The First Week or so in Ifrane (at least with both of us here)

I’m finally getting around to writing something about our first week or so in Morocco. Things have been going pretty smoothly: Sam’s been working quite a bit and getting into her groove, and I’ve been getting to know Ifrane, doing some reading, attempting to get everything that we need around the apartment and cooking a bit. I talked with a geographer at the university as well as the dean of his department, and it looks like there’s a good possibility that I can work (for pay) on one of two projects involving GIS and/or help teach a GIS course, all of which would be pretty awesome. One of the projects involves heritage sites in Fez, and the other involves a new nature reserve in the Middle Atlas mountains. However, neither project has been funded. Plus the dean asked if I’d be interested in doing some administrative work (perhaps he has something else in mind for me?), to which I replied NOT REALLY. We’ll see how everything turns out!

Sam and I are both TRYING to improve our French and learn a little Arabic, though I still get some pretty strange looks at the marche (market) when I attempt to make use of what I know (or don’t know) in these languages. People are so amazingly friendly here, especially when you attempt a few words in Arabic before switching to French. Sometimes you’ll be walking past someone who is staring at you like you have a giant appendage growing from your forehead, but once you greet them in Arabic, they smile this huge smile and greet you in return. One thing that seems to confuse the hell out of everyone is my habit of using the Spanish version of words that I don’t know in French, and simply pronouncing them as one would in French. The languages have some similarities, so occasionally this works. But usually it doesn’t.

I was trying to get a dairy thermometer at the marche yesterday so that I can make some yogurt (since the containers of yogurt here are pitifully small), and the shop owner was having a pretty entertaining time trying to figure out what I was saying. He asked me to draw what I wanted, then suggested what I drew looked like a flute. I think we finally connected, but he suggested I go to the pharmacy, I’m assuming to buy a thermometer that one uses to see if one has a fever. One’s fever rarely runs to 118 degrees Fahrenheit or above (the temperature I need to cool the boiling milk to), and it had already been ten minutes of intense concentration, so I gave up. I whipped up a batch of yogurt today using my finger as a thermometer, so who knows if it will actually set.

We are still in that new apartment mode where you don’t have some of those essential things that you usually buy in huge quantities and always have in your pantry and therefore never think of as essential. Things that new apartments should just COME with. Like spices and vinegar and brown sugar and flour and snack food and other such stuff. The reason it is taking us so long is because there is no large supermarket type thing in Ifrane, and it can be pretty interesting finding what one wants, partially because all labels are in French and Arabic and partially because of the nature of where we shop for groceries. We have three places where we can get groceries: the superette, the marche and the souk:

1. The superette is like a convenience store with relatively high prices, but the prices are at least marked on the packages, getting rid of any question of what the price actually is as well as any need to speak too much French. The nearest superette is in downtown Ifrane, which is about a half hour walk from here.

2. The marche is a set of stalls and rooms set up in this building about 20 minutes walk from here. You can find quite a bit of stuff at the marche, though it can be a bit tricky since sometimes stuff is just piled on shelves. Prices are better here, but you have to haggle a little bit, no prices are marked and transactions are in French or Arabic only. There is a hall that’s filled with produce and dead animals hanging all over the place, and it’s a pretty excellent experience getting what you want.

3. And finally there’s the souk: the souk is a large outdoor weekend farmer’s market (about 15 minutes from here) where they sell produce, spices, shoes, tupperware, bikes, pans, cell phone chargers, etc. Prices at the souk are ridiculously low, though they’re a bit higher for foreigners. Once again, all transactions are in French or Arabic. I’m really not much of a haggler to begin with, and the language difference makes it even more difficult. One guy looked devious when he charged us 2 dirhams for a pomegranate, but since 2 dirhams is 25 cents, I’m just not too concerned if I’m getting gouged. Any which way, we got quite a bit of food and bulk stuff for around $20, which was pretty shocking. I DID manage to reduce the price of a stove top espresso maker from 80 dirham to 65 dirham, and then proceeded to blow the extra $2 on some of the shittiest coffee I've EVER tasted. I need to get a Moroccan's opinion to see if maybe I'm brewing coriander, wood chips, spanish fly or something else. The espresso maker, however, is awesome. Pure genius. I’ve been wanting one for years.

Ok, this is getting long enough. Plenty of other things have happened, we've been meeting some pretty cool people, we went to our first f'tour (breakfast, which is at 6:30 p.m. during Ramadan), yada, yada. Take a look at the pictures: First Week in Ifrane. We're heading to the imperial city of Meknes this weekend, so hopefully there will be some cooler pictures next week. Hope all is well.