Middle East Excursion: Israel and Jordan

the Dome of the Rock mosque in the old city

After finishing up my internship the first week of March, I headed off on a special adventure before returning to Canada. I flew to Barcelona, then to Tel Aviv, where I reunited with my ex-suitemate from Carleton, who lives in Jerusalem. 

I spent the next week travelling around Israel, on my own, with my friend or with tour groups, as well as a short foray into Jordan to see the ancient city of Petra. 

Before I describe my trip I want to warn fellow travelers that may be coming from Morocco and flying (indirectly - there are no direct flights) to Israel what they should expect from El Al security before they are allowed to board their plane.

Arriving in Barcelona I had to enter the Euro zone (go through customs, get my passport stamped) before I could get to the check in counter for El Al and get my boarding pass for the rest of my journey. Before you can go to the counter, security staff ask you a number of questions. I suppose my origin (Morocco) and the fact that I had spent 6 months there was some kind of red flag, along with being a single female traveler, so I got asked about 25 questions, before the agent talked to his supervisor, who then asked me another 50 questions or so. After about 20 minutes of this, all the while being reassured I would make my plane, I was brought to a small room to do a check of my person (pat down and metal detectors) and my carry-on baggage. 

They literally took every item out of every pocket, zipper and section of my purse, wallet and backpack and were putting everything through a scanner. They asked me to turn on all my electronics (still not uncommon), and tell them when I'd purchased them. 

The personal check was also very thorough, but not more than I would expect if I was pulled out randomly at Montreal or a London airport. Done by two women agents (they are NOT airport security) you have to take off your coat, scarf, shoes; they feel through your hair, pat you down, use a metal detector, check the cuffs of your jeans, then though, they asked me to unzip my jeans to show them the inside of the zipper, and to remove my bra (under my shirt) and hand it to them. I hope they enjoyed handling it, as much as I did not enjoy it!

After that I still had to wait 15 minutes before they were finished with my carry-on luggage, although when they handed it back to me they told me they had to put some of my stuff in checked luggage - they said "medications" but it was really my entire ziploc baggie of lip gloss, lotions and even my advil liquid gels for headaches (at which point I could have used one). They also had all my electronics - tablet, cameras etc still as well, but they reassured me that they would bring them down to meet me where they had my checked bag - they were also going to search that.

With the agent, we zipped through VIP security, and headed to the gate, where the other few hundred passengers are lounging around carelessly, with their ipods, laptops and other technology in hand. Does this feel like different treatment yet? We went to a room with an xray machine under the gate next to the plane, and they proceeded to remove all my clothes from my checked luggage and scan all of that. That was when I realized they were putting my tablet and camera in a box, which they said they had to put in the checked luggage. At this point I was very frustrated, since you bring those items as carry-ons so they don't get 1) damaged or 2) stolen and 3) so you can use them (I was in the middle of a book on my e-reader)! They said it would be perfectly safe, despite the fact that everyone who has ever flown has witnessed baggage handlers throwing those "fragile" labelled suitcases and boxes on to or off of a plane or cart. We disagreed and I became quite upset, we were talking several hundred dollars worth of gear as well as memories (photos) if this box was stolen, lost or damaged when I got to Tel Aviv. They let me put my cameras in my checked bag then, but still taped up my tablet into a box. I even saw another traveler who had just had his bags searched putting his laptop back in his carry-on and asked about that, but apparently I couldn't possibly have electronics (I later learned that he had also flown from Casablanca). 

Jaffa oranges from Israel

After all this, there was only 10 minutes left (from nearly 2 hours between flights) to get my seat on the plane, and the agent walked me to my seat directly (again, a bit weird). I have to admit, I was wondering very seriously about whether I had made a very bad decision to travel to Israel when they treated me like some kind of second class citizen or terror suspect even though they found nothing suspicious about my story or my bags. I seriously was regretting flying to Israel after that experience, and I hadn't even had a glimpse of the country yet. Very poor representation of themselves I must say. 

The actual trip

The flight and in-flight service from El Al's actual staff was great. Arrival was easy and I breezed through passport control. I made it to my friend's apartment in Jerusalem and the adventure began. 

the Red Sea, Eilat beaches

My first day was spent wandering around Jerusalem, I did the old city, the shopping/pedestrian area and Yad Vashem museum. It was sunny and above 20 degrees - there was a warm spell my whole trip. My second day was a trip with Abraham's hostel to Caesarea, Haifa (Mount Carmel), Rosh Hanikra and Akko. It was great, and was a great introduction to the history and the Mediterranean coast. 

Day 3 I went to Tel Aviv on my own and explored the beach area and Jaffa's old city centre. I also took a bus tour around the city to see the sights. Thursday, the fourth day, My friend, her friend and I all hopped on a bus to Eilat, in the South of Israel on the Red Sea. From there we took an organized tour across the border into Jordan, spent the night in Aqaba, and left for Petra the next day with a small group tour. It was beautiful. The fact that people carved their homes and their tombs out of the rocks there a few thousand years ago is really impressive, especially some of the detail work. Hard to imagine what it looked like back then with caravans coming through for trade.

view from the Masada fortress on a hill overlooking the Dead Sea

at Petra, Jordan

We crossed back into Israel that night (all this border crossing was very simple in the south) and stayed over in Eilat. We spent most of the next day enjoying the beach on the Red Sea and visiting the underwater observatory (with coral reef, sharks, sea turtles, etc). We then got the bus back to Jerusalem (about 4 hours).

My second last day I spent in Jerusalem, since it was rainy I mostly visited important sites - the supreme court (worth the free tour), the Knesset (again, long security process), and the Israel museum. On the last day I went on another trip organized by Abraham's hostel to Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea. Again, a warm sunny day. It was amazing to float in the Dead Sea, surrounded by desert. I saw some rock hyrexes at Ein Gedi nature park as well. That evening, we went to the market in Jerusalem for supper.

gateway in Masada

My shuttle left very early (2 a.m.) the next morning for the airport, so I didn't get much sleep. Again, as a warning to other travelers, I had a very similar security experience (although much less questions and much friendlier agent) in the TLV airport. It wasn't as bad though, as I could see them doing it to lots of people, and I was allowed to keep my electronics with me on the flight. 

I had no trouble entering Morocco with Jordanian or Israeli stamps in my passport, although I can imagine this collection of stamps could be cause for more security issues in future. I would definitely recommend not traveling from an Arab country to Israel, as this seems to have been the biggest source of angst. If you had just been there on a short vacation it might be fine, but having done an internship there doesn't help you out if your want to do tourism or visit friends in Israel. 

Happy International Women's Day - We are one woman

Today is March 8th so I will start by wishing you a happy International Women's Day. 

One thing that I can definitely attribute to my internship experience is a stronger sense of feminism. Seeing the disparity and the double standards women face in Morocco - which on the whole is much better than many developing countries - but still not up to Western standards - has made me feel like I need to do something more. Here's a little description of street culture in the city:

Casablanca is a very cosmopolitan city - it certainly doesn't have the traditional old city feel of Fes, or tourist-Mecca feel of Marrakech. But the men still rule the streets, whether it's groups of boys kicking a soccer ball, teenagers loitering, men sitting at sidewalk cafés, or old men playing cards, they are at home in public spaces. The errant (young) woman who proposes to go out alone, (imagine!), especially in the evening or at night (really!) must be inviting these men, aged 15-75, to comment on her appearance or repeatedly try to catch her attention by calling out variations on "bonjour/bonsoir," "Welcome to Morocco" (for foreigners), "Hola" and a variety of catcalling sounds: whistles, "oh-la-la," or my least favourite: kissing sounds. Why else would she try to run an errand or walk somewhere by herself? These catcalls can occur from across the street, but the eager man likes to whisper/shout these directly into the woman's ear or face, to make sure she hears them of course. 

Even when the men she passes don't say something, they often stare for an uncomfortably long time, even turning and walking backwards for several paces after passing her. She is a piece of meat to the hungry wolves. The exceptions walk past without a word or a glance, but maybe they were staring too - it's hard for the woman to tell since she keeps her eyes fixed to the sidewalk or the street, avoiding looking at people walking by since that encourages more comments.

Of course this doesn't happen to every woman, or women past a certain age, and my Moroccan coworkers tell me that it happens less to them, and that it used to be much worse 10 or 15 years ago. But that reminds me of a phrase from one of my sociology classes about it "getting better." We often do nothing because we argue that things are improving, they are better than they were before, but that rhetoric also implies that women are not yet equals. We don't seem to mind because the disparity isn't as blatant as it was in the past, but that doesn't mean there isn't more work to be done. 

This might have sounded like you can't walk down the street in Casa, but that's not the case. You can, and you can go out and meet up with friends, get groceries, do anything you like, and for the most part you never feel unsafe. But you must always be wary, and you must also put on your mask of disinterest to try to curb unwanted attention. And most days you can walk deafly through streets, the comments sluicing off your mental armour. But some days you can't block them out, and you want to say something back, or hit someone particularly offensive. 

These tactics help keep women where men think they should be - in the home, or at least not in public, not alone. It is a power thing, and it reflects the fact that these men think they have the right to say whatever they like to women, and that they shouldn't be in the public sphere. Definitely something that Moroccan families need to start teaching their children at an early age: respect for women, all women - not just their mothers.

This monologue of sorts doesn't even address the fact that more women are illiterate, are less to be educated for as long as men, are less active in the economy, and are almost absent from positions of political or social importance. The country’s score under the Gender Inequality Index is 0.510 (104 out of 146 countries). And this is one of the better off countries in North Africa. 

So, today, on International Women's Day, think about women in countries worse off than your own, and teach your own children/family what equality means. The only way changes will happen is if there is a behavioral shift worldwide. We are one woman, as the new UN Women song says, have a listen and share: http://song.unwomen.org/
 

Circling central Morocco - 1600+ km in 5 days

Apologies for the lack of recent blog posts, but February was a very busy month, highlighted by the visit of one of my friends from Montreal, Diana, who has the distinction of being my only visitor in Morocco. She spent two weeks visiting Morocco, and together we did a 1600+km tour of the country in 5 days. Here are some of the highlights.

Marrakech

inside the Bahia palace

Thursday evening, Feb 14th, after I finished work, we headed to Casa Voyageurs and took the evening train to Marrakech. This was quite different than my last train journey there - which you can read about in my November post! We arrived late, and (of course) got ripped off by the train station taxis who over-charged us but also only dropped us off at Djema-el-Fnaa, the square, rather than the street we needed to get to our riad. 

After some wandering, and glancing confusedly at the map provided by the riad and the poor signage around the square, we were able to get the assistance of a very generous restauranteur, who walked us to our hotel out of the goodness of his heart, down a couple of very seedy-looking medina alleys. Alas we arrived at the hotel and checked in, sometime around 11:30 pm. 

We spent Friday shopping, touring the Bahia Palace, appreciating the Koutoubia Mosque and gardens, and observing the entertainers, monkeys, snake charmers and dentists of Place Djema-el-Fnaa. 

 The tour

driving through the high Atlases

Saturday morning at 8 a.m. we met our driver, who would take us on a organized tour from Marrakech, through the High Atlas mountains, through to Ouarzazate, Skoura, Kelaat Mgouna, Todra Gorge, Arfoud and Merzouga, where we rode camels out into the Erg Chebbi dunes to spend Sunday night at an oasis camp, guided by a Sahrawi nomad. 

The tour through the High Atlases provided plenty of great views, although the roads were very winding. Ouarzazate is famous as being the location of film studios and is a popular region to film desert-themed scenes. We also stopped at Ait Ben Haddou, an old Kasbah on the edge of the High Atlases on the road to Ouarzazate, which was a stronghold of the ben haddou tribe for centuries. On our from Marrakech to Merzouga we stopped at a women's cooperative to see how Argan oil is made, at a rose distillery and coop in Kelaat Mgouna (in the Valley of the Roses), and went to the source of the river in the Todra Gorge, one of three gorges in the region.

The Dar Panorama in Skoura was a great place to stop Saturday night, with excellent food and the guesthouse to ourselves. It had a view over the date palm groves of Skoura which was beautiful at sunset. 

sunset in the dunes

The camel riding was a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience. We both had white camels, which is special. We stopped to watch the sunset over the dunes, and left early enough to watch the sunrise from a good spot as well. What was more surprising was that there were tons of cats at the oasis camps. There is a Berber family who lives there permanently to watch the camp, so I guess cats are a part of the domestic patchwork, but it is weird to see them in the middle of dunes. 

Erg Chebbi dunes

Sunday morning we did the long trek from Merzouga to Fes via Ifrane and the Middle Atlases. I forgot to mention that we passed the Anti-Atlases on our way out to Merzouga, so we saw/drove through all three sets of Atlas mountains. 

We stopped briefly in Midelt, where I ended up buying a Sahrawi carpet of camel hair, in a multitude of colours. I really hadn't planned on getting such a big one, or of this style (described sometimes as painterly or zanafi style). I probably paid too much for it, but I bargained the man down by 3300 dirhams so I thought that was pretty good, and the Morrocans have a saying that the right price is the price you are willing to pay.

Fes

the vats for soaking and dyeing the leather

We got dropped off in Fes on the night of the 18th, and spent the night in a riad in the medina where we met some great fellow travelers. We did a walking tour of the medina the next day, and in the evening I headed back on the train to Casablanca, so I could work on the 20th.

Diana stayed in Fes for 2 extra days with her new companions and arrived back in Casa in time for my birthday, which we celebrated by going to the  February Jeudi Casaouis event. 

All in all I think it was a good trip - although somehow Diana ended up going home with about 20 kgs of extra luggage and a new carry-on to accommodate all the pottery and breakables! 

Training MFIs to improve financial access for youth

FPBMC staff enjoying a joke

For the past year our project, YouthInvest, has been working to shift strategies to its second phase - training Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs), commonly referred to as AMCs (Associations de micro-credit) here in Morocco, to improve their services and products to meet the needs of the sizeable youth market. 

Hind Jalouni, MEDA Maroc Director, training FBPMC staff

In 2012 MEDA signed an agreement to train credit officers and branch managers for one of the larger MFIs - the Fondation Banque Populaire de Micro-Credit (FBPMC) in cooperation with another NGO that is funding the training on improved customer service for youth clients. MEDA Maroc has been training their staff in week long sessions across the country, With the goal being to train the staff from about 50 branches. The evaluations coming out of these sessions show how successful the program is, and the participants' satisfaction with the content and delivery.

Casa training. The photo used in the display is one I took.

This past weekend, February 8-10, 2013, MEDA Maroc offered a short overview training on the "Financial Solutions for Youth" training suite we will be offering to all Moroccan MFIs. There were nearly 20 participants at this select workshop, representing MFIs large and small, as well as a few individuals interested in the sector. Training for Trainers (TOT), Better Customer Service for Youth Clients, Developing Financial Products for Youth, Risk Management for Youth Clients, and Technical Assistance for Product Development are the components of this new YouthInvest phase. MEDA will also be conducting a study of financial products and services currently available to youth, as well as current youth client satisfaction surveys before commencing the training suite for MFIs. A similar study is being conducted in Egypt, the other country where YouthInvest is active.

The photo of the girl is one of mine!

While this phase has taken some time to get off the ground, partnership agreements are being signed with MFIs presently, and the materials and content for the three training topics are being finalized. A good deal of my time at work has been dedicated to supporting this phase in recent months (helping with customer service materials, translating partnership agreements, and taking photos at the FBPMC training in Khouribga in order to use some shots for upcoming publicity. 

Included are a few photos from our training on "Financial Solutions for Youth" in Casablanca and the FBPMC training on Improving Customer Service for Youth Clients in Khouribga the last week of January. 

Adil Sadoq, YouthInvest Field Project Manager, presenting in Casablanca

FBPMC staff trained in Khouribga, along with 2 MEDA staff

Holiday in Paris

view from Place de la Concorde to l'Arc de Triomphe

January 24th was Eid el-Mawlid (the birthday of the prophet Mohammed), and as such, we were given the 24th and 25th off for the holiday. Conveniently this was a Thursday and Friday, so I  met up with a few friends from my university days to rendezvous in Paris, for a jam-packed long weekend.

I booked early with EasyJet and got a great, cheap round trip flight from the Wednesday evening to Sunday afternoon - the perfect length of time for some serious visiting. I met up with Georgie - a British friend who I first
met at Carleton U in my first year, where she
stayed on for a year exchange - on the

group photo

Wednesday night at a hostel and we trekked around the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, Place de la Concorde, Sacré-coeur Basilica, the Trocadero for Eiffel tower photos, Jardins Tuilleries, as well as doing a boat tour on the Seine, and delighting our taste buds with 'North African' hot chocolate (I got a kick out of this coming directly from said place and never having seen it) and a selection of macaroons at Angelina's a fabulous tea room and shop that has been open for a century. I hadn't seen Georgie in 5 years, it is astonishing how good friendships can withstand great distances in time and space.

The north rose window at Notre-Dame de Paris, dating from 1250-1260

We met up that night with Rebecca and Rachel, more Brits, who I also met the same year I met Georgie. Rebecca was my suitemate in residence that year, and Rachel visited Ottawa while on exchange in Utah. The following year I went to their university in Norwich to study abroad.

the perfect size

The four of us spent Friday and Saturday doing all the typical sights in Paris - the musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Versailles palace, the Eiffel Tower, while enjoying the crèpes, quiches, tartiflette reblochon, fondues and wines that make french gastronomy famous. Staying in the latin quarter was great. It was only a 5 minute walk to Notre-Dame, and quite close to rue Mouffetard, the oldest street in Paris I believe. 

Unfortunately the weather wasn't overly cooperative - it was foggy most of the time we were there. But the advantage of going in the winter was a limited number of tourists. I can't imagine how busy everything must be in the summer. 

Saturday night Georgie and I ventured back to the Eiffel Tower and saw the light show at midnight. It was dazzling. There is something about Paris, the "je ne sais quoi" that other cities don't have. 

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Georgie had to leave early Sunday, but R, R, and I managed to fit in a good long visit to the Louvre in the morning, before I headed back to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle in the afternoon. The Mona Lisa of course captures a lot of attention but the sheer number of fabulous works of art is breathtaking. It would take many visits to appreciate everything. I particularly enjoyed the royal apartments that are decorated in the mid-1800's style. 

Then back to Casa to catch up on some much needed sleep, and get back into the groove at work. There's nothing like a four-day weekend to reinvigorate you. This was my last European adventure while I am interning in Morocco, though it isn't the end of my travels.

From Oujda to Essaouira in 1 week

I've been a bit silent on here for the last few weeks because I've been travelling quite a bit. First, was a trip to Oujda Jan 2-6 for work, then a weekend road trip to Safi, Essaouira and Sidi Kaouki Jan 11-13. Here I'll paint a bit of a picture of what these regions are like, being found at opposite ends of the country. 

Oujda and Jerada (oriental Morocco)

As I mentioned after my previous visit to Oujda in October, the region in which Oujda is found is referred to as the oriental region, because it is the northeasternmost region of the country, bordered by Algeria and the hemmed in by the Mediterranean Sea. It is hilly and rough around much of the Oujda area - which is the easternmost city in Morocco, a scant few kms from the Algerian border, and home to roughly 800,000 people.

Jerada is further South from Oujda, and closely surrounded by mountains and trees. It was a hour from Oujda by grand taxi, and is known for its coal production. Next to the youth centre where my colleagues and I sat in on a "100 hours to success" training session was a mountain of coal waste that overshadowed the surrounding buildings. Jerada is in the Beni Snassen mountains.

the coal mountain in Jerada

This time visiting Oujda I had a chance to see more of the city. I went with local extension officers to 4 different centres where they provide training to youth, and although it is hilly and bare around most of the city. 

From about May to September or October is the driest period here, so when I landed in September everything was reddish-brown, the colour of the earth around Casablanca. When I returned from Berlin in December I was astonished by how green everything had become. 

Safi

On the 3 hour drive South to along the highway to Safi I noticed that the rolling hills surrounding Casa flattened out onto fertile plains, before approaching mountains and hills once again as we neared the coast of the Atlantic. 

Safi is set right on the ocean, and has been a popular port for hundreds of years. The red clay of the region makes Safi most well known for its ceramics, of which we bought plenty! Safi is also known for its phosphate production and sardines. The Portuguese held Safi for some time in the middle ages, when they had forts and settlements all down the coast. The Spanish had the North, along the Mediterranean, the Portuguese had the Atlantic coast. The French came later. 

Essaouira

The route to Essaouira became a bit unnecessarily long, as we made an unplanned detour through the countryside in our search for the coastal road. It did give us a chance to see some really rural areas. We drove through mountains and woods, and saw some massive waves and dunes along the coast when we finally did get on the right road. 

The city itself is a popular tourist destination. We stayed in a riad in the old medina so we saw plenty of Euopeans wandering around as well. The sqala de la ville is the fort in the old medina, with great views of the ocean and the sunset. The sqala du port is a short walk away, and is still located at the mouth of the present fishing port. 

Sidi Kaouki

The length of coast between Essaouira and Agadir is famous for its waves ideal for surfing and windsailing. Sunday morning we went on a short drive through the Argan tree groves to the small community of Sidi Kaouki. We managed to photograph some of the goats that eat the argan fruit - the source of the oil that is so popular in Morocco for cosmetics and cooking. 

We also hiked up a gravel road to a hill overlooking the ocean and beach. We met some children who were watching their cows and camels when we went back to the car. The area was fairly quiet, but quite rocky. 

Stopping at the Sidi Kaouki beach for lunch and a chance to dip our feet in the ocean - swimming was not recommended with the 3 metre-high waves - was fantastic. There were some tourists about, but very few people at this time of year, even though it was above 20 degrees. 

Reflections

The abundance of agriculture from Sidi Kaouki all the way back to Casablanca was very evident. Verdant, lush fields hugged the highway once we left the mountainous area that was filled with argan trees, goats and sheep. 

Often we passed individuals walking along the road, or waiting for a grand taxi. It was difficult to figure out where they had come from, as most often they were far from buildings in any direction. Although I grew up in the country, I can't imagine the isolation that a rural youth would feel in one of the tiny communities we passed through. 

Illiteracy in rural areas, especially among women is quite high in Morocco - in 2010 only 57% of women (15 years old and over) were illiterate (source: UNESCO), with approximately 80-90% of rural women being illiterate. The related challenges would be staggering. You realize how much you have to be thankful for as a Canadian.