a day in the life

I don’t think I’ve ever explained what a typical day is like for me here in Morocco, so here it is.

SIT’s Morocco Program partners with a Moroccan organization of academics at the Center for Cross-Cultural Learning, which was founded 15 years ago (as of this Thursday) by one of my Academic Directors and his wife. We have one contact person at CCCL who helps us with any daily problems, then two Academic Directors who are university professors and who teach our classes.

Currently the CCCL has three buildings, two inside the medina and one next to the medina. Each building is a converted house or apartment building. One is the library, which has lots of classrooms and offices and a modest but pretty quality selection of books. The building outside the medina is hosts Arabic classes, which is where I take my Fusha and Darija classes every morning. The main building of CCCL is also in the medina, very close to my house. It is a 17^th century Andalusian house in the traditional style, with an open courtyard (now covered) and two terraces. There is also tile covering almost every surface. The lowest level is where public lectures are held, in the open area, and on the second level there are classrooms where daily lectures are held. The third level is the cafeteria. Everyday Brahim, the head chef, and the cooks make lunch for everyone. If we are at CCCL around tea time for any reason, Brahim will make tea and treats for us as well.

7:15 am- wake up. I share a room with my two host sisters so I try to be as quiet as possible, but my armoire has a very squeaky door that has caused some annoyance on multiple occasions! Zineb, my host sister  makes tea for us and we have a breakfast of tea and bread (or sometimes raif; Moroccan crepe) with honey or olive oil. Then she goes to school at 8 and I leave for Marassa, the Arabic annex. I live right off the produce market, “Rue Boukroun”, and every morning I meet Olivia, who also lives off Boukron, and we walk together down the market to school. 8 is the time all the sellers come out to start setting up shop. Fish are being cleaned and filleted, the chicken truck is arriving with a new batch of hens (they are slaughtered right there in the shop), bouquets of herbs are being assembled, and fruits and vegetables are being arranged. And of course the cats are out trying to steal some stray food. It might sound cute, but it actually smells really bad. There are also stores that sell toiletries, candy, nutella, and bottled water.

8:30-12:00- Fusha Arabic at Marassa, the CCCL’s annex outside the medina. There are 4 people in my class including me, so we are able to get lots of individual attention. Today Tammam instituted the rule that we are only allowed to speak in Fusha, and each time we speak another language we have to put one dirham in a cup, like a swear jar.

12:00-1:00- Lunch break! It’s about a 10-15 minute walk to the CCCL where the cafeteria is located.

1:15- Themed Seminars, which change each week and are taught by a different guest professor or our academic director. Lectures last anywhere from 1 ½ to 3 ½ hours depending on the teacher. The first week was about Western Sahara, the second week was about Authoritarianism in Morocco, and after that we got to choose between three options. Last week I chose the religion module and this week I chose the women society and change module, which have overlapping and complementary themes.

After class we usually have free time for the rest of the evening. Sometimes we have extra classes or public lectures until 6 pm. Right now my internet needs to be renewed, so I will stay after today to check emails, facebook, etc. Then I go home for tea time at 5 or 6. Boukroun is still bustling at this time, and all the shopkeepers are getting out tea to share with each other (mint tea is the national drink of Morocco). We usually have bread and tea (sometimes raif and cookies as well) for tea time, and some family members from downstairs come up to have a break as well. Afterward, everyone resumes their daily activities. It is Moroccan tradition to not linger after a meal, so every eats until they are done with their conversation, then they pretty much leave immediately. I usually go to my shared bedroom and do homework. Here and the terrace are the only places my family really allows me to do homework, so many times I end up doing homework at Olivia’s house, who has a very warm and welcoming family, and her mom has fed me many times!

I don’t have a curfew now that I can find my way around the medina, but after 9 it’s not a good idea to walk around the medina alone as a woman, so I try to be home by then unless I have a someone to walk me home (usually Olivia’s host brother Karim). We eat dinner sometime between 9:15 and 11:00, then pretty much immediately everyone goes to bed. I have to be done with homework by this time because there is nowhere for me to do it besides my bedroom. Then I go to sleep and start again the next day!