!Yellah (Let's Go!)

I am now writing you from Morocco!

I flew from Paris to the Rabat-Sale airport with around 12 other students from the three SIT Morocco programs, and I happened to be seated next to a girl on the migration program (I'm in Multiculturalism and Human Rights) who is from Minneapolis, went to Blake, and goes to Colgate. We talked for most of the flight about people and things we know in common. Shortly after entering the airport, all I could think was "wow, I'm going to experience so much culture shock when I return home". Why "when I return home" and not "now", I don't know. Going through customs, I experienced some questioning. The man asked me my nationality and I told him American. He asked me a few more times before saying "but your last name is Arabic". This has never happened to me before. I explained that my great-grandfather is Syrian, but I am of American nationality. The group then boarded a bus and were driven from Sale to Rabat. The set-up of the two cities is much like the twin cities- both separated by a river. There were a lot of signs of growth between the two cities, with a newly added tram (only 6 months ago) and major constructions sites near the river.

We were dropped off at our hotel where we are spending the next 4 nights. We were then led through the medina to our program center, The Center for Cross-Cultural Learning (CCCL). It was quite a sight, 45+ tired and in-awe Americans pushing their way through crowds of Moroccans. At the center we got to see what we were told is the second best panoramic view of Rabat. And it really is beautiful. I will post pictures hopefully soon! I then introduced myself to the academic director, Abdelhay, and he asked me my name and where I'm from. When I told him Minnesota he said "Oh! Where in Minnesota?". I replied "Just outside Minneapolis". He laughed and said, "Ok, but where outside Minneapolis?" When I told him Edina, he said "Oh no, I am going to have to hate you. In 1971, I was an exchange student at Southwest high school!"

After touring the center, we were taken for our first true Moroccan meal. And it was delicious. This morning, we had breakfast next door (so much fresh squeezed juice!) then headed back to the CCCL for our first day of orientation. We had lessons in Moroccan norms, safety, and how to handle street harassment, which I can already tell is going to get old very quickly. Today, walking back to our hotel in the medina, a man simply shouted "New York City!" What kind of response he was expecting, I don't know. After the lesson, we were given our Arabic class schedule then, while non-beginners took a 3-hour placement test, us beginners got to wander around the area. We headed straight for the beach, a 5 minute walk from the center. A few people from the group split off to get arabic phones. After a long and rough translation process, we finally managed to get phones, complete with arabic letters on the keys, a prayer time notification setting, and an application telling you which direction to Mecca. We finished the night with dinner and internet access back at the center.

First thing in the morning tomorrow we are given a "drop-off" where we are placed in an unknown area with one other person and have to find our way back. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, I am most likely lost in the medina.


I will leave you now with some random facts on Morocco:

1. If you swam/boated directly West, you would end up somewhere in North Carolina
2. You can buy anything on the streets. Literally, anything.
3. You should not/cannot use your left hand to eat, as people do not use toilet paper...
4. It is illegal for Muslim's to buy alcohol
5. The tallest point in Rabat used to be a cathedral until Mohammed V ordered a mosque be built taller. Now, a skyscraper is the tallest point (Abdelhay noted it is an interesting image that money and power can still beat religion)
6. There are two types of time here: secular (relaxed) and religious (rigid and prompt)

Paris: Days 2, 3, and 4

Day 2

After a very long and tiring day, I was excited to have a fresh start the next morning. I managed to sleep close to 10 hours which left me feeling far better than the day before, but still not great. I met up again with my friend Lily (after having seen her for a lovely dinner the night before) and she said she had a free guest pass for the Louvre on Wednesday morning with her student idea, which made our plans a no brainer. We headed over to the museum and I had forgotten just how huge the place is. Lily said she had heard some statistic that if you spent 5 seconds looking at every artifact in the museum it would take something like 24 days. However, we were only there for 2 hours. We then wandered the area and found what looked like a quick grab and go lunch place, so we went in there to purchase some sandwiches. When we informed them we would eat in, a man told us to come with him. We thought he was leading us to a different register to pay, but actually winded us through 3 back rooms and eventually to a table. Lily had a theater show to see with her program so we parted ways and I met up with another friend from elementary school, Ali, for dinner and we had a great meal catching up and reminiscing about elementary school times. 


Day 3

I woke up this morning, grabbed breakfast in the hostel with my hostel-mates, then realized I had no schedule for the day. With no map or plan for what I was going to do, I headed to the metro and took ligne 12 with no idea of where I was headed. I ended up at the cite stop and decided it was a good place to get off. I wandered around the area and saw Notre Dame in front of me. Upon entering, I noticed there was a service going on. Oddly there were 5 times more tourists than congregants and the lector was wearing tennis shoes. Not quite what I would have pictured for a service at Notre Dame. I continued to wander and found some adorable narrow cobblestone streets with restaurants and cafes lining the streets, each one looking just as good as the next. I decided I wanted to find the perfect place for lunch, which was too hard of decision so I ended up wandering for another hour. I finally chose a boulangerie with un sandwhich vegeterien and ate it in the rain overlooking l'hotel de ville in the chatelet neighborhood (although I was clueless as to where I was at the time). Tired and cold from all the walking in the rain, I headed back to my hostel neighborhood, grabbed un cafe and un pain au chocolat and read a french magazine on the U.S presidential campaign. The french love Obama. I was then planning on heading back to the hostel and relaxing but reminded myself I'm in Paris and should see all that I can. I headed in a new direction from the hostel and ended up in a quaint neighborhood with beautiful houses (shown in the picture above). I continued up some steep hills and the houses eventually turned into more perfectly Parisian cobblestone paths with little cafes and stores. The area was practically deserted and I thought I had found a hidden gem of Paris. I continued to wander around and happened upon this beautiful cathedral. 

I thought to myself how only in Paris would such a beautiful place appear so nonchalant. I then continued down the street only to see a sign with an arrow identifying the cathedral as Sacre Coeur. Whoops. I also hadn't realized just how much of a hill I had climbed until I saw this view.

I returned back to my hostel and found a message from Ali seeing if I wanted to join her and her friends for dinner at a well known fondue place. I met her in her neighborhood, where we walked 5 minutes to the Eiffel Tower where we saw it lit up and sparkling. She took me to her apartment and I met her host dad, a famous gourmet french chef turned food photographer. We met up with her friends and headed to the restaurant, La Revenge du Fromage. The restaurant was tiny, with two long tables with benches along each chalk-covered wall. The menu was prix-fix and included wine served in baby bottles, which looked like this:


Day 4
Today, I met up with Liv, a friend from Skidmore. We met at a falafel place in the Saint-Paul neighborhood (the Jewish neighborhood). I had been told by a few people I needed to try this particular falafel place (there were three more right next door). It was very good but unfortunately did not live up to the hype, so don't worry Jessie and Hannah, London falafel remains as my #1. Liv and I wandered around the neighborhood for a while and then she took me to the Pompidou, the inside-out building/cultural center. We went up the escalators to a beautiful view of the city. It helped me to get the bearings I could not seem to get (entirely related to not having a map). It was also some of the first sunshine I've seen since arriving!
 
We then decided we needed some macaroons. Liv insisted we go to a particular place rather than having the cheap imitation versions. For my first macaroon experience I had pistachio, rose, colombian chocolate, and caramel flavors. We enjoyed them on a bench on a bridge over La Seine. A perfect moment.

Liv and I parted ways and I headed out to meet up with Denis, a french teaching assistant from my elementary school who lived with us when I was in third grade. We hadn't seen each other since. We went to dinner and spoke entirely in french (something I didn't know I would be capable of...but it came back). The conversation was successful enough that we were able to understand eachother's humor. He then took me to what he thought was a Moroccan restaurant (but ended up being Algerian) for tea. We conversed with the animated bartender there, again entirely in french, where he tried to teach me some Arabic (uh oh...) and talked about the benefits of traveling and how he does not like when Americans automatically speak English to you and expect you to respond. We also talked about politics, where I learned some more about how the french love Obama.


Sorry for the enormous post, but those are all of the updates. I am now checked out of the hostel and now plan on enjoying my last day in Paris before the real adventure begins tomorrow! Talk to you in Morocco!!

Love,
Karin

The Blog's Back

Not to worry, the blog is back up! My gmail account shut down, maybe due to the hostel computer I was using showing weird activity. The only way for me to then get it working again was to enter a phone number to get a verification code or to call the help line- neither of which were an option for me. So, thanks to my mom for doing that for me!

I am planning on writing a more extensive post about my Paris adventures tonight, so check back for that soon!

Love,

Karin

So The Adventure Begins

I made it to Paris! I spent the plane ride talking to the man next to me who is from Afghanistan, lives in Howard Lake, MN and works for the military as a translator in Afghanistan. I asked him what brought him to Minnesota. When he replied "the weather" I laughed, only to realize he was serious. We then went on to talk about all the great things about Minnesota. A good conversation to be having when about to live abroad for 4 months.

We landed in Paris a little after 7am, where it was still dark (not doing my adjustment any favors). It was after I stepped into the Charles De Gaulle airport that all of this really hit me. I realized I had no idea what to do next. I lugged a heavy backpack and two suitcases around the terminal trying to find a phone that would allow my calling card to work so my parents could know I arrived safely. After trying 6 phones with no success, I realized I had 7 hours until I could check into my hostel, meaning 7 hours until access to a bed, and no idea how to get there. I then became overwhelmed with the idea of doing all of this unknown on my own and that that is how it will be for a long time. I finally bought a new calling card, reached home, and talked through my plan for the day.

I ended up taking a(n incredibly expensive) cab from the airport to my hostel, where I dropped off my luggage, completely carsick from the ride, I wandered around the neighborhood. I picked up a mini baguette and some jam and started walking. I decided to stick to one street to avoid getting too lost. As I reached the top of a hill I looked up and saw the Eiffel Tower and had to remind myself it was the real deal. I decided I wanted to find a park to read and eat, but that turned out to be harder to find than expected. Several blocks and miles later, I retraced my steps to the Montmartre graveyard I passed at the beginning of my trek. It was lovely, until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I then realized I had no rationale guess as to what time it was. I decided to walk to try and find a clock somewhere and ended up in a little Parisian cafe. Yes, it looks exactly like you are picturing. But when I turned on my computer, I saw that it was only 11:30am (if you had asked me, I would have guessed 3pm).

I am loving being here and feel so lucky to be doing this, but at the same time am feeling scared for all of the unknown and changes headed my way- feelings I'm hoping will have a different perspective with a little sleep. On the bright side, I'm planning on meeting up with my friend Lily for dinner tonight- let's hope I can stay awake!

Here We Go

Hello all! Welcome to my blog on my travels abroad. A special thanks to my father, Steve Obaid, for the blog title, inspired by a recent viewing of the classic Casablanca (Sorry Jessie, kARABIC mOBAIDrocco seemed a bit overkill).

I will be using this blog to update family and friends on my whereabouts, experiences, and reflections. At this point it is unclear what internet access will be like, but I hope to semi-regularly post pictures and updates.

I will be leaving the country tomorrow afternoon to spend a few days in Paris, adjusting to time changes, reacquainting myself with french, meeting up with friends, and exploring. My program officially begins on Sunday the 29th, where we begin with a week of orientation before being placed in homestays.

Talk to you on the other side of the Atlantic!

love,
Karin