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.

Being a vegetarian in Morocco

It's impossible. You can't do it. These aren't things that people just say, this is reality. It's impossible to be a vegetarian in Morocco. Not because you can't find dishes without meat, but because the dishes with meat are too good to turn down.

1. Treed/Rfissa

 For example. My favorite moroccan dish is called Treed (interesting fact: in the south of Morocco it's called Treed, in the north it's called Rfissa). It's a labour intensive dish which includes msimmon, chicken tajine, and many hours of labour. You essentially cut up and re-fry the msimmon (a delicious Moroccan snack that you can eat with cheese or Amlou or you can often find it stuffed with onions and veggies)

Misimmon

After re-frying the msimmon, you put it under the chicken tajine, and let the sauce soak into the msimmon. 

Moroccan Chicken tajine. 

After all of this, you serve the delicious treed. The part that makes this dish so labour intensive is the fact that the msimmon is usually made on the spot, as well as the tajine. And I can tell you from personal experience that msimmon is not easy to make. 

2. Seffa

Seffa is also a delicious Moroccan dish. It's essentially broken vermicelli noodles steamed 5-7 times (on the last time you add the raisins) and then the preparing of the chicken. The chicken should be mixed with saffron (essential in Moroccan dishes) onion, spices, and butter. You MUST cook it until it is very tender, and then you take it out of the liquid (which should be a thick sauce). 

You then take the Vermicelli noodles and toss them with butter and powdered sugar. You place the meat and sauce under the pile of noodles, and arrange the noodles appropriately. Afterwards you create lines of cinnamon and powdered sugar (as in the picture) and you can also add crushed almonds, if you so desire. and voila! You have a DELICIOUS Moroccan dish (please dont use my instructions search better and more detailed ones online) but yes, this is my second favorite dish, Seffa. 

3. Mrouzia

I have no idea how to make Mrouzia, but I think this was the first dish I ate in Morocco. It is a sweet and salty meat tajine (usually made with lamb) with honey, spices and very often times prunes. We ate it during the time period of Eid el Adha (the sacrificing of the sheep). It is so yummy. 

4. Pastilla

Pastilla is essentially a meat pie, although it can be stuffed with many different things. My favorite one is pastilla with pigeon. I know that sounds strange for many people, but it's delicious. The pigeon can be substituted with chicken (although it's not the same). The one with pigeon (or chicken) is then coated with powdered sugar and cinnamon, only adding to the already wonderful taste. 

5. Couscous

This is what I eat every friday for lunch. My host mother (and basically all other mothers in Morocco) prepare this dish on fridays. It is couscous with steamed vegetables and oftentimes either lamb or chicken. After Eid el-Adha, we had lamb couscous for about three months afterwards. The couscous that my host mother makes is so good, with pumpkin, cabbage, eggplants, carrots, fava beans, zucchini, potatoes and other vegetables. Everyone is assigned to a "lane" (lanes are often separated by a zucchini or eggplant in my family) and you must stay in your assigned lane. My host mother always throws the meat into my lane and tells me to eat it. She has made it very clear that this is a gesture of love; guests are often showered with meat in their couscous lane, it gets to be overwhelming. In the beginning of my stay in Morocco, it was hard for me to clear out my entire lane. But now, it's so easy to eat all of the couscous. I guess its a question of getting used to it. 

So yea, these are a few of the many reasons why being a vegetarian in Morocco is impossible. Also this is a list of my favorite foods. This list will be updated since it hasn't even begun to cover a third of my favorites in Morocco. 

It's 1.30 am and my stomach is growling since I've been looking a pictures of food for so long...so

Bsalama for now!

Video!!!

Get EXCITEDDDD
I just put together the footage I took of the north of Morocco, enjoy!