A Carnival

So the boy that I had the Sedar with goes to the French school which had a carnival to raise money for different charity organizations. I decided that it would be cool to see how a Moroccan carnival is and to see little kids. So a friend and I go. To get in you have to bring in a liter of milk, that they are going to donate to a charity that takes care of kids for moms who can't afford day care. We enter and it's one of the most organized carnivals I've been to. There are tents for everything, a blow up slide, lots of games for kids, a kareoke place. On the other side there are stands with stuff for artisans and with different charity associations. I felt like I was in Vermont, or when I was in Talahassee or any open air farmer's market. It was a strange feeling, because the Medina is also open air but very very Moroccan. Somehow, this with its little tents and organized set up was so very American somehow. In any case, it was fun to see a different side of Morocco. I also got to see the children of Europeans who obviously live here. In the medina, all you see are Moroccans and tourists and us from the center; you don't realize that there are actually people of European descent that actually live in the country. I was amazed at seeing so many blondes and red heads!

Mega Mall

So yesterday I went bowling at Mega Mall, Rabat's big mall. It was strange, almost like walking back into the US. The stores were similar to any upscale mall in the US, along with upscale kaftan stores. There was a ice rink, bowling alley, and children's play center inside. The food court had food like you'd find at a food court in the US, tacos, asian food, sushi, a kebab place named Aladdin. It wasn't like the "fast food" I'd seen in the rest of Morocco. What was strangest was the clothing. There were the jelabas and even more hijabs, but there were a lot of western clothes and more strangely western hairdos and more cutting edge western clothes. Cutting edge is the wrong word; I don't quite know how to describe it. Maybe it was that there were more piercing and hipsters and things like that. The bowling alley was a lot like the ones in the US, minus the alcohol and arcade. It was actually a lot cleaner than any I went to in the US. It was a strange experience, I guess, by living in a lower middle class neighborhood, I've gotten the least globalized part of Morocco, but the richer areas are very Americanish...

A Moroccan Sedar

So I was really excited to get to go to my first Sedar since I came to college. Of course I found it easier to find someone to have it with in Morocco than in Boston. So my really religious friend found this family that we could have Sedar with, so I went with her, her boyfriend, and two other girls to synagogue for prayer before we met up with this family. There we meet the son of the family. His name is Avi and he is a nice looking 18 year old who is just finishing up his French Baccalaureate. He speaks a little English, but his first language is French. I think that his parents first language may have been Dareeja (or in any case they know it a lot better than their son, who had to learn it in school). We walk to his apartment building and enter. In many ways it is like a moroccan house, with the main room with lots of couches. However, there is a high table there with chairs for all of us. We start the Sedar, which is all in Hebrew, with the tradition of putting the plate with all the special passover food over people's heads and saying the prayer for wanting to be in Israel next year. It is a fast Sedar, since it's just rushing through the Hebrew words that all those who know Hebrew say. I'm a little bored, but I look at the pictures and try to keep to the right pages. I think I want to learn how to read Hebrew, it bothers me that it's so close to Arabic but I can't figure it out. I'm sure it won't be that hard to learn. After we do the prayers (the only time that is really exciting is the plagues where they pour water and wine together to make the water turn into blood and the dayenu part where at least I remember that we're talking about how it would have been enough if God had only given the Torah) and eat the specific food (I've never seen the haroshet literally be squished up apples in wine), we commence to eating. The food is quite Moroccan in its way. First we have salads of different sorts, including an amazing one made of carrots, parsley, oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. Then we have a fish dish, and then a fava bean soup. It's all very good. During the meal, we Americans mostly talk between ourselves, but I try to find out a bit more about Avi. He wants to go to college in France and study business and eventually leave Morocco unless there is an especially good opportunity in Morocco. Talking to him is funny, since he doesn't speak that good english but he doesn't really speak Arabic either, but it can be easier to speak arabic to him. Also, his first language is French, which I mostly understand... but we mostly stick to English. The mother is nice, if quiet, and it took a long time for me to figure out that she even knows how to read Hebrew since she leaves it up to the men (I asked... women don't get bat mitzvahs in Morocco). After we eat and get fruit for dessert, we do the after dinner prayer (for I think the first time in my life) by speeding through the Hebrew even faster than before and with less time for singing parts. After that, Avi drives us home and then we go the next day, for almost the same thing except meatballs, peas, and artichoke instead of fish. I enjoyed it, although Passover isn't the same if you don't understand the story that is being told...

Hamaming alone... or not so alone

So my friends were going to hamam on Thursday, and I couldn't go then because I was going to Passover Sedar, so I decided to go alone. I was going to go in one of the showers, because I was alone, but the lady at the front of the shop convinced me to go hamaming, so I did. So I sit in a corner and start scrubbing. This time I've forgotten to get the lotion soap, so I'm just scrubbing, the lady beside me sees me and tells me, no, you have to use the lotion soap, and gives me some. Then they send me to the hot room, I think just to open my pores, but they want me to scrub, so I do. Obviously I'm not doing it right, because then another lady comes up and starts scrubbing my back and showing me how it's done. I introduce myself and find out her name is Hagar. I then go back to my place and continue scrubbing. I start talking to the lady beside me (her name is Fatiha) and she tells me about her two kids and asks if I'm married (maybe she wanted me to get with her 17 year old son?). I tell her I have a boyfriend and we talk some more. I start scrubbing myself with soap and she offers me her soap scrubber. I accept and use it, and when I clean it and try to give it back, she won't let me. I get the impression she wants to trade numbers, but we're in the hamam, so it's hard. I decide I'm too dehydrated and have to go before she does. I feel kind of bad, she's done all these nice things for me. So I tell her she's nice and beautiful and try to be as thankful as possible before I leave. I had sort of experienced Moroccan hospitality before, but this was the best I've experienced so far.