Christmas in Casablanca

Just another day in Casablanca (Dec 25)

As you can imagine, being in a Muslim country for Christmas means you're one of a very small percentage celebrating on December 25th. Nevertheless, my flatmate and I managed to do it with the appropriate amounts of Christmas cheer!

Being in Morocco during the holiday season is quite different from being in Canada. That cheerfulness and special feeling that infuses most people in the lead up to Christmas at home is not present here. It's just another day at the office in Casablanca (literally). That exciting countdown to Christmas, the advent calendars, the public decorations, and the Christmas music playing in every store is all absent of course. 
 
There were a couple ways to carry out the traditions relating to Christmas here in Casa. Firstly, with the help of a friend, I got a Christmas tree set up and decorated in mid-December. The same friend was sad we'd be staying in Casa for the holidays so he bought us a couple of Santa hats to wear at work on Christmas, and a few presents to open on Christmas day. 

I also tuned in to the trusty STAR 92.9 out of Vermont through an online radio app to get my dose of Christmas music. STAR 92.9 plays only Christmas music from American Thanksgiving right up to Dec. 25th, so you can memorize those catchy lyrics in the month up to the holiday. 

We both wore our Santa hats (that lit up no less) at work, which our co-workers loved (they all tried it on for photos)! When we got home we cooked up some stovetop stuffing, boiled carrots, and mashed potatoes to go with our rotisserie chicken and sides. Not too shabby! 

On Boxing Day my package from my mom finally arrived. It was filled with all sorts of Christmas decorations. When I got home I set them up, it's Christmas until little Christmas, right? 

After waiting 7 weeks for the package from my Gramma, it finally arrived on Friday. It was lots of fun to open up more wrapped presents. I apparently have a few waiting at home to be unwrapped in March! I got some electronic gifts (e-books and a Chapters gift card, yay!), and I'm still waiting for Poste Maroc to deliver all my Christmas cards, as well as the gift from my sister. 

I hope you had a very merry Christmas wherever you are, and wish you a happy, healthy new year filled with adventures!

Communications, consultants, and customer service

Time for an update about what I've been doing as the Communication Development Intern at MEDA Maroc. Things have been constantly changing for the past couple months here at MEDA Maroc, with 5 employees leaving our small office of 10, and new staff being hired on gradually. 

YouthInvest (in Morocco and Egypt) also changed its primary strategy in the past year and things are finally really starting to move in that respect. Rather than focusing on mostly training youth about financial education, business creation and savings, we are turning to the microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks in Morocco to provide them with a suite of trainings on how to:

1. Improve customer service for youth clients (and attract youth)
2. Develop financial products that appeal to youth
3. Manage risk specific  to youth

Since about July 2012, staff in North America have been working alongside staff here in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region to develop these training programs. We worked specifically on the Product Development training in September when several MEDA staff from Waterloo and Washington visited Casablanca, and lately I have been working with Casablanca staff to improve the customer service training modules. 

Customer Service Training

For the past month I have been working on a team to streamline, add content and images and otherwise improve the existing customer service training. We have tested out the training with a Moroccan bank through a current partnership, and we have had extremely positive feedback from those evaluations, but we are trying to tighten up the training to maximize the value financial institution staff will get out of it. This is starting to wrap up, but it has been an ongoing project since mid-November. 

Consultants Database

Since October I have been in the process of creating a database of consultants with microfinance experience in MENA, so that MEDA has a go-to list when searching for trainers to provide the trainings mentioned above (the plan is to gradually expand to each MENA region country to offer these trainings, so we need trainers with experience in these countries). It will also be useful for the Technical Assistance MEDA will provide to financial institutions to help them develop youth products and adapt their risk management to best serve youth. The list is currently nearly 200 consultants, but I have been contacting them to find out their interest in working with MEDA and not all have responded. Personalizing the messages to each consultant and recording when emails were sent, responses received, cataloging CVs of interested people has meant that this is a time-consuming but valuable database. There is still lots of work to do on the database, and we haven't even sent out a job offer yet!

Communications

On the communications side, we finally finished the November MEDA Maroc Newsletter (for which I put together the English version, alongside my coworker's Arabic version) and sent it out to our partners and the global MEDA staff the first week of December. I have also been assisting with the creation and translation of partnership agreements, pamphlets, client stories, and the 2013 strategic communications plan. We are planning to increase our reach through social media so we've been working as a team on a renewed website too. 

To supplement our communications materials and presentations, I attended a YouthSavings information session on Thursday to take photos. YouthSavings is a project we are carrying out in the Casablanca region where interns provide a 1 hour presentation on how and why youth should save money by creating a savings account. The interns also provide the forms and help the youth open their own account. Participation among youth is voluntary (it is not during class time) so you have to have animated interns to capture the students' interest right in the beginning. It was a very interesting experience, even though it was in Darija - a language of which I only understand about 20 words! 

The Communications officer (my co-worker) will be leaving MEDA Maroc at the end of December, so I will be taking over some of her responsibilities until the next Comm person is hired. Should be a good challenge! 

As a side note, yesterday was an important date for several reasons: 

• first day of winter (even though it was 22 degrees and sunny here!)
• it was NOT the end of the world ;)
• it was exactly 2 months to my birthday
• it was exactly 3 months until I get back to Canada (time is going by too fast)
• we had a massive couscous for lunch, and it was delicious and very social!

Soumia with the hilariously huge chicken couscous! 5 of us ate it, and there were still leftovers!

Weihnachten in Berlin

Alexanderplatz market - not crowded at all

November 30th - December 3rd I flew to Berlin to meet up with an friend from the UK for our second reunion this year (before that it had been nearly 4 years). We decided in October that we would meet up in a European city known for its Christmas markets, and Berlin turned out to be the easiest and cheapest for us both to get to.


We arrived Friday evening and met at the airport. Getting out of the airport I was freezing - it was 2 degrees Celsius, and I had thought 14 degrees in Casa was getting cold! brrr! Good thing I brought extra scarves, layers, hats and mitts from Canada just in case. Our hostel was in a great location, just North of the Spree River, about 10 mins walk from Alexanderplatz and Friedrichstrasse subway station in the other direction. With a vague itinerary for the weekend, the goal of seeing the main sights but also hitting up as many Weihnachtenmarkts (Christmas markets) possible, we started Friday evening. 

the Reichstag

Alex and I wandered over to the Alexanderplatz Christmas market and the Winterdream at Alexa market across the road. With German holiday music playing, the smells of thurlinger wursts, hot mushrooms, crepes, gluhwein and other tasty treats combining to lure vistors, it was a great introduction to the market scene. Ice skating, merry-go-rounds and other entertainment also made it a popular spot. We tried the gluhwein and some German foods, but didn't buy any gifts from the many stalls exhibiting decorations, nutcrackers, woodworking, candles, handmade soaps, and more. 

the random bears around Berlin!

Saturday we walked to the Brandenburg Tor, the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Unfortunately the museum was closed that weekend for renovations, or we would have visited it. We then headed to the Gendarmenmarkt, which was packed, and tried Feuerzangenbowle - a gluhwein alternative whose recipe includes setting alight a rum-soaked sugarloaf and allowing it to drip into the wine. It tasted pretty similar to the other versions we'd tried. At each market, vendors selling hot drinks had special mugs with a design and the name of the market on them. When you ordered a drink you paid a deposit for the mug, but you could return it for the refund or keep it as a souvenir if you wanted. Very eco-friendly!

After the Gendarmenmarkt, we headed to Checkpoint Charlie which has several sections of the Berlin Wall displayed as well as a bit of an open-air history lesson. By then it was later in the afternoon so we headed back to the hostel to warm up and hang out, but did some shopping on the way. Bought a mini-advent calendar and a box of Christmas cards, so if you received an odd card from me this year blame Berlin's poor selection of cards!

Berlin Wall by the Topography of Terror

Heading back out in the evening we visited the WAY too crowded Opernpalais market, walked up across the Spree and discovered the Berliner Weihnachtszeir at the Rotes Rathaus where we found some great decorations at a great price. We then found a little bar and enjoyed the local brew - in nice, big steins. 

Sunday was spent first visiting the Topography of Terror museum. Really informative, but 3 hours spent standing and reading the panels throughout the exhibit (located on the former site of the SS headquarters) was tiring and depressing. We then headed to the Charlottenburg Schloss where we did the audiotour of the palace, nearly entirely rebuilt after WWII, and checked out the market. The Charlottenburg Schloss was a good 3-4 km walk away from the train, so when we got back in the evening we decided to stick close by the hostel.

Charlottenburg Schloss all lit up

Since we both were leaving Monday afternoon, we decided to spend the morning re-visiting a couple of the markets to pick up some presents, which we did, with lots of time before having to head back to Kurt Shumacher Platz to get the bus to the airport. 

Berlin is a great city, but it was cold when we visited, hovering around 0 degrees. It even snowed a few times which was pleasant, but we had to layer up since neither of us had winter coats with us. Definitely worth a visit in the summer!

Mourning in Morocco

Last week, someone living in my apartment building died. 

the tent set up for mourning in front of the entrance

Late one evening, the sound of crying and talking carried up the stairwell to our apartment. While that was unusual, it wasn't until the next morning when I left the building that it started to become clear someone had passed away; the entrance door was propped open, a group of men in suits were near the building and a crying teenage girl, surrounded by friends who consoled her, proceeded down the street. When I got home that evening, the traditional tent was set up in front of the building, signifying a death.  Mourners came and went; the Koran was read every few hours all evening and late into the night. Food was brought by friends and neighbours. 

I find it difficult to find words adequate to express sympathy or comfort when someone passes away. In this case even more so since I do not know the family that lives in the apartment on the first floor, nor who exactly passed away. If that wasn't difficult enough, trying to convey them in another language and to suit the traditions of another culture and religion make it more so.

What was not so different was the sense of a community reaching out to comfort their own. The girl's schoolmates comforting her, the neighbours doing their duty to bring food, pray and take care of the family.  Rituals and traditions provide a role, a known structure, that in and of itself is comforting.

Grampy with 4/5th of my sibs and I. Love the faces!

Perhaps this was so poignant because last Friday, the day after the 3-day mourning and funeral period ended, my own paternal grandfather passed away, from a very short illness, at the age of 90. It is difficult to mourn when you know you're half a world away, and that the rest of your family is together. Luckily, we were able to hold a family reunion this past July, with most of my extended family present, and earlier in November the family held a birthday party to celebrate his 90th, so most relatives had visited with him recently. 

This was especially sad for me because I never thought that it would be my last visit when I saw my grandfather in September before I left for Morocco. As well, on the eve of my departure, two separate life events happened - my first niece was born, and my maternal grandfather passed away. Needless to say, it wasn't the best time to leave for 6 1/2 months, but when really is there ever a best time? Both grandfathers would have wanted me to go and have this experience (I doubt my niece will mind!). 

Grandpa Don (Johnston)at his 80th bday with me, my sibs and brother-in-law

 Anyways, this is a rather sombre post, so I will end it by saying that I have a lot of very good memories of both my grandfathers, and many photos of happier times too. I am also thankful for all the kind words from friends and family and am glad to know so many people are looking out for my family.

my Grampy (MacDougall) and I at the reunion in July

Barcelona: Whimsy, Art, and Catalan Identity

view of the city from in front of the MNAC (sea off to the right)

Last weekend I went to Barcelona for 4 days to fulfill several needs/desires: 

•  I had to leave the country before early December to renew my tourist visa
•  I was meeting up with two friends from Carleton U. I haven't seen since 2008 and 2009 respectively
•  I wanted to visit this beautiful, historic, famous city
•  Lastly, I wanted to do a bit of shopping before going to Berlin (needed winter appropriate footwear!)

Dorit and I tried the cava our first night there

Number 1 was easily done, got the stamp in my passport leaving Morocco and a new one upon my return. Hopefully no problems arise as I leave and return another 2 times before the end of my internship.

I hadn't seen Dorit, who was my suitemate in Res at Carleton in my last year for a semester, since she finished her term abroad and when back to Israel. We've kept in touch over the years, and this was a perfect opportunity to meet up in an architect's (she's one) dream city. I'm planning on visiting her when I finish my internship. 

Megan is currently interning in the Netherlands, but I hadn't seen her since I graduated Carleton in 2009 (or maybe at a Carleton-McGill game when Gill was still playing in fall 2009). We played on the Carleton women's rugby team, both lived in Res first year and love travelling. 

This was a great opportunity to catch up with two fabulous friends!

Barcelona - living up to expectations

Everything magical and amazing I've heard about Barca is true. We lucked out with the weather - between 14 and 24 while we were there and we didn't get rained on while we toured the city. Kudos goes to Shiv, a friend living in Spain, for her great tips and general advice for things to visit while there. 

mini-Carleton reunion (Park Guell)!

Dorit and I rented a quiet apartment in Barri Gotic through airbnb, which was perfect. Our host also gave us lots of advice when he let us in Thursday evening. We spent the rest of the night wandering around the neighbourhood, which was the medieval city, and visiting the port (my first time on the Mediterranean!). The Barcelona Cathedral was beautiful at night, the narrow curving streets quaint, and the marina area calm but pretty. 

Friday, Dorit and I travelled up to Montjuic Hill, then down past the Miro museum before going in the MNAC (national art museum of Catalonia) which was a palace and overlooks the city and Placa d'Espanya. We then grabbed a fast lunch in the Mercat St-Josef (Boqueria market) on Las Ramblas - seemingly along with every other tourist in the city. A free walking tour courtesy of Travel Bar gave us a good overview of the city's history, after which we met up with Megan before wandering back over to the Mercat Caterina (which we'd visited earlier) with its crazy, colourful roof.

the musicians at the flamenco show

Supper in Placa Reial, followed by a half-hour flamenco show (not nearly long enough!) at Tarantos was very enjoyable. Spaniards (and Catalans) eat quite late in general. We tried the Tapas - patatas bravas, oxtail sandwich, salad; everything was good, including dessert and sangria! I don't think I would have realized that Flamenco shared so many roots with Arabic music if I hadn't been in Morocco all this time  - the singing style is very similar to what is heard in North Africa or the Middle East. Very melodic and haunting, but not native to Catalonia. 

the nativity facade of the Sagrada Familia, to be completed in the next 20 years

Saturday, we met up bright and early and visited the Sagrada Familia just after it opened. We didn't have to wait to get in and it wasn't very crowded. I can't imagine being there in the summer. Needless to say, it is a masterpiece of modernism, combines several different styles and photos cannot do it justice - thought I tried with over a hundred on my camera. A true example of how Gaudi has left his imprint on the city, and was inspired by the natural world.

the pillars are modeled after a forest, the ceiling = the canopy

Casa Batllo, another Gaudi creation - inspired by nature

We then headed up to Gracia, where we wandered into a public awareness campaign to build a new school, around a local neighbourhood and had great tapas at a hole-in-the-wall. Walking down Passeig de Gracias afterwards we saw several examples of modernist architecture - La Pedrera, Casa Batllo, Casa Amatller, etc. Beautiful, whimsical buildings. A few hours of shopping followed (new leather boots- yay), then ate some more excellent food at a Catalan restaurant. 

a bench in Park Guell

Sunday we didn't have a lot of time before I had to head to the airport, so we headed up to Park Guell (via the outdoor escalators-definitely the way to go) and again got there before there were too many tourists. What a beautiful natural space; the mosaics were lovely. We spent the last bit of time in the Port/marina area before I had to run back to the apartment and then to the airport. 

Beautiful blue-green Mediterranean sea!

We definitely didn't see everything there is to visit, but I would put this city on everyone's must-see list for Europe in general. Can't wait to return one day and continue exploring. We were there just before some very important elections for the region (which has some autonomy from Spain, and a very strong independence movement [echoes of Quebec...] especially now that the economy is so poor). Actually arrived the day after the Europe-wide anti-austerity 14-N protests which brought out 1 million people in Barcelona alone, but no damage was obvious.

 

Marrakech: "the daughter of the desert"

Last weekend, Elena and I decided to make a day trip to Marrakech (French spelling), the third largest city in Morocco but one that gets millions of visitors every year due to its multiple attractions and unique location at the edge of the Atlas mountains and the desert. 

By train this was a day-long adventure, trains run every 2 hours from the main Casablanca station, and 2nd class tickets (economy) cost only 90 Dirhams one way, about $10 CAD. The trip is about 3 and 1/4 hours long. 

Want to play Sardines?

At the train station many travellers, tourists and Moroccans alike, were heading to Marrakech. We'd been warned that there is no limit to the number of 2nd class tickets sold, so it is always possible that you will have to spend the entire journey standing, crammed into the small hallway that edges the compartments in each train car. 

It turns out that day was one such day. 

We crushed onto the train, peered into already full compartments, then, resigned, settled in for the long journey with little air and nothing to sit on. Despite trying to upgrade to 1st class, we were informed all the tickets there were sold out (limited number of tickets if you're willing to pay more for the privilege). 

It was so busy because the folks that go home for Eid-ad-Adha return anytime over a period of about 2 weeks surrounding the holiday. Additionally, the term vacation for students happened to coincide with our travel date. Sigh. 

Needless to say, Elena and I were very hot and tired by the time we reached Marrakech, although we saw some great scenery on the way there which we would have missed in a squished compartment (the only advantage is sitting). We also played a game of "things that could be worse"  which lightened the mood and put things in perspective (ask me if you're curious).

Majorelle Gardens

We decided our first stop in Marrakech would be the Majorelle Gardens, owned and renovated by Yves Saint-Laurent. Once we got a taxi to the gates we sat down and had lunch at a trendy (read: tourist pricey) restaurant. The chicken tagine was good, but the servings and prices were steep compared to Casa!

One of the neat things about Marrakech in general was the massive numbers of tourists present, even this late into the fall. Instead of being "one of these things is not like the others" we actually fit in. Quite different even from Rabat and Casa. 

The gardens are beautiful. Upon entering, the peace and quiet of the walled gardens surrounds and washes over you. The winding paths past different types of palm trees, cacti, and calm ponds transport you to a different place. The birds welcome you with their melodies. 

There is also a Berber museum within the gardens, a cafe and an exhibit of all of the LOVE card designs YSL sent to his friends and clients each new year. Very pretty!

Jemaa-el-Fnaa

Deciding we could easily walk to the Medina next was not a good idea.  Miscalculated that one by a couple kilometers... But we eventually found the Koutoubia Mosque and the Jemaa-el-Fnaa square. Originally the place where public executions were held, it has been a marketplace for hundreds of years. In particular it has an overwhelming number of entertainers (musicians, snake charmers, monkeys in chains, storytellers, folks wearing traditional garb for photos, etc).

We quickly bypassed the snake-men, and wandered through some of the narrow streets of the souks. There are multiple souks specific to each type of good you are looking for, like olives, spices, carpets, jewelry, lanterns, and many more, but right around the square you can find a great variety of stalls. The merchants are impressive polyglots too - perhaps not perfectly fluent, but they can shout their wares in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, even some Italian and German here and there! 

After a-wandering, we followed sound advice and found a hotel that had a rooftop café overlooking the square where we took a break, watched the sun set and the stalls in the square start to light up. 

A bit of purposeful shopping followed, then we had the headache of trying to find a taxi willing to use their meter (required by law, ahem!) to take us to the train station during rush hour. No luck. Ended up getting a grand taxi willing to take us for 30 Dh.  It seems food prices aren't the only inflated things in Marrakech. 

First Class, best choice

With only a few minutes to spare we decided on first class tickets for the return journey and some surprisingly speedy McDonald's take-out from the train station. It was a pleasant journey back to Casa sharing the compartment with a family and another young woman. 

If anyone knows why Marrakech is referred to as the "daughter of the desert" please let me know!  

Next post probably will focus on my weekend in Barcelona - I leave Thursday, can't wait!