Research Essay

Today, I finally submitted my research essay. I worked on it for about 3 months, and it was all in Arabic. The topic I chose was the immigration process of Libyans and sub-saharan Africans to Italy and the racist tendencies of Italians. This topic was very complicated, but it allowed me to learn so much more about the MENA region as well as Italy.

In case you don't know, I am Italian, so this issue hits home for me. I really enjoyed spending my friday afternoons translating and researching (this is not sarcasm), typing Arabic and drinking good coffee. However, I am quite happy that this is done. Six pages are typed and submitted, the final result of my Arabic studies here.

I still have about 1 week and a half left of Arabic; I cannot believe how quickly this program is coming to an end. In fact, I do not want to think about it, so I shall not. Tomorrow I have my last English class. I cant believe the progress my students have made. Some of them came in with zero English knowledge, and now they know so much. The progress they have made makes me so happy inside, to know I was able to help them in some way.
Tomorrow will be an emotional day. Hopefully I'll be able to hold it together....

I have alot of feelings with regards to the ending of the program, but I don't know how to express them in writing. I will try, when I have more time. But now I need to go to sleep.

So until next time!

The past week of my life

The past week of my life has been a complete whirlwind.

We left for Fes last Wednesday early in the morning. We stopped in Meknes at about 5pm, and were placed into pairs (I was with Jordan), given 50 dirhams and a slip of paper with 3 tasks written on it, and were told to complete the tasks and then find our way to Fes on our own.
That was easily one of the funnest things I've done in a while. We completed the tasks which included taking pictures of various monuments including the empty zoo, and then found our way into a grand taxi (essentially old BMW that sits 3 people in the front and squeezes 4 in the back). We also met up with 1 other teams so we split the grand taxi with them and two Moroccans. The drive took about an hour, and we were dropped off at the train station in Fes, where we met up with another nsliy team. We then piled into another grand taxi and drove to the hotel. As we were driving we all serenaded the driver in arabic, singing the various songs we knew. I think we single handedly made his night.
The following days were spent exploring Fes and receiving two talks on feminism in Islam (we were lectured by two wonderful women who provided very different perspectives. I will elaborate in another blog post).

On the last day we went to Ifrane and visited the university there. The university is modeled after American universities. Also in Ifrane it snowed, like legitimately. It was wonderful.

After Ifrane, Will and I got on a train to Casablanca since we were going to participate in the USA-Maghreb Youth Debates. We debated for on a Moroccan team with two debaters we know from school. On the first day we had four debates, the topics were: 1.) The rate of  income tax paid by the rich should be increased (con) against an Algerian team,  2.) The natural resources of the Maghreb region should belong to it's people (pro) against another Moroccan team, 3) Prosperity is more important than freedom (pro) agains a Tunisian team and 4) Alternative medicine is a threat to public health (pro) against a Moroccan team. We won all of those debates aside from the last one.
The second day of debating was in Rabat, in which we debated three more times, the topics were 5) Globalization imposes Western Culture on the rest of the world (pro) against a different Tunisian team 6) the UN Security Council veto should be abolished (pro) against an American team. After that we learned that we made it to the semi-finals (since we won both of those debates as well) and in the semis we debated 7) The Arab Spring has positively changed the Maghreb (Maghreb meaning: Morocco, Mauritania, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia) (pro) against the same Moroccan team we debated number 4 on.
The final day, we learned that we made it to the finals (AHHH) and we debated: The ban on the Niqab is an infringement on one's freedom of religion (pro) against the Tunisian team we debated number 3 on.
After a wonderful wonderful debate (which part of you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw_3W9bXdtk), we waited anxiously for the results. When they were announced, we couldnt have been more excited, we had won! This meant that we had won the english division of the debate tournament.

We were over the moon, but I think that I was more happy that we had participated. I had gotten the opportunity to meet so many interesting and wonderful people who I never would have otherwise met. It was very fun, very interesting, and best of all, something that allowed all of these countries to participate in a dialogue that is so direly needed by the global community today.

My Paradise

On any given Friday afternoon, you can find probably find me at a specific cafe, Mama Afrika. I come here on fridays to write my Arabic research paper and drink coffee. Why don't I just write my research paper at home, you might be wondering? Well, dear reader, let me inform you as to why.

Mama Afrika has a certain vibe, further emphasized by it's continuous Reggae music that is played. It's vibe is also characterized by the owner of Mama Afrika. He is a very friendly guy, who never fails to address me as "princess" when he sees me. He manages to create a relationship with basically all of his customers, making the cafe all the more family like. When my family came and visited, I took my brother here. It was a nice little bonding experience, also my brother (who doesn't usually like coffee) completely fell in love with a coffee concoction (that i'm almost positive has nicotine in it since it's so damn addictive) called "Cafe Frappe After Eight". It's a cold coffee drink that has mint syrup and chocolate syrup in it. It's so delicious; I almost always get it here.
In addition to the vibe created by Mama Afrika itself, theres also an atmosphere created by the customers of Mama Afrika. Everyone here is young and hip. Occasionally you'll see a tourist or two walk in and have lunch here, but its almost always regulars who come here.

Mama Afrika is located on a street with the nickname of "Gateway to Hell" because of all the so called "haram" activity that goes on here. Two buildings down from Mama Afrika there is a sketch alcohol shop, and next to that there is the *supposed* only gay club in Marrakech. I had people tell me this information, I never went and explored for myself. Another interesting thing about Mama Afrika and the street its located on is the wall across the street that is filled with graffiti, or rather, street art. There are paintings of Bob Marley, and a badass pinup like woman. Seeing street art that isn't Arabic Calligraphy is not very common in Marrakech.

I will definitely miss Mama Afrika when I leave, and I would wholeheartedly reccomend it to any passerby's in Marrakech.

Until next time,
bsalama! 

Debate Tournament

Since the beginning of our time here in Marrakech, another NSLI-Y student and I (Will) have become a part of the debate club at our school. At first, we were just judges. Then this term, we started debating. It started with being challenged by the ENCG (French Moroccan university) since they didn't agree with the way we judged one of their debates. We won that debate, which was a nice surprise. About a week later our debate teacher/coach/English teacher at the CLC asks us if we would like to interview to perhaps participate in an international debate tournament. We both interviewed, not knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into.

After perusing their website a bit more and after the interview, I discovered that a) we would be representing Morocco, and b) this was an actual real thing. It wasn't something set up by Morocco, but rather the United States.
Last weekend Will and I found out that we both made it, and that we will be participating in this debate competition, representing Morocco. It's an interesting turn of events, but we're nonetheless excited. The debate is taking place in the end of March. I am still a bit unclear as to how this debate will be set up, but you know what, I'm just going to go where the wind takes me.
I'll keep you guys posted on what happens!
Until then,
bsalama!

How to Seffa

In one of my previous blog posts, I explained what some typical Moroccan dishes were.
Last sunday, one of my friends invited me to his house to learn how to make Seffa. I came back and told my host family, and they immediately insisted that I make it for them the next weekend. So this morning I woke up around 8 am (the earliest I've woken up on a sunday since being here) and proceeded to make Seffa with my host mom.

What you will need:
Double Boiler
Seffa noodles (angle hair but smaller in length)
Raisins
Powdered Sugar
Regular sugar (to mix with the almonds when you crush them)
Cinnamon
Oil (vegetable oil works)
Almonds
Patience
A big appetite

First off, we took the sharia(not the law, the noodles) out of the plastic mika (bag). They are similar to Angle's hair pasta, except a lot shorter. Then I put them in a tajine bottom and smothered them in good ol; vegetable oil. This was to make sure that they wouldn't stick together during the cooking process. As I was doing this, my host mom took the double boiler and filled the bottom with water, setting it on the fire waiting for a boil. She then handed me the top part, and I filled it to the top with sharia. I put that on the top of the double boiler, and put a "belt" (in my host mom's terms) around it (which was essentially a plastic bag rolled up to make sure none of the steam gets out).

We let that cook for about 30 minutes. When it was done, I took the top part off the fire and set the whole thing in a big bowl in the tajine bottom. Then we took the water we used to steam the noodles and poured it on top of the sharia. Then we took the sharia and put it back on the double boiler, pouring the water we had just used to kinda rinse it back into the double boiler. Then we dumped out the noodles into the tajine bottom, and proceeded to "open" them (essentially you have to sift through it with your fingers until they are all separated, or until a Moroccan tells you that you are done.)

After this, back in the double boiler and back on the fire they go!! As we waited for the second cooking, I was put in charge of shelling the almonds (which first we put in water over the fire until the almonds made their way to the top) and then crushing them with sugar. This will serve as a condiment for the Seffa. After this was done, we took the Seffa off the fire, dumped it into the tajine bottom, put about a cup of room temperature water on it as we sifted through it. Continue to sift, add the raisins that you let sit in a cup of room temperature water,  then but back into the double boiler to cook for a third time. Now we're waiting for it to finish cooking, for the third time.

After cooking it for a third time, the time is determined by tasting the actual Seffa, you put the completely cooked seffa and raisins into the plate you want to serve it in, add the crushed almonds and continue making into a triangular shaped Seffa mountain. On top of the mountain you add lines of powdered sugar and cinnamon that the eaters will then use to make their Seffa even tastier. For allergy reasons, the cinnamon was left up to our own discretion.

Enjoy!

That is me with the Seffa. It was super yummy. 

There are many different ways to cook it, so far I have heard you must cook it seven times, and then I heard from two separate Moroccan women that you must cook it three times. In the future I will be going with three times because I don't know how to cook it seven times..so yea.
Also, you usually make Seffa with chicken. Although I do not know how to make the chicken, which is why I didn't add it in this recipe. Any slow cooked chicken with spices and onions usually works, although you might want chicken that is on the sweeter side since Seffa is a sweet dish.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this! I know I enjoyed making and eating the Seffa :D
Until next time~

2 months left

Yup. 2 months. 60 days. until i'm home
The only things I can say right now are: I'm super excited, but I'm also super sad. I have come to love Morocco, and more specifically Marrakech. It's going to be difficult to say goodbye, but it will also be the appropriate time to do so.
In these last 2 months, I will make the most out of my Morocco experience.

That's all I have to say right now, also because I have to go meet a friend because we're going to see the Marrakech Biennale.
Until next time

Feminism.

"I am tired of playing the role of the Approachable Feminist - the woman expected to hold the hand of all those people who still, in the year 2014, claim not to understand what it is that causes women's oppression; who demand to be convinced even of its existence and who then, when you cite fact after statistic after anecdotal report after reality, still use diversions and hypotheticals to try to prove you wrong."
-http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-07/ford-dont-get-even-ladies-get-mad/5304704

I am tired, I am tired of having to justify my reasoning behind being a feminist. I'm tired of hearing other women say that females are the enemy. I'm tired of hearing excuses for every single thing a man does, mostly attributing it to the fact that he is a "boy" and "boys will be boys". This is not an excuse, this is nowhere near ok.
In this day and age, you would think that everyone would be a feminist, but there is still so much stigma against the word feminist. No, we are not bra-burning women who believe in the castration of men, no we do not want to destroy the institution of marriage and live on free love communes, no we are not all hippies prancing in meadows. We are students, we are mothers, we are your sisters and your daughters. We want the playing field to be leveled. We want to be able to compete with our brothers in a manner that doesn't always have to bring our gender into question. We want to work in STEM related fields. We want to make one dollar to every mans dollar. Enough with this 77 cent bullshit.
Being a feminist only means believing that men and women are equal, and should be equal in the eyes of society.
Do you believe in the complete equality of men and women?
If you answered yes to that question, you are a feminist. BE PROUD.
SURPRISE.