I Wasn't Good at Fasting

Ramadan has begun.

I thought I knew this city. Since Ramadan hit, everything has changed. Not exactly in a bad way, but in a “is there a restaurant still open where I can eat lunch” kind of way. The city completely shuts down during the day. There’s very little honking, the streets are quiet, and it’s incredibly hard to find an open store. The stores that are open have turned all of their lights off. The will leave the door slightly ajar, so as not to draw attention, and then those exempt from Ramadan know that it's open. Then at night, everything wakes up. I didn’t know that there were so many teenagers here. Masses of them emerge at night and fill the restaurants and parks. The honking that was blissfully absent during the day returns with a vengeance, and the community comes together to celebrate their successful day of fasting. It’s pretty awesome.

                I did try fasting and made it all of two days. The first day I tried the traditional Ramadan fast that everyone does. No food, no water. At first, it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I don’t generally drink that much in the first place, and I just had to wait a little later for dinner. But around 5, I was really starting to feel it. Iftar starts at 7:45 or right after the call to prayer. I was skyping my brother at the time when our host dad called us to dinner. I stopped Joshua in the middle of a sentence, told him that I was far too hungry to delay dinner any longer, slammed the computer shut and pretty much bolted to the table. Our host mom had 2 tables set up with all of this gorgeous food out. I recognized only the dates, everything else was something I’d never seen before.

               

                My host sister, Manal, told me that since I had been fasting, the first food I needed to eat was a date. In Muslim culture, dates are considered to be the healthiest food you can eat, which is why you use them to break the fast on a day when you had no nutrients, I’ve got to say, I’m not a huge fan of dates. I thought they would be another Moroccan food that vastly improves overseas, but it wasn’t the case. I just don’t like dates. Everything else was absolutely amazing. Everything was very new to me, but it was still incredibly good. Completely worth the wait.

                Anyway, fasting wore me out so I went to bed at 9:00 and was woken up at 2:30 am for suhoor. This is the last meal that can be eaten before the sun rises. At 3:36 the canon goes off which signals the end of eating and the beginning of the fast. The suhoor consisted of beef and cauliflower plus the ever-present Danon. Neither of my roommates wanted to try fasting, so it was just me and my host family. It was a really lovely meal but it was far too early in the morning. I went back to bed around 3.

                The next morning I felt very dehydrated and sick. I was contemplating calling the program coordinator and asking to stay home. However, with the amount of Arabic we go over in a day, I didn’t think I could afford to lose any class time. I was really determined to make it through fasting for a week though, so I did a water fast that day, where you can drink water but not eat. My roommates and I went to see the Mausoleum where Mohammed V and his two sons are buried. There were men on horses guarding the grounds, a lot pillars in rows, and these white and green buildings that held Mohammed V and his sons. I thought the most interesting part was the Koran reader in the corner. Multiple things in Rabat are named after Mohammed V (a tram stop, a university, the airport), so it was interesting to see another way Moroccans commemorated his life.

                That evening I told my host mom over (a once again delicious) iftar that I have gotten sick this morning. Apparently, if you get sick you aren’t supposed to fast. So it was kind of decided for me that I had been kicked out of the fasting program. I didn’t really know that I had been removed until I woke up at six the next morning and realized no one had knocked for suhoor. So that was that. I felt ill again anyway, so maybe it was better to stop fasting altogether. Consistently being sick in a foreign nation is not my idea of a fun time.

                So I ate breakfast which my daily dose of Laughing Cow Cheese. There is an obsession with Laughing Cow Cheese over here. I have yet to see another kind of cheese. I’m a little obsessed with it, mainly because we eat it every day at almost every meal. I think at college I’m going to stock my dorm room with Laughing Cow Cheese and mint tea. I don’t think that I could live without them at this point. Anyways, after breakfast my roommates and I headed off to school.

                So I lasted 2 whole days of Ramadan and I feel like such a weakling. I was going for a week and just didn’t get close at all. I thought I gave it a nice effort, but it turns out that I'm not all that great at fasting.

                In other news, I finally found Balghas in my size. Yes, in order to do so I did have to get the men’s shoes. They are incredibly comfortable. The best way to describe them is that they are like slippers that have a harder flat bottom so they double well for walking. I told Manal that they looked kind of life elf shoes. She didn’t know what an elf was, but once I looked it up and showed her, she laughed and agreed.

 

The World Cup is still going strong. I watched Algeria’s painful loss to Germany and the US losing to Belgium. Not a good week in terms of teams I was rooting for. I love watching the games with my host father. In the US versus Belgium game, it was a lot of "USA" chanting and the return of the good old Washington DC hat. I also took some photographic evidence of how much of a community affair each game is. 

Paris and I at the ruins

              Our group trip during this week was to the Chellah ruins. I’m not the best at Roman history, but it was explained to me it’s the ruins of an ancient Roman settlement. There was some kind of earthquake and the city was abandoned in favor of its neighbor, Sale. The ruins were pretty amazing. There were no posted rules anywhere, so people were walking wherever they wanted and climbing down into the crevices. It was so different that the strict reinforcement the US has on many historical items. I was just beginning to think that there wasn't any enforcement of policy at all, but then, the security system emerged. It was a guy with a whistle. What a fun country. The Chellah ruins get a thumbs up from me.

               But the best part of my week was definitely when I went to a Moroccan TGI Friday’s. Because it's Ramadan, the crowd started to appear around 9:30/10:00. I went with Lauren, who is another girl in the program who had just been to the restaurant the night before. The Moroccan TGI Friday’s is a party. The music is blaring, every chair is full, and there is this huge Karaoke screen taking up the front wall.

               

Lauren, my karaoke buddy 

                I never really had a dream of one specific thing I needed to do in Morocco. I didn't have one overarching experience I had hoped for going into the program, but I discovered it on a Wednesday at 9 pm in a packed restaurant.

                Singing karaoke in a Moroccan TGI Friday’s was and is my dream. I couldn't keep still once I realized how much I needed to be a part. Lauren, who had sung the night before, went and got the karaoke book. There was a section for Arabic songs and a section for English songs. Flipping through, I noted the vast amount of Billy Joel tunes. I picked “Only the Good Die Young." It's one of my favorites and it was the last song he sang on his recent tour stop in St. Louis (which was the first time I ever saw him sing live). It all came together so nicely. Although the song isn't really in the best place for me range-wise (I have to shift octaves every once in a while) I had to do it.

               

                The DJ handed me the mic and I got up and stood in between two tables packed with Moroccan guys. One guy asked “What are you singing, America?” I told him, and he replied “Interesting, America, interesting.” Then the DJ actually told the crowd that I was “America” and the song started.
                 It was the most positive karaoke environment I've ever experienced. There was constant commentary and yelling and shouts of "America!" I have found my place in Morocco. It was amazing. I was followed by a man singing the most flamboyant version of “Don’t Stop Me Now” that I’ve ever heard. It's my place.
            
                Anyway, that's what's been happening recently in Rabat, Morocco. Tomorrow is America's birthday and then we depart for Fes. No one here really considers America's birthday to be a big deal (we have our first test on Independence day, for goodness sake). I'm planning on walking around in red, white, and blue and singing every patriotic song I know. 

Prelude to Ramadan

The past few days have been spent anticipating and preparing for Ramadan. Houses have been intensely cleaned, lots of cooking has been done, the medina has been especially packed with people buying the immense amounts of food they will need for iftar. Everyone made their final hurrahs at the beach, and Ramadan will soon be upon us. So here is, effectively, what has happened in the final days before the city shuts down.

             If there’s one thing that brings people together, it’s the World Cup. Everyone here is very invested in it. I've asked around, and the consensus seems to be that people believe Brazil will win, but are also silently rooting for their buddy Algeria. As someone who has never really watched any sports team or event religiously, it's very strange to see a country consumed with this soccer tournament. My host father and I still watch the games together. When the US played Germany, my host dad put on a Washington DC hat and chanted "USA" with me. But it's not just my host family. One day, I was walking home, and heard very loud cheering at infrequent intervals coming from restaurants on both sides of the street. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was watching the World Cup. If the restaurant has a TV, it's going to be showing the World Cup. It's ridiculous.

Before Ramadan, a lot of activity happened in the streets. I had a fight outside my room two nights ago. Amidst the completely unnecessary but very frequent honking, I heard some shouting outside my room. There was quite a commotion until the police arrived. They arrested around 3 people and then the night moved on. A lot of the problems with crime in Morocco are solved with civilian intervention (if your wallet is stolen, many will jump in to stop the perpetrator) and I was told that we really wouldn't see the police, so it was very unique that they came. Yesterday however, it was no longer a novelty to see the police. The day before Ramadan began they were everywhere. 

Good old American fast food

Before Ramadan started, I made it a goal to visit as many restaurants as possible as many of them shut down during the fasting period. In doing so, I've now found perhaps the most American restaurant in Morocco, “Faceburger.” The only difference between here and your average burger joint is that we were told we needed to order quickly so the workers could make it down to the mosque in time to pray. However, this was the most American tasting meal I’d had since arriving. A lot of restaurants claim to be American, but they can’t get the fries right. I was very impressed with Faceburger’s quality of fry. The container the fries were in couldn't handle how American the fries were.

Speaking of American things in Morocco, another element of America that has infiltrated Morocco is our music. I have heard maybe 2 cultural songs since arriving here. Restaurants play our music, people blast our music in their cars, our host family talks about our artists. My room is somewhat close to this restaurant (across the street and 3 floors up from it) and I hear people driving in with some American pop song blaring. It’s Adele, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Macklemore, etc. Our host sister loves “Al Staircase” and even saw her in concert (it took me about 4 repetitions before I understood “Alicia Keys” from that pronunciation). American music has definitely hit the streets of Morocco.

The garden down the street from us

Yesterday morning I took a walk about Rabat with my roommates, Catherine and Elizabeth. We found the classiest Burger King I’d seen in my entire life. I’m not a Burger King kind of person, but the building itself really made me want to eat there. However, I was hanging with two vegetarians so it just wasn’t going to happen. As we continued walking, I was almost hit with a flood of questionable liquid falling from some window four stories up. I’m sorry to admit, I yelled rather loudly and jumped out of the way (before it could hit me, thank goodness. I don't even want to know what it was) A Moroccan guy sitting in his car absolutely lost it and laughed, much louder than what I think was necessary.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag

One of the more interesting things that I saw was the guy whose job it is to make sure these pigeons in a park by my house have food. While I was waiting on some people for lunch, I sat down and watched him wet down their food and put their water in bowls. It’s someone’s job to feed these pigeons. After I thought that, I couldn’t get the “Feed the Birds” song from Mary Poppins out of my head.

Afterwards, we spent the afternoon at the ocean. While in the water with about 8 members of the group, this random Moroccan dude started motioning towards us and pointing at his surfboard. A couple of the kids freaked out because we have sat through so many lectures about not making eye contact, not saying hello and so on so they swam back. But he seemed well-meaning and we had quite a few boys from the program with us, so I went with the group that decided to swim over. He motioned for me to get on his surfboard, so I did.

I’ve never been on a surfboard before. According to that Wii fit board, my balancing skills are sub-par at best, so I fell off multiple times. But then I eventually stood up on the board, and paddled around a bit on it. Then everyone in the group tried doing the same.

This guy and his friends shook all of our hands afterwards, and I asked him, in Darija, what his name was. His name sounded something like Bee-lah. I was very proud of this successful communication. Then he spoke something rapidly to me and I just nodded and said yes, and him and his buddies started cheering and pumping their fists in the air. We said thank you and good-bye, and as we were swimming away, I was informed that I had just told the man that I was Muslim. I was thinking later that it could’ve been a marriage proposal and I would’ve just gone along with it. So I’m clearly not very good at this language yet.

 

Then, I found the most beautiful part of Morocco, I swear. I walked up all these rocks in bare feet, which absolutely killed, but it was worth it. The view was gorgeous. Ugh. What a beautiful country. 

However, I did go and sit in one of those pools of water before the cliff drop-off into the Atlantic. This huge wave hit the side, rushed over the top towards me, and knocked me backwards. So I got kind of cut up on the rocks. It was still worth it.

So now, today, Ramadan has officially started. I've been up for 5 hours and I've yet to hear a horn, which is absurd considering the incredible amounts of honking in the past week. It's very quiet out today. I've got to say, I'm incredibly excited for dinner tonight. Because fasting is hard and I'm hungry. 

The Handbook

EDIT: Now that the location has changed to Morocco, parts of this handbook are no longer applicable. However, many parts do apply to both regions so I've decided to leave it up, if only to educate future Oman students. I'm also leaving it up because it took forever to write. So you are more than welcome to skip this, but if you have a fascination with Oman, feel free to keep reading.

As part of the preparations for this summer, AMIDEAST sent out a 44-page handbook detailing information about Oman and the summer we would be having. I found this information interesting and relevant to this experience, so I thought I'd include some of it here. The following post in its entirety will probably only be interesting to me and future NSLI-Yers, so if you don't fall under these two categories, I understand if you skim or don't read the following post. My feelings will not be hurt. Everyone who is going to read this, get strapped in because I have a feeling this will take a while.

Here we go.

The first section deals with statistics about Oman. I noticed that Oman has a population of around 3.09 million people. This is very close to the population of my home state, Iowa, who has around 3.07 million people. The population is 75% Ibadhi Muslim, and 25% other religions. There is an 81.4% literacy rate, and there is universal adult suffrage, which is always nice.

The next section deals with staying and adapting to a host family. After being a member of a host family to 3 different ladies since the 8th grade, it's fun to see the kind of preparation they give about what your host family would be like. They warn you that you might not have the "private time, personal space, or independence" that you are used to, but just to roll with it. I wonder how many of our host students were like "I don't want to hang out with them right now, but I will because I was told to." It's just so weird to see this other side of the experience.They say there is also a chance that the family you stay with will be of Zanzibari descent. For the sake of the Billy Joel song "Zanzibar," I hope this happens. Although I'm fairly certain he wasn't singing about this region that is now part of Tanzania, but I'm keeping my hopes up.

The handbook then dives into the academics of this whole thing. All of the girls have been notified of our duty to learn the alphabet and some common phrases before we leave. They also mention a "Language Pledge" which I believe means that we are only allowed to speak Arabic for certain periods of time. After reading this, I am so glad that Sr. Van Der Meer would require us to do this all the time in Spanish 3- it lets you know what words you really need to learn. The handbook also talks about the classes, the extension element with an Omani peer, and the pre and post test we'll be taking. The final part of the academics section is the extension beyond the classroom, including the extracurricular activities and community service. I actually couldn't be more excited about this- the extracurriculars include "discussion groups, Arabic cinema & TV, Arabic karaoke, calligraphy, and relaxed 'majli chats' over coffee & dates with Omani students."

The next portion is about methods of contact. We'll be provided a cell phone, international service is expensive if you bring your own, Skype has been blocked (this by the way, is not the greatest news ever but I can handle it. Google chat all the way?), we'll have WiFi although it may be slow, and they gave some addresses where we can be sent stuff, which I might put on here closer to the date or if anyone other than me gets access to this blog who might want to write something.

Climate-wise, it's hot. Very hot. There's also a wind called "the Shamal" that blows from March until August and can cause sandstorms. You don't get a sandstorm every day in Iowa, so I'm hoping to see at least one.

Then the next section is one what to wear. This was very worrying to me in the time between when I had been accepted and when I got this handbook, so to prevent this from happening to future students, I will try to be detailed.

In regards to bottoms, acceptable forms of dress are jeans, khakis, linen pants, longs skirts, and capris when it isn't Ramadan (It's Ramadan most of while we're there, so capris probably won't be much of a thing considering how economic you have to be with suitcase space). Acceptable tops are long sleeves, 3/4 length sleeves, and short sleeves when it isn't Ramadan. This clothing should not be revealing around the bust, stomach, back, shoulders, or legs. Skirts shouldn't come above the knee, shirts can't be sleeveless. They say that sandals are the most common type of shoe worn, but also to bring sneakers for excursions and flip flops to wear around the house. This guide also advises to bring a formal outfit for occasions your family may invite you to, such as weddings. Finally, they advise bringing a hat  to keep the sun off of your head, or wearing a scarf in accordance with the local fashion.

The electricity sockets are of the three-pronged British variety or the two-pronged European variety. So what that means is I'm going to be buying a transformer pretty much as soon as I get there.

Then the packet has a very well-written description of Oman's history that I won't include here because that would require a lot more writing and we've still got quite a bit of handbook to go.

The next section focuses on social relations. Apparently, same-sex relationships are pretty intimate in Oman. The handbook says that this is not indicative of homosexual behavior, just a reinforcement of friendship. So intense eye contact, touching, kissing on the cheek, long handshakes, and holding hands or walking arm in arm are normal for two friends. They state that some international students say it is hard to make friends with Omani students. This could be attributed to "cultural misunderstandings, different perceptions or friendship, or language difficulties." They also warn of those who wish to be friends for financial gain or sexual reasons, but also note that this is not true of the majority. Some Omanis enjoy foreign friends for social class reasons or to learn about the foreign culture that you come from. These friends apparently form quickly and are quite intense. Apparently, in accordance with Omani culture, friendship means different rights and duties, and those you friend won't hesitate to call in favors or converse daily. If a friend goes ignored for a few days, this is taken as an insult. There is a rapid response to requests, and an expectation that it will be reciprocated. So I suppose that means I can't keep forgetting to text people back like I do now. In fact, I just remembered someone I have to call. Not like that's anything new for me.

In regards to mixed gender relationships, the handbook says that these are often distant and seem impersonal. It also states that if a foreign woman initiates a conversation with an Omani male, this may be interpreted as "openness to a sexual advance or romantic interest." It says that foreign women should wait for the Omani male to initiate a handshake. There are other small tips, such as when "Adhan" (Call to prayer) is announced, it is best not to speak loudly, dance or play music. Modest dress is required to enter a mosque. Always ask permission to enter a mosque. The Omani people are very happy to help with directions. Check to see if there was a service charge before you give a tip. US dollars are not accepted in local markets.

I'm going to leave out women's issues for now, as it states that we'll be covering it in great detail at PDO, and I believe I will be more informed after that meeting to be able to elaborate on what is a large issue in this region.

But now on to my favorite subject- food. First, being invited into someone's house means either kahwa- a strong, bitter drink, or halwa- a sweet and sticky substance. Lokhemat is another accompaniment to coffee- it's balls of flour and yeast. Rice is the main ingredient at meals, along with meat. Fish is frequently used, the kingfish in particular. There is rukhal bread, mishakik, and squid. So pumped for squid. Oman pulls from Yemen, East Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, which builds my excitement for this food. In regards to etiquette though, there is some necessary adherence to customs. I would say an important pattern I see throughout the tips is always trying whatever they give you, and never declining food when offered. So even if you're stuffed, you need to try the food you are offered. Eat with your right hand. If someone gives you a choice piece of meat, it's because they feel like you aren't getting the best. Just thank them for it, whether you wanted it or not. The host of the meal will continually place food in front of you in very large portions and ask you about the food and if you want more. There will be leftovers. Running out of food makes the host look stingy, so don't try to finish anything. Especially because those who prepare the meal eat what is left by the guests. So it's actually incredibly inconsiderate to finish your meal, especially since you don't know how many are waiting in the kitchen for the leftovers. Your host is going to push you to eat- you need to decline multiple times. Observe how much those around you are eating and use that information to guide your own eating habits. Make sure to remove your shoes if others do, and wash before dinner.

We are nearing the end of the handbook. The final portion describes the stages of culture shock: The Honeymoon Stage, the Hostility Stage, the Integration/Acceptance stage, and the Home stage. They finally tell you not come in with any expectations and to remain open-minded. They then say to maintain your sense of humor, and remember that this is going to be a unique experience and you should embrace that.

They then include this packing list, which I am going to have way too much fun stressing over in the coming months. There's also some additional resources about Oman, and then a lengthy "Personal Conduct" section about behavior and penalties and such.

So now, I feel as though I've written down a large gist of what the handbook said. I made this post because this was all I wanted to see when I was reading blogs of former students who did this program, so at least now I know this is out there. I hope you've enjoyed reading this lengthy post, and I hope we speak again soon.