Update From Morocco.

I got an email from Caitlin this morning. She has been having some difficulty with the phones, so this is the first I have heard from her in several days. I thought that I would post part of her latest update here:

I don't quite know how to explain this place to you. There is just too much to describe. It is a place unlike any I've ever been in. All the buildings are old and crumbling. I live in the Medina, which is the oldest part of Rabat. During colonization, the Spanish built a wall around the area, so the Medina has remained relatively unchanged. There are no cars in the Medina.

The streets are narrow and winding. The only vehicles that make their way down these roads are occasional mopeds. I've learned to come to terms with men yelling things at me. They never say anything insulting, usually they just say Bonjour, or Tu es tres joli. They do it to every woman. I'm told it's a cultural thing and should not be taken seriously.

Five times a day the call to prayer screams across the Medina by megaphone. It is truly a strange sensation. This eerie, mournful voice resonates through the narrow streets. This morning it woke me at 3am. The sound of it is truly other worldly. I've been eating with my hands, which has required an acceptance on my part of allowing my hands to be dirty during an entire meal as Moroccans don't use napkins. My family is obsessed with feeding me. If I stop eating for even a minute they start chanting Cooli, Cooli which means Eat Eat. I have to insist that I am full or I would never stop eating!

I'm not liking the patriarchal structure of society here. Women are not allowed to sit in front of some of the cafes, though I can get away with it because I am a foreigner. At the same time, I want to immerse, so I feel a little caught in limbo. The other kids on the program are quite nice. I like all of them, which is good.

I just got back from Ouzanne, Chefchouen, and Tangiers. Chefchoen is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is set in the Rif mountains, and like the Medina there are no cars, just steep and winding streets. But everything is painted this indigo colour, which gives everything an indescribable, luminous quality. I can't put it in words. The area is known for its cannabis production, which is one of the country's major sources of capital, apparently. On one of our tours the guide took us through this field, then told us to look down only for us to realize we were standing in the middle of acres and acres of marijuana plants. It was quite strange. For a tour, at least. Chefchouen has thus grown in Spanish tourism, many of whom come just for the kif.

Well, I am having an interesting time. Sometimes good, sometimes not so much, but on the whole I am happy which I guess is the most important thing. I miss you guys, and will call when able but telephone use has proven to be impossibly hard to manage. I love you!

Love you, too, kiddo.

Comments

[Mom]

Caitlin's host family must be part Hungarian-remember Grandma's "Eat! Eat!