The New Normal - Fall Break Part I, Tangier, Morocco

Richard and I headed out for our fall break trip on Saturday, October 14.  Part one began as we boarded our train at Voyageur Station; here are some highlights.

Cool train engine

After a four-hour train ride we arrived at our first destination, Tangier.  We stayed for four nights at the Hotel Rembrandt, located right in the middle of Tangier, with a beautiful view of Tangier Bay, and only a few minutes walk to the beach.  

View of the bay from our hotel

This was a cruise ship that came into the bay.  In front of it is a ferry boat, which looks tiny but is actually quite large.

Night view of Tangier Bay

Morning mist of Tangier Bay

A little info about Tangier:  This bustling city is on the Strait of Gibraltar and is a major port city in Morocco.  The location is basically where Africa meets Europe, and is only 17 miles off the southern coast of Spain.  Tangier has a rather colorful history, having been under the rule of a number of countries until Morocco's independence in 1956.  Tangier was known as a spying and smuggling center, especially during the Cold War.  

We headed to the old medina (the Grand Socco) on Monday morning and enjoyed strolling around the shops and seeing the Berber market.  The Berbers are indigenous people of North Africa, most of whom are farmers who live in the mountains.  They come to the Tangier market on Sundays to sell fruits, vegetables and other items.

Sunday market with the Berbers

We had a delicious lunch of Moroccan food in a lovely medina restaurant.

Ate at a delicious Moroccan restaurant in the medina

Yummy tajine

Steep roads of Tangier

The streets in Tangier are windy and steep.  They remind me of the hills in San Francisco; there is actually a street named rue San Francisco.

We bought a rug in the market from a Moroccan man who went to college in Georgia, USA!  (Small world.)

Buying a beautiful rug

We saw a very old mosque, from the year 1293.  There are two separate buildings, one for men and one for women.

1263 Mosque

We attended a Sunday morning service at the charming Saint Andrew's Anglican Church.  The land was donated to the British in 1880 (during Queen Victoria's reign) by Hassan I.  The cornerstone was laid in 1894, and the church was consecrated in 1905.  

The building is Moorish in style, with a bell tower that looks like a minaret.  The grounds contain a cemetery with more than 200 tombstones.  Many of the graves are those of British and Commonwealth soldiers who died fighting in North Africa in WWII.  Included are the headstones of an entire downed aircrew, which are attached "shoulder to shoulder"; they are quite a moving sight.  Like Saint John's in Casa, the cemetery/church grounds are like a mini oasis, with lovely plantings and blessed shade.

Keyhole door

Tower looks like a minaret

Beautiful plantings on the grounds of the church and cemetery

Inside, there are rounded arches that are elaborately carved.  I think it is interesting that behind the altar archway is a version of the Lord's Prayer, written in Arabic.  In addition, also behind the altar is a cleft that indicates the direction of Mecca, as well as carved quotes from the Quran.  Quite an interfaith experience!

The service was officiated by Father Simon, who led the service in English.  Richard and I were the only two Americans in attendance, and Richard volunteered to read one of the Bible texts.  Many of the worshippers were poor transients, hoping to emigrate to Spain from various African countries; they are there one day, and gone the next.

Inside of St. Andrews

One of the highlights later in the week was our visit to the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies.  It is located in the heart of the old medina.  It was the first American-owed public property outside of the United Stated and is the only historic landmark of the U.S. that is located abroad.  There are many historical and artistic items in the museum, most commemorating the relations between the U.S. and Morocco.  A large wing dedicated to writer and composer Paul Bowles was intriguing. Later, I will be doing a separate post about his interesting life and research.  There is also a research library, concentrating on Arabic language studies.

Richard at the entrance

Beautifully refurbished American flag rug

This is an 48-starred America flag carpet that has been refurbished and hangs in the Legation.  It was made around the time of Eisenhower's presidency and King Mohammad V's reign; the two met in 1959.

Moorish, stucco architecture

We also enjoyed strolling the beautiful shores.  Only in Morocco can you see ponies, horses and camels on the beach!

That's the end of Fall Break, Part 1.  Part two will be about our day trip to Tarifa, Spain.

The New Normal - Politics in Moroccos (and the U.S.)

DAD - This post is for you!  

My Dad loves his politics

The "Tractor Party" campaigning in our neighborhood

These leaflets litter the streets everywhere

Government and Elections:  Morocco vs the United States

Morocco - Campaigning started September 25 (yes, this year).
U.S. - Campaigning started sometime before the Ice Age.

Morocco - Elections were today, October 7.
U.S. - Elections will be on November 8.

Morocco - 30 parties are represented.
U.S. - 2 main parties, with a few others in the background.

These are the parties

Morocco - The multi-party system in the kingdom makes it impossible for any political party to win an absolute majority, forcing any winning party to work with other parties to form a coalition government.
U.S. - The modern political party system in the U.S. is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress to some extent since at least 1856.

Morocco - 10 parliamentary elections have been held since Morocco's independence in 1956; the prime minister is elected, but the King is not elected.
U.S. - 56 total presidential elections have been held in the U.S. since it's independence in 1776.

Abdelilah Benkirane, prime minister

Morocco - Almost 16,000,000 Moroccans of the country's 34,000,000 eligible voters are registered to vote.
U.S. - 146, 311, 000 Americans of the country's 218,959,000 voters are registered to vote (2012 statistic).

There are seats guaranteed for women and young people

Morocco - The Moroccan Constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary. Parliament is made up of two directly elected chambers, the 395-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 270-member House of Advisers (the upper house). 
U.S. - There are three branches in U.S. government:  Executive, (the President and about 5,000,000 workers), Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts). 

Moroccan Parliament

Morocco - Abdelilah Benkirane, Morroco's current Prime Minster, was elected in 2011.  And, let's not forget the King, Mohammed VI, who ascended to the throne in July of 1999 after his father died; who knows how long he'll be in power.
U.S. - Barack Obama II, elected in November of 2008 and re-elected 4 years later, is just finishing his second and final term.

King Mohammed VI

Morocco - The main battle in this election will be hotly contested between the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) and opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).
U.S. - The main battle in this election will be between Donald Trump, a rich, narcissistic, disagreeable, crazy man with delusions of grandeur, and Hillary Clinton, a professional politician and shameless liar.  I do give Hillary props for knowing something about foreign policy and her experience as sec of state.  But, I'm still thinking about staying in Morocco for the next 4 years!

Morocco - Many expect the next government to alleviate the situation of healthcare, education and find new mechanism to generate employment, which remain major social challenges that previous governments failed to handle.
U.S. - God only knows.

The New Normal - Hair and Nails in Casablanca

Coiffure Palace (Flashing in English); After picture

We've been in Casablanca for eight weeks . . . yes, eight whole weeks without a hair cut and color, and without a pedicure!  Richard got his hair cut and beard trimmed in early September, but I've been putting it off.  I figured it was time to venture out, since the gray roots on my hair were an inch long and my toe nails and feet were, well, you know. 

Before

Anyway, Paula from GWA was nice enough to make me an appointment with an awesome stylist named Souad at the Coiffure Palace (on Ghandi).  Paula also armed me with some French phrases like une coupe et coloration (cut and color) and couper mes points (cut my ends.)  

During

During (just like the foot massager Adam gave me, but lined with a plastic bag)

I had a wonderful experience (thank God!).  Both hair and pedi were fantastic. The cost for both together was only 380 MAD, about $38.  Can't beat that!

After

The only problem was that Souad insisted on blow drying my hair.  Alas, my curls turned to waves, but one washing will take care of that!

After

Coiffure Palace (Flashing in Arabic); After picture

After

And below is Richard looking good!  Mondial Coiffure was his barber of choice, but he may try the Palace next time.

Mondial Coiffure

Fresh from a haircut and beard trim

The New Normal - Are we crazy?

"You're moving to Casablanca?"  "Are you crazy?"  More than a few people asked us this question and others like it when we announced our plans to move to Africa.

In fact, the first week we were in Morocco I kept asking myself "What am I doing here?"  I got a stomach bug almost immediately, which lasted for five days.  It's probably the sickest I've been in years and I began to doubt if I would ever shake it.  I was meeting tons of new people, but the last thing I felt like doing was socializing.  I wondered what my colleagues thought about this old woman who sat in the back of the room, looking green.  It was an interesting indoctrination to life in Casablanca, but thankfully things are much improved.

We've been in Africa for more than eight weeks now and the time is flying by.  We're living in a different country, in a strange city, in an apartment (not a house), and on a noisy street (not in a quiet suburb).  I have a new job, at a new school, working with lower school students (not middle school, like I'm used to).  We are adjusting to a world with unusual smells, sights and sounds.  We are dealing with life without a car, life without a dog, and life without Peter Pan peanut butter!  Communication is a constant challenge, as is grocery shopping, getting a hair appointment, or even crossing the street.  I take my life in my own hands every time I get into a car or the school bus, and when I elect to eat a piece of fruit without first peeling it.  We have attended services at two churches, both of which have different musical and preaching styles than we are used to. I miss my sons, my parents, my dogs, my Canterbury colleagues, and ORPC.  

While these may sound like complaints, they are really quite the opposite. Richard and I are stretching like we never have before.  We are meeting new people every day, and these people are becoming our friends.  We are going new places and seeing amazing sights.  We are experiencing a new culture, with different holidays, and foreign traditions.  Yes, there are things we miss terribly, but there are also constant surprises around every corner, and life is anything but dull. 

So, are we crazy?  Well, maybe.  But, here we are in Morocco, taking chances and growing by leaps and bounds.  We're enjoying our lives and meeting the challenge of living here. In the midst of it all, we are learning new things and making discoveries about ourselves in the process.