Exodus

 

International travel is strange—at least to me. When I’m on a plane, I sometimes think about how the only way to get to the places I’m flying to used to be to take a ship piloted by sailors who used the stars and charts to steer. Sometimes, they didn’t even know where their destinations were; they just set sail. Nowadays, I can fly anywhere in the world in a number of (admittedly very long) hours, using a contraption that was invented by two guys who made bicycles and which is powered by dead dinosaurs. Last week, I was in Africa, minding my own business, when suddenly I was whisked away to the airport, where I endured long security lines, terminals bereft of enough seating, and too many overpriced French patisseries. Then, I rode the shuttle out to my chariot in the middle of the tarmac and crammed myself into my inhumanely small seat like one of Upton Sinclair’s cows. During the flight, I entertained myself by dropping my possessions on the floor and being unable to find them, trying to sleep in a number of positions that double as CIA torture methods, hoping the baby in front of me wouldn’t start crying (he didn’t), and wondering what sort of person manages to urinate all over the floor of the airplane restroom. After my less than enjoyable flight, I arrived in Qatar, but we’ll save that for the next blog post. I’m a week behind, but I’m hoping to get two more of these done before the trip concludes for good and I return to America. For now, let me tell you about my last week in Morocco. 

In reality, my concluding week in Rabat consisted mostly of me studying for finals, practicing for interviews, and preparing my final Arabic presentation. The first half of the week wasn’t fun, but as I began to check things off my list, I felt the stress begin to lift from my shoulders. My OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) went about as well as I hoped, my presentation went off with only a couple hitches, and by Friday I had taken my final exam and was all finished. Suddenly, it started to sink in that my journey in Morocco was about to come to a close and that in a few days my routines would drastically shift. Before I left, I said goodbye to the Moroccan friends I’d made and bought them gifts to thank them for all they’d taught me about Arabic and Moroccan culture. The above photo is one such moment. I’m in the back row on the left side with my hood up. The woman just in front of me with the hijab and the cyan hoodie is my tutor, Salma. I also visited a couple of my favorite places in Rabat and ate at some of the better restaurants I’d found one last time. The most important moment was saying goodbye to my host family as we departed for the airport early in the morning. We’d had a nice dinner with them the night before, but in the morning we had to quickly finish packing and eat a hurried breakfast before running to catch our tram, so things were a little rushed. Some people cried (not me because I’m a cool tough guy), and we had just enough time to grab a couple photos—then we were gone. It was sad, but it was just the way it had to be. One door closes, and another opens. 

So that’s it, my experience in Morocco is over. I have many more thoughts I’d like to share, but I’m planning to save those for my final post. Still, I can say this: this study abroad was the singular best thing I have been able to do in all my college years. I have learned more in these 15 weeks than I could have ever anticipated, and the journey isn’t over yet. Right now, I’m sitting in my hotel in Saudi Arabia as I wait for my bus to arrive so I can start the first of my last seven days I’ll spend overseas. I’ll write about my travels to Qatar and Saudi in the next post, though it’s unclear when exactly that post will go live. We’re packing in so much every day that sometimes it’s difficult to find time to use the bathroom. Also, I’ve been asked to curtail my social media activity while we’re in these surveillance states, so I haven’t figured out what exactly I’m going to write about. In any event, there are more posts coming, inshallah. Have a great week, and I’ll see you soon.