, or cows. Some of our language partners and teachers accompanied us which was great for keeping up with our language as well as having people help us navigate new places. Although, since I have already been to Tangier and Asilah, I didn't need too much help.
The beaches were relaxing and clean (الحمد لله) and I have plenty of pictures this time! You can find them on Facebook with my announcement of this blog post. So those of you who get tired of listening to me ramble can rejoice! At the beginning of each city we visited, each student from the three classes gave a 1-2 minute presentation in Arabic about an aspect of the town we were visiting (Culture, History, Demography, Geography, Famous figures, etc). Even though each town lied in about a 3 hour radius it was amazing how different each city's history was. Tangier has always been famous for designation as an international zone in the late 20th century that attracted beatnik writers and international spies alike. Tetouan and Asilah are both heavily influenced by Spanish culture and you will frequently read and hear Spanish spoken throughout the city centers.
This week we resume our classes and push through our last full week of only Moroccan Darija. Next week will introduce Formal and Egyptian Arabic in addition to Moroccan. Stay tuned for updates and pictures from our Fourth of July celebration. Questions and requests are always welcome.
All for now,
Johnny M.
The beaches were relaxing and clean (الحمد لله) and I have plenty of pictures this time! You can find them on Facebook with my announcement of this blog post. So those of you who get tired of listening to me ramble can rejoice! At the beginning of each city we visited, each student from the three classes gave a 1-2 minute presentation in Arabic about an aspect of the town we were visiting (Culture, History, Demography, Geography, Famous figures, etc). Even though each town lied in about a 3 hour radius it was amazing how different each city's history was. Tangier has always been famous for designation as an international zone in the late 20th century that attracted beatnik writers and international spies alike. Tetouan and Asilah are both heavily influenced by Spanish culture and you will frequently read and hear Spanish spoken throughout the city centers.
This week we resume our classes and push through our last full week of only Moroccan Darija. Next week will introduce Formal and Egyptian Arabic in addition to Moroccan. Stay tuned for updates and pictures from our Fourth of July celebration. Questions and requests are always welcome.
All for now,
Johnny M.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Round 2: week 1: too many colons
My blogs this time around are going to be a little shorter as I have less time to devote to them but will hopefully be entertaining the nonetheless. Quality over quantity as they say. It's been a hard week. I've already been sick, sobbed over being so far from my lovely fiancee, but it seems to be rounding out quite nicely. Everyone I've met thus far has been exactly what I needed and then some. I believe that if I face any obstacles that need hurdling, I'll have a slew of stellar people to support me. Here are some photos I've taken of the city and in class. Feel free to post questions and concerns or what you'd like to hear about in future posts as I'm always to suggestions.
Best,
Johnny M.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Asila, Hammams, and my last week in the Maghrib
So this is very likely going to be my last post as next week will be absorbed by studying for my final exam. I never did a post about my trip to Asila and I never posted any of the pictures from that trip so I guess I will start there.
Asila is a small beach town about 1 hour outside of Tangier and yet it still took us about 3 hours to get to our hostel in the city from Tangier. Moroccan time never fails to disregard any and all plans you may have to be even remotely on time to anything. I may sound salty and it is because I am. But once we finally arrived in Asila my spirits were lifted. It was a very beautiful city with a lot of murals and art covering the stone and brick walls of the Old medina. At the same time, it was also a tourist trap. We tried to sit down at a restaurant to enjoy some dessert and tea after dinner and the waiter proceeded to explain in Arabic, Spanish, French, and maybe Darija too that we had to order an entree to dine in that restaurant. We then responded by leaving as quickly as possible after telling him we needed a minute to decide what to order. My patience for being bleed dry for money was pretty low at that point in time.
Our hostel was one of the nicest places we have stayed at to date and also one of the cleanest. It was a little northwest of the Old medina and the beaches in a fairly secluded residential neighborhood. I enjoyed the quietest night of sleep since I arrived in Tangier. The woman working the front desk amazed me with her ability to seamlessly switch between Spanish, French, and English as needed. When it came to Arabic, she could usually understand but not respond. The guests came from all over Europe and there were even a couple of people from Asia as well. It was definitely a much different experience traveling to a hostel outside of Ramadan in comparison to the first hostel we stayed at. At the same time though, I feel like much less of a tourist than when I took that first journey to Rabat from Tangier. Maybe that's why I get so agitated when I go to super touristy places. I'm not a native by any sense of the word but I've been living here for weeks and, especially when I am in Tangier, I don't feel like a tourist walking around the neighborhood and seeing the same people every day. There's still a lot to Morocco that I haven't seen but the place feels more like a home than I ever thought it would. I have the people I've met here to thank for that.
But then I have new cultural experiences such as going to a traditional Moroccan hammam (basically like a spa) that remind me I'm still a tourist in many ways. First of all I would like to say that this place was incredibly clean and I felt very relaxed at the end of the appointment. It started in true Moroccan fashion, 45 minutes late, and I walked in to notice we were the only ones in the place and the only ones who were male. I figured the people in the wash rooms were going to be male so I did not think much of it but then my host brother said "oh no this place is normally only for women but I know the owners so I reserved for just us." Now I'm thinking, am I going to be basically bathed by women and as it turned out my assumptions were correct. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point during the appointment. However, it was an interesting cultural experience and I would do it again. Maybe. Maybe with men would be less uncomfortable.
So in the next week you guys can look forward to hopefully a video of me singing for the CLS end of the summer talent show on Wednesday. Also I will be posting more photos today of the past week or so.
Sorry for the short post but I've got a lot of work to do before I leave so I'll see you all back in America.
Thanks for reading,
Johnny M.
Asila is a small beach town about 1 hour outside of Tangier and yet it still took us about 3 hours to get to our hostel in the city from Tangier. Moroccan time never fails to disregard any and all plans you may have to be even remotely on time to anything. I may sound salty and it is because I am. But once we finally arrived in Asila my spirits were lifted. It was a very beautiful city with a lot of murals and art covering the stone and brick walls of the Old medina. At the same time, it was also a tourist trap. We tried to sit down at a restaurant to enjoy some dessert and tea after dinner and the waiter proceeded to explain in Arabic, Spanish, French, and maybe Darija too that we had to order an entree to dine in that restaurant. We then responded by leaving as quickly as possible after telling him we needed a minute to decide what to order. My patience for being bleed dry for money was pretty low at that point in time.
Our hostel was one of the nicest places we have stayed at to date and also one of the cleanest. It was a little northwest of the Old medina and the beaches in a fairly secluded residential neighborhood. I enjoyed the quietest night of sleep since I arrived in Tangier. The woman working the front desk amazed me with her ability to seamlessly switch between Spanish, French, and English as needed. When it came to Arabic, she could usually understand but not respond. The guests came from all over Europe and there were even a couple of people from Asia as well. It was definitely a much different experience traveling to a hostel outside of Ramadan in comparison to the first hostel we stayed at. At the same time though, I feel like much less of a tourist than when I took that first journey to Rabat from Tangier. Maybe that's why I get so agitated when I go to super touristy places. I'm not a native by any sense of the word but I've been living here for weeks and, especially when I am in Tangier, I don't feel like a tourist walking around the neighborhood and seeing the same people every day. There's still a lot to Morocco that I haven't seen but the place feels more like a home than I ever thought it would. I have the people I've met here to thank for that.
But then I have new cultural experiences such as going to a traditional Moroccan hammam (basically like a spa) that remind me I'm still a tourist in many ways. First of all I would like to say that this place was incredibly clean and I felt very relaxed at the end of the appointment. It started in true Moroccan fashion, 45 minutes late, and I walked in to notice we were the only ones in the place and the only ones who were male. I figured the people in the wash rooms were going to be male so I did not think much of it but then my host brother said "oh no this place is normally only for women but I know the owners so I reserved for just us." Now I'm thinking, am I going to be basically bathed by women and as it turned out my assumptions were correct. I would be lying if I said I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point during the appointment. However, it was an interesting cultural experience and I would do it again. Maybe. Maybe with men would be less uncomfortable.
So in the next week you guys can look forward to hopefully a video of me singing for the CLS end of the summer talent show on Wednesday. Also I will be posting more photos today of the past week or so.
Sorry for the short post but I've got a lot of work to do before I leave so I'll see you all back in America.
Thanks for reading,
Johnny M.
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