theeruditebadger

[theeruditebadger]

Hiya folks! Just spent a few days in New York City for Spring Break, my first real trip as an adult to the Big Apple (though technically I still can't order a drink, ugh). Ate so much delicious food (Harlem brunch, Koreatown, Thai, Mediterranean seafood in Jersey, Brooklyn pizza, downtown street meat, Magnolia Bakery, etc), got to tour Etsy and Bloomberg, read a book and dogwatched in Central Park, even somewhat figured out the metro tram subway. Loads of fun, definitely up for a return trip soon, travel is so much nicer when friends and family take you under their wing and show you what's what in their town. 

[theeruditebadger]

Food Pics Part I: I'm normally not a big fan of couscous back in the States, but the couscous here is (unsurprisingly) much better and more flavorful, and also consumed in mass quantities. Couscous is very communal, families gather around one large platter and attack with spoons. The more traditional method involves rolling it into balls by hand, but they tell me that's a softer variety of couscous, not to mention much more difficult for Americans to handle. 

Moroccan diets are very carb-heavy, bread often serves as an edible utensil. 

[theeruditebadger]

Howdy folks! I fully acknowledge my total inability to maintain any sort of blogging presence while abroad despite repeated promises to do so. My sincerest apologies. Rest assured the time was (mostly) put to good use, and I’ll try to make up some ground in the last week before I leave.

Anyways, today I ordered the chwarma plat at a place we’ve dubbed the “orange café” for the color of its outdoor seating, and it struck me that before Morocco I hadn’t even heard of chwarma (I assume that's the anglicized French of "shawarma") before The Avengers. And yet here it’s become a weekly, if not daily, occurrence. 

That seemed important at the time… Pics and stories from the past few months are on the way! 

[theeruditebadger]

Amen. Travel in general, real adventure without the touristy frills, is pretty great. Only wish there was less emphasis on the "study" part. 

The World Needs Your Teenager to Study Abroad

Today’s teenagers are the next generation of leaders and innovators; they will be called upon to find solutions to global problems and challenges. They will need to be confident problem-solvers and know how to work effectively across cultures and borders.  Study abroad provides these essential skills and so much more. 

[theeruditebadger]

Hey all, for the record this two-week hiatus was not planned. Things got hectically hectic when school started, and I have loads of pictures and stories from Rabat, two beaches, Maeknes and Fez that'll be going up when I have a free weekend (which isn't for a while, sadly). This weekend we're riding camels in the Sahara! You read that right: one-humped desert schooners. We'll see what they think of Chinese food (race in Morocco is a story for another time, but suffice to say all Asians are from China). Stay tuned! 

Oh, couldn't upload it because I was in Fez last Saturday, but the top photo is Week Three of No Shave Morocco! And below is a bonus pic from today that'll count as Week Three-and-a-Half. 

I need a haircut. 

[theeruditebadger]

A week later, a whisker (or two) richer. And apparently my beard is red? My Swedish ancestors must've been Vikings, would explain my penchant for feasting. In any case, No Shave Morocco continues as promised, though I might go to a local barber for a Maghreb-style trim at some point since Moroccans usually don't grow theirs out very long. Something to do with not wanting to be mistaken for Salafists. This is Week Two. Apologies for the worse quality compared to Week One, I have no idea how the quality/lighting is so good on that one. 

[theeruditebadger]

The Great Badger Name Quest Tie-Breaker, or What Should We Call Me Stage II?

So, in case you missed it, I've been trying to choose a new name for this blog since last weekend. The votes are in, and we are currently tied between welltraveledbadger--wtb--and abadgerabroad--aba. Keeping theeruditebadger--teb--received some support, so that is a third option. I'm also partial to somehow using the word "wander" or "wandering," but for now those are the options three. Choose wisely. Don't hate the rhymer, hate the game. The winner will be picked out of a tagine announced Monday night (Morocco time)! 

[theeruditebadger]

I like A Bagder Abroad. ABA.

RUN-OFF RESULTS

welltraveledbadger—wtb—1

abadgerabroad—aba—1

theeruditebadger—teb

Previously… 

Joleebindo, your suggestion has been seconded, and abadgerabroad is now neck-and-neck with welltraveledbadger and badgerdoesmorocco! Assuming of course that this anon isn’t you. I’ll probably disqualify bdm as this blog isn’t supposed to be specific to the Maghreb, but behold the standings: 

welltraveledbadger—wtb—2

wellfedbadger—wfb

travelswithbadger—twb—1

travelswithdaniel—twd—1

danieldoesmorocco—ddm—1

badgerdoesmorocco—bdm—2

jetsettingbadger—jsb—1

badgerstudiesabroad—bsa

badgertravels—1

abadgerabroad—aba—2

thewanderingbadger—twb

waywardbadger—wwb—1

badgertakestheworld—btw—1

badgerworldwide—bww—1

worldlybadger—1

theeruditebadger—teb—1

There’s still time to vote/suggest more! Polling closes on Saturday when I post another No Shave Morocco pic. In the event of a tie, we’ll have a runoff for another day or week. 

Edit: At least one person is fine with this badger being “erudite.” So not changing the name is now also a last-minute option. 

[theeruditebadger]

I vote for waywardbadger

My second anon post ever! Added to the list. 

[theeruditebadger]

hellotherechloe answered to your post “Thoughts on Name?”

welltraveledbadger rolls of the tongue well

That makes two for welltraveledbadger! 

Rest of you get your vote on! 

[theeruditebadger]

Rather rambling journal entry, I know. It's mostly stream-of-consciousness. In future I’ll hopefully write more as I go, instead of waiting ‘til the weekend when everything’s jumbled and it feels like I’ve been here both just a day and forever. Anyways, here’s Week I: August 23-31.

Also, this badger needs a name! 

Rabat, Morocco

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Air France flight last Friday from Dulles to Paris was delayed two hours—mechanical problem, apparently—but that only shortened my layover in Paris. First time on an Airbus A380-800 double-decker, quite possibly the softest and quietest airliner I’ve ever flown on. Inflight meal was okay, I feel like Delta/Korean serve better. Saw Skyfall and half of The Truman Show, even managed a few hours sleep.

It was warm and humid when we arrived at Rabat-Salé Airport. I think three people lost their bags and had to buy clothes and things in the city until the airline could retrieve them, I’ve yet to suffer that. We drove across the river into Rabat, learning in the process that Salé consisted mostly of overcrowded slums. The group is a fairly even mix of boys and girls from all over the US, the largest contingents hailing from American University and George Washington University in DC, including two people I’ve had classes with. A small number of us are Cairo transfers. 

The weather is very warm but rarely stifling: low-to-high 80s during the day, cooling down to low 70s at night. There’s also usually a nice sea breeze all day long. The humidity can be harsh though, and I’m regretting leaving my Eucerin at home. I don’t know if it’s a reaction to the new cuisine, water or weather, but my eczema is the worst it’s been since middle school, I’m breaking out in rashes all over and the occasional mosquito/spider bite is not helping. Argon oil is apparently the local remedy, I must look into obtaining some. 

The food is tasty and usually cheap, though we have been unpleasantly surprised by menu prices on more than a few occasions even with the exchange rate (rule of thumb when going from dirhams to dollars: divide by 8). The infamous Big Mac Index does us little good here, as a burger, fries and soda cost $6. But that’s the beauty of doing a homestay: the family provides breakfast and dinner during the week, with the addition of lunch on weekends, and the meals are bountiful and delicious. We’ve had all manner of tagine, pizza, chwarma, bread, rice, couscous and mint tea, and the fruit is so sweet! Grapes, melon, haven’t had much stone fruit yet and we apparently have to wash the skin vigorously with bottled water to clear out the pesticides (if not peel the skin off, which I consider a crime when eating peaches, nectarines, apples, etc.).

I should also note the cabs. I’ve taken a cab exactly three times back home, and the first time scared the hell out of me because I had no idea how to go about getting one and paying for it. Easily the most stressful part of my trip to Madison, WI last February. I mean, did you know they take credit cards? I sure didn’t. Anyways, cabs here are 1) everywhere and 2) super cheap. 20 dirham (little over $2) will get you across town, though at least one student was cheated into paying a higher fare. Every city has intracity and intercity cabs; the latter are usually old white Mercedes and more expensive, while the former have a designated color to indicate their municipal certification (blue in Rabat, red in Casablance, etc.). Long story short, I’ve used cabs more in a week than I ever did in the States. Biggest problem I’ve had here is keeping enough change and small-denomination bills on me. Cabs can’t break a 200 DH note. 

We've done some touristy things, most notably visiting the ancient Roman/Phoenician ruins-turned-necropolis of Chellah on the outskirts of Rabat and the Qasbah, or old coastal fortress that once guarded Rabat from pirates and rival regional lords. I'll do some photo compilations shortly. 

So yesterday (Saturday) my roommate and I met up with someone in the medina (old city) and wandered the market for a good hour. A shopkeeper overheard us speaking in English and invited us into his stall for tea. We were as astounded at his phenomenal English (he claimed to have taught himself from books and television) as he was when we told him in Darija that we studied MSA back in the States. He sold djellabah and keftans, long loose traditional Moroccan garments. Djellabah have hoods while keftans do not. He pulled out all the stops on us, having me try on four different djellabah, slashing his prices in half and claiming he needed help paying his electrical bill. We probably would’ve succumbed to his well-played pitch, but this was our first week in-country and our first time bargaining. We were green tourists with no background on the real cost and quality of Moroccan textiles, and we knew it. In such a position abroad, the worse thing you can do is make a spur-of-the-moment purchase. Even if the merchant is honest (and there’s no reason to believe he wasn’t), prudence demands you decline and, if you wish, return later armed with better information. Besides, I have a Korean mother, and Moroccan guilt ain’t got nothing on the Oriental variety. Trust me, I dated a Jewish girl. 

Still, it took maybe 10 minutes of us politely but firmly stating we did not want to buy anything right now. We did promise to return with our friends—and we meant it, his English was that good—but only after we’ve verified his 1) prices and 2) reputation; he claimed to be popular among American Embassy personnel. So expect more on Abdul Aziz the djellabah merchant shortly. 

Biggest surprise here? Most people don’t wear shorts. Not that it’s necessarily frowned upon, and we’ve seen plenty of people wearing shorts (and plenty of women in short-shorts, miniskirts and spaghetti straps; not something you’d normally look twice at in the States, but we’ve had so many dress-code briefings that it is rather jarring, not to mention upsetting for the girls who claim to have changed their whole wardrobe to accommodate Muslim expectations), but most people wear pants. And it feels like Cali weather. I find this nuts. We were warned about this beforehand, so I brought only one pair on the off chance I’ll need it, plus swim shorts. But I only have one pair of pants (Boy Scout hiking zip-offs) that can be considered “light.” Jeans and other pants do not jive as well with the climate. 

Classes start tomorrow. Somehow I placed into Arabic 302 despite never finishing Al Kitaab Part 2, so I’m expecting to drop out in the first week. But the professor is awesome, and perhaps if I work my tail off I can catch up and stick with it. Perhaps. Otherwise, I’ll be in accelerated Darija (Moroccan colloquial), Media Arabic I, and History of the Arab Spring. Still trying to choose a fifth class from among these stellar options:

Contemporary History of Morocco

Contemporary Moroccan Culture

Amazigh (Berber) History and Culture

Islam in Morocco Today

Gender, Islam and Society

Thoughts? I have one week to shop around. Lemme know if there's anything you wanna hear more about, I'm still figuring out how to organize this. 

[theeruditebadger]

Ruins of Chellah on the outskirts of Rabat. (Read more)

[theeruditebadger]

joleebindo answered your post: Thoughts on Name?

i was thinking i liked the flow of abadgerabroad but it is way too hard to read. welltraveledbadger and badgertravels are my favorites.

Oooh abadgerabroad is very nice! And at least as a title it'd be spaced. It's now a candidate. Anyways, so far we have one vote for that, one for welltraveledbadger and one for badgertravels, still working on how I'll shorthand the latter (perhaps just "badger"). A friend of mine signaled his support for badgerdoesmorocco over Facebook Chat, as well. 

I also really like the word "trek," but I'm not sure how to integrate it... 

Edit: Totally forgot about thewanderingbadger!!! Or something to do with "wandering"... 

[theeruditebadger]

In other news, I'm gonna see how long I can go abroad without shaving. This is partially out of fear that my electric razor will explode if I try to charge it despite the converter, partially out of curiosity as to what I will look like (I've never let it grow more than a couple weeks, the mustache annoys me in photos), and partially out of envy: one kid in the program just spent the summer in Jordan and has a kick-ass beard as a result. Locals ask if he's Muslim. That is now my goal for the semester: to be mistaken for a Muslim. 

I plan on doing this every week. It's been one week since I shaved, another pic coming next weekend! 

[theeruditebadger]

Thoughts on Name?

Currently, while abroad, I am theeruditebadger. "Erudite" was one of my favorite words growing up because I read Civilizations by Felipe Fernández-Armesto (yes, I was one of those kids who read complicated things to sound smart) and one of the reviews on the back called him "erudite," which my parents told me meant "world-wise," which I took to mean "wise in the ways of the world" as a result of being well-traveled.

In retrospect, this does not seem to be accurate. I like the flow of "thetravelingbadger" but "ttb" sucks as an acronym (as opposed to "teb"). So at this point, I'm entertaining suggestions. Here are some more options, or suggest your own: 

welltraveledbadger--wtb ("well-traveled" is hyphenated, like "man-eating")

wellfedbadger--wfb ("كول!" is Darija for "Consume mass quantities!", plus the food is bloody delicious. There will be food pics.)

travelswithbadger--twb (y'know, like Steinbeck)

travelswithdaniel--twd (see above)

danieldoesmorocco--ddm (now I'm just being obnoxious)

badgerdoesmorocco--bdm (the acronym is probably inapropro in a conservative Muslim society, plus this isn't supposed to be a Morocco-specific blog, though I suppose it could be...)

jetsettingbadger--jsb

badgerstudiesabroad--bsa (I'm also a Boy Scout)

badgertravels--(no acronym, but I do like how it sounds)

abadgerabroad--aba (courtesy of joleebindo)

thewanderingbadger--twb

waywardbadger--wwb (courtesy of anon)

badgertakestheworld--btw

badgerworldwide--bww

worldlybadger

theeruditebadger--teb

Hit me with your best shot! (Fire away!)

[theeruditebadger]

Alright folks, I did it. I made a travel blog, hopefully so I'll be forced to jot down my experiences on a somewhat regular basis. I kept a daily diary when I spent two weeks in Japan (pre-Tumblr days) and that really helped me remember everything, here we'll shoot for at least weekly/whenever the muse strikes. 

First up: Morocco. I'll upload some photos soon. Rabat has some nice sights but is ultimately not much of a travel destination, so stay tuned for when we start doing field trips around the country. 

I did a full run-down earlier on my personal blog (plus some background on why I'm in Rabat and not Cairo--guess), here's the relevant bits: 

"Marhaba!" is Arabic for "Hello!" for all you illiterate peasants my beloved followers. I’ve taken four semesters, might as well use them somewhere (people rarely use the Modern Standard Arabic we’re taught) . . .

So here’s the deal: I’m currently embarking on the next stage of continuing to waste my parents’ savings furthering my college education by studying abroad in Morocco. 

I’ll repeat that: I’ll be living in Rabat, Morocco for the semester. I wrapped up two summer internships in DC last week and flew Air France from Dulles via Paris, arrived in-country Saturday and been in orientation since. Today we finally met and moved in with our host families (still waiting to meet half of mine), and WiFi should improve dramatically over the piss-poor signal we got in the hotel. Of course, I haven’t confirmed the family actually has wireless Internet access, but routers are pretty cheap if worse comes to worst. 

This is going to be a busy semester, even without the living-abroad aspect. I’ll be taking Advanced Arabic (they placed me in 302 though technically I should be in 301, having only gotten five chapters into Al-Kitaab Part 2 and barely scraping a passing grade last semester, so repeating 202 is a distinct and probably wiser possibility), an accelerated Moroccan Darija dialect class, and Media Arabic, on top of two other classes. Learning the language and culture is my highest priority. 

Cheers! 

Photo: looking northeast from the mausoleum of King Mohammed V at the Tour Hassan II.