MontanaRon

An English teacher's blog about his travels and his digital art.

Month: December 2005

Alcohol and New Year’s Eve, Feast of Sacrifice

December 31, 2005 /

Technically, alcohol is illegal in Morocco. Technically . . . However, I just returned from shopping at LaBel Vie, which has a somewhat small but well-stocked liquor store separate from the main grocery section. The usual selection of beer and wine can be found on the shelves, but the “hardcore” drinker can also pick up a bottle of whiskey, scotch, gin or other liquor from the U.S., England and elsewhere. If you’re so inclined and well-heeled, you can splurge on a bottle of French wine for $300 or a bottle of champagne for $250. As I pushed my cart past that section today, I saw that it was packed with people, almost all of whom were Moroccans, presumably stocking up for New Year’s celebrations tonight. There had to be nearly 50 people in the small store and you’d have needed a shoehorn to cram anyone else in. It was really unexpected. Most of the people who will imbibe tonight probably do not “trip the light fantastic” that often, so I hope they are careful. I’m told most drinking takes place in private, but I’m sure there will be many out driving tonight. I expect to hear the ambulance and police sirens wailing far into the wee hours of the morning. It appears that New Year’s Eve is a big event here, too. There were many more people walking around in the main plaza than is usual for this time of day on Saturday, so I think there may also be outdoor celebrations, perhaps even fireworks, later tonight, though a few showers are in the forecast. If I’m still up, I may wander around . . . carefully.

I went with Mohammed a few days ago to Rabat. He had to turn in paperwork and some money leftover from a recent conference he attended in Algeria, paid for partly by the State Department. We visited John while we were there and were given a Christmas gift by the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy–a pen, a key chain and a very nice box of chocolates! I think I had mine eaten by the time we returned to Meknes. My original reason for going was to catch the train in Rabat for Casablanca. I have a box of books there which I ordered from Amazon, but they’re being held up by customs until I can claim them. Unfortunately, I still haven’t received my Moroccan identity card and I was afraid the customs officials would want to see my passport, with my expired visa. The police are supposed to issue a receipt when you apply for the i.d. card, but they told me I didn’t need one. I don’t even want to think of the hassle involved trying to explain my “overstay.” Anyway, it was a pleasant trip. Mohammed took one of the back roads on the return journey and I saw some very beautiful countryside. With all the rain we’ve had lately, everything is greening up very nicely. I might take a day-long bike trip to the area to get some photos.

The teacher trainees, my students, are finished with their recent practicum, so it’s back to work next week. Briefly. The week after that is another Muslim holiday, the Eid ul Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice). I believe the actual day is January 11th this year, but it is a week-long celebration, thus no school. What have I been doing this past week? I made the mistake of loading Civilization III, my most addicting game, onto my computer, so I’ve been wasting a LOT of time playing it. Civ IV is now out and I’ve read reviews that say it is the best of the series so far. I’m sure I could find it here somewhere . . . but do I dare?

Lest you think I’m a real slacker (a case COULD be made), I’ll also be giving some workshops to Peace Corps volunteers at the end of Jan/first of Feb. John said he might need me to go to Fez and to Errachidia (Mohammed’s home town), not far from Merzouga and Erg Chebbi, home of some of the biggest sand dunes in Morocco, if not in the world. Those I gotta see!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! If you’re out drinking tonight, please be careful. Don’t drive, ok? More later.

Saturday Drive, Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2005 /

John, my boss, drove down from Rabat yesterday in his quest for snow. It was a chilly, rainy overcast day in Meknes, so we assumed there would be plenty of new snow in the Middle Atlas Mountains south of here. John wanted to drive up to Lake Afenourir, a protected bird habitat, about 26 km south of Azrou.

Lac d’Afenourir

It was an interesting drive in the fog and mist, and, after arriving, we walked near the shore for about 45 minutes, looking for exotic birds, but all we saw were the usual assortment of ducks and geese (though I could have been looking right at the rarest bird in the world and not known). It was rainy, windy and somewhat cold, so we scurried back to the car and drove back to the pavement. John’s been itching to give his 4-wheel drive Subaru, the only Subaru in Morocco as far as he knows, a good off-road test, so we picked a dirt road at random and headed into the Middle Atlas, winding ever higher into the mountains.

The Road Goes Ever On

We got back in a ways, perhaps 10 miles or so, and ended up in a very small, Berber family compound, with the muddy and, in spots, almost impassable track continuing steeply to the ridge beyond. John was getting low on gas, so we decided to go back to the main road. In better weather these roads would be fun to explore to see where they go. Drive far enough, about 150 miles or so, and you’d end up in the Sahara. Again, though, we didn’t see any new snow; the temperature was still just a few degrees too warm.

Middle Atlas Mountains

We stopped in Ifrane on the drive back and ate supper at a very nice cafe. I ordered a pizza and what I thought would be a small salad. The salad turned out to be rather huge. John looked at it and asked, “What the heck did you order!” I told him I thought it would be smaller. He ordered a Vietnamese shrimp salad (yes, Vietnamese) and a Vietnamese omelet. It turned out his order was also more than he bargained for. We managed to polish off the lot, though. Yes, the restaurant serves Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes, but I don’t know how authentic they are. It was quite an eclectic experience–stopping in a town built by the French to resemble an alpine resort, eating East Asian food and, very briefly, having a group of Chinese tourists (presumably) sit next to us. John recognized the language as Chinese, but the group must have decided not to stay, as they sat for only a few minutes and got up and left.

Anyway, that’s how I spent most of Christmas Eve Day. It’s raining again, lightly, today, so I won’t have a white Christmas. But, I’ll have a good one, I suppose. I bought a small turkey breast that I’ll roast, whip up some mashed potatoes and gravy, some frozen green peas and get a loaf of fresh bread from the patisserie. The students are out on practicum this coming week, so I’m in no hurry to make up lesson plans. If it clears up later, maybe I’ll take the bicycle out for a spin. So, wherever you’re at– Korea, the U.S., Canada, Thailand, Laos or Morocco–have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! More later.

Hemorrhage

December 21, 2005 /

Geez, it feels like I’m bleeding money lately. First, yesteday I got home from school about noon and my electricity was off. I figured it was the whole apartment building since the hallway lights didn’t seem to be working either. I waited about an hour, then I went to ask Brahim, the building concierge, if he had power. He did, and I also noticed that the hall lights were working, too. He came to my apartment to check the power box, as I had already done, and came to the conclusion that I needed an electrician. So, he called one and the guy came in short order. Apparently, some of the insulation in the wires behind the box had corroded. He had to pull the old box out and install a new one, but he had to chisel out quite a bit of the wall to get the job done. He finished up earlier this afternoon and the bill came to $160! Sheesh. Hopefully, I can get the landlady, who lives in the Netherlands, to pay this. I’ll check into it.

Then, I’ve been waiting for my Korean National Pension refund. And waiting. I finally emailed the admin guy at Andong National U., who said he was going to turn in my paperwork and take care of everything for me at the time that I left Korea. Either he didn’t get the paperwork in on time, which he seemed to indicate in his return email, or the Korean Pension Office messed up. The pension officer in Korea gave him the number of the International Affairs Division of the Social Security Administration in the U.S. for me to call, saying that they were the only ones who could help me. Of course I’ll phone them, but I don’t see how they’re going to be able to help me, and dealing with any government bureaucracy from overseas will probably be a nightmare. I have a dreadful feeling that I’ve been screwed out of approximately $4,000.

Of course, both these incidents come shortly after I bought my new bike, so perhaps that’s my money-loss trifecta for the year. The upshot is that I have to go on an Austerity Campaign to really limit the amount of money that I spend. More veggies, less meat; more freeware, less shareware/commercial software, etc. I really gotta tighten the purse strings. Uhhhmmm, just as soon as I visit the local patisserie. More later (Hopefully, not more of this type of crap.)

New Bike and Chicken Rotisserie

December 19, 2005 /

Yes, I finally bought a new bike. This one rides smoother, shifts easier and is quieter (no clanking chain) than the other one. I won’t hesitate to take it on longer trips out into the countryside, and since we are supposedly off next week while the students are on practicum, I just might get out and give it a workout. It’s a Peugeot mountain bike. It didn’t cost much, about twice of what I paid for the other one and it doesn’t have shocks. It seems like a good, sturdy, lightweight bike.

There are a lot of rotisserie shops here, places where I could see whole chickens and meats spitted and roasting over open flames, but I’d never bought anything at one them until tonight. I didn’t feel like cooking, so I went to one near the apartment and got a whole chicken to go. It cost about $7.50. I thought that was a bit high, but I saw the counterman put a loaf of bread (not an American loaf, but more like a puffed up flatbread style/shape) in the sack and thought, well, at least I got a little something extra with it. I took it home, planning to cook up some mashed potatoes and peas, but when I unwrapped it, I saw that, while I wasn’t looking, they had put two loaves in and had also put in a very large order of french fries, a bag of rice and a red sauce. Well, that certainly made it worth the price. The chicken was great, but I found that it was also stuffed with a very spicy, Moroccan rice and herb dressing. Quite a good deal, actually.

School and a Cycling Champion

December 15, 2005 /

There’s a definite chill in the air lately, but the days continue to be sunny. The high temperatures have dropped into the upper 50s and the lows are in the high 30s. Hopefully, this is the most extreme that winter will become in Meknes.

I just returned from an admin meeting at the CPR. Unfortunately, Mohammed had to work, so I assumed I would be engulfed and overwhelmed by the Arabic and French that would be swirling about me. Fortunately, the CPR decided to hire two more English teachers, Moroccans whose fluency level in English is very high. I had met both of them before when John and Hakim came down for lunch at the expensive riad in the medina (9/28/05 posting), and they were able to keep me informed of the proceedings. One of them, a very distinguished, gray-haired gentleman, speaks with a pronounced (no pun intended) Scottish/British accent. I’ll have to remember to ask him where he studied.

Next week was supposed to be the first week of the students’ practicum, when they go out into the schools to observe and to teach, but at the meeting it was decided to postpone it until the week after. There are several of these scattered throughout the term, some of them lasting two weeks, so I was looking forward to being off next week. That’ll have to wait, though I hadn’t really planned on doing anything special. So, if any of my students are reading this tonight, you read it here first. No practicum next week! The powers that be also decided to split the class of 50 students, way too large, into 2 groups of 25. Excellent news. Even though my teaching hours will almost double for a brief while, it will be much easier to teach and much more beneficial to the students within the smaller classes. The last 3 weeks I’ve been teaching 8 hours per week, but that will jump to 12 next week. After the practicum, the hours will probably drop back down to 8 again, with me teaching 2 classes per week for 4 hours each class.

I’ve about had it with my bicycle. It’s a very cheap, in both senses of the word, Italian-made job. I mean, it’s got a front shock AND a rear shock and cost less than $100. Cheap parts. The original chain broke, I have to keep tightening the handle bars every couple of weeks, and it slips out of gear quite often and/or the chain comes off, which can be dangerous when I’m trapped in a traffic signal change and cars are bearing down on me from the left and right. I tried adjusting the derailleurs, but to no avail. The bike shop to where I’ve taken it a few times has nice mountain bikes, Peugeots, for a couple hundred bucks, no shocks. I think one of those will be much better, not to mention safer, than what I have now. I met the owner of the shop, who is close to 80, I would guess. He doesn’t speak any English, but I managed to find out from him that he was the national champion bicyclist of the Tour du Maroc in 1950 and 1952; he has pictures of his past accomplishments posted on the walls of the shop. His son or grandson (I couldn’t figure out which) is a citizen of the U.S. and served in the American Navy. The old man was quite proud of the fact that he got to visit Washington, D.C., where his son lives, and Chicago and Texas last year (I think he said). He’s really a great, friendly fellow, so I don’t mind giving him my business. I think I’ll stop in after class tomorrow and buy a new bike. More later.

Wind and Sun

December 11, 2005 /

We’ve had some beautiful days in Meknes the past week or so–deep-blue, sun-filled skies flecked only by an occasional wandering cloud, and daily temperatures hovering in the upper 60s. The nights get a bit on the chilly side, but nothing like Montana or Korea. However, the wind the last few days has been devilish, swirling dust, paper, leaves and other debris throughout the town, its tendrils snaking down all the side streets, waiting to strike you full force as you leave the sheltered side of the buildings. At least it’s given me a reason to cancel jogging. I did run today, though, another sunny, pleasant day, and the wind had abated somewhat. More so than usual on a Sunday, the streets were empty, almost deserted. A good time for a jog, since on weeknights I’m usually dodging traffic and pedestrians while trying not to stumble over my own two feet in the dark. My favorite running area had its usual assortment of guitar-strumming students, families, and older people out for a stroll. Supposedly, the rainy season starts very soon, so it’s a relief to get out and enjoy the good weather while it feels more like early fall than winter.

Still, it’s not exactly mid-summer, so this evening I made a nice big pot of bean soup, using locally-grown fresh carrots, red potatoes and dried white beans. Tossed in a few sprigs of broccoli and some spices, and used fresh-baked bread from the patisserie for sopping up the liquid. Yummmm.

I was walking to Label Vie last night when I noticed a demonstration or protest of some sort in the area of city hall. Nothing big–perhaps 50-60 people chanting, though non-aggressive. Mohammed told me that there was a strike going on, so maybe this had something to do with it. By the way, he and John Scacco are attending a conference in Algeria, so there is nobody in Morocco to keep an eye on me. Scary.

Catching Up

December 7, 2005 /

Whew! Lots of stuff going on to write about.

First, John did come to Meknes last Saturday and we went to Ifrane and Azrou, located in the foothills of the Middle Atlas Mountains, in a quest for snow. We found some, but not enough to remind me of a Montana winter.

However, it was a gorgeous day, making for a memorable drive through the foothills of the Middle Atlas range. We drove through Ifrane, a Swiss-style village near the Mischliffen ski area, about 60 kilometers south-east of Meknes. Then it was on to Le Cedre Gouraud, a forest of ancient cedar trees, quite beautiful, inhabited by a pack of Barbary Apes. Different from Thai monkeys, they were very amiable and non-aggressive, but I was surprised that they lived this far north in Africa. Of course, Gibraltar, not all that far away, is overrun with the critters.

This is pastoral country, calming and soothing, and shepherding is still a prominent way of life, as it is in much of Morocco. So, while hiking one of the dirt roads, we weren’t surprised to wander into one of the ubiquitous flocks. Thankfully, the protecting dogs weren’t too concerned with us.

Just outside of Ifrane is the Moroccan national sports training center. John is quite a runner and is very knowledgeable about the subject. So, when we drove past a few guys jogging down the road, he pointed out their style, that this or that runner used his arms too much, etc. But then he was surprised at the sight of one of the runners, who, he thought, looked exactly like Hicham El Guerrouj (aka El G.), a double gold-medal winner in the 2004 Summer Olympics and a Moroccan national hero. The fellow, lank and wiry, was zooming along at a fair pace and hardly breaking a sweat, making me envious of his abilities. My maximum jogging pace would appear as walking in comparison to his graceful strides.

We then drove to Azrou, a very picturesque Berber village of about 50,000, nestled in the forested hills, about 20 kms from Ifrane. We stopped and bought a few beautiful, handcrafted wood products at the local municipal-run bazaar, some excellent deals for bowls, dishes, jewelry boxes and chess boards. The wonderful thing about this place, for me, is that all the prices are fixed, which means NO HAGGLING. I hate haggling because 1) I’m bad at it and because 2) I don’t speak good French (or Arabic or Berber).

The view from just outside Azrou:

On the way back we stopped at Boufekrane, about 12 kms from Meknes, a village reknowned throughout Morocco for the quality of its meat, a Lolo Creek Steakhouse of North Africa, more or less. We ate at one of the small restaurants and, as advertised, the beef and lamb were great. We had brochettes (bbq beef chunks), lamb chops, and superb spiced ground beef. All in all, it was an excellent outing.

Since Monday, though, I’ve been hassling with getting my Moroccan national identity card. Mohammed and I have been running around in circles gathering all the relevant documents and signatures. This was supposed to have been taken care of by someone, whose name I won’t mention, at the U.S. Consulate in Rabat. Just a day before my visa was to expire, he phoned me and said that I was to take care of it. Not good. There was some concern about the possibility that I might be told to leave the country. However, after much footwork and driving around, it seems the situation has turned out ok. I’m to go to the authorities tomorrow and give them the required documents (5 altogether, in duplicate, notarized, with 9 passport-sized photos) and the identity card will be taken care of. Despite the hassle, the local Moroccan authorities have been most accomodating.

Because of all the time required in my quest to avoid prison time (just joking), I had to reschedule some classes. One I lectured at today from 4 to 5:30 p.m. So, I rode my bicycle home at night. It’s very exhilirating to ride a bike at night in Meknes; it gets ones blood flowing. You just have to make sure that it doesn’t flow in the cold, hard streets. It’s almost as much fun as riding on the back of Bangkok motor bikes. But riding a bike here, you’re in control of your own fate, so to speak. You need 5 eyes to keep a look out for all that is going on around you. Not only is the motor traffic bad, but worse are the pedestrians, who walk willy-nilly everywhere and are just as likely to pop out in front of you as is a taxi.

In Bangkok I was most surprised to see elephants wandering around on the main thoroughfares. In Morocco different obstacles present themselves. So tonight I’m riding home and I’m almost at my apartment building. My attention wanders a bit. All of a sudden I look up and looming before me in the shadows is a camel! A large one, too, with its handlers. Luckily, I saw it in time enough to avoid it, otherwise I would have rear-ended it. Wow! Elephants in Bangkok and camels in Meknes, on or near the main drag, right in front of you, reach out and touch them but don’t get run over by the traffic. What do you have to compare, Montana? Yes, bison and griz, sure, but meandering down the main streets of Great Falls or Glendive, majestic traffic hazards just waiting to snap up the unwary pedestrian or bicyclist? (I do, of course, exclude the deer herds of residential Missoula.)

What a wonderful world. Check it out. More later.

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