Notes on My Moroccan Life, Part 4.

The melon here is better than any melon I've ever had in America. I would eat melon all day every day if I could.

At the gym today, I took a free abs class and the teacher started yelling at me in Darija and I was highly motivated.

I've started reading a really good book called "Introduction to Islam" and it mentions that Islam is defined as "submission" (as in submission of one's existence to God), but this definition is pretty faulty because being Muslim is voluntary, and it's also impossible to forfeit your humanity even if you wanted to. Because humans are inherently flawed and prone to mistakes and sin. A more accurate explanation of the word "Islam" is that it comes from the Arabic root that means "peace," which is the #1 value in the religion.

Random little kids have come up to me in school and asked if I'm Muslim, and I've said, "no, I'm Christian" and they have all made a point of saying, "that's okay, we respect that" in one way or another.

The situation is very different for Jewish people, though. There are a lot of historical/political conflicts between Jews and Muslims in Morocco, so most kids learn from their parents that they shouldn't trust Jewish people. I was once in a taxi with Chloe and Mira, and the driver said (in Darija) that his electronic meter came from China, not Israel, which is where all of the people who control the world are from. And then he named a bunch of non-Israeli, just Jewish people. He was a weird guy. I was not a fan.

I was talking to my Muslim friend in school and he said that he believes it's okay to be LGBTQ+ because you love who you love, which is very progressive. Our generation is very progressive, from what I've observed. But if there are people presumed gay here, they will be beat up frequently by older generations.

There is a protest expected to happen outside the Rabat tribunal next week because a journalist was arrested "for premarital sex and abortion," but most people say that she is actually being arrested because the government doesn't like what she published.

Apparently the public schools in Morocco are better than the private schools, which I find interesting because the kids in the private schools ALL have tutors for ALL subjects in addition to their classes at school. Just seems like a lot of unnecessary expenses.

I did a project in French class this week on tree goats and their participation in the production of some argan oil products. I spoke extensively of the goats' digestive systems. The images on the tableau were quite graphic.

In the US, people never comment on my eyes because they just aren't that cool. They are "blue" but really they are grey. Here, everybody comments on my eyes, which I find bizarre because my hair is bright orange and nobody says a word. Jeremy thinks that's because there are a lot of people in northern Morocco with red hair. I find this information questionable.

Somebody at school called me "special edition" because of my eyes.

You must wipe your plate clean with bread and eat the soppy bread before you put your dish in the sink. In my family, at least. You MUST!!!

There are little shops along every street called "hanouts," and they sell candy bars, circles of bread, sodas, and nuts. They are the best, mostly because Tonik bars are chocolate wafer candy bars that cost 1 dirham each and are soooooo good. A daily necessity. Sometimes I think about a $100 US bill and imagine 1000 tonik bars and become very happy.