On Eids and Exams

Ramadan will be ending this week, but nobody knows when exactly.

As I understand it, because the Islamic calendar is based on the moon rather than the sun (as in the Gregorian calendar), the beginning of new months is tied to when the new moon occurs. Religious (and national) leaders observe the moon and it is not until they physically recognize the new moon that they will acknowledge the end of one month and beginning of the next. Thus, we wait with the awareness that the Eid (celebration for the end of Ramadan) will take place on Thursday or Friday, but we won’t know exactly until the night before. (Side note: There are some interesting ways in which the date of the new moon has been contested by some Muslims for political reasons. Rather than recognizing the Eid date announced for a particular country [not all countries observe the Eid on the same day], some people may opt to recognize the date for the Eid that was not selected in order to express opposition to the political and/or religious leadership.)

I’m afraid I don’t know a whole lot on this interesting issue, but from my perspective as a student during Ramadan, the uncertainty of the date for the Eid has led to some interesting moments of confusion as our program draws to a close and we schedule our final events: exams, due dates for term projects, quizzes, when we’ll be holding class and when we’ll have the day off, and so on. Coming from a culture in which work and school events tend to be planned out fairly strictly and far in advance, this uncertainly can be a headache; students expect a syllabus outlining due dates for assignments while teachers cannot provide them with any certainty.

Rather than getting too frustrated with this difference, however, I actually find the uncertainty somewhat refreshing. It reminds me of the oft-heard phrase insha’ Allah (“if God wills it”), which is often said to express the English idea of “hopefully” but also to punctuate comments made by others about their hopes or plans. For example, I might say “I’d like to go Fez this weekend” and a friend or family member might tag “insha’ Allah” on to the end of it. It’s often appropriate for me to then affirm the sentiment and reply with “insha’ Allah.” Whereas it seems to me that it’s more common among Americans for the original speaker (e.g., me) to say “hopefully” when talking about the future, in Morocco there is more verbal feedback from others involved in the conversation. (This back-and-forth relationship is reflected in music too, as call-and-response passages are a common formal component of most Moroccan musics.)

This medicine is recommended for treating ED (Erectile Dysfunction) as an erect penis is sildenafil generic uk required for performing sexual intercourse. It demotes levitra online india the inhibitory enzyme of type 5 dwelling in the male penis. We hear it also typically, “My husband best tadalafil prices was diagnosed with azoospermia, can you enable me and what exactly is this?” This complex health-related condition includes a selection of causes and may be severe in some cases. In these substantial-stability times, metallic detectors will catch some of these effects include: Lack of self-confidence or poor self-esteem Social anxiety or embarrassment Difficulty in forming new relationships Difficulty in finding well-fitting, attractive clothing Discrimination in the work place Digestive, heart and other medical complications Impotence, poor sex drive or cialis generika will aid a woman to speed up their fat burning process or enhance. What I find beautiful about “insha’ Allah” is that it recognizes that humans can’t control everything in their lives, which is, in my view, totally anathema to American sensibilities about individual agency. Americans might express a roughly parallel idea when they say “shit happens,” but that phrase is far from being as prevalent in American conversations as the Moroccan expression, which will be uttered dozens of times daily. (I hesitate to make this comparison since one expression draws on colorful vernacular language while the other invokes the name of God, but I think it’s the best way to get at the heart of translating from one language into another; you always lose some of the nuance in the process.) Of course, it’s important to keep all things in moderation or else we’ll encounter all sorts of problems; I by no means think that people are completely powerless in directing the paths of their lives, and some Americans I have spoken with both in Morocco and in Niger have expressed exasperation over the disavowal of personal responsibility that one might perceive in the expression “insha’ Allah.” But rather than diving into a deep philosophical debate, I merely wish to point out some of the assets of this perspective when it’s easy, during this high-stress period in our program, to simply get frustrated by it. I find that, rather than get upset about the uncertainty of the exact date, it’s healthier to embrace the fact that at some currently undetermined time this week, there’s going to be a great party and I’m going to have a day off from school. Insha’ Allah.

Over the weekend I visited the beautiful town of Tetouan, near the Mediterranean coast. It used to be a center for the Spanish colonial administration in northern Morocco and they left behind some lovely architecture to compliment the old medina's maze of alleyways.
Over the weekend I visited the beautiful town of Tetouan, near the Mediterranean coast. It used to be a center for the Spanish colonial administration in northern Morocco and they left behind some lovely architecture to complement the old medina’s maze of alleyways.
Musicians performed in the square beneath our hotel (from which all of these photos come), and when they finished well after midnight they crammed their instruments, flags, and themselves into passing taxis.
Musicians performed in the square beneath our hotel (from which all of these photos come), and when they finished well after midnight they crammed their instruments, flags, and themselves into passing taxis.

The square beneath our hotel in Tetouan during the daytime. We spent the day playing in the nearby Mediterranean, so I took very few photos on this trip; nonetheless it was a beautiful city and a splendid experience.
The square beneath our hotel in Tetouan during the daytime. We spent the day playing in the nearby Mediterranean, so I took very few photos on this trip; nonetheless it was a beautiful city and a splendid experience.

Northern Morocco: Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Riffian Explorations

Last weekend was the last of our major group trips on the CLS program, and it was certainly the most pleasant even if the visit to the Sahara will likely be the most memorable and meaningful to me. I’d love to write much more, but every site was incredibly photogenic, so I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

Our first stop was in Assilah, a resort town an hour or two south of Tangier on the Atlantic coast. It’s popular with Europeans, and we heard a lot more Spanish being spoken than in any other place we’d visited until that point. Assilah has some beautiful street art, and the old city is also whitewashed and in many ways resembles a village in the Greek Isles. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and then playing in the water; it was great to do some bodysurfing, punctuated by the occasional conversation in Arabic, while floating in the Atlantic!

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The second stop was Tangier, a city that has had a complex history on account of its strategic position on the Strait of Gibraltar. Indeed, it’s often been a haven for spies and as I looked out from my hotel room I had a very vivid sense that I was in a James Bond film. The only international intrigue I really experienced was the lovely ride in a taxi driven by a man from Barcelona. In a reversal of the general trend for African migration to Europe, unemployment is so high in Spain right now that he spends the summers working in Tangier to make ends meet. Riding with him was something of a hilarious experience because, right when I thought I was getting the hang of negotiating standard Arabic, Darija, and French, I had to start working with Spanish as well. It took some shaking out of the cobwebs and broken sentences in two registers of Arabic as well as Spanish to get back to the hotel. At one point I believe I said something along the lines of “nahnou estudiantes min los Estados Unidos.”

An unexpected delight for me was to find that the Tangier American Legation Museum—a former US embassy and the only US Historic Landmark on foreign soil—has a new wing dedicated to author, composer, and ethnomusicologist Paul Bowles. On display were a number of his works, including memorabilia from films, recordings and photos from his fieldwork, and scores from some of his compositions (Bowles had been a student of Aaron Copland). Bowles completed a comprehensive recording project, with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, which aimed to document the major music traditions from throughout Morocco; some of the recordings were later released by the Library of Congress’s Archive of Folk Song, what later became the American Folklife Center—where I spent the summer of 2009 working in a very inspiring and educational internship.  The Bowles room at the American Legation opened in 2010, for the centenary of Bowles’s birth, and one important project for the occasion was the repatriation of the recordings that Bowles had made during his project in the 1950s and ’60s.

View from my hotel room in Tangier.
View from my hotel room in Tangier.
View of the Strait of Gibraltar from near Tangier. Que pasa, España?
View of the Strait of Gibraltar from near Tangier. Que pasa, España?

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Part of the exterior of the American Legation Museum.
Part of the exterior of the American Legation Museum.

An image at the American Legation Museum, displaying the letter from the Sultan of Morocco in 1777 that was the first official recognition of the United States as a new nation.
An image at the American Legation Museum, displaying the letter from the Sultan of Morocco in 1777 that was the first official recognition of the United States as a new nation.
From the Paul Bowles wing.
From the Paul Bowles wing. Another panel captures the significance of his recording project: “The most important single element in Morocco’s folk culture is its music . . . . The entire history and mythology of the people is clothed in song.” – Paul Bowles, Their Heads Are Green (1963)

Finally, en route back to Meknes, we visited Chefchaouen, a fabulously beautiful town nestled up among the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco. I’ve seen photos for a long time and had always wanted to visit, so I was grateful for the opportunity. Of course, because it’s so attractive it draws a lot of tourists; I’m not sure I’d enjoy spending too much time there, but for an afternoon it was absolutely wonderful. We meandered our way through the maze of alleys to find ourselves at a waterfall, where dozens of Moroccan families gleefully splashed around in the heat. I took a much-needed rinse before we commenced the final leg of our journey.

View of Chefchaouen from the top of the kasbah (fortress).
View of Chefchaouen from the top of the kasbah (fortress).
One of many amazing sites in the winding alleys of Chefchaouen.
One of many amazing sights in the winding alleys of Chefchaouen.

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Moroccan Soundscapes

The innocuous pop song faintly heard in the grocery store, the 30-second jingle seeping into our subconscious from the television in front of us or in the next room, or the booming bass from the car driving past us—with the ubiquity of musical sound to which most of us are exposed on a daily basis, it’s easy to stop paying attention to the way in which sound helps construct our environments. This is something I spent a lot of time thinking about lately while researching Hard Rock Cafe earlier this year, and it’s been a popular topic with ethnomusicologists, as evidenced by Jonathan Sterne’s seminal article “Sounds Like the Mall of America: Programmed Music and the Architectonics of Commercial Space” (Ethnomusicology 41[1], 1997). It’s amazing to continue thinking about soundscapes in Morocco, for they are tremendously diverse and in some ways, I believe, the way they more readily overlap here than they tend to do in the US reflects more general characteristics of the treatment of public and personal physical space in Morocco. Here are a couple snapshots of what I mean.

Last night, as I went to bed around 3am after finishing suhoor (the last meal before sunrise, when the fast resumes during Ramadan), I laid in bed with the windows open for some fresh air, and listened as a half-dozen mosques within earshot all issued competing versions of the adan (Call to Prayer); it is quite beautiful, especially as I live near a large, well-funded mosque that has clearly been able to find someone with more significant training than most in the area. But the adan is more than just the recitation of words, and the calls from each mosque not only begin and end at different times, but include their own melodic and rhythmic characteristics. In other words, as I lay in bed, exhausted from my trip to Marrakesh over the weekend, I listened to a wash of sound that was both beautiful in its spiritual significance as well as confounding in the way in which the adan from one mosque would encroach upon the acoustic space of the next.

The famed Jemaa el-Fna square is another environment whose soundscape is complex and continually changing through the course of the day: from the sound of honking horns, the adan from neighboring mosques, and the occasional wail of the snake-charmer’s ghaita (oboe) in the heat of the day to the insistent, multilingual appeals by food vendors or amplified banjos, ringing kettles, and booming dafs (frame drums) in the evening, this is the place to be in Marrakesh. There are musicians, juice vendors, henna artists, and merchants selling pirated smartphones and DVDs as well as carvings, paintings, and other trinkets. And there are tourists, and where there are tourists there emerge scammers. (I didn’t have any many problems, but some of my companions unfortunately did: but this makes for memorable stories and for some fantastic Arabic practice!) It is an adventurous place to be, and although I spent only 24 hours in Marrakesh (it’s unfortunately a long 7-hour train ride from Meknes), I left convinced that it was deserving of its mythic reputation.

In the souq in Marrakesh, where I bought a lotar (lute from the Atlas Mountains) and qarqab (castanets used in Gnawa and other North African musics).
In the souq in Marrakesh, where I bought a lotar (lute from the Atlas Mountains) and qarqab (castanets used in Gnawa and other North African musics).
Next to the impressive 14th-century Ali ben Youssef medersa (Islamic school) we visited.
Next to the impressive 14th-century Ali ben Youssef medersa (Islamic school) we visited.
Some tourist in the medersa.
Some tourist in the medersa.

View of Jemaa el-Fna from a second-story café, just before sunset.
View of Jemaa el-Fna from a second-story café, just before sunset. Off on the horizon you can just make out part of the High Atlas.

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Literally hundreds of these makeshift restaurants are set up in Jemaa el-Fna every night, a world-renowned tradition that is often covered in travel shows.
Literally hundreds of these makeshift restaurants are set up in Jemaa el-Fna every night, a world-renowned tradition that is often covered in travel shows.

I had been looking forward to seeing this place, so I of course went big and got a platter of various meats. Delicious, as always. My new life goal may be to return to Marrakesh and systematically try each and every one of the hundreds of food stalls in Jemaa el-Fna.
I had been looking forward to seeing this place, so I of course went big and got a platter of various meats. Delicious. My new life goal may be to return to Marrakesh and systematically try each and every one of the hundreds of food stalls in Jemaa el-Fna.

In the evening, circles gather around a dozen bands scattered surprisingly close together in Jemaa el-Fna. It is an amazing spectacle, and while the sounds themselves are quite different from the adan, this was another case where the mingling of musical sounds from separate, competing sources flew in the face of my own sensitivities about respecting boundaries of acoustic space, no doubt developed by my self-consciousness as a performer of loud instruments like bagpipes and saxophone. I did not record much of the music for a number of reasons, but if you are interested in getting more of a sense of the sounds in Jemaa el-Fna, I recommend taking a look at the documentary “Musical Brotherhoods of the Trans-Saharan Highway” (2005) from Sublime Frequencies (another documentary from Hisham Mayet, who is friends with my colleague Brian in Niger and who I cited in another post last summer). The full video is currently available on YouTube; I’d recommend the latter 2/3rds or so, as the film begins in Essaouira, a nearby city on the Moroccan coast:

Aside from the personal/public dichotomy in soundscapes that I’ve described, which itself may be an oversimplification, there’s also a rich diversity of sounds in various other spaces. I’m particularly amazed by the music I hear when I walk into Western-style locations, like Carrefour, a large French grocery store chain. Whenever I’ve visited the Meknes location in the past, the music has almost always been American hip hop or other popular genres, and it often deals with fairly risqué themes. I can only assume that the music is permitted because most people don’t understand the real meaning of the English lyrics; hearing songs about “grinding on my baby” and things to that effect aren’t really what I expect to hear anywhere or anytime in a commercial space, and especially not during Ramadan. Just today I was at Carrefour where the employees at a nearby restaurant were blasting uncensored music by Eminem. I can’t remember the last time I heard “f****t ” sounding from a business in the US. Even though the music is familiar, these minor differences have stuck out to me because they’re unusual in the US. But that’s not to say that everything is different: as I boarded the train in Marrakesh yesterday, I entered a very, very familiar soundscape crafted by the unmistakable, mellifluous sound of Kenny G playing “Songbird”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN2RnjFHmNY

Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, began in Morocco last Tuesday, ushering in a new pace for daily life as the vast majority of the population fasts between dawn and dusk. I was in Niger during Ramadan last year, which had proved quite frustrating at the time because it posed additional challenges to my music research; additionally, because I was essentially living alone, I was pretty removed from any truly meaningful Ramadan experiences. Now that I’m living with a Moroccan family, I’m having a terrific opportunity to observe Ramadan customs in closer detail (even if there may be local differences here compared to Niger or any other country).

Foremost on the mind of pretty much everyone in the CLS program is the issue of fasting. A few students are fasting, and a few more are doing a partial fast (i.e., not eating food, but drinking water during the day), but most of us are not fasting at all. There’s much, much more to Ramadan than just fasting—things I certainly don’t begin to understand—but it is the observance that has changed our daily routine more than anything. Almost all restaurants and many stores are closed during the day, so those who are not fasting need to be sure to pack lunches to bring to class. Additionally, the meal schedule is shifted late as the last consumption before dawn occurs around 3 or 4am; as result, our classes have all been pushed back an hour later in the day to give everyone more time to sleep.

Even if we are not fasting, it’s also important to be mindful that most people around us, including most of our teachers, are, and that when we eat or drink in front of them it can be a cruel sight. Of course, not everyone agrees to what degree visitors to Morocco need to adapt their own lifestyles to respect or show solidarity with local customs, and while few Moroccans seem to expect non-Muslim Americans to fast, students have varying opinions on how much we should keep daytime food and water consumption private. It’s an interesting exercise, although it certainly doesn’t compare to the self-discipline involved with fasting.

I’ve been quite exhausted from the high intensity of this language program and knew that trying to fast throughout the entire month was not something I wanted to do or felt would be worth the additional challenges it would pose to my efforts on learning Arabic, considering that I’m not Muslim. But I did want to have a better grasp of what it feels like to fast for a day, and even though I still have little idea of what it’s like to fast day after day for an entire month, I’m glad that last week I at least went a day observing the fast. I found that by the far the hardest part was going without water for a day, and I’ve developed huge respect for my teachers in particular, who spend the day on their feet  and talking the entire day without a sip. But that period of not consuming anything, for me anyway, made breaking the fast at iftaar, after the sun sets, even more delightful than it had been when I didn’t fast. Taking that first sip of milk and first bite of a date after not eating all day was magical. There’s a whole array of special foods consumed at Ramadan, including several sweets. There’s also a lot of eating in general, which I really can’t complain about.

After iftaar, hordes of people flock to the streets or city center to celebrate the holiday, energized after the evening meal. I’ve yet to go out during Ramadan in Meknes, since I live far from the city center and have also been busy with homework, but my host family put on an impromptu dance party the other night. It was, of course, a lot of fun. (For those wondering, we did sing and dance along to “Saafi.”) I’m hoping that after my final this week I can get out to Meknes with my host family to see the celebrations in town.

I have a few photos and videos from the dance party, but I’ll share those another time. For now I thought I’d share a few highlights from Rabat, Morocco’s capital, which I visited over the weekend. It’s a beautiful city and certainly more cosmopolitan than Meknes, which meant that a lot of people were prepared to answer my poor Arabic (or—shhh, don’t tell—French) in English. The weather was about 20 degrees cooler than Meknes, which was probably the most welcome aspect of the trip; it felt like a miniature vacation of sorts. There are some lovely souqs  (markets), delicious street food and bakeries, and great music shops, but I wouldn’t necessarily say that Rabat is a must-see destination for sight-seers. This is fine with me; I welcomed the chance to take it easy for a couple days. The only challenge was finding something to eat for lunch: with everything in town closed and unable to find a grocery store during our walk around the city, we had to visit that iconic center of globalization, McDonald’s, where I got the “Royal Cheese.” I can’t remember ever eating in a McDonald’s in which the portrait of the King and the portrait of Ronald McDonald share wall space, but I can say I’ve done it now. What was probably more refreshing than anything was the fact that I had ice in my Coke, a small luxury that means so much when you spend the day walking around in the sun.
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Tour Hassan in Rabat was on track to be part of the second largest mosque at the time of its construction several centuries ago, but it was never completed to its original specifications and was eventually destroyed in a major earthquake in 1755. Now it's an iconic image of Rabat, juxtaposed here with one of the many columns that once supported the main part of the mosque.
Tour Hassan in Rabat was on track to be part of the second largest mosque at the time of its construction several centuries ago, but it was never completed to its original specifications and was eventually destroyed in a major earthquake in 1755. Now it’s an iconic image of Rabat, juxtaposed here with one of the many columns that once supported the main part of the mosque.

Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the first king of post-colonial Morocco, which is next to Tour Hassan. Both Mohammed V and Hassan II, the present king's father, are buried here in this beautiful mausoleum.
Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the first king of post-colonial Morocco, which is next to Tour Hassan. Both Mohammed V and Hassan II, the present king’s father, are buried here in this beautiful mausoleum.
Four ornately carved doorways lead into the mausoleum, each with a guard at the entrance. This shot is taken from one entrance looking out through the opposite end of the mausoleum, facing the Atlantic beyond. You can also see a chunk of what I believe was the original wall of the mosque.
Four ornately carved doorways lead into the mausoleum, each with a guard at the entrance. This shot is taken from one entrance looking out through the opposite end of the mausoleum, facing the Atlantic beyond. You can also see a chunk of what I believe was the original wall of the mosque.
The Kasbah des Oudaias, the old fortress protecting Rabat at the mouth of Oued Bou Regreg (Bou Regreg River).
The Kasbah des Oudaias, the old fortress protecting Rabat at the mouth of Oued Bou Regreg (Bou Regreg River).

Next to the Kasbah is a large cemetery overlooking the Atlantic. Not a bad place to be!
Next to the Kasbah is a large cemetery overlooking the Atlantic. Not a bad place to be!

First Glimpses of the Sahara

Over the weekend I finally set foot in a part of the world that I’ve wanted to see since I was quite young. My interest in the Sahara has matured from an early fascination with images of camels and sifting mountains of sand as I’ve been reading more and more about the region and its peoples and cultures over the past few years, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t continue to feel some of that same early excitement from my childhood, stemming from the exoticism of the Sahara to which any American with a pulse has undoubtedly been exposed.

Although I had intended to visit the Sahara last summer during my time in Niger, circumstances didn’t really allow for it at the time. And this past weekend’s trip was not exactly my ideal way to make such a visit, crammed into a huge, air-conditioned bus with nearly forty other American students rushing from one point to another on a jam-packed schedule. Being part of an obnoxiously large tour group wasn’t my dream visit to the Sahara, and even though riding a camel and sleeping under the stars in the Sahara were experiences I can now happily check off on my bucket list, there were particularly rewarding experiences this weekend that also weren’t part of my nebulous idea of what an ideal trip to the Sahara would entail. Most significantly, and most rewarding of all, I never imagined that whenever I would visit the Sahara that I’d be communicating with locals in Arabic.

So, I’ve had a quintessential tourist experience of the Sahara, and although I still yearn for many return trips in which my time is spent living and getting to know people in a little less structured or artificial contexts, tourism is a hugely important industry for people throughout the Sahara and it is an issue of profound significance with regard to Tuareg music. This was an experience I might not have sought out on my own time and money, but it will provide useful perspective as I get to this region more intimately in the future, in shaa’a Allah.

Breakfast stop in the Middle Atlas, the first mountain range and one of many amazingly beautiful landscapes we encountered en route from Meknes to the Sahara.
Breakfast stop in the Middle Atlas, the first mountain range and one of many amazingly beautiful landscapes we encountered en route from Meknes to the Sahara.
A Barbary ape in a campground in the Middle Atlas.
A Barbary ape in a campground in the Middle Atlas.
Entering the High Atlas, which in many ways resemble the rocky landscapes of the American Southwest, including the Grand Canyon.
Entering the High Atlas, which in many ways resemble the rocky landscapes of the American Southwest.
An abandoned structure near a sprawling oasis town where a lot of dates are grown, on the Sahara side of the High Atlas.
An abandoned structure near a sprawling oasis town on the Sahara side of the High Atlas.

First views of the Sahara: Merzouga, the town where we met our camels and guides into the dunes. This picture also highlights that contrary to popular assumption, the Sahara is not one giant sea of sand but in fact comprises several different landscapes, including the flat, rocky terrain in the foreground.
First views of the Sahara: Merzouga, the town where we met our camels and guides into the dunes. This picture also highlights that contrary to popular assumption, the Sahara is not one giant sea of sand but in fact comprises several different landscapes, including the flat, rocky terrain in the foreground.

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I'm here, wearing Sahawari garb and a tagelmust/cheche/turban to protect from the sun and sand.
I’m here, wearing Sahawari garb and a tagelmust/cheche/turban to protect me from the sun and sand.

Riding off into the twilight.
Riding off into the twilight.
It's actually quite difficult to take photos from the back of a camel, so this is from after we arrived at our camp.
It’s actually quite difficult to take photos from the back of a camel, so this is from after we arrived at our camp.
Sunrise.
Sunrise.
Self-portrait.
Self-portrait.
On our way out of Merzouga after camping, we stopped in a nearby village to attempt a performance of Gnawa music, which is a rich tradition that is also quite popular among foreigners. Although it developed in Morocco, it shares many traits with musical practices from West Africa, as it emerged among descendants of Sahelian peoples brought from Mali, Ghana, and Guinea as slaves around the 17th century.
On our way out of Merzouga after camping, we stopped in a nearby village to attend a performance of Gnawa music, which is a rich tradition that is also quite popular among foreigners. Although it developed in Morocco, it shares many traits with musical practices from West Africa, as it emerged among descendants of Sahelian peoples brought from Mali, Ghana, and Guinea as slaves around the 17th century.

Hello, Niger! This was an interesting but entirely surprising discovery in a tourist shop we visited: this collection of crosses was presented as a collection of compasses representing different families, but from what I understand these are actually all cities in Niger (see Agadez and Zinder in the lower right corner of the box, for example). From previous readings, my understanding is that artisans in Niger developed these symbols for Saharan cities in Niger in order to attract tourists interested in collectible artifacts. Although undoubtedly rooted in historically significant symbolism, it's striking how artwork from several thousand miles away also winds up in another part of the Sahara. (I also saw other artwork, such as leather pillows, decorated in an identical fashion to those I saw in Niger.)
Hello, Niger! This was an interesting discovery in a tourist shop we visited: this collection of crosses was presented as a collection of compasses representing different families, but from what I understand these are actually all cities in Niger (see Agadez and Zinder in the lower right corner of the box, for example). From previous readings, my understanding is that artisans in Niger developed these symbols for Saharan cities in Niger in order to attract tourists interested in collectible artifacts. Although undoubtedly rooted in historically significant symbolism, it’s striking how artwork from several thousand miles away also winds up in another part of the Sahara. (I also saw other artwork, such as leather pillows, decorated in an identical fashion to those I saw in Niger.)

“Saafi”: A Catchy Example of Darija

This week in my Darija class we listened to a new song by Moroccan pop star Asma Lmnawar called “Saafi.” It was a great way to hone our listening chops with Moroccan Darija, because it really is distinctive and quite difficult to understand at first when compared to the standardized Fusha most students study in the US. It also happens to be a great example of how much French language has influenced Darija. Finally, it’s just an absurdly catchy pop song–and one with clear influence from Bollywood; the opening choral section reminds me in particular of the main theme from the 1997 film “Dil To Pagal Hai” (“The Heart is Crazy”) starring Shahrukh Khan, which I happened to watch a few months ago.

You can listen to “Saafi” below. There are two things I want to point out here, although I’m sure there are plenty more interesting aspects of Darija to outline in the song that I simply can’t pick up on at this point. First, there’s the title: “saafi” is in some ways synonymous with another Arabic expression, “khalaas,” which in this context of a gushy pop tune might be interpreted as “salvation,” “[good] riddance,” or “it’s over.” But “saafi” and “khalaas” don’t really sound alike, and of course that’s important from a songwriting perspective. What’s interesting about “saafi” is that its origins in French are really easy to identify: it basically means the same thing as “c’est fin” (“it’s over”).

You can indulge in sexual activities at any point during the 4 to 6 hours after taking free sample of viagra the capsule. The herbal weak ejaculation treatment has proved to continue reading for source cialis viagra australia be very careful regarding the formulation. Microphone placements vary, buy canada levitra but are typically small round openings near the battery door. Thus; it cures the problems happened in the levitra samples reproductive organs. The second thing is the way that Darija lacks a lot of short vowel sounds that are more prevalent in standard Arabic, other dialects, and other languages; this is partly due to the influence of Amazigh (Berber) languages that are indigenous to North Africa (unlike Arabic, which arrived during the 7th century CE). Listen to the first verse: “Saafi saafi skut hta kilma saafi” (in my poor translation something along the lines of “It’s over, it’s over, shut up until the word[s] ‘it’s over'”). Rendered in more standardized Arabic the line might be pronounced “…iskut hataa kalima….” It’s hard to convey in text, and it’s certainly a subtle difference for people who aren’t familiar with Arabic, but mashing together all the consonants without some vowels to space them out mks t rlly hrd t ndrstnd! In shaa’a Allah, I’ll start getting the hang of it. Until then, Moroccan pop songs like “Saafi” offer me little textual meaning but some great beats to dance to, and I love them nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xQt9iEBQWg

From Roman Mauretania to the “Moroccan Versailles”

I wasn’t kidding when I mentioned that my studies would be keeping me busy, but my speaking skills continue to improve dramatically, even if some days are more rewarding than others. I’ve had some great experiences in the past week and fantastic stories to share, but some of those will have to wait until I’m home. Let’s just say for now that my dance moves that I debuted at a wedding in Niamey last summer are working their charms in Morocco, too!

Here are a few shots from some sightseeing I did over the weekend. On Friday we visited the tomb of Moullay Ismail, one of Morocco’s most important and infamous historical figures. It’s a beautiful, extravagant place right here in Meknes; Moullay Ismail was known for his ruthlessness but also for his aspirations to make Meknes into an extravagant Moroccan Versailles after he moved the capital here from Fez, during the time of Louis XIV in France.

I've fallen in love with how beautifully decorated many doors are here. I'm compiling photos of doors, and maybe after I have the chance to do some post-processing back home I'll post a collection of them. For now, here's an unedited close-up.
I’ve fallen in love with how beautifully decorated many doors are here. I’m compiling photos of doors, and after I have the chance to do some post-processing back home I hope to post a collection of them. For now, here’s an unedited close-up from the entrance to Moullay Ismail.
The entrance to the tomb of Moullay Ismail, one of Morocco's most important and infamous historical figures. He was known for his ruthlessness but also for his aspirations to make Meknes into an extravagant Moroccan Versailles after he moved the capital here from Fez, during the time of Louis XIV in France.
The entrance to the tomb of Moullay Ismail.
Another fountain in the tomb of Moullay Ismail, Meknes.
Another fountain in the tomb of Moullay Ismail, Meknes. In case you can’t tell, we were melting in the heat!

On our way out of Moullay Ismail.
On our way out of Moullay Ismail.

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On Saturday we visited the ruins of a former capital of Roman Mauretania, Volubilis. After studying Latin for years in high school, it was great to see some more extensive Roman ruins after only seeing some for the first time in France two years ago.

The ruins of Volubilis, in what was once the southern edge of Roman Mauretania.
The ruins of Volubilis, in what was once the southern edge of Roman Mauretania.
It's amazing to stand in the middle of the street of a once-thriving city and imagine what it must have looked like at its peak some 1500 years ago.
It’s amazing to stand in the middle of the street of a once-thriving city and imagine what it must have looked like at its peak some 1500 years ago.

Finally, we visited the nearby town of Moullay Idriss, named for one of Morocco’s most revered saints whose tomb is located here. Many people make a pilgrimage here, and according to one resource I’ve read some locals say that attending the annual pilgrimage to Moullay Idriss at least five times in a lifetime is equivalent to making the Hajj in Mecca. It’s a beautiful town positioned across two mountaintops, but after an extensive day of touring around in the heat, I spent my free time at a streetside restaurant, where I ate the best kifta (minced lamb) I’ve ever had. The food here is phenomenal, especially the meat and fruits. I’ve rarely had such flavorful meat, and I’m very thrilled that it’s currently melon season, so we’ve been eating a lot of watermelon and another melon that is pretty similar to honeydew.

Moullay Idriss, nestled on two mountaintops. We're looking down from a high vantage point down onto the second summit in town.
Moullay Idriss, nestled on two mountaintops. We’re looking down from a high vantage point down onto the second summit in town.

Labyrinthine Linguistics in al-Maghrib

Ahlan w sahlan! La bas? Ma lish? Ça va? How’s it going?

I’ve entered another linguistic maze this summer, and compared to my trip to Niger last year I have to say it doesn’t necessarily get easier to navigate. In Niger there are dozens of indigenous languages with which I had no familiarity. French was the language of colonial administration and of formal secular education, so it was different from what most Nigeriens spoke in their daily lives and was also the second, third, fourth, etc. language for most speakers; its usage was, for the most part, clearly delineated once I became familiar with the sound of West African French.

In Morocco, it gets tricky because the spoken language in daily life and the written and more formal language of media, etc. are closely related forms of Arabic: one, the local dialect known as Darija, and the other, Fus’ha, often referred to in English as Modern Standard. It’s hard to know in which language someone is speaking, and, in fact, it seems like this is not only due to my own confusion but also due to uncertainty by others about what I’ll understand. (In truth, I’ve probably misunderstood some of the linguistic relationships I’m about to describe.) Darija blends standard Arabic with vocabulary derived from French and from indigenous Amazigh (Berber) languages, which are related to Tamasheq (the Tuareg language I studied a bit while in Niger). But beyond simply drawing new vocabulary there are completely different expressions, greetings, patterns for verb conjugations, etc. Further complicating the picture is that not all Moroccans have studied Fus’ha. In other words, the little Arabic I have studied so far—Fus’ha, in my coursework—has limited utility at this stage.

Each day I am speaking a blend of Fus’ha, Darija, French, and English with members of my host family in order to be understood. Remarkably, we’re getting by, and it’s an absolutely exhausting but rewarding experience. The other students are at a variety of levels of Arabic; I am among those with the least amount of training, so it can sometimes be frustrating as I can’t always keep up with everyone else, even though almost none of us arrived familiar with Moroccan Darija. On Monday we’ll resume classes in Fus’ha but will also begin studying Darija, which will make communicating in Morocco infinitely more enjoyable and rewarding. [Note: I wrote this on Saturday but didn’t get a chance to post until Monday…I’ve done the Darija class, it’s great; I’ve also just met my Moroccan language partner, Younnes, with whom I’ll be meeting at least 3 hours a week to talk, explore Meknes, etc.]

It was formulated to exhibit if it can be successful as a drug that treats high blood viagra wholesale india pressure. You and your love partner will enjoy the life to the fullest. levitra price The pregnant this link levitra vardenafil ladies are strictly advised to stay away from alcohol and smoking. At the time of consultation you should inform your doctor if you suffer from the following symptoms before he prescribes levitra 100mg * Heart rhythm disorders/ heart disorders* High/low blood pressure* Liver/kidney disorder* Hearing/vision problems* Physical deformity in the penis relax and ensure proper erection and stimulation. viagra is very economically priced and also comes with many discount offers. There’s much more to say and share, but I’m not going to have much free time, and that time is being preciously spent watching Arab Idol with my host family, talking to kids playing drums in the street, or playing pickup soccer games. I’ll leave it to a few photos to say more for now.

Baab al-Mansour, a beautiful and enormous doorway in the old walls of Meknes.
Baab al-Mansour, a beautiful and enormous doorway in the old walls of Meknes.

View from the roof of the language center where I'm studying. You can see part of the gorgeous plateau in which Meknes is nestled; the climate and environment is really, really pleasant—it's been cooler than it was in Southern California lately, but completely sunny.
View from the roof of the language center where I’m studying. You can see part of the gorgeous plateau in which Meknes is nestled; the climate and environment is really, really pleasant—it’s been cooler than it was in Southern California lately, but completely sunny. [Update on Monday: Okay, now that I’m carrying a bag full of books around town, I’ll admit that it’s become rather hot.]
The Language Pledge: "I will speak Arabic (and Moroccan darija) only from now until the end of the program, and . . ." [we then add our own component to the pledge]
The Language Pledge: “I will speak Arabic (and Moroccan darija) only from now until the end of the program, and . . .” [we then add our own component to the pledge]

Tea at my Moroccan home on Friday. Friday is the big prayer day and pretty much all of Morocco takes a shorter work day and eats couscous. We hosted some other students from my program and members of their host families. Here you see some members of my host family as well as my classmate Michael and my roommate Corey (from left to right): Ifnan, Yussef, Michael, Corey, Hafsa, and Lotfy.
Tea at my Moroccan home on Friday. Friday is the big prayer day and pretty much all of Morocco takes a shorter work day and eats couscous. We hosted some other students from my program and members of their host families. Here you see some members of my host family as well as my classmate Michael and my roommate Corey (from left to right): Ifnan, Yussef, Michael, Corey, Hafsa, and Lotfy.