Moroccolypse Now

  I’m happy to announce that today’s blog post is sponsored by Nooco! Now, you might be wondering exactly who, or what, Nooco is. I’m glad you asked! As far as I’m concerned, Nooco is the greatest packaged cookie, or biscuit  if you’re a communist, that has ever graced this green earth. To explain, a rich, smooth, decadent square of perfectly made Moroccan milk chocolate is layered on top of a crisp, buttery, vanilla-flavored cookie, somewhat akin to an animal cracker (if said animals were raised free-range on a strict diet of Bermuda grass), and then finished off with a pinch of what can only be Colombian crack cocaine. And, if that wasn’t already incentive enough, a packet of four Nooco cookies will set you back only .50 Cents (yep, we’re definitely Poppin’ Them Thangs). So, here I wallow, on a bender of Noocos and Moroccan boxed milk, which is just regular milk except way more disgusting, with crumbs, slivers of chocolate, and empty cookie wrappers littering my half-naked b...

Take a look at the above image. What do you see? A collection of red mud buildings? Cell phone towers disguised as palm trees? A dirty parking lot? Now, let me tell you what you don’t see. A scourge of scammers united in confederacy against you; stenches so offensive they should be considered crimes against humanity; motorcycle riders with a wish for death…yours; and historic sites so mobbed with European tourists you’d think the French had returned to re-colonize the place. Congratulations, you now have the entire Marrakech experience and have no need to ever go! Okay, that’s an unfair representation of the Red City—there is certainly more to it than that. This past week, I had the opportunity to take a trip down south and visit a few different places in Morocco’s more colorful areas. Marrakech was our first stop, but certainly not our last, nor was it the best. Let me tell you about it.  My opening paragraph makes it sound like Marrakech doesn’t have a lot to offer, which isn’t e...

As you might be able to tell by glancing at the length of this page, this week’s blog post is going to be something of a departure from the usual format. Truthfully, I actually enjoy doing these little write-ups. They give me a chance to reflect on the week and serve as a way for me to memorialize important parts of my journey, and I know that my large contingent of fans enjoy getting updates on what I’m doing. However, as pathetic as this might sound, I am simply too tired this week to put out anything of quality. After seven weeks of studying Arabic all day, every day, in Morocco, my brain needs a break…and the good news is I’m getting one! This coming week, the entire cohort and I are taking five days off to visit the southern half of the country and explore various new cities and towns. I think I can safely speak for everyone on this trip and say that we are beyond excited. This little getaway gives us a chance to experience different parts of Morocco, stay in hotels where we can a...

After six weeks here, I have come to learn that Morocco is a land of opportunity. On the streets, members of my cohort and I are consistently accosted by enthusiastic salesmen burdened with stacks of overpriced copies of Atomic Habits and other pop literature from western countries, hoping to sell them to dumb, unsuspecting Americans (don’t worry, I’ve managed to resist so far, but if they shake a copy of Twilight  in my face, then all bets are off). My enterprising speaking partner, Youssef, is constantly running his business ideas by me, excitedly hoping to get my take on whether his ventures might have success in America. His latest brainchild is effectively a language tutor-based pyramid scheme, but since I haven’t taken ARAB 426: The Lexicon of White-Collar Crime yet, I was unable to be of much help on that one. And let’s not forget anyone moonlighting as a greengrocer. Don’t have a store? No problem. Just unload your 100 lbs of parsley right onto the curb and hope that no one...