Catch-up: hammam, wedding, Rabat, etc

Monday after our weekend in the dusty mountains, we decided to go to the hammam, the traditional public bath house, to get the layers of dirt scrubbed off of us.  Going to the hammam was something I had wanted to do since I came here, even though I was a little uncomfortable at first with the idea of bathing in front of other people.  But, we're all girls here, etc etc, and to be honest by that time I was so grimy that I just didn't care (in general, our level of hygene has diminished, maybe to 2 or 3 showers a week, but it's better that way.  Gas is expensive, and people really don't need to shower every day!  It's not like we're going to the gym all the time or anything, clearly).  Anyways, we went to a hammam in the medina, and on our way we bought a "kiis", a little scrubby mitt that you use in the hammam, and a small towel-type mat thing to sit on.  Once we got into the hammam, we bought this special henna soap and paid our 9 dirham to get in, and we went into the changing room.  Then, you fill up buckets of water, and basically took a bucket shower in a big, warm room.  We went into the next room, which was really hot, and proceeded to get scrubbed down by the female attendant.  She flipped me over like a dead fish and scrubbed layers of skin and dirt off that I didn't even know I had; I knew I was dirty, but I didn't think it was that bad!  I came out about 3 shades lighter, literally.  It was maybe the most relaxing feeling though, laying on the hot floor getting years of grime scrubbed off of me. 

Our bathing timing was strategic (as always), because that night we had a mock wedding at the program building.  There was live music and a woman doing henna, and the bride and groom (kids from the program) wore traditional dress, and were carried in turn on this litter by 4 men.  There were Moroccan students there, too, and there was a lot of dancing and singing involved.  We all had to wear traditional clothes, so Nora and I borrowed Rihab's djellabas and Rachida's jewelry.  It was so much fun, and everyone had a great time.

 Musicians in Room 2,3 of AMIDEAST for the mock wedding.

Dancing

 Bryce and Sara, the happy couple!

 Sara in the traditional bridal costume and litter

Bryce

 Nora and I in our borrowed djellabas

With Doha, our wonderful program manager/travel advisor/third mother 

Henna!

We spent the weekend in Rabat to sleep and catch up on work, with midterms coming up as well as our fall break week, during which Nora and I are travelling to Senegal to visit some friends from school.  After our MSA class Friday morning, we took the train to Casablanca in order to get vaccinations for our trip, met some friends for lunch, and then took the train back to Rabat... all in a day's work.  Over the weekend we went to a movie (called "The Dealer" in English, but filmed in Arabic/Ukranian...), went to a cafe/restaurant with live African music at night, and also found an American softball game on Sunday morning where our team (AMIDEAST) was playing.  There is an American primary school in Rabat, with a YMCA-esque complex in the back, complete with a basketball court, baseball diamond, lap pool, and field for soccer/etc.  It was kind of like being in a limbo land, especially because almost everyone playing was American, with American accents and American mannerisms.  I cheered in the dugout with another girl and one of the program directors at AMIDEAST, a fantastic gay Scottish man dressed in an orange button down shirt with matching sneakers.  In between asking us to explain the game, he would shout "Smashing!!" or "Bloody hell!!" alternately, often cheering for the other team (which he attributed to Scotland's history of losing at games)-- no pun intended. 

The weather is getting considerably colder here, although the phrase "cold country with a hot sun" still holds true in the afternoon.  It's rained a few times, but according to Moroccans it's not until November that it really starts raining, and once it starts it doesn't stop.  I admit, I miss the New England fall, even the DC fall... there's nothing like that. 

In addition to classes, our program hosts various speakers-- one from the US State Department last week and three young people from the Peace Corps this week-- and offers the opportunity to teach English at a youth association once a week.  I went with a group of students to the association a few days ago, after planning a first lesson for beginners, only to find that we weren't teaching but were having a meeting with the board of directors of the association (wafae).  Us four American girls walk into a room of about eight middle aged Moroccan men, who proceed to serve us tea and traditional corn bread.  We discussed, mostly in French, how we were going to conduct our classes, and how many of us would be teaching each class.  There are roughly 1,000 children aged 10-15 at the wafae and as we're teaching classes of 40 maximum, only about 80 can attend.  According to the director, "only the best" get to go.  We are teaching for free, and these students are competing fiercely for a spot in the class.  This meeting brought to light the situation of kids here, and the priorities they have/the paths they see fit to take to improve their lives.  Our taxi driver on the way home commended us on "helping the Moroccans", a statement I found a bit difficult to handle.  There's a fine line between giving people the skills the want and need to move around in the world and imposing our culture/our Americanism upon people. 

Today alone was unordinally packed with extra lectures and events; in my Francophone literature class, Abdelfatah Kilito (the author of the book Dites-Moi le Songe which we read) came to speak with us. He spoke slowly and passionately first about another book he has written, roughly translated as Don't Speak my Language, on the idea of language and identity.  This is huge in Morocco, where French holds strong colonial connotations but has been around for so long that it is enmeshed in the rapid Darija street speak.  It was a really unique experience to have time to discuss Kilito's literature with him.  Immediately after that, we went to visit the LDDF, La League Democratique pour les Droites des Femmes, for our women's studies class.  We didn't have much time here, but we were shown a presentation on the work of this organization to promote women's rights and empower female victims of conjugal violence in Rabat and the surrounding cities.  The organization reaches out to youths too, both male and female, to spread awareness about various topics related to women's rights and the position of women in society.

Next post: Fez/Meknes with AMIDEAST, and Senegal/Madrid!