So in the past week, since my post about Chefchouen , I
was in Tangier and Amsterdam.
I guess I should start at Tangier, we were only there for
a short period of time, but it was enjoyable. Tangier is one of the northern
most cities in Morocco. It borders the Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean
Sea. Did I mention I could see the coast of Spain? People try to swim the
strait all the time, because you can see the coast of Europe, clearly. It looks
swimmable. Unfortunately however, lots of people don’t make the journey.
Oh hey, I'm on the continent of Africa, looking at Europe? Is anyone elses mind blow by that? Maybe it's just me...
We explored a bit, and went to
the beach. We were followed by the local homeless guy (That was clearly missing
a couple marbles) He really, really, REALLY wanted to talk to us, and wouldn’t
go away. Twenty minutes later after a firm, “Safi” he wandered off to talk/
follow some other people. He of course,
came back and started talking to us again. Apparently this was common because
two, rather large police officers on horses came over. The man saluted them,
they saluted back and then they got off their horses and held his hand to lead
him away. It was actually nice to see the gesture. They were laughing with him,
joking around and just led him away from us and told him to leave us alone. It
was nice to see after seeing the protests and hearing about all the police
brutality.
Tangier:
Oh wait, that's my foot in the Mediteran
We also went to a NGO that works
with women. It gives them a safe place and helps them learn trades. They also
created a co-op so they can sell their goods or cook in the restaurant. It was a really interesting organization and I’m
glad to see that so many local organizations are working to focus on making it
so a woman can support herself if she remains unmarried or is divorced.
The next morning, we left for
AMSTERDAM. Can I just express the culture shock in going from Morocco to one of
the most liberal cities in Europe? Possibly the world? Night one, Monday:
Venturing to find dinner after a long ass day of travel. Close to midnight…in
Amsterdam? Not a problem. We had Italian food with a class of wine.
I feel the need to point out
some key differences here from Morocco.
1. It
was way after dark and I was able to walk around without being followed by 16
year old boys trying to prove they’re men.
2. Restaurants
were open that late!
3. I
was able to have a glass of wine, without being assumed as “easy.”
The next morning, it was rainy. And cold. Cold, what is
this thing I call cold? I haven’t experienced anything under 70 degrees since
last winter. And rain? No sun? Okay, not going to lie, kind of missed Morocco’s
weather. Oh and SO MANY BIKES.
Side note:
FOR
PEOPLE WHO MAY TRAVEL TO AMSTERDAM: WATCH OUT FOR BIKES. THEY HAVE THE RIGHT OF
WAY.
No, but seriously. There are bikes everywhere, bike lanes
and specific traffic lights for bikes. You have to make sure you’re walking on
your side walk (which is usually slightly elevated compared to the bike lane)
otherwise you will receive an angry ringing of bells from the bikes. Oh, they
don’t peddle at a leisurely pace either, so stay out of the way if you value
your life. Then after bike lanes, you cross the tram tracks. Watch out for
those to, they come from all directions. Then, finally, you cross the regular
traffic path. But taxis can drive on either the regular lane, or the tram lane.
So, traffic, although more regulated than in Morocco, was definitely
overwhelming.
Okay, moving on. We went to Amsterdam Museum and learned about some of the history of Amsterdam, which was nice. The first gay marriage in the world happened there. They also had a display focused on drugs. (They had samples of weed, heroin, cocaine, acid and shrooms. All of which were real except for the heroin.) Soft drugs are tolerated. (I’ll get into that later.) Hard drugs are illegal.
After the museum we adventured for a little and then were rushed off to the Moroccan neighborhood via tram. The sun had come out, what a beautiful day. Everyone was happy walking around near the pond and then we realized something. Someone, was missing.
We had left someone behind. (Cue hand smacking forehead) How, did we forget Kelly. No but seriously, two leaders, another adult and then the twelve other students, we all missed that she was gone until we were way away. Luckily, Kelly is incredibly resourceful and was waiting for us at the organization we were going to next. However, we started doing headcounts from that point forward.
The Museum...we had a control freak for a tour guide, Only picture I could get -.-
The Museum...we had a control freak for a tour guide, Only picture I could get -.-
The walk to the Museum:
The carnival in front of the Queen's palace?
Thursday we went to a school and met with two prominent parliament members, from two parties. Their political system is VERY different than in the US, so I can’t even explain how it totally works to be honest. But it was a great discussion because it focused on migrants and policies. Also, both politicians had different views on things, so it was nice to see two sides to the same story. We then met with some high school students, and had a group discussion which was really interesting. They all felt that migrants were welcomed, but did admit that Amsterdam was unique even in the Netherlands. That in more rural areas they could see how things could be different.
Friday, we had the entire day free. After getting cold medication, I wandered around the city and did touristy things. I saw all the tulips for sale (Also the beginner marijuana kits). We went on a boat tour that night of the canals, which are beautiful. Actually, the entire city was beautiful.
Start your own weed plant?
The red light district!
One of the most famous live sex show houses in Amsterdam
Cue Saturday morning were we all looked like the walking dead. Off to the airport, flew for three hours, and then drove for another four. There was lots of sleeping. First night back in Morocco, I had bed bugs.
Honestly though, as much as I enjoyed Amsterdam, it felt good, like coming home, to be back in Rabat. I’m very much looking forward to the rest of my time here.
Hi Kiley,
ReplyDeleteSilver Lake here again. We have two questions this week.
The first is from Mrs. Pratt who asks "Can you share with our class some of the major points you learned concerning the immigration of people from Morocco to Amsterdam."
Second is from Connor who is fascinated by the idea of the upcoming ram sacrifice. He asks, "during the goat killing, will you eat it? Or would it be disrespectful for you to eat the goat? Also, who kills it in the family?"
Thank you for your thoughts.
Mrs. Pratt, some major points revolving around immigration in Amsterdam from Morocco include: the idea of language, assimilation versus integration and “Islamization.” Among a few.
DeleteWe met with two Dutch parliament members, and one was very adamant that if you move to the Netherlands, you have to learn Dutch, and you should learn it quickly. There was no recognition that people have to A) find the time away from working, and B) some people (like myself) can struggle to pick up a language. She was a mayor at one point and refused to publish her laws or announcements in any other language than Dutch. (Even though, there are a lot of Arabic speaking citizens. They could be learning Dutch, but if they aren’t learning it fast enough, they would fall behind in many ways.
Assimilation versus integration, the question was raised on how much of a person’s identity should be shed in order to be accepted into their host country. Some youth felt the need to shed it almost completely because of the negative stereotypes associated with Moroccans and Muslims.
This leads into the next point about the fear of “Islamization” of Europe. Personally, I find this a ridiculous idea. Millions of Muslims live outside of “Muslim states” like Morocco. Some conservatives fear that the influx of Moroccans and Turkish will affect the Netherlands, as well as Europe, religiously.
Lastly, there is also the idea (Similar to some ideas about the number of immigrants from Mexico/South America, to the U.S) is that the immigrants are taking jobs from Dutch citizens. It has been shown though, that many Dutch youth don’t want to do nursing, so the immigrants are entering that field instead. So yes, they are entering the work force, but are they really “stealing jobs” from true Dutch citizens? No, not if the true Dutch citizens didn’t want the jobs in the first place. There are a lot of similarities in tensions between Morocco/Netherlands and Mexico/United States.
Connor: I’m glad you’re interested in this, it’s very interesting! So it’s the ram that gets killed, and there are a couple options of who can kill it. You can either have a butcher come, or a pious man. My host dad will be doing it. (Only a Muslim can do it.) They say a prayer before hand, and the slaughter has to occur in one swift movement. It’s done humanely so that the ram is not in pain. (By the way, the ram gets straight to heaven after it is killed.) So one swift, down, then back up movement on the throat by my host dad and then it is hung up to…well…drain.
Eating the ram? Totally not disrespectful, in fact, this is the HUGE part of Eid Kiber. They eat EVERYTHING from the ram, nothing goes to waste. And by everything I mean, the main meat parts, organs (intestines, heart, liver, etc.), the testicles (bleh), and the head is placed in couscous. So some people eat the brains, eyes, etc. from the head. Also, some families eat the feet too. It’s also tradition to make sure you share meat with families that can’t afford it. The ram, does not go to waste. I will be taking pictures through the process, although I am unsure how much of the skinning I’ll be able to handle watching. I will have a blog post with photos (With most likely a graphic nature) about it after my four days of feasting. So if you have more questions, hopefully the blog post after the holiday will answer them, and if not I’d be happy to answer more.