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

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

Blue Cities, Green Stomachs & The End of a Chapter

November 1

RABBIT, RABBIT! And Happy November, readers!

Since another week of total slacking has taken place, let me grace the new month with a new post! Another long one, but I think you will really like it!

Currently, I am writing you from Naget’s house, my temporary home for the next four days or so. Our home stay has come to an end, as we will be beginning our Independent Study Period Monday.

On Wednesday, I move into my beautiful Morocccan riad apartment with Alex and our friend, Libby. Pictures will be forthcoming because the place is UNBELIEVABLE!

It is located in the Kasbah Oudayas, which overlooks the beach and the rest of the city. For those of you who do not know what a Kasbah is, it is a fortified section of a city, surrounded by its own walls. Nowadays it is a tourist spot and luxury place to live for Americans and Europeans, but in ancient times, it was home to whole extended wealthy Moroccan families.

I am really excited to begin the Independent Study. My final pitch has been approved and I will be writing about the epidemic of Sub-Saharan migrant women who are victims of sexual violence. I will share more later when the project actually takes form, but I can tell you that I will be writing a news story, accompanied by a profile of one of these women.

For those of you worried about my safety: PLEASE DON’T BE! I have a cast of thousands at my back, including migrant activists! Your girl will be safe, sound, and changed for the better!

Backtracking a bit, I have been through [that place down below] and back since my last post. When you last read, I was sick, but cheerful about the day and my trip to Chefchaouen and Ceuta!

Well, people, just a few hours after that, Raven Gaddy was at Clinique Agdal, getting an IV and other drugs as a result of her gastritis!

It was a horrible day for me. On top of the sickness, I found out that Moroccan doctors are NOT at all gentle. After being poked three times to find a vein, I had a small panic attack, started hyperventilating and burst into tears. I was glad when it was all over and at least I felt a bit better. I put emphasis on the “bit” because I was too weak to function at that point.

You all know me pretty well, so you can probably guess what is coming next… No? Well, I will tell you!

Twelve hours later my butt was up, out of bed, packed and on the bus to go on the excursion! This was after, of course, I walked all the way into downtown to find a bank after the hospital cleaned me out! You can’t keep a good traveler down, and I wouldn’t let that horror story get the best of me.

On to Chefchaouen and Ceuta!

Chefchaouen was remarkable! I’m just gonna place this picture here to speak for me.

Can you imagine an entire city painted blue? It was probably the most beautiful place I had ever been… or so I thought! I had not yet traveled to Ceuta!

‘Chaouen, I was originally told, was painted blue to keep away mosquitos. THIS IS FALSE. The real reason deals with the rich Jewish history of the mountainous paradise.

As much as I loved the aesthetics of mountain terrain and rich blue color, Chefchaouen was far too touristy for me! I can tell that it was once a perfect, untouched place, but now it is crawling with Europeans and people trying to rip you off at every turn.

That didn’t happen for me, as I am more than aware of Moroccan bartering custom. I was able to get some sick handmade, 100% wool sweaters (New England winter will be cruel), some gifts for my dear little brother Evan, and the satisfaction of knowing that I got wool from THE place in Morocco known for producing it!

After spending a night in M’diq, pronounced “mah-deeq” or “my dick” to my classmates and I, we moved on to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Before reaching it, we had to walk about a mile to the border and go through customs.

I repeat, I HAD TO GO THROUGH CUSTOMS TO GO FROM MOROCCO TO (Spanish-controlled) MOROCCO.

It was extremely hectic. There were people yelling, pushing, fighting and what I would like to call “funny business”. Because the enclave is considered Spain, many illegal activities take place there. Undocumented migrants attempt to scale the walls, older women smuggle goods multiple times per day across the borders.

Although we did not see any migrants, we did see these women. Called, “Mulas Mujeres”, “mule women”, these women tie or strap thirty pounds or more of items to their bodies to take across the border. This can include alcohol, blankets, or anything else that is profitable. Some of them are sixty years old or more. It is a heartbreaking thing to witness in person.

For those of you who are interested to see my experience, VICE did an excellent piece. You can find that here.

American passport privilege is one powerful thing. Even our coordinator, Badrdine had trouble getting across the border. We seemed to breeze right through.

Finally we walked our way into Ceuta. It was like I walked back into any other European country that I had ever been. The dichotomy of European custom on African soil blew my mind. We were given a beautiful guided bus tour and 20 EUR for lunch. A few friends and I found a very chill cafe and then went to the beach. My favorite part of the day was being able to wade in the Mediterranean Sea. It has always been a dream of mine!

Overall, this excursion felt like a mini-vacation, but after my hospital episode and the stresses of this program, it was much needed! Shopping, good food, and beach? Life is GOOD.

That brings us full circle, people! I hope you are still here and with me! The end of classes and my home stay marks the ending of this chapter for me! The next one will be ISJ, and finally the chapter of going HOME.

Boy, am I missing it! Happy belated Halloween (it doesn’t exist in Morocco)!

Next post soon, Insha’allah!

Rae