Alaskan Nomad

For the Sahara trip, there were 17 people. We bought 17 tickets from Rabat to Errachidia on the luxury bus CTM for Friday night. Two people had expressed a desire to stay in Errachidia a day longer than the rest of us so we only reserved 15 seats on CTM to go back to Rabat on Sunday.

Come Sunday, and everyone wants to go home. The ticket man at CTM told us that the bus only has 7 open seats. This was a flurry of stressful decisions as we were all tired and hungry and wanted to be back in Rabat but we had to select only 7 people to go back that evening. Well, right before the CTM was to leave, the ticket man told us that there actually were 14 seats on the bus, so now 14 people could go back. Oh, happy day! Why had the guy told us only 7 seats earlier? He's paid on commission, so he would rather sell the tickets than permit reserved people who bought tickets elsewhere. When he didn't sell any, then he let us take the rest of the empty spots. Bus tickets on commission is a lousy system.

Anyway, 14 to go back on CTM. What about the other three? Well, Reda (AIESEC Morocco) volunteered. Perhaps the two people who had initially planned to stay an extra day and didn't have reservations at all should stay? No, they had changed their mind, and wanted to go home. So, Ryan volunteered to stay, and we drew names for the third person. To our luck, Natalie was selected. I let Ryan go with everyone else so I could be with Natalie, so it was Reda, Natalie, and I that were left to find our own way home while everyone else went CTM.

Our trip wasn't too bad as we took the normal, cheaper, more uncomfortable bus back to Meknes and then Rabat. It left only two hours after the CTM bus did but the trip got us into Rabat four hours later. I was sure happy to be back in the capital city and in my apartment after spending a night on those busses. It's rough travelling, but I guess that builds character.

The whole ordeal, first 7 then 14 seats and deciding who has to stay, and then packing into the Moroccan bus where engine heat was filtering up into the cabin, was all very Moroccan. That's the stuff I'm going to miss when I am back in Alaska.

I watch 'Star Wars' and I see all the strange animals that Lucas created to live in the worlds of his big screen imagination, and I think that they are wonderful and fantastic. But still, they are fantasy.

Then I came across a camel. We think that the 'Star Wars' animals are wierd, but no stranger than what can be found in our own sand box. Never have I seen an animal so odd yet so perfectly suited for it's environment. Firstly, they are rather ugly with huge eyebrows and long eyelashes and covers over it's nostrils and huge lips, all the keep out the sand. The structure of the skull and the neck and the hump on it's back and the cushy feet and seemingly awkward legs, and the funny pads on it's stomach and chest from sitting down in the sand, all so very weird but so very practical. Its immense strength and lack of thirst and ability to chew it's cud while walking along the dunes in blistering heat and carrying two people - really quite impressive.

The camel is as perfect for the desert as can be, but also so outlandish and strange that it really contributes to the feeling that the Sahara is an entirely different planet from my town in Alaska.

Also, camels have such a classic look to them. Seeing my fellow AIESECers riding in the distance over the dunes, and even seeing my own shadows cast by the desert sun on the orange sand, it was so real, just like the movies and the stories and in the paintings of the desert. It was like being in another world, and I loved it.

Sometimes it's nice to leave the real world, forget it all, and wander in the desolation. And now we can, thanks to the camel.

On the weekend of 22 - 24 July, seventeen people took a trip south west from Rabat to Erfoud and further on camels into the desert where we spent the night in the sands under the stars. It was a fabulous trip, camels are amazing, and the Sahara is stunning. Good company too, nine Americans, two Dutch, one German, one Dane, and four AIESEC Morocco people, and our guide Hassan was great. It was ridiculously hot, as the Sahara is wont to be, but it was dry and oh, so gorgeous. The dunes are beautiful, amazing, and majestic. It's a strange feeling of desolation being on an endless sea of sand.... One of the better trips I have ever taken, despite my persistant illness which kept me at a constant state of feeling like crap.

The one thing worth noting is the travel time. This trip really took just about every form of travel avaliable in Morocco. We took a fancy CTM bus from Rabat to Errachidia, a six hour red-eye trip which included high speed windy roads through the Atlas Mountains during which I was sleeping in the aisle. From Errachidia, we piled into three grand taxis (Mercedes that are used for intercity commutes), and rode for another hour in the blistering heat further south to Erfoud. In Erfoud, we met up with Hassan and spent an afternoon in his apartment and in the pool at a nearby hotel. That evening, we left on Land Rovers on an hour long trip through the desert to the small village Merzouga where the gravel ends and the dunes begin. First time I had seen an SUV used for what it's made for. Anyway, from Mersouga to the campsite was a two hour camel ride, leaving us sore, tired, and hungry. Fotunately, the campsite brought us rest, comfort, and food.

The greatest part about all the travelling was the knowledge that for all the trips out, we had to make the same trips back. We did, and later on the 24th we took a short day trip to a 'forest' which was really a very dry collection of palm trees. Picnic, though, with very good food which I at first thought was dog, but ended up being mutton. Getting to the forest and back we took a horse cart, seventeen people crammed inside. Gotta love Morocco!

The trip totalled to about 30 hours of travel time, including all the waiting in the bus station and the petit taxi rides to the apartment once we were back in Rabat. Pretty intense, but as they say in German (according to Natalie), the journey is the destination.

Life is a journey - enjoy the ride.

My devoted readers, because I know that there are so many of you, I am back to write. It has been a while and for the delay I apologize. Now, however, I am in my last week here in Rabat and I am not working which gives me plenty of time to write entries, so prepare yourself. Got four days to pack in all my blogging.

Quality time with a computer. It's good to be back.

Morocco has an interesting pastry situation - most large pastries very similar to the typical French or European pastries, such as a croissant and a pain chocolate. However, some of the fancier stuff is quite different from anything I have had, and to be honest, it has been quite dissappointing. There no cakes here. What they have in place of cakes is a cake-shaped cream thing with a thin layer of cake, a thick layer of cream or frosting, and then a thin top layer of chocolate jell. Quite terrible, if I may say so. Also, the fancy cookies, such as the kind you would serve at a tea-time discussion are also wretched. Really quite dissapointing.

So, for the past while, I have been desperately longing for American style baked goods. We got a toaster oven, about which I have included a excerpt from an e-mail I wrote last week. I had the urge and the drive to bake myself chocolate chip golden brownies - same flavor as chocolate chip cookies but the shape and texture of brownies. After shopping at the store, I went home and attempted to bake, having the best success with my second pan after I guessed how to improve on the first pan. It's difficult because not only was I making one-fourth of the recipie, but also the recipie was written in cups and teaspoons and I have no measuring stuff. Also, the grocery store didn't have brown sugar, chocolate chips (I used a candy bar), or vanilla. But I baked and they came out incredibly well. So good, mainly because they were American style desserts and the fulfilled that desire that had been tugging at my stomach. Mmmm.

Anyway, here's a description of my elation upon recieving a toaster oven:

Life besides is very well. We now have much furniture in our apartment and decorations on the walls. Man, it's amazing the diffence a couple of small pictures makes when hung on totally bare white walls. Anyway, a woman that Naoufel knows is moving out and she sold all of her stuff for really cheap to us. We recieved the last installment this evening, and it was incredible. Included with all the pillows and dishes was a genuine, 100% American toaster oven, a Toastmaster, with the dial marked in Farenheit. Everyone in the flat was so excited - the Moroccans and Natalie (German) were taken aback by how excited we all were to have a toaster oven. It's funny because not only do we use toaster ovens much more in the States than other countries do, but up until now the only cooking appliance we have had is that blasted dysfunctional propane stove. I've lived for five weeks on a propane stove that couldn't even shake a stick at the Coleman stove we have, and now I have a toaster oven. Oh, what a glorious thing. Ahh... Anyway, the stove is American, we had to find an adapter, because it was bought my Stacy (Indianan I met in March) and brought to Morocco. When she left, she sold it to this second girl who now sold it to us. Oh my, what a fabulous thing.

One interesting note before I begin - American Heritage Dictionary defines a philistine as 'a smug, ignorant, especially middle-class person who is regarded as being indifferent or antagonistic to artistic and cultural values.' The Arabic world for 'Palestinian' is 'philistini.'

After the discussion we had with the reporter from al Jazeera, I began to talke with a friend we will call Sarah. She is a European born and raised girl of Moroccan descent who is a member of AIESEC and is in Morocco on a month long vacation to visit her family. During the discussion with Razak, she commented on the usage of the world 'terrorist' when talking about Palestinian suicid bombers. She referenced the Danish Freedom Fighters during the Second World War who engaged in similar tactics to rid Denmark of the Nazis and are now being heralded as heroes. The Palestinians are fighting for their freedom much the same as the Danish resistance and they do not deserve to be labeled as terrorists any more or less than the Danish Freedom Fighters.

So after the discussion, I sought out Sarah to ask her about what she had said. Besides implicitly comparing the Israelis to the Nazis, I thought that the comment revealed much on what she thought of the Israeli - Pali situation - the Palis literally are fighting for their freedom from a stronger, occupying, and tyrannical government. Sarah revealed to me that she strongly disliked Israel, that she firmly believed that the land belonged to the Palis and that it was stolen by Israel. She respected and honored Pali suicide bombers for their work and dedication in bringing recognition and freedom of the Pali people. She traced the problems to the creation of Israel, but she is intelligent and realizes that Israel may never go away and thus she recognizes it as a country because that is the only way to bring peace to the Palis.

Sarah thinks along the same lines that many do when they blame the entire situation on the Israelis, disregarding the idea that if the Palis stopped fighting tomorrow than the Israelis would stop fighting too. Thus, to her, the pain and the death is terrible but there is little reason for the Palis to stop fighting for what they believe in.

It's a problem, I think. I know that we can never forget the past but I often think that we could move so much further forward if we got over the past. This is much easier said by an outsider than done by those affected by the situation, but still. If we continue to hate the other side over an happening that nobody alive today remembers, we will never reach a peace. We must realize the situation today, look at the state of being today, and move from there. We must know that Israel isn't going to leave, so we must work on fixing the current conditions rather than useless bloodshed over anger caused by a land grab sixty years ago. Ziad may be the only Moslem I have spoken with who agreed with this statement.

One last note - Sarah definitely relates much more with the Palis than I do with the Israelis. The Palis are her people, it is her land, and they are one. To me, the Israelis are a country and a people, separate and independent from my life. Being a Moroccan in Europe, Sarah has been treated differently than I have, and she has lived an insular life as a Arab Moslem in a Western country which has strengthened her sense of Arab Moslem identity. Thus, she has much stronger emotions concerning the Israeli - Pali situation than I do.

I hate to be longing an idealistic, but I just wish we could all get along for once.

Al Jazeera is Arabic for 'the island,' often referring to the island of civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what we now call the Middle East. The phrase is now mainly known for the Qatari news network which has risen to become one of th most widely watched channels in the world. A reporter, named Abdessalam Razak, came to talke to us in a discussion setting in our apartment this evening.

First off, there were a ton of people there. Nine people from the apartment, ten AIESEC Morocco, four friends of Kenza (one of which assumed a central role in the discussion), and three students of mine who heard about the discussion at class today. Good mix of people and a good discussion. Secondly, I just found that the guy, Razak, just had is reporting license revoked by the Moroccan government for open interviewing a leader of the Polisario Front, the opposition in Western Sahara. The government says that it was because he misreported a situation about a prisoner death. Who is lying - Morocco or al Jazeera? Will we ever know?

The discussion was pretty good. The guy was very convinced that al Jazeera was the best news network ever created and that because it gave to opinions to every story, it was fair and balanced. The problem I have with such a statement is that even though two people are commenting from different sides, that doesnt mean that the news is complete. For instance, if there is a march by the unemployed, the news will interview a marcher and a representative from the government to hear two sides. The marcher will say the problem is unemployment and the solution is that the government should offer more jobs. The government will say that the problem is unemplyment and that the people should look to the private sector. However, they both agree that the problem is unemployment.

Now, for a more appropriate example, let's take the a Palestinian suicide bomber attack in Jerusalem. The news may interview a militant Islamist who says that the suicide bombing is the only solution to the problem of Israel. For the second opinion, they may interview an Islamic scholar who will say that killing civilians is forbidden by the Holy Qur'an and that suicide bombing is not the solution to the problem of Israel. They have different opinions on suicide bombing but they both agree that the problem is Israel. The news can say they have two points of view and thus that it is fair and balanced but the differences between the people are only superficial.

In addition, a news company is entertainment and they preach to an audience. As a for-profit organization, they will present what sells, they will tell the audience what they want to hear, they will match the attitude of their audience.

For these reasons, Americans see al Jazeera as propogandish. I personally think that Fox News is guilty of the same and that never a better pair was found than Fox News and al Jazeera.

The conversation branched off into a series of different ideas, many of which were discussed in depth. Razak was a firm believer of Huntington's theory of the 'Clash of Civilizations,' something that I am not in whole agreement with. He remarked that in the Cold War, there were two world powers who pushed each other to excell and now that there is just the United States, we are pushing everyone else down to keep ourselves at the top. He was fairly anti-semitic and very anti-Israeli, commenting on how they should have taken the original offer of a homeland in the Sudan rather than in the Holy Land. He also said that invading Afghanistan was not the right move for the States after the attacks of 11 September but he failed to give an alternative.

Razak did a good job of breaking down the differences between Arabs, Moslems, and Islamists, something that is all blurred into one for many American minds. He cited misunderstandings and different interpretations that lead Islamists to suicide bomb, but when asked what the misunderstandings were and what the real reason for the 11 September attacks were, he dodged the question.

The conversation ended with a criticism of the current media, about how they only show news of anger and hatred between Arabs and Westerners and perhaps this is contributing to public mindset that there only is hatred betwixt the two. We asked if it was the media's responsiblity to also report on the positive happenings to show that there is hope, there is a possiblity of peace. For example, an American soldier is killed in Iraq. Both al Jazeera and Fox News will cover the story. But if there is a 'peace league' of children's football teams which each included both Palestinian and Israeli kids and no one reports about it. Razak basically replied that good news is no news, that al Jazeera reports what people want to hear and that is about bad news.

He promoted al Jazeera as the solution to the world's ills because a large media network broadcasts and promotes discussion which will lead to understanding. He was very convinced of his own network's infallibility and mentioned al Jazeera's new English language branch as an example of the great public service that the Qatari network is providing.

I suppose we will see. The media is so easily used to manipulate and objectiveness ends when the reporter points the camera. It was good discussion but I fear that Mr Razak did little to alleviate my suspicions of al Jazeera or to convince me that the mass media is the way to world peace.

It takes people, not news or media.

A while ago, I thought my credit card was stolen so I had my mother cancel it for me. I ordered a new one and she sent it to me. She mailed it normal USPS mail which took 4 - 6 days to get to Morocco where it was turned over to the Moroccan poste, Barid al Maghrib. This was four weeks ago and Barid has yet to deliver it to my box.

For that matter, Barid has yet to deliver any letters to our mail box.

I have spoken with family and friends of mine who have told me that they sent me letters and my flatmates are also expecting letters, but so far we have recieved none. Strange I think, so I went to the office of al Barid with Hanan, from AIESEC Morocco, to ask them what's up. After bouncing from office to office, we finally met with the mail guy for my neighborhood. He told us that this is the busy time of the year and that they have a lot of letters now. As I don't have tracking numbers for any of my letters, he was unable to check on the status but he told us that if we don't recieve any mail by next week to stop by again. I told him that one of the letters contained an important credit card and he suggested that I should have had it sent FedEx or DHL.

Well, this makes me fairly irked, not only because I like hearing from my family and reading letters, but also because I don't have any money left and I am planning on taking a trip to the Sahara this weekend. I don't want to have to borrow, but I'm not sure what else is possible. I guess I should have planned for this but such things that we take for granted in the States like the Post Office, I tend to forget about when I plan traveling abroad.

Silly mail man.

I brought a tie to class today on a whim. When we got to the Jail, the door was locked so we spent a while waiting outside playing games with the kids, and then entered to teach a beginners class of 35 students. Huge! My reputation precedes me. Anyway, we then taught the advanced class and once the English teaching was done, I showed them how to tie a tie.

I was really happy I had brought a tie. Everyone in the class watched with deep intent as I tied it, and then I passed it around to each student (about ten of them) to tie it. They all caught on pretty quickly and were very happy to know how to tie a tie and have the feeling of successfully tying it on themselves.

It was a small thing, but it made me happy.

Yesterday, I spent at the beach with my students and my coworkers. It was an absolutely incredible time. It was a gorgeous beach outside of Rabat with hot sand and fabulous waves. You could body surf on literally every wave that came in! I never swam at the beaches in Alaska for obvious reasons and it was so incredibly fun to be playing in the surf here in Morocco. I was in the water for so long, my students started calling me fishman.

Badr, a student of mine, and I sought out a friend of his who is staying at a government run campsite right near the beach. He lent us a football and we got the rest of the Jail crew together to play a game of football. Again, I am wretched, but it was most entertaining. We were joined by Nour, a Moroccan girl who grew up in Sweden and is on a month long vacation in Rabat. She actually came to our English class today and then over to our apartment this afternoon. Great girl, I love her company.

Anyway, we played football until we were told to stop because this was a 'No Football' beach. I was then buried in 30 cm of sand (under the pressure I could feel my hearbeat throughout my body) and then sprung out of my rest when a student uncovered my toes and began to tickle me.

We ate, which was bread stuffed with rice, french fries, sardines, egg plant, and hard boiled eggs. Then, right before we returned, we went back to the water where we spent a good half our tossing around a wadded up University of North Carolina basketball jersey that belonged to Malcom X. It was surprisingly fun for it's complete lack of complexity.

Took the bus home with the guy who works at Domino's Pizza and looks like Will Smith who paid for us insisting that he would pay for us in Morocco if we pay for him when he comes to the States. Not a bad deal for him, I must say.

Anyway, it was a great day. Most fun I've had at a beach in a long time. Not like I frequent beaches, but you know what I mean. Good times.

In Chefchaouen, the music festival was up on by Meditel. Meditel is a telecommunications company that recently started here in Morocco when the government privitized the telecom industry. Right now they are on a massive advertising campaign which involves posting ads on half of the billboards in town and sponsoring events like the Chefchaouen music festival.

In Chefchaouen, the guys who were building and breaking the stages for each performer were all clad in Meditel shirts and hats as a way for Meditel to advertise their sponsorship. Well, by talking to one of the workers, I obtained a Meditel shirt for myself for free, and I am completely in love with it.

What's so great about my Meditel shirt is that it's perfectly Moroccan. It's not touristy such as all the gifts one can buy in the market or the stereotypical Moroccan clothes. It's a tee-shirt so it's not even the style people wear here. What makes it so great is that it can only have been found in Morocco as Meditel in Arabic only exists in Morocco, and that it's even unique among Moroccan clothes because it came from a single and small event in a small mountain town. At first glance, it is not at all Moroccan but at closer examination and deeper thought, it is the most unique and Moroccan thing one could get.

I love it!

Yesterday evening I attended a small celebration at the association of Isaac, Liz, Dan, and Natalie. They ended up having a mock wedding for Isaac and Liz, which was most enjoyable. While we were waiting for things to start happening, I was using the dry erase board to help Dan learn the Arabic alphabet. I would write English words using Arabic characters and he would read them. That way, he would recognize the word and it enabled me to write small sentences and even jokes up on the board. It was pretty funny because the Moroccans in the room could all read what I was writing but had no idea what it meant because it was in English. Then, a small 5 year old boy came up to the board. He was learning the Arabic alphabet himself in school, and he showed me how to write his name. Then, for the next while he would watch me write and read whatever I was writing. That was really cute because he was really good at reading it but he still had no idea what it meant for it was in English. He was so cute and so excited to be reading Arabic and speaking English at the same time. Ahh, kids.

Morocco is facing an interesting situation as the local Berber population is uniting under 50 different associations to request recognition as a major group in Morocco. They have seen some success as the government has been fairly accommodating, but it is a growing movement with increasing demands. They are seeking to have the Berber language taught in schools and to have a natinal institute for Berber culture and studies established, as already exists for both Arab and French culture. They have become political parties, and are active in the current government.

Diversity is also affecting countries in Europe, from the Basques in northern Spain who seek independence for they are culturally different from the Spaniards, to the French / Flemmish divisions in Belgium which is now acting as a segregated country.

Diversity has always played a large role in American lifestyle, and racism has certainly been a presence, but it seems as though we don't have the intense property fights and problems with assimilation as other places. I have heard that in America, an immigrant will usually call himself an American after living in the States for 9 years, whereas in Germany it takes usually two generations before a family truly identifies with Germany rather than their home country. The extreme, of course, is Japan who still refer to those of Korean heritage living in Japan as guest workers even though the Koreans have lived in Japan for many generations.

America is a land of immigrants which had no original culture with which to conform. Most everyone who traveled to America has come with the knowledge that they would have to leave much of their old lifestyle behind and fit in to the American society. At the same time, American culture is such a mixture of cultures from all over that everyone who came was able to see facets of their home life in what we call American culture. Perhaps it's that everyone was an immigrant so everyone was in the same boat when they arrived in America and were faced with American culture. Perhaps that is the reason we don't have such deep rooted cultural predjudice, ghettoing, or great land ownership disputes such as those which plague Europe. Perhaps that is the reason that culture has not greatly risen into the political sphere, that cultural groups are not activist political groups working against others.

Then again, perhaps we America society is much more full of holes than it appears, and it is my 19 year old naivete that shields the harsh reality from my eyes. Ma a'arifsh.

Several weeks ago, I was watching the oil prices and with delight I noticed that they were high enough that the Alaska State budget would pass without hinderance this year. It's always a relief when you know that the schools will get adequate funding and that the roads will be plowed. But, it's sad that the State budget is so tied to just one 'cash crop' since we don't have taxes. Gaby took the time to point out that Alaska is like a developing country. And them more I thought about it, the more I see it's true.

All the oil in Alaska belongs to all the people of Alaska. The government regulates drilling for oil, and taxes oil companies heavily, based on how much they produce and the current price of crude oil. Some of the money raised by oil taxes is split up and distributed to all Alaska residents as a dividend for living in the state, and the rest goes to the government coffers. This, however, is pretty much the only source of revenue for the State government, and due to the abundance of oil, the State has never tried to develop any other industries. Alaska is a one cash crop economy.

Secondly, in terms of economic policy, everything is done to shelter the oil comapanies from harm, lest their misfortune affect the rest of the state.

Thirdly, in terms of fiscal policy, all is based on the price of oil. Currently, Alaska is making the same mistake that Mexico did by assuming that oil prices will remain high and so they plan higher budgets with bigger programs than they will be able to maintain if oil prices ever fall.

This is all a simplification of Alaska, but the truth is not too far off. It's strange, but I feel as thuogh I grew up in a third world protectorate of the United States, rather than in America itself. One day the oil will run dry and Alaska will really be kicking itself in the head.

On Wednesday last week Ryan invited all his students over for lunch. So, we spent much of the afternoon preparing American food and entertaining them. It was quite fun. Well, around five o'clock, I was in the kitchen with Naoufel, washing dishes. One of Ryan's students (about 20 years old, male) walks in and says, 'Mook.' Now, I have no idea what 'mook' is in French or Arabic, so I just give him a funny look. 'Mook, mook!' he says.

Naoufel is also staring back blankly. He looks at the student and says, 'Fee a'rabay?' The guy looks at Naoufel and says, 'Toilette.'

'Ahh,' Naoufel says realizing that the guy is looking for the bathroom. Well, in our apartment, the bathroom is right by the front door to our apartment. We are on the second floor, and the second floor hallway leads to three different apartments. Anyway, our bathroom is right by our door. So, Naoufel points at the bathroom as it is visible from the kitchen and tells him in Arabic that the bathroom is there.

The student leaves the kitchen, and Naoufel and I amuse ourselves with his use of 'mook' which evidentally isn't a word in Arabic either. About a minute later, the doorbell rings. Someone else opens the front door and the student comes in. I didn't really think anything of it.

About ten minutes later, many people were leaving so Ryan and all of us Americans got up to say goodbye to Ryan's Moroccan students. It was then that we noticed a pile of human feces in the hallway.

That guy defecated in our hallway.

He just squatted on the floor and went. Pretty ridiculous.

Anyway, we got the apartment guard to come clean it up. We suggested that in his next class, Ryan teach his kids not to take a crap in people's hallways; to teach them the difference between a bathroom and a hallway. Also, we've kinda been irritated with the guard because he always asks us for money, but I think now I'll give him a little more respect.

That's not a normal occurrance, don't worry.

Two days ago, the day I went to eat lunch at Domino's Pizza with a student who worked there, I was wandering around outside the Jail while waiting for Melissa. Three kids, aged about 10, were playing around with a mostly flat soccer ball. I hopped into their field, and stole the ball from one. I ran with it a bit and kicked it to Gaby. We played a bit with the kids, and they did a very good job at showing how much I really suck at soccer. Brutally beated by kids half my age. Well, they're small and quick and soccer is their life, so I didn't feel bad losing.

During the game, I was wearing my sandals, the ones I was overcharged for in the market because I couldn't haggle in French or Arabic and have since vowed to wear them day in and day out to get my full 50 durham's worth. While playing, the strap on my left sandal tore almost all the way off. I was terribly sad, and my student suggested that I bring it to a shoemaker to fix.

Well, on the way to the busstop, we chanced upon a shoemaker. What a great occurrence! I handed him my sandal, he pulled out heavy duty thread and a heavy duty needle and he fixed it for me. I tried to pay but he refused my money.

This pair will last me till the end of my Moroccan summer, I do believe. I love Morocco.

We were to go to Chefchouen for the Al Andalus music festival last weekend, and we were to leave on Thursday. The music started on Thursday evening, so Reda from AIESEC Morocco who was to accompany us was pushing for us to leave early Thursday. For most of us, that would have involved missing class on Thursday, and no one felt comfortable not showing up on such a short notice. Reda told us to relax, that it was okay not to be so serious about work and to miss a day if we wanted. That represented a much deeper mentality that exists in Morocco, relating to their drastic lack of punctuality (inshallah) and other. Later, while riding the bus back to Rabat from Chefchouen, I began to talke to the man next to me. He said, 'Smoking is illegal in Morocco,' referring to hashish which was everpresent in Chefchouen, 'But this is Morocco!' he continued. 'You can do whatever you want!' At the same time, they were tossing garbage out the bus window. 'This is litter in America, no?' he said. 'But this is Morocco! It's okay.'

There is a strong desire among the Moroccans I have met, those in AIESEC and my students and members of the Jail, to help raise up the status of life and the economy of Morocco to be competetive and on par with Europe and the States. Disregard to authority and regulations doesn't seem to be a successful method to raise help develop Morocco. The work ethic here is much softer than in the States, and that may be one of the greatest hurdles Morocco faces in its attempt for first world development. Americans may be a bit anal when it comes to following rules and psycho when it comes to work, this is true. I don't mean to make a judgement call, but if the true desire of the people is to be like America, the changes are more than just changes in economic development and governmental policy.

At the same time, does Morocco really want to be like the States?

Remember when we were young and time took so long to go by? A day was an eternity, and an hour waiting for your mother at a meeting was a death sentence to boredom. But as we aged, time seems to go by so much faster. In elementary school, the year was so long, but Christmas break was a real vacation and summer was an eternity without school. Even as freshman, a semester was a really long time where you learned so much and time dragged by so slowly. Then, as seniors, deadlines were past even before you knew they existed, Christmas break was but a long weekend, and the year was over in a flurry of stress and elation. Freshm,an year in college was so intense but so fast, and now I'm teaching English in Morocco. I go home to ANC in three weeks and then it's back to the books. It's all passing me so quickly that I am convinced that there are no longer 24 hours in a day.

When we are five, a year is one fifth of our lives, so in relation to what we know, a year is an eternity. When I am nearly 20, two months is less than 1/120th of my life, and it's going to be over before it started. I was getting ready for Morocco just yesterday, and I'll be back in the dorms at Yale tomorrow.

The older you get, the faster it all goes. Life does get quicker the older you are.

This weekend we went to Chefchouen for the music festival of al Andalus music - a festival for the music that was influenced by Moorish Spain held in a small mountain village that was once part of Spains empire in northern Africa. We took a bus Thursday night there and back on Sunday midday. Ahh, classic form of transportation. Both busses used to be European tour busses that were driven for ten thousand kilometers and then sold to Moroccan companies to be driven another ten thousand before they finally fall apart and die. The busses definitely felt as though they were driven hard, and the nine of us on the journey always sat in the back to be tossed around as tough we were a boat in the surf. On the way there, there were not enough seats so I spent a good while sitting in the aisle. That wasn't too bad, but when we got to the mountains as the bus was driving so fast around such sharp turns, I opted for a seat. At least the seats were safe unlike the return home bus where the seats were so very close to breaking off and falling apart. The bus ride back to Rabat was a bit rougher than the ride there as nausea nagged at my stomach and 'Gasolina' kept repeating in my head, and the guy stopped at all the small surrounding towns before actually heading into Rabat, adding about an hour of traffic time. The 'manager' of the bus was a really sleazy guy who had a knack for stealing things from peoples backpacks and speaking sweetly to the girls. It was a great way to travel, I must say, and it's always such an experience that I can't ever dislike it. So different from Northwest Airlines.