Raining in Rabat

Since my first impressions of Rabat, I have been able to explore the Medina and a very small part of the Ville Nouvelle (aka the New City) and not much has changed.  The houses are still amazingly beautiful in their very Moroccan way, and while I did not mention it before, the food here is fantastic!  The combination of the French, Moroccan, and Arabic cuisines creates a very interesting mix.  For instance, here is a typical day in food: Breakfast-cucumbers, salted tomatoes, thinly sliced oranges with cinnamon, pastries (croissants, pain au chocolat, something akin to danish), and thick coffee (with plenty of sugar and milk of course!) or the incredibly sweet moroccan mint tea (I think it puts the South to shame); Lunch-either steamed chicken or beef, beans/potatoes, salted tomatoes, bread, stewed carrots or quince, and either a piece of fruit or honey-covered semolina cookies; Dinner-same as lunch with whichever meat (chicken/beef) you didn't have at lunch and most likely a different veggie (though they do like their carrots...).  That is basically a day of food in Morocco, massive amounts of carbs and all. 

Apart from the massive intake of carbs, things have been very interesting the past few days.  SIT has been very good about teaching us all we need to know about Moroccan culture, history, hassling, bargaining, and Arabic (Darija is the name for the Moroccan dialect, in case you were wondering) but we have not had much time to go out and explore Rabat, until yesterday and today.  Yesterday's outing was preceded by a lecture on how to bargain, phrases we could use to help us get a better price, and, of course, a lecture on how to deal with hassling.  After the lectures we were sent out into the city with 10 Dirhams (a little more than US$1) to try to see what we could get for it.  So with a couple friends, I went out into the soukhs to see what I could find for 10dhms.  Sunglasses are generally 50, scarves 30, bracelets 10.  I didn't really want to buy any of the others, so I decided to go for the scarf.  After browsing the many shops that sell scarves on the street, I walk into what appeared to be a frequent of tourists looking for souvenirs.  It seemed promising--there was so much to choose from!--so I began talking to one of the men who worked there.  He showed me some leather and cloth bags, scarves of varying degrees of quality, leather pouches, silver and ceramic cups, but once he pulled out a beautiful scarf from amidst the rows and piles, I knew what I wanted.  I feigned disinterest and asked him the price, just as I had done for every other piece he put in front of me, and he quoted 60dhms.  I looked appalled because others had said only 30, and I was determined to work on my bargaining skills.  As instructed, I asked about other objects, how much they were, etc. trying to strike up a conversation and make it more of a social rather than a business interaction.  A little later I brought up the scarves again, and asked for one for 30 dhms, he flat out refused, and I changed the subject again.  So after about 30 minutes talking and shopping I finally got him to agree to sell me the scarf for 30; mission semi-accomplished!  However, as I was about to walk out, he said "so you come back for business or not for business?" I was so flabbergasted at the insinuation he was making, and immediately realized this was one of the great traditions of the relations between the sexes in Morocco, also known as street harassment.  As quickly as I could, I said "Ca suffit!", paid for the scarf and practically ran out the door.  Since then, I have experienced much more harassment on the streets, but it has been harmless.  Just men passing by on the street saying "hello" or other phrases as quickly as they can in as many different languages as they can.  This harassment is actually a form of courtship for Moroccans, who are largely unable to meet members of the opposite sex in any other place but the street.  So I will just have to keep my head about me as I go about my business in the streets of Morocco.  And I can't forget, I did get a good deal on a very pretty scarf. 

The one bad thing I have encountered since being in Rabat is definitely the pouring rain that came in full force today.  Everyone has told us that it is unusual to have this much rain in the city, but one day in four isn't a bad ratio for rainy to sunny days since arrival.  However, the major drawback about the rain is that it turns all of the ever present dirt in the street to a silty mud, making the markets and streets a very real hazard especially when crossing the street in the bright of day is hazardous enough.  I was able to make this leap with relative ease, but the survival Moroccan Arabic (aka Darija) was much more difficult to maneuver.  We started with the customary hello, return greeting, my name is..., and what is your name... that usually punctuate any beginning language course.  But even that was very hard on the brain.  Here's a sample conversation (this is all phonetic spelling, so don't expect much): j-assalaam ulikum, k:-walikum salaam, j-anna taliba. Wennti? k-heta anna taliba! Anna mericanea, menn wisconsin. Wennti? j-heta anna mericanea! Menn Pennsylvania. k-mutchelfin! j-mutchelfin! (hello; hello; i am a student, and you?; i am also a student! I am an american from wisconsin. And you?; I am also an american! From pennsylvania.; nice to meet you!; nice to meet you!; end conversation) While that's the quick and dirty version, that's pretty much all I have learned at this point.  All this in preparation of meeting my host family tomorrow, and I can't wait!