To shop in Morocco is to bargain. Unless you are at the grocery store, pretty much every price is up for negotiation. I hate shopping like this. Especially since I am not buying expensive things like carpets so I end up haggling for 10 minutes to reduce my price probably 10 dirhams. The exchange rate is 8 MAD for 1 USD so this is actually a losing time-is-money proposition. But when in Rome...
Couple of things...
1) I fixed the commenting feature so comment away!
2) There are captions and titles for the pictures but you have to actually open the photo album, you can't see it from the slideshow.
3) I think on some of the pictures I got some things a little confused. The medina is the actual downtown city. It has a wall around it and would be in contrast to the "ville nouvelle", or the downtown area created by the French during the occupation. The pictures I have are of the souk, or market, that is located inside the medina. Hope that is more clear. I'm learning along with you all!
Did you know...
The wife of the Moroccan king is not called a queen, but a princess. Yep, I didn't either.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
A free alarm clock
I set my alarm this morning for 7AM but at 6 I got a free wake up call: the call to prayer. Muslims are called to prayer 5 times a day by the muezzin. Usually it is too noisy around the house to hear the call well, but I can hear the one at dawn pretty clearly. Curious, I asked Abdallah (our placement manager) for a translation.
For all wondering here are some fast facts about Morocco:
Population: 34mm
Capital: Rabat
Language: Arabic is the official language. French is the language of business, diplomacy, and government. 3 Berber dialects are spoken throughout the country.
Religion: 99% Muslim
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Chief of State: King Mohammed VI
Head of government: Prime Minister El Fassi
2008 GDP per capita: $4500
After a rainy weekend of settling in, everyone was anxious to go to work this morning. My actual placement is teaching intermediate English to refugees, but it is closed on Mondays so I will spend Mondays at the Children's Hospital. The hospital was well above my expectations. The kids we played with were in pretty high spirits, I'm not quite sure what ailments they all have. There certainly was a language barrier as kids do not start learning French in schools until 2nd grade and my Arabic is limited to about 10 words and phrases at this point.
After a yum lunch (food will have to be a whole other post) we did a mini tour of Rabat. Then it was tea time and shortly after, dinner!
Pictures are in the post after this, enjoy!
For all wondering here are some fast facts about Morocco:
Population: 34mm
Capital: Rabat
Language: Arabic is the official language. French is the language of business, diplomacy, and government. 3 Berber dialects are spoken throughout the country.
Religion: 99% Muslim
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Chief of State: King Mohammed VI
Head of government: Prime Minister El Fassi
2008 GDP per capita: $4500
After a rainy weekend of settling in, everyone was anxious to go to work this morning. My actual placement is teaching intermediate English to refugees, but it is closed on Mondays so I will spend Mondays at the Children's Hospital. The hospital was well above my expectations. The kids we played with were in pretty high spirits, I'm not quite sure what ailments they all have. There certainly was a language barrier as kids do not start learning French in schools until 2nd grade and my Arabic is limited to about 10 words and phrases at this point.
After a yum lunch (food will have to be a whole other post) we did a mini tour of Rabat. Then it was tea time and shortly after, dinner!
Pictures are in the post after this, enjoy!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Up in the Air
Once upon a time, people got dressed up to go the airport. They fed you on the airplane and you may have even had a smoke. If you had luggage to check, it was (gasp)- FREE. It's nice to know those times are still alive, well without the smoking. Oh, and you need to be flying international.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Game Change
Yes, it's the name of a controversial, hot new book, but it is also indicative of my life at this moment. The game has changed for me in the last few weeks, stay tuned for updates. Heart and prayers to Haiti, hopefully this will allow the country to be rebuilt better and stronger.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The Countdown Begins!
This is my last week in Cincinnati, and my second to last week in America for an unspecified amount of time. Excited? Yep. Nervous? Only about my lack of language ability. Ready to go? YES! For those tardy to the party I'll rewind a bit. This first post will be a bunch of FAQs...
1. Where are you going?
Currently, I'm a Peace Corps Nominee. For those unfamiliar with PC lingo (which I certainly was before last year), a nominee is someone who has been nominated for a particular region and focus are but has yet to be invited. So I have been nominated for Business Advising in Sub-Saharan Africa leaving June 2010. The next step is to patiently await word from my placement officer who will (hopefully) tell me that I have an invitation. The invitation gives the specific date, place, and job that I will be doing in the Peace Corps. Make sense? But, before that I will be doing a separate program in Morocco through Cross-Cultural Solutions. I will be in Rabat, Morocco from January to April. From there it gets a little hazy. I might stay and travel around North Africa/ Middle East. I might come back to America and wait until I hear from the PC, that part is still fuzzy.
2. What will you be doing in Morocco?
The program focuses on women's development, caregiving, teaching, and community development. I suspect I'll do a bit of all of these things but I will start by teaching intermediate English to refugees and possibly with the Millennium Challenge Corporation on an Enterprise project.
3. Why????
Probably the most FAQ. Just a bit of background on me. I graduated from Columbia in 2006 with a BA in East Asian Studies, but I had already been working on Wall Street since I was 19. Yes, they don't seem to be related but such is my life. I loved my job in trading and all of the people I worked with and it was a really tough decision to leave. But, when I started on Wall Street, I always knew it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, for a myriad of reasons. Fast forward to 2008: My company goes bankrupt on my birthday, someone crashed into my car, and I spent the night of my birthday watching Gossip Girl and revising my resume. How is that for a wake up call? As much as I loved the people that I worked with, having everything implode made me realize I needed to really sit and think about what I wanted to do, what career I wanted. In ten years, what kind of job did I want to walk into every day? I read, I researched, I prayed and then life started to make a bit more sense. I was always interested in things international, I love learning languages, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures and world history. I also like money. I like making it, budgeting it, spending it, advising people on it. I like economics and finance as a field but trading is very pointed and specific. You trade this specific product for these specific clients. This question is going on too long so suffice to say, Jeffrey Sachs "End of Poverty" had a profound effect on my decision making and I knew I wanted to do development/ diplomacy and I quit my job in June 2009 to make it happen.
4. So now what?
There are several plans in play. I don't want to put them in print because I'm superstitious. Rest assured, there is an ultimate goal.
5. Why can't you stay in America and volunteer? People in America need help too!
Yep, they sure do. And I do volunteer in America, I have volunteered in America for a very long time. But there are countries that have negative GDP or where per capita GDP is $900- a year. Development abroad is actually in America's interest, which is why Secretary of State Clinton has reiterated the three pillars of the State Department to be defense, diplomacy, and development. Yes, I understand that there is a lot of work to be done in America and when I get back I plan to continue to do what I can to make our country better.
6. How can we contact you?
My favorite FAQ! Email me! Write me snail mail style! I can't put my exact location details on a blog for security reasons but send me a message and I'll tell you. Call me! For the time I'm in Morocco, I will have internet access much of the time. I have a Skype number that is a 917 area code so you can call me just like you would call anyone else in America. So, I might be out of sight but hopefully you all won't put me out of mind!
Ok, that's all for now. I just wanted to start this before I left. Happy New Year!
1. Where are you going?
Currently, I'm a Peace Corps Nominee. For those unfamiliar with PC lingo (which I certainly was before last year), a nominee is someone who has been nominated for a particular region and focus are but has yet to be invited. So I have been nominated for Business Advising in Sub-Saharan Africa leaving June 2010. The next step is to patiently await word from my placement officer who will (hopefully) tell me that I have an invitation. The invitation gives the specific date, place, and job that I will be doing in the Peace Corps. Make sense? But, before that I will be doing a separate program in Morocco through Cross-Cultural Solutions. I will be in Rabat, Morocco from January to April. From there it gets a little hazy. I might stay and travel around North Africa/ Middle East. I might come back to America and wait until I hear from the PC, that part is still fuzzy.
2. What will you be doing in Morocco?
The program focuses on women's development, caregiving, teaching, and community development. I suspect I'll do a bit of all of these things but I will start by teaching intermediate English to refugees and possibly with the Millennium Challenge Corporation on an Enterprise project.
3. Why????
Probably the most FAQ. Just a bit of background on me. I graduated from Columbia in 2006 with a BA in East Asian Studies, but I had already been working on Wall Street since I was 19. Yes, they don't seem to be related but such is my life. I loved my job in trading and all of the people I worked with and it was a really tough decision to leave. But, when I started on Wall Street, I always knew it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, for a myriad of reasons. Fast forward to 2008: My company goes bankrupt on my birthday, someone crashed into my car, and I spent the night of my birthday watching Gossip Girl and revising my resume. How is that for a wake up call? As much as I loved the people that I worked with, having everything implode made me realize I needed to really sit and think about what I wanted to do, what career I wanted. In ten years, what kind of job did I want to walk into every day? I read, I researched, I prayed and then life started to make a bit more sense. I was always interested in things international, I love learning languages, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures and world history. I also like money. I like making it, budgeting it, spending it, advising people on it. I like economics and finance as a field but trading is very pointed and specific. You trade this specific product for these specific clients. This question is going on too long so suffice to say, Jeffrey Sachs "End of Poverty" had a profound effect on my decision making and I knew I wanted to do development/ diplomacy and I quit my job in June 2009 to make it happen.
4. So now what?
There are several plans in play. I don't want to put them in print because I'm superstitious. Rest assured, there is an ultimate goal.
5. Why can't you stay in America and volunteer? People in America need help too!
Yep, they sure do. And I do volunteer in America, I have volunteered in America for a very long time. But there are countries that have negative GDP or where per capita GDP is $900- a year. Development abroad is actually in America's interest, which is why Secretary of State Clinton has reiterated the three pillars of the State Department to be defense, diplomacy, and development. Yes, I understand that there is a lot of work to be done in America and when I get back I plan to continue to do what I can to make our country better.
6. How can we contact you?
My favorite FAQ! Email me! Write me snail mail style! I can't put my exact location details on a blog for security reasons but send me a message and I'll tell you. Call me! For the time I'm in Morocco, I will have internet access much of the time. I have a Skype number that is a 917 area code so you can call me just like you would call anyone else in America. So, I might be out of sight but hopefully you all won't put me out of mind!
Ok, that's all for now. I just wanted to start this before I left. Happy New Year!
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