Snowed In / Volubilis

So, I and some of my fellow international students had BIG plans for this past weekend...and then I woke up Friday morning, and my roommate said "Look out the window!" And here is what I saw: You didn't think there was snow in Africa? Oh yeah, there's snow in this part of Africa!

We got about a foot of snow on Friday, complete with ice and freezing cold, but without lots of snow plows or good communication about the state of the streets. Our plans got canceled. I was quite bummed.

Saturday, we made peace with the snow and had a snowball fight, hiked around AUI and found some awesome views of Ifrane (for more photos see link to photo albums on the right) and then went into Ifrane for dinner which was quite fun.

By Sunday, luckily the roads were much clearer and so a group of about 11 of the international students had the chance to go to Volubilis, ancient Roman ruins, which are located outside of Meknes about an hour and a half from here. It was quite the adventure.

We left mid-morning and trudged into Ifrane where we entered the fray of taxi drivers...utter craziness. One of the girls who speaks French negotiated and soon we found ourselves faced with two grande taxis. Now I realize grande taxis may sound like they are beasts of the taxi business made to haul large groups of people aross miles of Moroccan landscape. No. Not so much.

I soon found myself stuffed into the backseat of an 80's Mercedes Benz with leopard spotted interior with three other people and two others + the taxi driver in the front. For an hour. Always good times bonding with your fellow travelers! But we made it after going across the varied Moroccan landscape (we started with snowy hills and pine trees and passed, rocky plains and farms, cactus and palm trees, and rows of olive trees!) and then arrived in Meknes, where we climbed into our 2nd set of grande taxis and headed to Volubilis.

Volubilis is the remains of the 1st and 3rd century Roman city on Moroccan soil. The ruins are beautiful, here's a little taste.

My personal favorite however is this one where I decided to climb on top of the side of the basilica. A couple of my friends joined me and then we promptly hear the whistle and remembered that we were climbing on a structure that was a couple thousand years old. ;-) Oops. Anyway, we had a great time and I still can't decide what was the better view, the actual ruins or the view around. As one of my fellow travelers remarked, the Romans knew strategically where to build their city and you could see for miles around. Facing one direction were the rolling hills of the Middle Atlas mountains and this beautiful little moutain town Moulay Idriss, turn around and there were plains as green as could be! (The snow disappeared about 15 minutes from Ifrane, so it was warm enough in Volubilis to not wear a coat! A rare luxury in the past couple weeks!)

Unfortunately, the trip back to AUI was not so fantastic. I felt bad in the shorter trip to Meknes and after not eating since breakfast...well, I got dehydrated which luckily one of the guys recognized. But I had done the damage, so the rest of the afternoon was pretty shot. I slept in the taxi ride back which apparently was quite the accomplishment as the taxi driver was a bit crazy.

So that was the weekend, nice to get at least a bit of travels in but hopefully I'll get to do some more this coming weekend, insha'allah (God willing!) but my roommate says it may snow again, so who knows.

Classes have started back up...a bit in the 2nd week rut but still overall good!

Love to you all.

My Academic Feast

So classes started here at AUI on Tuesday, and after paperwork and switching classes I can honestly say that I have the perfect schedule, both time and class wise.

Now of course keep in mind that I've only had 3 days of class, so there is still time for a class or two to bomb...but for right now, it looks like it's going to be a semester-long academic feast!

First off, I'm taking International Law, which was an unintended but welcome surprise and is fabulous. My professor is an Armenian Christian who fled Turkey, lived in the Sudan, and I think became an American citizen later on, but now teaches here! And its a great class, partly because I'm really excited about international law and find it fascinating, but also because all of the examples he (and my peers) bring in are Middle Eastern. The first day there were so many references to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Lebanon and Syria, internal Mideast politics, the consequences of colonialism in Africa, the genocide in the Sudan, etc. It was so great! I feel like after this semester I might be able to say I'm a Middle Eastern Perspectives major with a bit more confidence and oomph!

And of course the same is true in my other classes. My Women and Economic Development class is taught by a man who worked at an NGO advocating for women's health rights in London for years, and is making a whole section of the class focused on women in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region which is just awesome.

Middle East Politics is hardcore. The extended reading list is 5 pages long, although I was happy to see that my education has been such thus far that I at least recognized a lot of the titles and or authors as important ones for my field, so that was encouraging. But I'm definitely going to have to do some hard work to keep up. This class as well as two others are combined undergrad/graduate courses as well, and though I've had this at Valpo and its never been a big deal...at the same time when you're studying international relations in the part of the world where the other students grew up, there's a little catch up required.

History of the Middle East and North Africa in the 20th Century...longest class title EVER...is good, taught by one of those true academics who totally gets caught up in the theories and ideas that shape society. He spent the first class talking about the thoery of dialectics, dependency theory, and the way in which history is taught and written. But it should be cool, he has some interesting ideas and he's putting together a course packet that again has pieces of some of the great books on the Middle East and North Africa that I know I should read but haven't had the chance to yet. So that's pretty cool. :-)

And then there's Arabic, which just happened to work out perfectly (amazingly enough, I think the big guy upstairs probably had something to do with that). My placement test did not go well as I mentioned in a previous post, but I got to the class and found that I'd completed beyond where they where going to study for the semester and so moved up a level. But got to keep the same teacher who is very dynamic and great. Intent upon helping her students learn Arabic, but also willing to repeat and make sure you understand which is awesome. (Knock on wood) I might actually enjoy learning Arabic at least a little this semester!

Basically my classes are like an academic feast for my international relations focused brain. I get to take some great classes at VU, but there are just so many classes that simply aren't offered. This way I get to take some great classes in the region that I'm studying and all the courses still transfer back! How awesome is that.

Of course, I can't lie it's also great that none of my classes start till 11 and I have no classes on Friday. B-E-A-utiful. :-)

So now that you're all extremely jealous, I thought that I'd tell you a little about the place that I am studying at for the semester. Consider it you're little Moroccan lesson for the week.

Al Akhawayn University was started in 1995 after the King of Saudi Arabia pledged millions of dollars to clean up an oil spill that was supposed to be a huge environmental disaster...but wasn't. So, the Moroccan government had all of this money and of course once someone hands you like 50 million dollars you're not gonna give it back, right? Previous to this, King Hassan II (the former king of Morocco) had long wanted to establish an American university of Morocco (similiar to the American universities in Cairo, Beirut, Paris, etc) but had never had the funds. And so suddenly with all of these funds it seemed like the perfect time to build such an institution.

But as the discussions began, the planners realized that the Moroccan educational system was in crisis and what was really needed was an integrally Moroccan institution that could stand as an example and sort of a test case for the future of Moroccan education. And so with the funds from Saudi and money from the government, they created Al Akhawayn, which means "two brothers" in Arabic symbolizing the two monetary creators' friendship. But that's as far as the Saudi influence goes.

Al Akhwayn is located in a resort town, sort of artificially built as an oasis where English is the language of instruction and where students, staff and faculty speak English, French and Arabic interchangably...plus the occassional Berber (native language of Moroccan people) and Spanish (for students from northern Morocco that was colonized by Spain). It's pretty crazy. Outside of Al Akhawayn's gate (and I mean gate literally with security guards and a midnight curfew) Arabic and French are widely spoken, but literacy and unemployment abound...okay really outside of Ifrane, as Ifrane is one of the vacation spots of Morocco, think the Hamptons...except not.

When you walk/drive up the road to campus this is the first building you see, housing the administration offices, business office, etc. But all the buildings look basically like that. Red shingled roofs, white/cream colored buildings...all over campus. The ball you see in the middle is a globe with messages around it in English, Arabic, and French.

Campus is lovely, small with trees all around it - we're in some of the last bits of the endangered cedar forests in Morocco, so that's pretty sweet. All the dorms are numbered rather than named like on many American campuses...I'm sure the practice of naming buildings after donors will come. The dorms are nice, there are like 10 small ones dotted over one side of campus...all strictly women or men. The opposite sex is not even allowed in dorms, and a girl being found in a guy's room (or vice versa) can result in expulsion. Basically, there are a lot of pretty strict rules here at AUI because the parents have a big say in what goes on here. So there's a curfew, a very strict drug policy (any drug use, hard or soft = expulsion), mandatory class attendance (with only three absences before automatic withdrawl), etc.

This is the library. It is beautiful in side and one of the few buildings on campus that is really warm inside. (The heating systems aren't so great, so classrooms are often Cold with a capital "C.")

Yet, for all the rules it's a really modern place. Walking around I feel like I'm at an Arab fashion show; the girls are all walking around in tall boots with their jeans tucked in, with their fashion plate hair, jewelry, sunglasses, and purses that look like they're right off 5th Avenue. It's crazy. And while everyone is modestly dressed, certainly on campus there's no problem with wearing tight jeans and the girls are wearing clothes right out of a teen chik flick to parties in terms of revealing and fashionable. The guys too are all in their nice jackets and jeans, etc. So kindof funny. But AUI brings in a lot of the upper middle class kids who had the strong education and good grades and access to English training...so you get the money that comes with it I guess. But everyone's really nice, though there is definitely a lot of staring at the Americans...especially when we hang out in packs, which though is annoying is hard not to do when we don't know any of them either.

To the left is the mosque which is right in the middle of campus; it is beautiful. It sort of reminds me of Valpo actually because we have our huge beautiful Chapel that is supposed to act as the center of campus and no matter what the tradition is of the students, it still makes a statement, ya know? Anyway, all of campus geographically around it. The campus is there to the right with the dorms behind and to the side. And then on the opposite side is a series of academic buildings with covered sidewalks and a series of quads.

Hmm...what else? Food! The resturant, which is basically what we term as a cafeteria/union style place has three parts. A grill that does a lot of chicken, fries, etc which has already gotten old, but also does schwarma which is fantastic. Then a Moroccan style side which has as-close-to-authentic-as-any-university-cafeteria-can-be Moroccan foods (fantastic orange juice for breakfast!), and then a pizza bar upstairs where they make great mini thin crust pizzas.

So, that's a little overview of AUI. I like it so far, still getting used to everything and certainly enjoying learning the differences in culture, how things are done and communicated, etc. But every once in awhile it does make one a little edgy.

This weekend I'm going to embark on my first little day trips which I'm stoked about. So hopefully I'll have some more pictures of life outside AUI for you all soon. In the meantime, ma-salaama!

Gather Us In

So the past few days have been a mix of finishing up orientation (thank goodness), a mini-day trip on Saturday, and a bit more free time to settle in and get some rest.

On Saturday, we went with the other newcomers (here at AUI, they call all new students "newcomers" rather than freshman or whatever. Also, many students start 2nd semester, its not as uncommon to start mid-year as it is in the states) on a day trip to Michlifen and Azrou. Michlifen is a ski resort that would have been beautiful...had there been snow. But alas, no snow here in Morocco. Everyone says it is unusually warm for this time of year. There's no telling whether or not this will change in the coming month.

Anyway, after having some tea and chatting we were bussed to a little market on the side of the street where there were also some monkeys! These are macaque, or Barbary apes which apparently are extinct but roam freely in the cedar forests of Morocco. That is just one of the many diverse Moroccan landscapes, some of which we got to see from our bus windows - mountainous regions with sparse brush, to forests with super tall pine trees, and then back to farms and such.

But anyway...here's one of the monkeys and me:

So, after that we headed to Azrou, which apparently is only about a half an hour away from Ifrane (where I live). And is more of a regular town than Ifrane, which is much more of a resort town (more on that later). We went to a little restaurant called Dernier Lion de I'Atlas, where we had tajine - a Moroccan stew-like dish that is cooked in a tajine (Moroccan pot/dish with a cone-like top in which many dishes are cooked). The dish we had was beef and an apple-like fruit dish which was served on a large common plate. Our Moroccan peers had fun showing us to eat the dish with the bread served (you rip off a piece and bread and use it to maneuver pieces of beef or fruit from the area in front of you to your mouth!).

We had a good time talking to the Moroccan students who enjoyed asking us about American television shows, apparently various MTV shows like "Pimp My Ride" and other such quality programs as Jerry Springer (they were crushed to hear that it is staged), "Friends," "So You Think You Can Dance," are broadcast here in Morocco. As well as all the lovely movies - American Pie, Austin Powers, etc...the kids at our table had seen more of the teen flicks than I had. Of course those of you who know me well will not be surprised by that. But anyway, its very common...in fact Moulin Rouge is currently showing on my roommate's TV in English with Arabic subtitles. Hilarious.

So lunch was fun, and then after some more waiting on the bus...all time is relative in Morocco...we were back at AUI. That's when we discovered the sad truth about Grey's Anatomy, but apparently we'll be able to access it via ITunes, so I'll try that! ;-)

Then last evening, after a long day of paperwork and orientation sessions, I had the privilege of worshiping with the group of Christians at AUI, a small but hearty group it seems of professors, students, and Christians working in missions (mostly local orphanages) in the Ifrane area. It was so lovely to be in that community and certainly reminded me that while I truly believe that God calls us to be in different places at different times, that there are many wonderful communities worldwide that have the gift of welcoming visitors with open arms in the name of Christ no matter what their address is. It was also interesting because apparently my first Sunday here in Morocco was also the week of Prayer for Christian Unity, so the readings, songs, and message also centered on theme of Christians uniting together despite their disagreements and differences and loving one another. And while perhaps it seems a simple thing to celebrate, the real meaning of the day seemed more acute in the little apartment where we (Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians) were worshipping together in a country, which as the pastor pointed out labels Christians "Christian" and doesn't bother to differentiate between denominational squabbles. But it was also powerful, because it was as if we were celebrating the unity of Christians worldwide and therefore uniting this little community that I became apart of with the communities that I love back home in the Chapel at Valpo, or at church in Greenwood, or the group of girls that I have gathered with for bible study in various dorms around the Valpo campus. That was a beautiful thing to be reminded of. (Claire, that's where I saw God today).

The little congregation reminded me somewhat of the church that I attended during my semester in DC last spring, because of its wonderful ability to welcome strangers and make a community amidst constant change. Both churches have members that are constantly in and out; in DC people's jobs change at a rapid pace, some people come to stay 6 months and stay for years, others the opposite. From my first impression last night, it appears that many professors and workers in the orphanage come and go, and students at AUI...well those like me are only here for a semester, others for a year. Yet, I felt more welcomed that I have in many churches (with steeples and pews rather than a small apartment with seats arranged in a circle) in the US! Anyway...so that was a blessing. They meet on Wednesday and Sunday nights, so hopefully I'll be able to attend their often despite the traveling I'm hoping to do.

Today was sort of a slow day, as it is the last day before classes. Most students were arriving back on campus and attempting to get last minute registration done and that sort of thing. That seems to be a universal trend.

A couple of us went briefly into Ifrane, which is about a 10 minute walk off campus. Like I mentioned before, Ifrane is a resort town that is fairly small until it snows or it is summer time. There's not a whole lot there, but I think it's cute and sort of a resort-y sense, and also has a lot of fabulous green park space which I hope to take advantage of! We went out to the marche to pick up a few needed items. It's reminded me of a cross between the outside markets of Jerusalem and an American mall. A long building with twists and turns and booth shops with everything from souveniers to a little square "food court" with a couple small resturants, another hallway had fruits, vegetables, and raw meat hanging from the ceiling, and then other shops with cameras, clothes, etc. The marche is also near the bus station and of course taxes surround the whole area.

Closer to campus is the center of town which has a couple of resturants and hotels, a few shops, and a teeny-weeny gas station. Not a whole lot to it, and not a lot of people around. Some of the other students have already pretty much written it off...but I think its nice and it will be fun to explore what's there over the coming months.

Well that's the update for now. Tomorrow classes start!

PS: Congrats all you Colts fans back home!

Unhappy News

Sad realization: ABC does not allow people overseas to view Grey's Anatomy or any other shows online.

I am going to be without Grey's and Brothers & Sisters for an entire semester.

Sad day.

NEWS FLASH: I found a website that shows new Grey's Episodes, so life is happy again. ;-)