Welcome to Morocco!

I can’t believe it myself, but I am finally here. After a late, long ago start in Atlanta, I am finally here in this place that has been overwhelming my mind for the past few months. Looking out of the window on the way from the airport into the city of Rabat, I can’t seem to distinctly remember any of the particular fears or concerns I used to habitually turn over in my head like coins in my pocket. These fears of mine no longer seem so sharp and present-it feels like I clumped them together and left them sitting in Seat 19C of AF2958. At the moment, I can’t find fear within me, but rather am overtaken by an intense desire to look, taste, and enter fully the world that now surrounds me.
I was a bit taken aback by the heat when I walked out of the airport. I knew it would be warm, but the contrast of the dry heat of Morocco to the dense, suffocating humidity of Atlanta made me feel the warmth of the sun much more acutely here. Met by our program director at the Center for Cross Cultural Learning, we were whisked away into the center of the newer part of Rabat. While the CCCL is located in the ‘old city’ of Rabat or what is referred to as the Medina, the hotel where I am staying until I move in with my host family is in the Ville Nouvelle or the New City. So, the Hotel Majestic, it’s an establishment that looks out on something far more majestic than it’s standard self; it faces the wall of the Medina. The war is undeniably impressive in a way that makes you trip in the streets of the newer city as you stare at the border between new and old-and yes, I am speaking from personal experience. Fear not, my toesies are fine!
The eye-catching wall is somewhat of a stark divider between the windy old streets of the medina and the less neighborly roads of the cluttered ville nouvelle. While I’m sure the contrast remains after Ramadan, I suspect that the observance of the holiday heightens the difference between the two sections of the city. Although I have been here only a short time, I feel as if Moroccan tradition is so heavily concentrated within the medina while the influences of modernity and western culture are far more prevalent on the newer side of the wall.
After a wonderful dinner in a restaurant just outside of the medina, it is with a jumbled sensory system that I write. So many new sounds, smells, and faces in so short a time span! Perhaps I should start by telling you that thus far, I have enjoyed everything from a traditional Moroccan dinner of couscous and dates to an evening stroll along Rabat's beautiful beach. As I have a reputation in my family for being a bit obsessed with couscous, I think they will be pleased to know that I have finally tasted truly delicious and genuine couscous! Quite certain my family would go bananas over the dates here are as well! The beach was refreshing and I was quite surprised at just how busy it is during Ramadan-our professor said a lot of people go down there to swim and enjoy activity that takes their mind off of fasting.
I feel a tinge of nerves as I think about moving in with my host family at the end of the week. At the moment, I still feel like a tourist, skimming the surface of Morocco and hesitating to jump in. In a way, I regard the wall as being a symbol of the transition my stay here is about to undergo. As I remain on the newer side of it for the next few days, I maintain the status of a visitor, disconnected from any Moroccans. Each time I go into the medina during orientation, I feel as though I am going to watch a play with a plot I can't fully grasp and a set that relays little more than broken fragments of what is the cultural mosiac of Morocco. I get the sense that this tourist status of mine will change on Saturday as I make the move to my host family's home in the Medina. Becoming part of a family and experiencing daily life in the close quarters of the medina will surely reveal to me a secret shared between all its inhabitants. I await the move with bated breath.
For now, my good friends, that is all I can manage to write. Spastic entry! A meager snapshot I know, but I myself have yet to swallow all that I have taken in. Besides, I thought I'd spare you from the formalities we covered in orientation sessions today! Don't worry, I shall return soon with so much more to tell you about my new home in Rabat! Peace and love to all!