Under the Moroccan Sun

Tea on a riad terrace Sunday, Jan. 29.

            Sunny and 70, palm trees line the streets, vendors and people are out and about in the medina. Rabat, like most Moroccan cities have an old medina that was built before the French invaded. The Middle Eastern culture blends with the Moorish Spanish. It walled section of the city where many working-class families live. The main street, Mohammad V, cuts through the medina lined with vendors selling food and any item you could think of. There are vendors on other streets, but it is much more residential. This semester I will be studying in the Center for Cross Cultural Learning and living in the medina with my host family.

The skyline as we drove from Salé to Rabat
on Sunday, Jan. 29.

            I first got into Rabat on Saturday night. I stayed at a typical Moroccan riad; basically a traditional home in the medina that is made into a sort of bed and breakfast. I woke up Sunday to the call to morning prayers promptly at 6 am, roosters and birds kept me awake. It was a surprisingly calming way to wake up. I ate a breakfast which consisted of two types of crepes with honey, bread and jam, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. After taking my time to get ready a friend from my program that was staying in a nearby riad came to help me bring my bags to his riad. For a few hours before we met up with the rest of our group we sat on the terrace drinking Moroccan mint tea. We then took a cab to the hotel we are staying at with the three SIT groups of students that are studying in Rabat before our homestays start.

Mohammad V view from our hotel Feb. 1.

An entrance into the medina. There are kids driving
motorized cars in the park on Tuesday Feb. 2.

            The first day we walked to the center and to get a basic sense of our surroundings and where we would be studying. After we got back from dinner at the center a few of us decided to go down Mohammad V. It was daunting, people starred at us as we were amazed by the smells and sights. We decided to turn back halfway. The night was still young, so we then decided to stop at a café next to our hotel for mint tea before heading to bed.

            The next morning we began our day in lectures about the expectations of the program and the homestay process. This year SIT Morocco will be doing the homestay process slightly differently because we got assigned our families and will actually get to meet.

            The rest of the day was spent exploring. We attempted to buy cell phones before dinner, but ran out of time. After dinner we made our way back to the market to buy the phones. We did get our phones after dinner and continued to explore the new French side, or Ville Nouvelle, of Rabat.

            Crossing the street between the medina and Ville Nouvelle was like changing continents. It is so different from the old medina, the people were wearing more modern clothes and we even saw a McDonalds.

            We ended the day with tea at the café near our hotel and then going up to the terrace.

            Today we had the majority of the day to explore the city. First thing first: get mobile Internet sticks, so that we can have Internet anywhere we need. That took forever, and the classmates I was with had to be back at the center for a language placement test.  So instead of taking the walk through the medina we decided to hail a cab. It took a few tries to get it, but we eventually got one to take us back.

Tea with friends
Feb. 2.

            Later in the afternoon I met my host mother and little brother. The language barrier was tough, but I understood she was excited to take me the Haman – the public bath – and feed me couscous this weekend after I move in. My little brother is a rambunctious 5-year old (I think?).  He ran around the center after his bouncy ball, but I can tell is very excited to have an older sister in the house.

            After I went into the medina to bargain in the market for the first time. I got a 60 dirham watch for 50, which I was happy just to get a little off.  However, I will have to get better before we do some major shopping in Marrakesh and Fez during our first excursion in a few weeks!

            I ended the night walking around with friends and getting tea, which seems to be everyone’s new obsession: straight sugar and mint. It is absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to drink it with my host mother.

            Overall I am in love with Rabat already. It is a completely different city within the walls of the medina than the outside, but that is also part of the charm. Also, how can you compete with that view.

The view from the rooftop terrace at the Center for Cross Cultural Learning. Rabat, everything right of the river, and Salé, everything left of the river, fade into the evening sky Jan. 30.