One Day in the Life
Up until this point, I realized I have yet to describe a moderately typical day at work here in Rabat, so I figured I'd describe one of the most "Moroccan" (read: leisurely) days I've had here yet.
Yesterday (28 July), I got up at the crack of 8:45. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and sleepwalking into the bathroom to brush my teeth, I put on my clothes and Twins baseball cap and headed out to the local cafe with some of my fellow Americans. I got the "usual," a pain au chocolat and a cafe au lait with one lump. After relaxing at the cafe for a good 45 minutes, talking with Elizabeth, we took a petit taxi out to Akkari for work (with work winding down, we've stopped taking the bus, since it only saves you about 4 dirhams each way...). I got into the office around 10-ish, checked my email on the Association's computers, and did the morning greetings, catching up with some of the people that were hanging out there. At 10:30, I taught an ESL class for my intermediate students, we worked on business introductions and follow-up questions, then reviewed some grammar and had a discussion on American media in Morocco.
After that, we met up with one of our students, Hind, who took us back to her place in Akkari for an amazing lunch. We ate this delicious chicken dish served with a bread-like pasta, drank plenty of Mint Tea, and ate lots of fresh fruit for dessert, which included figs, grapes with seeds, and these curious fruits called "hindos" (?? on sp). I got to chat with Hind's dad, an old guy at 71, who had been in the Gaullist Army in the 1950s, stationed in Germany and Morocco. He brought out his old identity cards and service records, and being a total history buff, I loved looking through all of it.
Getting back about 2 1/2 hours later, I showed up just in time for class, only to be invited by the few students who were there yesterday to go hang out with them. Since class was kind of a bust, thanks to the combination of vacationing students and the lure of the nearby Akkari beach, I ended up hanging out with Youssef and Youssef, my Moroccan brothers here. Since one of the Youssefs is reputably the greatest soccer player to come out of Rabat (he's now 33), I went with the two down to the beach, tracing a slow and steady path to the soccer field the next quartier over. On the way, we stopped at an animal hospital, looked at some dogs, cats, horses, and donkeys.
Finally arriving at the Reseau Maillage field, I stuck around to watch a game of fast-paced and well-played soccer by kids around the age of 12. Youssef's team took on the challengers on a small, 40m long concrete field, staffed on either end by goalies guarding small goals. After hanging out there for a while, watching the kids literally head the ball around the field for 40 min, I took a petit taxi to head back to the apartment for the aforementioned Dutch Party...
Yesterday (28 July), I got up at the crack of 8:45. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and sleepwalking into the bathroom to brush my teeth, I put on my clothes and Twins baseball cap and headed out to the local cafe with some of my fellow Americans. I got the "usual," a pain au chocolat and a cafe au lait with one lump. After relaxing at the cafe for a good 45 minutes, talking with Elizabeth, we took a petit taxi out to Akkari for work (with work winding down, we've stopped taking the bus, since it only saves you about 4 dirhams each way...). I got into the office around 10-ish, checked my email on the Association's computers, and did the morning greetings, catching up with some of the people that were hanging out there. At 10:30, I taught an ESL class for my intermediate students, we worked on business introductions and follow-up questions, then reviewed some grammar and had a discussion on American media in Morocco.
After that, we met up with one of our students, Hind, who took us back to her place in Akkari for an amazing lunch. We ate this delicious chicken dish served with a bread-like pasta, drank plenty of Mint Tea, and ate lots of fresh fruit for dessert, which included figs, grapes with seeds, and these curious fruits called "hindos" (?? on sp). I got to chat with Hind's dad, an old guy at 71, who had been in the Gaullist Army in the 1950s, stationed in Germany and Morocco. He brought out his old identity cards and service records, and being a total history buff, I loved looking through all of it.
Getting back about 2 1/2 hours later, I showed up just in time for class, only to be invited by the few students who were there yesterday to go hang out with them. Since class was kind of a bust, thanks to the combination of vacationing students and the lure of the nearby Akkari beach, I ended up hanging out with Youssef and Youssef, my Moroccan brothers here. Since one of the Youssefs is reputably the greatest soccer player to come out of Rabat (he's now 33), I went with the two down to the beach, tracing a slow and steady path to the soccer field the next quartier over. On the way, we stopped at an animal hospital, looked at some dogs, cats, horses, and donkeys.
Finally arriving at the Reseau Maillage field, I stuck around to watch a game of fast-paced and well-played soccer by kids around the age of 12. Youssef's team took on the challengers on a small, 40m long concrete field, staffed on either end by goalies guarding small goals. After hanging out there for a while, watching the kids literally head the ball around the field for 40 min, I took a petit taxi to head back to the apartment for the aforementioned Dutch Party...
posted by Isaac at 4:44 AM
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