The End

December 30

Hello beautiful people,

I hope you haven’t forgotten about me! I am ashamed to say that after my return, blogging became the last thing on my mind. Thankfully, my wonderful mother reminded me that one must never leave a chapter unfinished… especially when I have so diligently disclosed every moment of my Moroccan adventure.

This past Sunday, December 28, marked exactly TWO WEEKS since I have been home. My has time flown! I can’t believe that just 14 days ago, I was on the other side of the world, living a completely different life. I can say for sure that it took me this long to truly process all that I had experienced and what I will choose to take with me into my final semester in college and for the rest of my life.

Despite the ups, downs, friends made, friends lost, and sickness, I would not want to change this experience one bit. I have learned how to handle myself, problem-solve, and most importantly handle the never-ending stomach bug that seemed to afflict every person in my group. This trip has given me a lot of confidence to try to apply to things that are even more challenging. Life is a progression and for every moment of comfort, you must step out of it.

 If I had to pick one thing I miss the most? Obviously Naget, my wonderful host cousins, and all of the other amazing Moroccans who have left an impact. Insha’allah, I will see them all again. I have been to Italy three times, Kenya twice, Costa Rica, and Fiji, but Morocco has its own place in my heart.

Moving forward…

The past two weeks have been interesting. I know “interesting” is the biggest cop-out word there is, giving absolutely no explanation, but it’s just so perfect. However, you all know I will fully explain myself!

My time home has been one huge, ambiguous and overwhelming lump of time. It started off with Jet Lag that just wouldn’t quit! Being my longest stay out of the country, perhaps Morocco did not want to leave my system. I spent my first week and much of my second in a frustrated and grouchy state. However, I was able to see my Lehigh Men’s Basketball family at their game at Quinnipiac the fourth day. It was a tough loss, but you can’t beat a reunion with friends after nine months (summer break and fall semester)!

Once that was finally out of me, on came the work!

As many of you may know from reading past entries, my graduation from college this coming spring does not mark the end of my studies. I am a girl of great ambition and I have a lot planned. With that being said, there is a lot of preparation for it. I have had my five graduate school applications to contend with. I am thankful to have started most of this work in Morocco, but nevertheless follow-up emails, finishing touches and other communications needed to be done.

I am proud to say that at this point, I am 95% done, I will be taking my second GRE test this coming Friday and have even found a possible job abroad. Faith without work is dead, right? All I have on my mind now is to stay busy, and stay FOCUSED. I am back to Lehigh U in just a couple of weeks!

This brings us to the end! I want to thank each and every person who read this blog, laughed (with or at me), stayed in touch and kept me going through my toughest moments. I honestly never thought that anyone other than close family and randomly interested friends would see this. To be quite honest, I will miss blogging and having funny stories to tell. Who knows? I may even have a new one for you guys in the future.

Stay blessed!

Rae

The Final Countdown

December 6

Salaam, readers!!

Today is quite the exciting, but sad day for this traveler. With only eight days left in country, today is the day I am moving out of my home in Kasbah de Oudayas! It has been a wonderful ride, living on my own, but all good things must come to an end. It’s about time I move out of my wonderful castle with ocean view!

I have learned quite a bit about myself as a person, taking care of my home and how I see living life as an adult. I am technically an adult now, at twenty-one years old, but I mean once I am no longer living with my mom. I will be graduating this coming May 2015, and will be off to Graduate School, so it will be sooner than you all think!

Shoutout to my Lehigh University and other fellow college students! You’re done with classes! Now, go and kick some exam butt! I can’t wait to get back to you all.

Today, my roommates and I will be lugging all of our belongings to Naget’s house. This woman is a saint and a lifesaver! We booked our house only until today, not knowing that we cannot move into our hotel for the end of the program until tomorrow afternoon. Of course, after telling her our sob story of homelessness, she is taking us in for the afternoon and night. We went yesterday to visit and double check the logistics of our arrival and we were met with food, tea and so many laughs.

To top it off, I got to see one of my last amazing Moroccan sunsets!

I will really miss that woman! I have met some wonderful people in my stay here, but none as incredible as she is. I have never felt more at home, away from home, than when I am at Naget’s. I can honestly say I will also miss my loud, hilarious, and sometimes odd, male host cousins: Hamza, Mohamed, Eunice and Abd Samad.

I cannot tell which one is my favorite, because I have had wonderful times and jokes with all of them!

And the epic tea and snack times will be missed as well. I think the excessive tea-drinking is rubbing off on me, so I will be bringing that to the States! Good news for all of my Lehigh people!

Tomorrow, my entire trip will come full circle. The hotel we are moving into is the exact same one we stayed in for orientation. Instead of being lost and nervous, I am moving in knowing that I will be soon leaving a place I love and have been accustomed to living in for the past fourth months. The coming week will be filled with presentations and hopefully some good pastilla, Insha’allah! I am really looking forward to seeing what my classmates have been up to these past five weeks. I know my partners and I have been working so hard!

I am so incredibly happy that I made it through this trip, but the sadness is taking over. There were times this semester that I thought I wouldn’t make it, due to sickness and other stresses of living abroad and meeting new people. Look how far I have come!

Most of you have been keeping up with each and every one of my shenanigans, stresses, exams, and freak outs, but it has been a crazy ride. In just a week, I will have completed this blog! I know I will have to start another, as I am too used to telling all to masses of strangers around the world.

Today, I will FINALLY finish my report and article for my Independent Study. I am so close, I can taste it! That was your cliché for the day! All I need are two translated quotes, and your girl is GOLDEN.

Now, I am off to prepare for the day. It is almost noon here and I should probably get up, get dressed and pack the rest of my things!

Peace out, cub scouts!

Rae

Thanksgiving Feasts, Missing Mail & Fighting Procrastination

November 30

Hey Readers!

Hope that this Sunday is fantastic for all of you! Time for another update from yours truly:

Last time I blogged, it was the day before Thanksgiving (November 26, for my new and/or international readers), and I was pretty unsure of what the holiday would bring, seeing as I am 4,000 miles away from home.

The day turned out to be very low-key, but wonderful! I spent the majority of my day in bed, spoke with my mom over FaceTime, and just reflected on the wonderful time I’ve had here in Morocco.

In the evening, I ended up having a “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner with friends from my program. We had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, rice, and cornbread for the meal, and pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pumpkin cake for dessert.

It was nice to catch up with everyone, especially because I had not seen some of them during the past three weeks of the Independent Study period. It was also hilarious to play Cards Against Humanity again. If you don’t know what that is, click HERE.

In the other days leading up to now, I have just been fighting the urge to do absolutely nothing, and finish this project.

It doesn’t help that my computer charger died, so I have to budget time carefully on my laptop. I’m finding I’m doing most of my work on my iPhone in Notes and it automatically syncs to my computer.

Thank God for being a snobby Apple consumer!!

I am confident that I will be able to survive until I can get a replacement back at home. You never know how much you take your electronics for granted, until you are limited in this way!

In other news, today marks the last week in this beautiful house. At the moment, I am awfully frigid because of the ability of Moroccan structures to keep cool at all costs. However, I still appreciate every square inch of this place.

One thing I will miss, for sure, is how much effort goes into a Moroccan-style home! The colors and patterns are really something!

But really, WHY IS IT SO COLD!?! Today’s high is 59 degrees Fahrenheit, which is not too bad, but I’m sure the house is around 40! I guess it is still better than that New England weather in the U.S., right?

A week from today, we move into Hotel Darna, the same hotel where we had orientation week. Next week will be for evaluation and presentation of our projects.

I cannot believe that exactly two weeks from this day, I will be back home! I can’t wait to be spoiled by family and pig out on the “good stuff” (food) I cannot get in Morocco!

Finally, yesterday verified the malcontent that I hold for the United States Postal Service, or USPS. After waiting over two months, I finally called to look for a package that my mom sent September 23. SEPTEMBER.

First of all, USPS assured my mom that it would reach Morocco within two weeks. My program coordinator indicated that because of Moroccan mail systems, expect four to six. As frustrating as that was, I could deal.

Everyday, I have kept an eye out for that package and received nothing. Online tracking could only tell me that it was sent from New York. Eventually, the site was updated, and I was told my package cleared customs in Morocco on November 17. After that, nothing AGAIN.

Yesterday, November 29, was the last straw. I decided that I would call the Post Office. Thanks to Skype, I was able to call for free, all the way from North Africa!

After 24… TWENTY FOUR minutes on hold, I was finally able to explain the situation to a person, not a useless automated system.

The woman was extremely friendly and was able to tell me that according to her system, as of November 26, my package was… BACK IN NEW YORK CITY! The anger pulsing through me was so real, but I calmly was able to explain that I was on my way home soon from Morocco.

She helped me file a “return-to-sender” claim, and hopefully, I will receive an answer in the next 23 days, the amount of time it takes for Morocco to investigate the situation.

Hopefully the package is already on the way back home, but I now have absolutely no faith in the United States Postal System. That was far too much stress over a ten-pound box, right?

Everyday is an adventure!

Stay tuned guys! The blog isn’t over quite yet!!

All my best,
Rae

Work Hard & Finish Strong

November 25

Happy Holidays, Readers!!

I hope you all are having a fantastic day. For my New Englanders, bundle up! I hear there is a snow storm on the way.

As you all know, Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Unfortunately, that does not exist in the beautiful North African kingdom of Morocco. The only good news about this, is that I will not be gaining absurd amounts of weight tomorrow! Cheers to staying thin!

My mother would kill me if I did not acknowledge that this one, marks the THIRD Thanksgiving holiday that I have missed in my entire college career. Yes, you heard me correctly. I have not been home for Thanksgiving since my freshman year.

Sophomore and Junior years were spent at Lehigh, as I usually am working, traveling with the Men’s Basketball team up until the day of Thanksgiving. We do not have games on the holiday, however, so I spend my day at Coach’s house nearby. They are like my family away from home.

Bad daughter? I hope my mom doesn’t think so! I do miss home when I am not there, but she makes it a point to drive FOUR hours to Pennsylvania to see me quite often.

At the current moment, I do not know what tomorrow will bring for me. I know that some of my classmates are hosting a dinner at their place to remind us all of home, which I will most likely attend. It won’t be like mama’s cooking, but it will feel good to have a little piece of America, 4,000 miles away.

In other news, I am sad to report, that as things are winding down here, I am finding less and less to report to you all. My usual sassy, vibrant commentary is being restricted by the impending end to my stay here!

My project is trucking along – I had a lovely meeting with my program director and partners to discuss and perform initial edits on the draft I submitted. I am on the right track, but this is a PROCESS! There is still a lot of work to be done, but it will all be worth it in the end.

I am so grateful that I have Al and Maya to work with and bounce my ideas off of. This is going to be an excellent package. I have already seen much of Maya’s work, but the I am so pumped to see how Al’s photo essay turns out. He’s been working his butt off to get a wide range of pictures.

Other than that, I have just been cherishing these last moments in Morocco. I am ready to come home, but a part of me wishes I could bring the best things about this country back to the United States with me. I miss my family, but I am going to miss Morocco too!

In just 17 days, things get real! Grad school applications to finish, next semester to plan for, and of course SNOW! That means no more weather in the high 60’s, no more waking up whenever I please, or just sitting on the beautiful terrace and daydreaming.

All good things must come to an end, right?

I have already begun the daunting task of packing and I have noticed that I have accumulated a lot of stuff. I will be getting rid of some old shoes and other things I will not need, but I can tell that this is going to be really annoying!

The key here is to FINISH STRONG! I am so close!

Until the next time!

Rae

The End of the Road

November 22

Salaam, readers!

Labes? Kulshi mezien? (For my non-Darija speakers: Hello, readers! Are you well? Is everything good?)

Since my last post, not too much has taken place. It was another one of the “rest” days that I referred to in the last post. To be honest, I spent much of it reviewing my draft for this project. Having submitted it in the wee hours of the morning, I did not digest it as much as I wanted to.

Because of the depth and pain involved in this story, I could not get through writing my entire draft with out detaching myself and temporarily forgetting how I felt in the moments I spent in Taqqadoum. I had to rely on my scribbles and factoids; seeing words on paper helped.

For the first time, my own writing broke my heart. After compiling all of our research and quotes from interviews together with my own voice in one place, it was just a lot to digest. I really believe that we were brought to this subject for a reason. Furthermore, Al has done an excellent job connecting with our contacts and taking great photos. I may get chills!

Let’s cross fingers that more than just family and friends will see this article!

Today has been another eventful one for this traveler/ reporter/ student/ girl/ woman/ whatever I am to you! More reporting, taking in sights and coming to peace with the ever-lingering privilege that I have as an American.

I am sad to say that today was my final day in Taqqadoum. I have visited now so many times that I have lost count. I have made friends there and I consider it, in an odd way, my Moroccan home. I was fortunate to have the most amazing host family in the Medina, but the sub-Saharan migrants in that place are so eerily familiar and warm.

I will never forget them, and they have said similar about us. There is something so special about perseverance that persists in dangerous and somewhat hopeless places like Taqqadoum. I have been empowered to help others, take care of myself, use my voice, and never forget where I’ve come from. I have not, and probably will not, shed any tears, but it is an emotional moment for me.

They tell us that in journalism, you cannot get attached; yet, I have, and feel like I could not have done these women OR this story any justice without doing so. I hope that one day that I will be able to return to Morocco and see that my friends in Taqqadoum are doing better, feeling better, and living better.

Work wise, today was more of a Taqqadoum wrap up. With our drafts submitted and stories coming together, we needed to flesh out minor details and clarify quotes. Originally we were supposed to meet with more migrant women to hear of their experiences, but that did not pan out.

We spent all of our time with Viviane, the subject of Maya’s profile and our greatest female asset. We saw her home again, and got more of a feel for her section of the neighborhood. She told us that the reason we could not see the women, was that they would rather be begging for the little money they could, rather than speak to students, even if we just wanted to help them.

It was a sobering thought, but thankfully, Viviane was more than we could ever ask for.

I concluded the trip with a doughnut. This is completely random, but they are just so good! Moroccans have Dunkin’, Krispy Kreme, and everyone else beat: fried fresh and in front of you, followed by hand-coating in real cane sugar. AND they are HUGE. I’m TOO spoiled to be going back to the United States.

Speaking of America, tomorrow will be exactly 3 WEEKS until I am home, until I see my family, and until I get that oh-so-delicious Chipotle I have been craving for the past 13 weeks! At times it seemed slow, but this semester flew by! I blinked and now it is winter.

Of course, I cannot wait to see all of Lehigh people and favorite Lehigh basketball team as well. If anyone is in Connecticut that week, they have a game against Quinnipiac, December 19, for which I will be in attendance, snow-willing!

Get ready, y’all! RAVEN IS COMING FOR YOU!

Stay tuned!

Rae

Returning from the “Trenches”!

November 20

Hello people!

Thank you for being so patient, while I have been getting my story and myself together in these last ten days. I am sure you have all been curious as to what I am currently up to in Morocco! After all, I only have twenty four days left! I am slowly becoming more and more dreadful of leaving Morocco, but family, basketball season and LEHIGH calls!

Happy Lehigh-Laf week to all of my classmates and alumni, by the way. I have yet to acknowledge it on any of my social networks, so I figured this would be a great place to start. Perhaps I am in denial of never having a Lehigh-Laf due to sickness, basketball and now being abroad? Perhaps I am jealous of the fact that our 150th (!!!) meeting of (American) football rivalry is at Yankee Stadium? Who knows?

Enjoy the weekend and be safe, ya crazies!

I can pretty much break down what I have been doing into three categories: project, shopping, and rest. I will start with the most boring and move my way into the exciting, next-generation journalism that you all have heard so much about.

REST: 

So from what I have noticed from my work, Journalism has what I consider to be an “off” and “on” switch. When the switch is “on”, I work non-stop interviewing people, doing research, collaborating with my partners, traveling and trying to find the best way to constrict the longest laundry list of issues suffered by sub-Saharan migrant women into just a few pages. It’s IMPOSSIBLE, but you know I’m still going to try.

When the switch is “off”, I crash. There is finally the opportunity for me to physically and mentally recharge, as well as internalize some of the horrible things that I am forced to face. I am grateful that some of these horrors are not my reality, and that I have the opportunity to take a stop back. It is not just about sleep, but the opportunity to BREATHE.

SHOPPING:

It is every girl’s favorite pastime…and I am no exception. Weirdly, though, I enjoy shopping in the pragmatic sense, not the “I get to spend money on things I probably won’t need” sense.

 In these past few days, I have been focused on preparing for the absurd shock I will receive from the weather in the United States. Here, I am sleeping every night with a heater because it drops to 54 degrees Fahrenheit; days are still mid to high 70’s. Back home, I think the high is around 30 degrees? With some snow? Feel free to correct me, my New Englanders, but I am crying just thinking about it!

SO, I decided that I will start preparing ASAP. I took a nice little trip to the souk and bought a winter coat, a sweatsuit and leggings. I still have to go pick up a pair of boots, but I am playing NO games with winter. I just cannot do it! Of course, I had to do something fun, so I also bought matching Moroccan slippers for my mom and I and I finally bought myself a djellaba. If you don’t know what that is…

(http://media1.mimoza-hijab.fr/704-big/djellaba-dubai-beauty-dore.jpg)

Yes, it is a hooded robe. Moroccans wear them everywhere! Mine is a different pattern, but the shape is the same. It is probably the best thing I have ever worn. Be prepared, Americans. The next time you see me, there is a high probability that I will be wearing it! Also, let’s make this a thing in the states, okay?

PROJECT:

We have reached the most exciting part of the post, everyone. I obviously cannot give you the full run-down of my story because it has yet to be written and it would also defeat the purpose of my project, but this story is going even better than I could have possibly imagined.

Maya and I, and our photographer Al, have been all over the place in these past few days: Taqqadoum, the Association, Casablanca and next week, Marrakech. We have met so many wonderful people, heard heartbreaking stories, but most importantly, seen the resilience and the effort within the migrant community to make change. I have never been so emotionally vulnerable to a topic before.

We are now part of this migrant community, composed of men, women, and youth from all parts of the continent. We have heard their complaints, their hopes and their appreciation for looking at them as more than just “Ebola”. They are our friends. They found organizations. They hold events and discussions for members of the community. They infiltrate trafficking rings when NO ONE will help. They refuse to be silenced.

Powerful times for this student! I have learned so much from many who are even younger than I am. These individuals may have fewer years than I do, but they have so much more wisdom and experience. Maya and I speak daily on how proud we are that we stuck to this story, and are in the process of creating something beautiful, despite the dangerous situations.

Field reporting is a lot of hard work, but I think it is what I enjoy the most about journalism. The writing comes naturally, but putting myself out there has been a challenge. I love every second of it. It is difficult to hear a story of abuse or sexual assault and not be able to understand what it is like; yet our subjects are so willing for us to tell their stories to the world.

Tomorrow, our first draft is due, but I am not even worried. I have the voices of abused, but undefeated migrant women behind me, statistics and documents from governments and NGO’s, the will to tell the whoever will listen what is really going on. This experience in Morocco will not just be a “semester vacation” for me; I will leave this program accomplishing a great deal.

Well, this is the end for now!

Thank you all for your continued readings of my posts! I really appreciate the support, comments, shares and reposts! Hopefully my story has inspired you to come to Morocco, or even just given you a few laughs!

Feel free to comment – I love hearing feedback and what you all have to say, especially my international folk! My stats tracker tells me that I have readers in the United States, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and even as far as ASIA!!

Another post soon!

Rae

I’m Baaaack!

October 25

Good Morning from Morocco!

The neglect of the blog has been real, you guys! I concede that both laziness and busy-ness have overcome this traveler; Busy-ness from Arabic and Journalism assignments, and laziness from choosing sleep over WordPress. First and foremost, I apologize for keeping you all waiting for the past week.

Let me catch you up on Raven Gaddy…

Last time I left you, I was still in the Moulay Yacoub province, in the village of Birta in the Sbaa Rouadi Commune in Fes-Boulmane, Morocco. What a mouthful! Anyway, last Friday morning, October 17, we said goodbye to our host families and hopped on the bus back to Rabat. Many of the departures were tearful, but mine was not one of them. I can say I will miss my little sisters, but back to business! It’s a special thing having younger siblings!

After we got on the bus, we realized that most our class was pretty weak from stomach sickness, but a couple of the girls were worse than the rest. We proceeded to spend the morning on the bus waiting, as our coordinator Badr-dad took the girls to the hospital. They had to get shots and IV’s just to make it back home. At the time, I was completely fine, so I enjoyed the quiet time before reaching home in the afternoon.

Once we reached home, I spent the entire weekend in bed. A weird mix of exhaustion and tinge of still unsettled stomach told me that I needed to just relax. Things were going pretty well, until I started eating normally again.

That brings us to this week…

This week has been havoc on my stomach and health. For reasons I can STILL not convey to myself or anyone else, my stomach is a hot mess! Every time I eat, I am accompanied by some sort of pain, discomfort, or worse (I will leave that up to your imaginations because I’m sure you can figure out what I mean).

Things got so bad, that I ended up missing a couple days of school. I needed the rest and got it, but food and I are just not getting along. I scheduled a doctor’s appointment for this past Thursday, October 24, but of course I woke up feeling fantastic that day, so I cancelled.

In the Journalism sector of my life, things are a huge whirlwind. Arabic classes have concluded as of Wednesday, October 23, which is great. I can now focus on the main aspect of my stay here, although I will miss studying this wonderful language formally.

This week, we have preparing as much as possible for next week, which marks the end of our lectures and start of our Independent Study. For five weeks, we will be moving out of our host families’ homes, into our own apartments, and pursuing underreported and deep stories about our new home.

I am still up in the air about what my project will be specifically, but I do know that I am interested in the Subsaharan Migrant women and lack of regard for these people and dehumanization of all migrants by the Moroccan government. These women may be illegal, but do they deserve to be sexually assaulted by members of armed forces? Are they not entitled to pre-natal care, if pregnant?

Heavy stuff, people, but somebody has to talk about it!

On the docket for today…

In about two hours, I have a meeting with my Journalism program director and my Moroccan journalism partner, Khaoula. Boy has she been patient with me! Between my classes, classes of her own, our excursions, and my ever-changing mind, she is a saint!

I am really looking forward to nailing this topic down and focusing in, so I can begin proper research. One of the photographers in my program is coming along. Perhaps he will ask to collaborate? I am not sure, but we shall see.

After that, I am coming home back to my bed. Why, you might ask? My stomach is failing me, ONCE AGAIN. I am coming to terms with the fact that I can no longer really eat Moroccan foods. Bread, water and maybe some tea are my best friends. I anticipate things will be better during Independent Study, as I will be buying my own food and cooking for myself. I will me channeling my inner Denise Collins (my mom) and making some healthy, American comfort foods. Soup anyone?

So, It’s looking like sleep, movies, and constant trips to the bathroom for me today. I have been up since about 5am, wondering why this is happening to me. I really shouldn’t have to spend the majority of my weeks in pain, upset, weak, debilitated and homesick. At least I am learning about myself and how to stay motivated. I have to stay positive that this will all make me stronger in the long run. What else can I do, right? It also doesn’t hurt that despite the ninety percent Moroccan bread diet, I will be coming home rather thin.

That’s it for me today people! I hope you enjoy this post. Next up, I hope to have some good news for you about my health, and some awesome pictures of the new place I will be living. SPOILER: It. Is. DOPE.

Also, tomorrow we head out to our third, and final, excursion! We will be visiting the tourist “Blue” city of Chefchaouen, and two other places, including the Spanish enclave of Ceuta! We will be learning about tourism, economy, migration and more! And technically, I will be able to say I’ve been to Spain after this. It is only overnight until Monday evening, so I will be able to blog and keep you good people in the loop.

Sincerely yours,

Rae

I Got a New Attitude (and Hairstyle)!

October 4

Hello Blog fans and Happy October!

Can you believe that I have been here just over a month? December will be here before we all know it! Thank you guys for sticking with me and my story every step of the way, dealing with my shenanigans, and being patient when blogs cannot come at every moment.

That being said, I have been a slacker ONCE AGAIN with my blog, so heres a nice long recap of the week (I am excluding classes because theres only so much you all can bear about two hours of Arabic):

Monday was my favorite day of the week. Part of my program is a collaboration between American and Moroccan journalism students to research and write a final article. I am happy to say that I have found a wonderful girl to collaborate with named Khaoula. She is one year younger than I am, and we instantly clicked. We can already, laugh, joke and have serious conversations about our concerns and aspirations for the project. If nothing else, I think I have made a wonderful Moroccan friend that I will have for a long time.

To backtrack a bit, finding a partner was probably one of the most stressful situations of all time. What was supposed to be a casual meet-and-greet to discuss interests, turned into a free-for-all of aggression, pettiness and immaturity by American classmates. You would be surprised at how ridiculous people get when they think another person can advance their academic or professional career.

I am always awkward in these situations, so I basically stood there and ate cookies and drank tea with my other awkward-feeling classmates. Khaoula and I found each other by accident. It was the perfect culmination of “good things come to those who wait”.

The rest of the week came with the usual interesting lectures and journalism assignments. We learned about sexuality in Moroccan culture, Amazighism, or Native Berber culture, Sub-Saharan African Migrants, Women’s rights and more! I also wrote a reporter’s notebook about my trip to the desert and I wish I could share that with you guys. As some or all of my work will be published to our official site, Reporting Morocco, that is a big “no-no”. In the meantime, check out the site and I will update you when my work is posted!

I have also found out I have a penchant for danger. Do not get me wrong, I do not have a death wish, but I feel very drawn to stories and people who are unheard. These people most likely will not be in the safest of situations. It must be the future, kick-butt lawyer in me!

After speaking with my Program Director, I am having some trouble finding a story for my Independent Study Project. The Tcharmil youth movement that I wanted to pursue requires me interviewing teenage boys wielding samurai swords who commit robbery. From one of our lectures, I felt drawn to Sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco who are mostly mistreated and abused. I am working on finding safe ways to breach this, as it has been done in the past, but my safety must come first, so it is difficult.

Mary told me that I will make an excellent international lawyer one day. It felt good to know that my family and I are not the only ones who think I am great and can achieve great things. Look out, world! I am coming for you! She put me in touch with one of our lecturers who is an international lawyer, working for an NGO for women’s rights in Morocco!

The only other day to really stick out this week was yesterday (Friday, 3 October). Why? Because it was all about me! For those of you who know the black hair struggle, I do not have to explain, but for my newbies, there is only so much you can take when you realize you look a mess. The braids had to go!

The journey began Thursday night. Knowing absolutely nothing about black hair products in Morocco, I set out to the souk. I knew God was with me when I found the one bottle of product, not only in English, but the familiar brand that I knew was for my texture of hair!

After five, YES FIVE, hours of taking braids out, washing, moisturizing, and praying, my mini-fro made a glorious appearance! I was very nervous at first, as you never know what cruel things people can say, but it was a hit! Everyone I spoke to, Moroccan or American, preferred this style. The “African princess” has arrived!

There is always this stigma about natural black hair, but I am glad I am in a place where that is not a problem. Even better, I felt more beautiful, comfortable and more like ME. I owe a lot of that confidence to my mother, who went through a similar process to mine and looks just as cute as ever!

Here is a pic of my new style! What do you all think?

My sheep is still here. I cannot tell if he’s making less noise or my ears are just used to the dull roar. As well, the neighbors have begun to collect their sacrifice (or sacrifices, some families have multiple). The entire city is covered in sheep, hay, poop, etc., but I guess it is all part of the Moroccan experience.

I went to visit Naget last night FINALLY! I have missed her humor and warmth quite a bit, so it was nice to reconnect. Alex went with me, and when we get there, we are confronted with commotion. Upon going up to the roof, we see my host cousins and neighbors have carried a small sheep and a young COW up four or more flights of stairs! Talk about dedication! They will be eating quite well for the holiday on Monday.

P.S. NO SCHOOL MONDAY!

Hope you made it through the whole post, people! More adventures soon, folks!

Rae
xox

Keep On, Keepin’ On!

September 18

Hello Everyone,

It is only around 3am back home, but here in Morocco, my day has already begun, and wow is it starting off terribly! Although this is quite the pessimistic start to a blog post, I feel that it is slightly needed. The rest of my posts seem to be bunnies and rainbows and adventure. THE SICKNESS HAS FINALLY HIT ME.

I feel like whenever I am traveling, especially for an extended period of time, at least half of my efforts go into avoiding or recovering from illness. Since I have arrived in Al-Maghrib, my stomach has been fighting me on the various food choices and mealtimes. I have finally gotten it under control in time to have the lymph nodes in my throat swell, chest feel heavy, and worst of all, my voice is leaving me! Any of you who know me well know that I am a TALKER!

But alas, like MC Lyte, we must keep on, keeping’ on! It is Thursday and this week in school has been especially challenging for me. It has been a long time since I have been in school from 8:30am until 3:30pm, keeping in mind that we may go as late as 5:30pm for extra lectures and office hours. Add on two hours of Arabic homework and reporting assignments for my other classes, and you would think I was back at Lehigh!

Regardless, I am enjoying every minute here. This week, I was able to meet Aida Alami, a well-respected Moroccan journalist who has been published in the New York Times, Al-Jazeera, and even Bloomberg. She is a highly intimidating person, but incredibly intelligent. I feel like as an ambitious woman, I have much to learn from her.

I will spare you all from the repetitive breakdown of all of my lectures this week, but the most interesting session came yesterday. We spoke about social media and primarily Twitter to establish yourself as a journalist worldwide. We obviously all know that the internet is forever and that we must be careful what you say, but I learned that as a journalist, Twitter can be one of the single most important tools for information. Furthermore (factoid of the day):

“The ways in which you tweet and re-tweet, even if it is breaking news, can positively or negatively define you. One must remain neutral, with as little opinion as possible and promote fairness, respect and accountability. Journalist ethics are important, even on social media.”

Who new Twitter could be so powerful? As a social media NUT, I loved this lecture. The only slightly sad part is that I was morally forced to delete my twitter and start fresh. (@RMGaddy, if any of you would like to keep up with me)

This brings us to today: 8:30am in Morocco and I am still in my bed. The goal for this morning is to try to find some medicine, good Vitamin C, and make it to school by our first lecture at 10:45am. Today will be peer edits of Assignment 2, our creative description pieces from the nursing home we visited on Friday.

AND SPEAKING OF FRIDAY! My host mother has let me pick lunch, which obviously MUST be Cous Cous. #CousCousFriday, y’all!

Hopefully more for you all soon! Stay tuned!

Rae

What’s School Again?

September 8

Hi All,

You’ll be happy to know that I am feeling better (at least for the moment). There is a special kind of horrible you feel when you are sick in a new, exciting and wonderful place. The stomach meds, tea, and lot’s of rest did just the trick, although I was experiencing some pain throughout the day.

Today’s post is coming to you from the beautiful balcony on the roof of my host family’s house. It is peaceful, I have an amazing view and of course, there’s an outlet up here! The best part is that there is only a door separating my new reflection place and my private room. It’s just my thoughts and me…and the chickens (who are fighting and killing my vibe)!

On to the day…

Today was officially the first day of classes for me and, boy, did it hit me HARD! I started the morning off with two, count ‘em, TWO hours of Arabic. This will be the norm for the next couple of months. Besides the fact I am quite rusty, the other intermediate students and I have been assigned a teacher that speaks very little English. Although this will improve my language abilities tenfold, I left this first session very frustrated. It’s only up from here, right?

The other two class sessions I had today were with my program director, Mary Stucky. Being new to the business of Journalism, she provided some excellent insight on what a story is, how to write one, and how to ethically conduct research. I will not go into that with all of you (it is an exhaustive amount of information), but I think I am ready to get some good work done! Our second session sought to connect the readings we were given before our departure from the United States to what we may want to pursue here on the ground. From today alone, I can tell that I have some AWESOME classmates. I am inspired by so many of them daily and I am glad that we have and continue to become such a close family. 

We ended the day with one-on-one conferences with Mary. After meeting with her after classes, I feel a lot more confident in my abilities and a lot less intimidated by the many students in the program who have impeccable journalistic backgrounds. Academic writing has always been my strong suit, but Journalism is brand new. They are COMPLETELY different. I hope to develop a skill with finding and reporting on all that Morocco has to offer, which is way too much to even fit into an entire semester. We both agreed that this will be a process and I feel great knowing that a renowned journalist like Mary Stucky started about where I am now: a good writer with an interest in reporting.

And so, I have refocused my food project from vegetarianism to the business of catering. This brings me to my factoid of the day:

“There are no fancy trucks in Rabat, but instead women who cook out of their own kitchens and then deliver to clients. The events can be large, like weddings, or small, but the work that is done is remarkable.”

Let’s see what I can find in the coming days. I am also in the process of researching for my independent study project, which comes in the final months of the program. I’ll keep it a secret for now, but it is a BIG ONE!

I stopped by Naget’s house at lunch today, but she wasn’t there. It was a total bummer, especially since I brought a couple friends to meet her. At least I was able to enjoy her beautiful terrace before heading back to school (which is visible from her place). I guess it was a good thing that I was not able to interview her, since my story direction has changed.

On the way home, I stopped by my host parent’s food shop and got a delicious snack. I have NO idea what it is called yet, but it was basically a flatbread with cheese and vegetables. I love bringing my classmates there and my host parents love the smiling students and booming business. I am the luckiest girl in the world! Free food and good people! I am back into the swing of things, folks! My goal has always been excellence, and senior year, even in a foreign country, is no different!

More tomorrow,

Rae