Blogging
From Abroad

After eleven hours of sleep, I awoke yesterday morning refreshed and with a keener sense of awareness. I left my dorm room to find perfect weather: 72 degrees, sunny, slightly breezy, and absolutely no humidity. As the lone student on campus that early in the morning, I took the liberty to give myself the grand tour of Al Akhawayn. It is a stunning campus, comprised of Swiss style buildings, immaculate stone paths, and a view of the rolling desert hills. There is a grand mosque in the middle of the campus, which I used as my compass for negotiating the labyrinth of buildings.

Eventually, I strolled into the cafeteria for the continental breakfast, which at that time consisted of a croissant and some coffee. During the following hours, I met a large amount of the international students, who hail from many locations but especially the US. The vast majority of students here are studying political science, international relations, economics, history, and the like, making us a group of very like-minded individuals. After talking with everyone, it seems that there are a lot of future State Department diplomats, travel bums, ambassadors, adventurers, military leaders, and professors amongst the international folk, making the learning environment extremely interesting. All indicators of social status have become obsolete, except for the number of semesters of Arabic study. There are a few internationals who have had three years of Arabic and even fewer who have had more than five, so those people are seemingly held in higher esteem for their personal language history. Most of the conversations are about learning Arabic, traveling and exploring, Islamic culture, and why people decided to come here instead of Australia or somewhere else.

We started up the long orientation process (that will continue until Tuesday) in one of the larger buildings on campus. The American OIP official told us some interesting information:

• The University was initially financed by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia due to an oil spill off the coast of Morocco. He gave $50 million to the country to assist in cleanup efforts. However, the oil never made it to the coast, but the money made it to the budget.
• Our curfew is at midnight and there is no visitation by the opposite sex in the dorms. This is part of ‘University Paternalism’, which supposedly mirrors Moroccan and Islamic culture. Public displays of affection, drinking, and drug usage are also strictly controlled.
• AUI is at 5,000 ft, which is higher than the tallest point in WV.
• The police are watching us for our safety, as are the security in airports and all other government infrastructure.
• Westerners are targeted by prostitutes and pimps, drug dealers, thieves, and other “scum”, in the eloquent words of the orientation leader. These people evidently leave in mid-September and then the “town is back”. (I have not yet found such individuals in Ifrane)

Today, we were told more university-related information about community service in economic development projects, adapting to Moroccan culture, and we were given overgeneralized caricatures of both Americans and Moroccans. We were also shown a ‘scientific’ curve that represented the highs and lows of adjusting to foreign cultures. Evidently, at this point, I am in the ‘honeymoon’ stage, which is prior to the precipitous drop in happiness. Thankfully, there is an inflection point in which I will become extremely happy. And then sad. But then happy when I return home. Then sad. After the OIP leader finished speaking, a student orientation leader told us that much that was said about Moroccan culture was wrong and that there was, indeed, too much overgeneralization. Yet the student leader was quite harsh in her criticism. I am completely neutral, of course, as I thought both were interesting and had valid points. See, hanging around diplomats helps! In another session, we were informed that we were allowed to observe prayer in a highly reverential fashion and that it is possible to stay with Moroccan families throughout Ramadan. Both will be extremely rich experiences and I am quite excited. Curiosity has grabbed me and I am ready to start exploring more of Morocco and delving deeper into Islamic society.

Last night, I went to a restaurant/bar in Ifrane after meeting the incoming AUI freshman. I was able to talk with a lot of people and practice my French, which is in desperate need of assistance. Mehdi, a new student from Casablanca, told me how to say a few random phrases in Arabic, but I seriously doubt that my pronunciation will improve until classes start on Wednesday. The Italians were teaching me how to swear and what kind of wine is ‘the really good wine’. I have to take the French placement test Wednesday as well, so I am spending the next few hours trying to master as much of the language as possible.

As for tonight, we went on the grand search for the marche, which is the open air market. We walked for the better part of an hour around Ifrane, never reaching the center, just solely around the city. Eventually, we penetrated the marche after my innumerable failed attempts at communicating in mixed French and Arabic. I was in the market for a cell phone, but couldn’t bargain for a decent price. I believe that purchasing a SIM card in Fes may be cheaper (I am heading to Fes next weekend to buy this, as well as a bike). All the walking stoked our appetites and we eventually settled at a place called ‘Cafe Igloo’. We had a feast and drank much tea. Moroccan mint tea is utterly delicious. It is made of green tea, mint, and handfuls of sugar (I have had around 20 cups of the green stuff since I arrived, but I need to cut down if I want to have teeth for my return home). After sitting at that cafe for two hours, we ran into another group of internationals at another cafe and joined them to indulge in more mint tea. As I spoke with Slick Gagundo, a fellow WVU student, and Nerry, an Italian, I found that Nerry’s newfound desire is to move to Alaska, where he can get government money, buy a plane, maybe a boat, and then talk with the fish for the rest of his days. It was a rousing good time. Slick told me about Hare Krishna and spaceships. The mint tea was fairly strong tonight.