Aftertastes of Mint

I got my charger and found a sweet spot for the internet, after another full day here in Rabat. There's a lot to catch up on here! I'm sorry if my thoughts are disjointed.

Leaving home on Wednesday was both chaotic and emotional. Props to my amazing family for getting up early to help me finish packing and making sure that I was as prepared as possible to leave. After finishing up we went to the airport and said our goodbyes. It's a strange thing to leave your family (this trip is the longest I'll have ever been from home.) Although two months isn't such a long time, for me it's an eternity as far as being away from my family is concerned. I miss them so much already and I'm already so excited to come home and see them again.

The actual process of traveling here was more or less uneventful (which i consider to be a very good thing!) And any highlights that it had don't compare to the ones that I've had since then!

Morocco is a place really unlike anything that I've seen before. It's beautiful. Walking around the older parts of Rabat feels like walking through some sort of movie set. Homes with front doors that look like they came off of a post card are tucked among spice and carpet shops, with minarets rising above every neighborhood so that the call to prayer can be heard all over the city. People here are friendly and seem to deliberately choose to enjoy each day. It is customary here to have some sort of pastry each afternoon, attitudes are generally cheerful and laid back, and tea houses are always full of people wanting to share in conversations over steaming glasses of mint tea.

Speaking of mint tea, one of the highlights of yesterday was spending part of the afternoon at the house of Professor El Korchi, a WPI professor who grew up in Morocco and is helping us settle in. Walking into the house, all of our eyes grew wide as we saw the incredible main room, basically a courtyard with a roof, covered in intricate mosaic tiles and lined with couches to recline on. There we had a tea ceremony, where Prof El Korchi's mom poured us mint tea and we enjoyed traditional Moroccan sweets. Yesterday we were also able to explore a market in the old city. We saw some women on the side of the road with beautiful henna designs on their hands. One of them grabbed my hand, asked me my name, and proceeded to design beautiful henna along my left hand and up my pinky. It took her maybe 15 seconds to create a beautiful design (and to announce a price of 20 dirhams that had to be paid for her handiwork that I "asked" for!)  This part of Rabat is right along a river and it is beautiful; you feel like you've stepped back in time. There is a character about old cities that can never be matched anywhere else, no matter how fantastic new technology and architecture becomes: character cannot be engineered.

Everything here seems to have mint incorporated into it, in some way or another. There is, in my opinion, an aftertaste of mint after eating or drinking more or less anything. (My favorite so far has been fresh lemonade with mint that we enjoyed at the El Korchi home, it was so refreshing on a hot Moroccan day!)

Today, like yesterday, was full and exciting. We first visited the mausoleum of Mohammed V which was beautiful. We met a nice elderly Moroccan man there who told us that he has met the chief of state police from Boston (so he was excited to know we were form there) and loves American heavy metal music. :) We were able to spend time at the palace grounds where the king of Morocco resides (a luxury not allowed to all who visit Rabat, as heightened security has closed palace doors to most guests) and see ancient ruins and botanical gardens at a fortress. One of the most interesting things to me here were the giant stork nests that were perched atop many of the ruins. No matter how old and decrepit the ruins are becoming (as they clearly are becoming, considering that people pay to come and appreciate how old they are) growth continues there through these stork nests. The storks will likely still be there long after the ruins have crumbled. These were wonderful experiences that gave me more of a taste of Morocco's rich history, but I also am looking forward to going to the university where we will be able to get to know Morocco on a deeper level than the tourist attractions.

Another highlight of today was that we enjoyed an afternoon at the ocean. It has been very hot here these last few days, and being at the beach was a perfect way to cool down and relax! The two things that impressed on me most from that part of the day. First was the contrast of women's dress here among Moroccan women. Many of them wear hijab and are covered from head to toe, with long sleeves and even sometimes wearing gloves to cover their hands. (Even at the beach I saw this quite a few times, including among ladies that were swimming!) However especially in this urban area, there are also many women who have shrugged modesty and wear bathing suits even skimpier than an average American girl. Although this is not something unique to Morocco, it struck me to see the paradox. The other thing that stuck out to me was seeing a camel on the beach!!! It was more of a tourist attraction to offer camel rides to children there than anything else, but it still excited me to see a camel there :)

We also were able to feast with the El Korchis again with a traditional Moroccan tajine with couscous. There was a giant bowl piled high with vegetables, 2 full chickens, beef, and enough couscous to feed an army. We each had to use our hands to eat from our part of the bowl (shaped like a slice of pie, working our way in). Most of us made a mess and we barely made a dent in all the food there! There were a lot of laughs that went along with the meal. It's hard not to feel like family when you're sharing a meal with someone, especially when you're all eating with your hands from the same plate! This makes me even more amazed to think of the times where Jesus shared meals with people throughout His ministry, including the sinners, tax collectors, and outcasts of society. These were the people He would have been reclining with, licking the couscous from His fingers and smiling and laughing with the other dinner guests. How incredible it must have been for people like Zaccheus to share a meal with Jesus.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to Al Akhawayn to begin orientation there. I am both excited and nervous to start! God has been sustaining me so far and I can already see His faithfulness. Please continue to pray for me and for the other students that I am traveling with. The internet here is too unreliable, but I will be trying to post pictures on the blog soon.

Til later,