My brickberry ( what I call my old school phone bc it's like a brick) phone alarm goes off and I reluctantly rise from my hard rock bed after getting an hour or less of rest. I know we have a long day ahead and that we're late but I'm in no hurry to get dressed and grab breakfast. It had only been one day but I was exhausted not to mention it was freezing cold in the home. They are built for the summer so there is no central heating and there is an open area in the center of the home. After bidding our host mother good-bye and eating a delicious breakfast of various types of bread and jam, we head to the meeting spot. Our first stop? a tutor center that helps young people continue school, especially young girls. This organization began with a couple of people with an idea and literally overnight grew to hundreds. The creators of the organization saw a problem in their community and wanted to correct it. Girls need education too. They are often swept under the rug because old traditions have them working as housewives and nothing more. Most girls do not continue their education after a certain age because it becomes too expensive or they simply don't have the education to stay in school. This center tutors young girls so that can continue their education and acquire skills to fulfill their needs. I don't know why it hadn't occur before but during this talk I realized I want to do something with young girls/women and empowerment. Yes, I have been jokingly called a feminist, and perhaps I am. I know everything in my life has some way pointed me in this direction but I haven't realized it until this talk. I haven't quite figured out what exactly I want to do in this area but it is definitely a passion of mine. To help girls and women no matter color or creed learn and empower themselves is definitely something I look forward to. This talk alone helped me realize so much and it was only a small fraction of what I learned from my trip to Morocco.
Additionally, we discussed how Muslims are treated within the Muslim world and how Americans perceive them especially after 9/11. We sat in a circle and one of the directors of the center asked us questions like: what makes you proud to be a(n) American/Moroccan?, what did you think about Morocco before you came here?, etc.. I must confess I had no idea Morocco was an Muslim nation til our program told us. Furthermore, after hearing Morocco was a Muslim nation I was hesitant to go. How strict were they going to be? Especially because I am a woman. Will I have to wear a hijab? Can I be seen walking with the opposite gender? So many questions were running through my mind. Luckily, after this discussion I have learned so much about Muslims in Morocco and in general. Though there is still much I do not know about the Muslim world because there is so much history that cannot be covered in a 2 hour discussion, I have much more knowledge and awareness. In the Muslim world, Morocco is often isolated and excluded. Many Muslim countries do not accept Morocco as a Muslim nation and are not on good terms with Morocco. For example, there was a cartoon show in Kuwait that is about three men who travel the world to find the best thing of each country. They go to this country and find the best food or gold and so on and so forth, and Morocco what did the TV show depict as the best of Morocco? The three guys find a Moroccan whore and claim that that is what is best there. In Egypt, there was film in which all the Muslim nations are having a conference and every nation is represented except Morocco and somewhere in the film some men are talking to a prostitute with a Moroccan dialect. Needless to say, Moroccans found these situations incredibly offensive and hurtful. They wish to be respected in the Muslim world but often are not. They do not have many allies in the Muslim world and want to change that. They accept everyone even if they aren't Muslims. During the Holocaust, Hilter came to Morocco and asked the King for the names and places of all of the Jews in Morocco. The King refused to hand them over and claimed that they were all his people--Jews, Muslims, Christians, atheists, and if Hitler wanted to find them he would have to do it by himself. Many Moroccans are so proud of their country and their King. The men at the tutor center were so kind when speaking about their king. Of course they don't agree with every single thing he does and there are often protests against the king but it's enlightening to see such devotion and pride in one's nation and leader as opposed to our country. Where has patriotism and honor in our nation gone? As well as the pride in our president? I am not one to get all political because I don't believe in having political debates with friends, but I am proud to be American and of my president. Enough about that...One last thing I want to mention before I babble more about what I learned from this discussion ( trust me it is A LOT), he said "terrorism has no religion. Terrorism is terrorism." He said this during out discussion of our perceptions of Muslims and our tendencies to link 9/11 attacks with Muslims. We are so naive to link an entire religion to the heinous acts of evil terrorists. At the end of the conversation, he simply wanted us to open our eyes as students, as Americans and simply as human beings on this same planet. He asked to share this with our family and friends so that the word about Morocco could be spread. They are just normal human beings living their lives. They are the most kind hearted and welcoming people I have ever met in my entire life. All of them have invited us into their homes and said if we were ever in Morocco again we would never have to worry about a warm bed and meal. Their doors are always open. Every single person smiled and seemed genuine. Not to say there aren't psychos or malicious people in Morocco.
After we went to Chellah to see the Roman Ruins which was beautiful as you can see in my photos. I won't ramble on about that or lunch since I have much more to talk about.
After lunch, we had an exchange with some local Moroccan students our age. This part was my favorite of the trip. It was nice to finally get the perspective of someone in my generation and ask them about their country. I really enjoyed learning more about their abilities to date, day-to-day lives, education and most importantly Glee and Gossip Girl. There were so many similarities between them and I. They were also so nice and helpful while we went through the markets. They helped me haggle down the prices and told me what to buy and what was a reasonable price. They didn't want me to get ripped off with touristy prices by the sellers. One of the students also wrote my name in arabic so that I could get it written on a keychain, and they call me Mailan (my other first name which I prefer) which made me really happy. They watch tons of American TV and that's how they speak so well and also listen to American music. One of them played song after song of classic American music and some new stuff as well. Never in a million years did I think I'd be singing backstreet boys or listening to one of them rap Eminenem over a cup of coffee in Morocco. I hope that I continue to talk to them in the future and maybe they will even visit the US!
We then had some more stuff and a talk about peacecorps, which I realized is probably not for me. I have a hard enough time adjusting to studying abroad to be isolated and work in the middle of no where by myself with no internet. No thank you. I will do my work for the world in some other way.
alright here's what y'all have been waiting for. The best story and by far craziest part of my trip and experience of my life...
So we hadn't showered in two days. I felt disgusting as you can tell in many of my photos. My hair is tied up and all I want to do is take a nice hot shower, but that wasn't an option. The option we did have however was the Hammam, a public bath. Okay..I'm not ready to jump in a river and clean myself with murky water and in public. Upon further discussion, we were told men and women were separated and the Hammam was not actually in a river. It's in a normal building with running water. Sounds normal right?? Think again. The hammam is a place where people go to have their baths. Moroccans do have running water to clean themselves in their homes but don't really bathe. I think the hammam might even be a fun luxurious experience for them to have once a week or whenever they feel like. It might be like the spa to them IDK. Anyways here's the rundown on how hammam works and what I went thru. Women all bathe in one room with buckets they brought from home. They fill their buckets with water and pop a squat somewhere on the tile floor and clean themselves. Everyone is naked with the exception of their underpants. After first hearing this, I immediately said hell no I ain't going. Sorry kids I'll just smell like shit for another night. After the ongoing debate with myself, I decided I would go. Before I left to morocco I wrote down personal goals for myself --one was try something new and keep an open mind. Obviously, this was an opportunity to learn more about a culture and open myself and expose myself mentally speaking but I suppose physically as well haha. Every girl in my program decided to go as well. Imagine at least 20 American girls going to a turkish bath. Oh boy. It was insane. We were given keeses ( a scrubbing glove/ towel) and a packet of soap that was brown and looked like caramel in a packet. Oh goodness what was I getting myself into. I wanted to back out the last minute. We arrive at the Hamman and enter the locker room. It's already chaos. Tons of girls are squished trying to discretely take off their clothes and pile them neatly on the benches. That didn't work. The host lady just told everyone to just get naked and take their bathing supplies ( no towels no clothes) and come in. After that everyone just stripped and threw their junk on the floors and benches and went for it. We never thought we'd get so close with the other girls in the program but here goes nothing. We all take our buckets fill it with warm water and find a place on the ground. Without any knowledge of how this really works, we all just start to splash ourselves with water and try to comprehend the situation. The room was hot like a sauna and had about 35 women and young girls. I walk past a woman, whom I recognize to be none other than my Moroccan host mother. She smiled and was kind as always ,and did her funny chuckle as if to say "what are the chances of us being here at the same time, ehh?" which made me feel less uncomfortable and I laughed along.
In the Hammams there are opportunities for you to pay 5 euros and to be exfoliated and scrubbed by someone there. Why not? If i was going in, I was going all in. It was all or nothing. I opted in for the scrub and it ended up being my host mother. LOL. She called me over and made sure I was one of the first ones to get scrubbed. She told me to lie down. Before you know it, my host mother was scrubbing me with my kees and soap. Yup. You read that correctly. I was getting scrubbed from head to toe by my host mother. It was incredibly awkward and I couldn't help but laugh the entire time, and the fact that was I ticklish didn't help either. She flipped and flopped me around like a dead fish being descaled ( is that a word?). I could feel the dead skin peeling off me. Even more I felt it on the tile floor when she flipped me over. haha Like I said, this was the craziest experience of my life. One by one the other girls in the program were being scrubbed by these short overweight Moroccan women who were treating us like their 5-year-old children. However, I must say my skin hasn't feel this soft since I was five. It was really disgusting to know that everyone's dead skin was laying on the tile floor and everyone is trying to clean themselves in the same room. But it was also quite liberating. There was no room for embarrassment or modesty. It was get naked to get clean or get out. Yes, I would've preferred to not see 30 sets of boobs( I know you boys are pitching a tent haha gross!) but I'm glad I went through this experience. It was interesting to see how the culture among women worked in Morocco. Everyone is just family. Everyone has legs, arms, boobs and yes a vajay jay that needs cleaning. We are the same. We shouldn't be embarrassed about anything. Ha this is quite a contrast to the 13-year-old girl that despised Physical Education in seventh grade that required you to share the locker room with 50 other tweens. I was about the shiest and most uncomfortable girl on the planet and now here I am running around naked getting scrubbed by my host mama. ya, no big deal. haha Though this was an experience I am glad I decided to go through, I shall not be doing it ever again.This chica has had enough hammams. I enjoy my hot, solo showers. Sorry to burst your bubble fellas and stop scrolling down to see if I took photos. I didn't. Imagine sharing those on Facebook. We ain't Vanessa Anne Hudgens. haha Girl put some damn clothes on and stop taking naked photos!
I know those of you reading are thinking OMG WTH this sounds disgusting or insane, but really we came to Morocco to open our minds and learn about the people. I have become so culturally open-minded it has even shocked myself. I am so proud of myself and would do everything again if I had to. Every part of my Moroccan trip was just amazing and something unforgettable and this is only day 2. Stay tuned I still have lots more to share...
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