Meknes Mosque Collapses

All afternoon long, we heard sirens from the house. I didn't remember hearing sirens more than a handful of times since I arrived, so the repeated passings of ambulances seemed out of place.

A Moroccan friend of mine came by this evening, and so we asked him if he knew what was up.

"You haven't heard?!? A mosque collapsed in the medina."

Later, we looked it up online. Sure enough, the international news was covering the story.

At least 36 people were killed in Morocco when a minaret collapsed at a mosque in the central town of Meknes, officials say.

More than 60 people were injured in the accident at the Berdieyinne mosque in Meknes' old city during Friday prayers, according to Moroccan state television.

The TV report said that the collapse came after heavy rains which lashed the region for several days.

The minaret is said to have been four centuries old.

Many people are said to be buried under the rubble of the collapsed tower.

Scenes From Morocco: The Jelaba

The jelaba is the traditional Moroccan garment for both men and women. It is still found in the most rural areas and the most urban areas, almost always mixed with Western dress.

Overheard in Meknes

As I approached the church I saw two teenage Moroccan girls.

It was drizzling and I was headed to a funeral, so I lowered my head and tried to move past them on the sidewalk.

When I got within earshot, the first thing I heard was, "Il fait très froid aujourd'hui." Naturally, I figured they were rich Moroccan girls who prefer French to their native Darija.

But then in a heavily-accented, stuttering English came the same basic idea: "It is very cold today, is it not?"

I ignored their feeble attempt to attract my attention and entered the church.

The Power of Abstraction

In the book for one of my lower level classes, there are a series of activities designed to teach how to give directions in English.

The chapter is well-designed. It starts out with vocabulary of places in the city (gas station, hospital, restaurant, bookstore, etc.) Then it introduces prepositions of location ('next to', 'on the corner of', 'on -- street', 'across from', etc.) It then reintroduces the command form of verbs such as 'go', 'turn', and 'continue'. The chapter then concludes with a direction-giving activity using a map of Manhattan.

All of the preliminary sections went extremely well, but then for some reason, my students got caught up on the last activity. I asked them to locate the Rockefeller Center on the map. It was clearly labeled, a sketch of the building rising from Manhattan's grid. One or two students could give me the location, but then once I started asking them to give me directions to get to Grand Central Station (also clearly labeled), all of them froze up.

I tried two or three other approaches to the question, but all met with stony silence. Then I wrote out the addresses of the two on the board, just using the avenues and streets that intersected at the corner of each. I asked them how many avenues there were between the two and how many streets between the two. All they had to do was subtract the two numbers on the board in front of them. But they couldn't do it. So I couldn't even show them how the numbers could simply be inserted into the stock commands "go up x avenue until y street", "turn left/right on y street".

I kept trying new takes. I went back to the basics again. How does the map work? How do the numbers representing streets change? Avenues? Where are the buildings located? What commands do you give for directions? Even at the basic levels, they seemed utterly confused.

I was confused too.

I drew a rough map of Meknes on the board. I tried asking them questions about their own city. They still struggled. They didn't even know the names of the two main drags of the town, let alone the side streets. I started to realize what was happening. It wasn't a linguistic problem, but a skill problem.

Giving directions is not something Moroccans do.

That is, for the vast majority of Moroccans, giving directions with street names based on a grid system is a foreign concept. My lesson was not just an introduction to new linguistic content but to an entirely new concept.

What strikes me most strongly is that giving directions and understanding location on a grid is a skill involving abstraction--moving from the immediate experience and perspective to a larger, more bird's eye perspective.

I was also reminded of my previous experiences trying to communicate with Moroccans. As a rule, they dislike modes of communication that do not provide simultaneous response, preferring chat and telephone calls instead. Letter-writing and emails require a delay in response and a lack of presence on the part of the other person. In short, they require abstraction. And Moroccans seem to dislike abstraction.

I know there are Moroccans who can abstract when it comes to maps and communication, but most can't. On the other side of the Atlantic, there are a great number of Americans who struggle with abstraction as well. But there is a fundamental difference in mindset between the cultures that I find remarkable.

The question for me, then, as a teacher and a foreigner in this culture is: how do I meet Moroccans on their own terms with regard to communication and direction-giving? And how do I learn to appreciate this desire for presence and immediacy along with my Moroccan friends?

My Valentine's Day

A new group of American exchange students has arrived in Meknes.

Despite some hesitant opposition at the thought of associating with a gaggle of naive Americans, we decided to invite them over for a little Valentine's Day soirée last night.

Before the party I had to teach, though, as I do every Sunday afternoon.

The class seemed rather empty when the first bell rang, so I waited for five to ten minutes. Even then, there were only 11 out of 18 students. I was pretty sure that the Moroccan semester break had ended. And I couldn't think of any other reason for the mass absenteeism, so I asked those present, "Why are there so many people missing? Is today a Moroccan holiday I have never heard of?"

They answered in concert, "Valentine's Day, teacher!!"

I smirked and nodded my head slowly. Then I tried to give them some background on the holiday they are so eager to assimilate. I explained how Valentine's Day has mutated from a regular saint's day on the Catholic calendar to a day to commemorate love to the current celebration of love through commercialism.

Something tells me that my students didn't catch the irony in my tone.


Back home, the party started strangely. I had been expecting eight to ten people, so I was a bit surprised to see 15 Americans file in with my Moroccan friend. She was supposed to have told them to bring their own snacks and drinks, but I wasn't sure if the message had been conveyed: they only had three bottles of wine and no food.

It was very quiet at first, almost awkwardly so. I made some small talk and then headed into the kitchen to make some Moroccan tea to compensate for the lack of drinks.

Even more Americans came slightly later with food and more drinks. The conversation gradually divided and subdivided, raising in volume at every division. By the time some of our Moroccan friends showed up, it was a lively affair.

The group surprised me. A number had lived in other countries before, in China, in Germany, and in Nigeria. And yet despite their previous international experience, very few spoke any French or Arabic--in fact, many chose the University of Meknes because it has low standards regarding prior language experience.

It was also interesting to hear them talk about the same shocks and jolts we encountered when we first arrived: learning to discern Moroccans' intentions, the differing conception of personal space, the awkward pleasure of the hammam, the prostitution-driven bar culture, etc.

I usually dislike spending time with Americans abroad. I find our values and worldview differ too much. But a number of Americans I have met recently are exceptions to the rule. Perhaps this group will contain some more.

Scenes From Morocco: Transportation

Mules are regularly used for transportation in the narrow alleys of Moroccan medinas.

They are used much less frequently on paved roads.

A Bad Rap

This rap song by the Belgian-Moroccan group Redouane le deglingue is causing quite the international controversy.

At 3:26 in the video, the rapper says, "J’épouserai le Maroc après avoir baisé la Belgique” which translates "I will marry Morocco after having fucked Belgium".

I've listened to the song a few times, but my street French isn't good enough to understand it, and I can't seem to find the lyrics online. So I don't know what the context of the song is, but the video shows a number of Moroccan youth in Belgium with Moroccan flags. And the overall message seems to be one of discontent with Belgium and pride in their Moroccan heritage.

On the political level, there seems to be an issue of integration to say the very least. Belgium, along with Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, do a much poorer job integrating Moroccans than Germany does.

But what struck me most was how the sexual metaphor used to illustrate this political malaise parallels what I have seen and heard again and again from Moroccans. Most Moroccan guys are happy to fool around with prostitutes and foreign girls (who are inevitably promiscuous). But when it comes time to start a family, they marry the "bread of the house", as one traditional Moroccan song puts it.

Yesterday, Daniel asked his class if Moroccan women were expected to be virgins when they get married. All the students nodded 'yes'. Then he asked if Moroccan men were expected to be virgins when they get married. All the students said, "no".

Then Daniel explained the meaning of "double standard".