Arrival to Morocco, First impressions of Rabat

Morocco!

I have now been living in Morocco for a month and am settling in quite nicely. On my very first day arriving in Casablanca I was met at the airport by two Amideast representatives holding a hand-written sign that read "Amideast Intern". I instantly felt welcomed into the country. I was very excited to meet them and get to know basics on Moroccan culture during our one hour drive north to the capitol city of Rabat. I met the Amideast host family coordinator as soon as we arrived into the city, and then we drove to my host family's house. They live in an apartment in Rabat Centreville, the main downtown area of the city. I can see the walls of the old medina, or historic neighborhood, and a large public park from the third-floor balcony. It is a 15 minute walk to the beach, and a simple 10 minute bus ride to the more lively part of downtown with cafes and fancy shops. There is always lots of traffic outside our apartment building with the daily market and main busroute nearby, which makes for an exciting place to people watch.

In my host family I have a host mom who is a retired custom's officer and a host sister studying finance at the local university. She is in her early 20's and goes out with her girlfriends often to cafes and to the medina to look for fun things to buy. It has been great to hang with her and meet her friends. They speak French and Arabic at home, and my host sister has an intermediate level of English to help me out if I get stuck somewhere. Each day I take the city bus to work at Amideast, where I am working as the Educational Advising Intern. Although I am interning for the same organization, my tasks here in Rabat are more focused towards educational outreach and maintaining our resources in the Advising Center. When students come to the center with questions on studying in the US, taking the TOEFL exam, or getting a scholarship, they come to me. I am able to advise them in English, and am also slowly working my way into advising in French as well. I make mistakes of course, but generally the students understand my main ideas and are happy to receive the information. I also have the opportunity to travel as an Amideast representative to college forums in the region, which has been a fantastic experience.

Rabat is an interesting city to live in, and I am making the most of my evenings and weekends by venturing out and exploring new places. I love the mix of French architecture and traditional Islamic architecture than can be found sometimes in the same neighborhood. The mosaic designs are incredibly beautiful, and can be found in many places of the home. Moroccan textiles reflect a similiar busy pattern with wonderfully vivid colors. My favorite part of the city so far has been the corner shop juice stands where you can get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for about $.40.

Again, great people watching and friendly guys who run the shop. Before coming to Morocco, I honestly did not know much about this North African country. I have done some research since I have arrived and now have a better understanding of the political system and the country's foreign affairs. I am learning more and more about the culture every day through meeting new friends and making new connections. One thing that is important to remember is that Morocco is a safe place and that there are no talks of "revolution" here. Life is good and I am enjoying every moment of it.