The End

Even though I've arrived back in the states, I figured I should do one last post about Morocco as a final farewell to this blog and the trip.

On Thursday, we had our final exam. There was a large paragraph to read and translate, matching, verb conjugations, and writing our own paragraph on ourselves. It was really nice to have a final display of everything we'd gone over. 

Lauren and I with henna

That afternoon, we had a "henna party" where a lady came in and did henna on everyone. I actually really enjoy henna. At some group insistence, I got corn henna on my ankle (which was somewhat ironically funny in Morocco, but has become much less ironic and funny upon returning to Iowa. It's also the darkest out of all the henna, which is exactly how I imagined things would work out for me.) But I really love how henna looks and the tradition behind it. 

Arabic 101

That evening we went to dinner with our teachers and our language partners. We took a class picture with our teacher Fadoua. One girl, Kayla, is missing from this picture, but otherwise this is our whole class.

Then Friday, we had final presentations. Everyone picked a different topic and presented about it entirely in Arabic. This seemed like a bit of a stretch for some of us who had just learned the alphabet a little more than a month ago, but I thought everyone pulled it together nicely. My presentation was on Moroccan carpets: their origins, how they're dyed, the women who weave them, how to find a quality one, etc. Translating phrases like "originating from Nothern Berber tribes" and "darker yellow requires cow urine" is why this project sucked up a lot of my time. Other kids presented on French influences in Morocco, the royal family, or Moroccan pottery. I thought all the presentations were pretty good, especially considering how little some students had come in knowing. 

Fadoua

Then we truly said final goodbyes to the language partners and teachers. I told Fadoua that she was the greatest because no other teacher would've put up with me. She replied, laughing, "I know." Then she started laughing so hard that she cried reminiscing over my 6 week run in Arabic 101. She said she was really going to miss my very unique catchphrases, such as "Frick, Fadoua," "Gosh dang it, Fadoua," or "Really? Really? Who came up with that?" Some students are just treasures.

oona-May

I said goodbye to Moona, my Darija teacher. I taught her Pig Latin two days before we left, so she wished me goodbye as "yra-Kay." Moona was fantastic as well. That whole Pig Latin thing is another story though, complete with the confusion about how to exactly explain when you use Pig Latin. That exchange went something like:

"Does everyone speak Pig Latin?"

"Well, no. But everyone kind of knows how. People just don't. Except little kids do sometimes, for fun."

"So everyone knows how to speak it, but really no one does."

"Pretty much."

She then went on to explain that in Darija, sometimes people will just start talking backwards for fun. Darija was complicated enough for me, without the knowledge that some people will speak it backwards for kicks and giggles. I did not need that knowledge right before I left. Oh my gosh.

After all of those goodbyes, we went upstairs for the final debriefing, where I found out my house was going to be the 2nd to last picked up on "The Trail of Tears." They stop at every kid's house, one by one, and pick them up. I was pretty happy that I would miss most of that.

We all then lined up to say our last goodbyes to Sarah, the greatest and sassiest group leader ever. 

I then went on a final trip through the medina. I got another carpet (I am so weak in the face of carpets). I bartered the whole thing in Arabic, including the small hiccup where I wanted a smaller carpet and in one specific color. I felt pretty accomplished. I then went to say goodbye to the beach.

I'm still convinced this is the best job in the world

I should preface this with the fact that I went to the beach by myself, which was probably not a smart idea. On the way there, a group of boys yelled something along the lines of "Little girl thinks she can dress in long clothes and not get talked to? She's very wrong. How are you, little girl? I think she's Dutch. Are you a little Dutch girl?" and kept on walking past. I thought I was so fortunate to have a very clear picture of the last time I would get harassed on the street. There it was. (I've mostly skimmed over this happening on the blog, but it is a daily occurrence.) Anyway, I walked a little quicker to get to my favorite spot on the beach. I said goodbye to that view, and the ocean, and I went home.

Our host mom, who is so incredibly sweet, made us a bunch of extra Eid treats to take home with us, and about 60 cheese sandwiches for the plane ride. Catherine, Elizabeth, and I all packed up our suitcases and waited outside until the bus came to take us to the Casablanca airport. We said  goodbye to our family. I felt so bad for Manal, I think she took it really hard. Wiam gave me a list of song recommendations (she's such a sweetheart) before we headed to the bus. We said a final goodbye and then made our way for Casablanca. 

Flying sucks. I'm going to say that right now, because I feel like I've been through enough to make that generalization. We got the the Casablanca airport and had to go through every kid as they weighed their luggage. Mine was about 1 kg over, but they let it go. One girl's was 5 kg over the limit, so I guess they're pretty lenient with checked luggage weight at 1:00 in the morning. But then, as we headed to security, a guy stopped us and told us that we all had to weigh our carry-on. A lot of weathered travelers in the group said that they had never had to weigh their carry-on before. We had been advised to out all of our heavy breakables in our carry-on, so many people weren't going to make it. What was going to kill me was my coke bottles, I had 3 in my carry-on and together they weighed about half of what the whole carry-on was allotted. If your carry-on was overweight, you were going to have to check it (which cost over 100 dollars).

I knew mine was overweight, so before it was my turn, I took the coke bottles out of my carry-on and precariously balanced them on top of my personal item. I weighed my carry-on (10.4 kg, .4 kg over the limit but still technically "10 kg" so he had to let it go.) I then rolled my carry-on behind a wall and shoved all of the coke bottles back in and continued through security. So nice try, "I'm going to weigh your carry-on" guy, better luck next time.

We barely got on that flight. After all of the necessary extra bag checking and weighing the carry-ons, we pretty much hopped on the flight and it took off. 

We flew to Frankfurt, where I had my first true hot dog in over a month. I met two Iowans, one sporting a Hawkeye shirt and the other a Cyclone shirt. Everyone from the group thought it was so funny that I had found other Iowans in Germany. I think Iowans just naturally find each other in foreign places, because it's like a magnet to both be from the coolest state in the US. 

The group with the latest flights

Then we flew to Washington DC, which was a 10 hour flight and just about the longest thing ever. I had 4 different seats during that flight (a mom wanted to switch so she could sit next to her kids, my TV didn't work, a girl from the program wanted to move). When we finally got to DC, it was like a real trail of tears. We said goodbye to the kids from DC, then we watched terminal by terminal as kids left. There were only about 8 of us left with later flights, and we all camped out together to wait for our flights. I couldn't help thinking that it felt like the 10 little Indians story as a person would stand and say "I should probably go." Everyone would stand, say goodbye, and sit back down. It ticked down one by one, until it was only me and the girl from Minnesota sitting at the original spot between the D16 and D18 terminal. We said goodbye at 4:45 and that was it.

I caught my flight to New Jersey at 4:50 (again, I was not a fan). I arrived in the Newark airport and witnessed the fire alarm go off 4 times. Each time was followed by the message that smoking wasn't allowed in the airport. Then, as a flock of birds flew over my head, indoors, I felt so justified in all of my complaining about flying through New Jersey. Not a fun time.

Wandered around in the airport, got a little lost (because it's me and it's not really an authentic experience if I don't get at least somewhat lost). I found my terminal, met some people I knew from Iowa, and waited for the flight to Des Moines. 

I finally caught the flight back to the good old DSM. I met my parents at the airport and drove through B-Bops on the way home. Apparently B-Bops is just an Iowa thing? Everyone else is missing out. I also had my corn. It was totally worth the wait.

Anyway, now I'm home and I desperately need to unpack so I can pack everything back up again for college. Since my summer is basically over and I'm not longer in Morocco, I suppose it's natural that this is where this blog ends.

Although, fair warning, I found 200 dh in a pocket soon upon arriving home, and I've decided that this is a sign that I'll be back someday. But until then, thanks for reading about my summer in Morocco. I hope you liked my little collection of stories and experiences. I certainly learned a lot from them, and I hope you enjoyed reading about them. Until next time!

So I'm Going to Morocco....

I got an email today that threw me for a loop. I'm not going to Oman. There was a visa complication in going to Oman- a special waver was introduced for those of us born in 1996 or before. They're uncertain that they can get us this waver, and we were 11 days away from departing. So instead, they're sending us to Rabat, Morocco.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled that they adapted the program to make us fit and are working to get us into host families. I'm excited I still get to learn Arabic and learn about this foreign culture.

On the other hand, I wasn't ready to give up Oman.

I've spend about the past 3 months learning about the country and meeting all these lovely people, many of whom I'm not going to meet now. I have to exchange those absolutely gorgeous rials and meet a new group of people and change my flights.I have two weeks to prep to be in this country I had no idea I was going to be in and know little about. 

Most importantly, I'm going to have to change the name of this blog.

But I'm starting to see the bright side. Oman had incredibly high temperatures (like 106) while Morocco right now is sitting around a 70. I think their policy on modesty is a little bit looser. Their flag is easier to draw.

I'm going to  hate giving up Oman, but I think I will like Morocco. I've heard nothing but good things, it's just wrapping my head around everything.

I'm going to Morocco. A Summer in Morocco. I'll get there. 

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.

The Background and the Beginning

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, 

Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. 

Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. 

On such a full sea are we now afloat.

And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."

I love that quote. I thought I'd start the first blog post with it because it describes seizing opportunities, which is kind of the overall lesson of this post. It's also here because I love Julius Caesar, but I suppose that's another story for another time.

Anyway, my name is Kyra and I'm 17 years old. This summer, with the help of the NSLI-Y program, I will be travelling overseas to Oman to learn Arabic and experience the culture. Needless to say, I'm absolutely thrilled.

I feel like it's obligatory to keep a blog about this kind of thing, so here I am. Even though I'm months out from leaving, I wanted to give a bit of background and also talk about events leading up to actually leaving, thus this early start. 

To begin at the beginning: I've always wanted to learn Arabic, but have never really had the resources to do so properly. I mean, my dad was in Iraq in 2003-2004 and Afghanistan in 2008-2009, so I grew with this foreign culture and language in the back of my mind. We have all of these artifacts from the Middle East around my house and in my room, and I've always had to observe from a distance. I've never had the opportunity to take a class on Arabic or Middle Eastern studies, and self-learning this language is difficult. I let my ambition brew beneath the surface and kept my eyes open for ways to learn Arabic. When I heard about NSLI-Y my junior year, I knew I wanted to do it. I knew that the program embodied everything I wanted to do all in one: it offered the opportunity to learn the language, which I could apply to my future career, and also allowed me to study the culture, something I had wanted to do for a long time. I also knew I was under-qualified. I have never studied Arabic, and my attempt of learning another language (Spanish) had been squashed by an semester-long internship my Senior year. So not only did I not speak the language, the only other language I had taken throughout high school, I had dropped. I didn't think my chances looked good. So I quietly applied for this program, and became a semi-finalist. This wasn't comforting at all, because I figured they may make this decision based on some factor that would've gotten me to this round but wouldn't qualify me beyond this. Which is why, when the finalist nominations came, I was surprised. And  grateful. And terrified.

Moving forward, after I received my finalist notification, I had the worst time worrying if all of the documentation got in correctly. They give you 7 days to turn in a scanned photo of your passport, a hard copy of a form, and the emailed copy of that form. I had recently renewed my passport, and had forgotten to sign it, so they emailed me back to tell me to sign it. That whole thing was stressful, including not knowing if they got the hard copy of the form. I was so worried I'd be disqualified because of improper documentation turn-in procedure. But I think it worked out because I then began receiving emails regarding the program from AMIDEAST, the program in direct control of what we'll be doing this summer. By "we'll", I mean the other girls doing this. I think there are 14 of us.

Anyway, I hope to be able to have quality conversations in Arabic by the end of this. I think I read somewhere that they want you to have a presentation, in Arabic, at the end of the program for, I believe I'm correct on this, some members of the consulate. At this point, I've only ever been out of the country once, and it wasn't for long. Giving a speech in front of consulate members is such a foreign concept. I suppose all of this is a foreign concept.

I've received a lot of emails recently detailing a lot of what's going to happen, and I'm excited to talk about that later, but you can only write so many run-on sentences before you just need to give it a break. So I'm just going to cut this off here. This is the end of the first official post, and the beginning to a Summer in Oman.