CATS!

One thing I was not expecting to find in Fes was the huge number of stray cats (I've only heard of an abundance of stray dogs in various Muslim countries. These have a much smaller but noticeable presence in Fes as well). Cats are EVERYWHERE, especially near the produce areas in the old medina. Unfortunately, the vast majority of cats are mangy and afflicted with a variety of health problems such as mites, worms, broken bones, malnourishment, and missing body parts. Although it is uncommon for Moroccans to keep cats as house pets like we do in the US, in general they seem to be treated humanely by villagers and act as communal pets. You can frequently see people stopping to pet the cats or feeding them scraps of food. For example, outside my host family's house someone has left out a box for kittens to sleep in and people leave out leftovers from meals inside it. Although it's heartbreaking to see a 6-week old kitten with a missing eye, for the most part I have really enjoyed all of the cats that flower the streets. And in comparison, I would prefer to see gross kittens over rodents, which would surely be a significant problem in the old medina's littered alleyways.

Ifrane

I travelled to Ifrane last weekend (about a 45 minute drive from Fes) which is a town in the Mid Atlas mountains. Ifrane becomes increasingly popular for Moroccans in the summer time when other cities become too hot. The city is also a popular place for athletes to come and train due to the high altitude. Ifrane was developed by the French during the protectorate period for administrative buildings due to its attractive climate. Ifrane has lots of European style architecture (the college there, built in 1995, looks like a mini Swiss village), a mountain resort, and a beautiful climate. Although Ifrane was originally founded by Arabs in the 16th century, today many inhabitants are ethnically Berber and speak Tamazight, which is a dialect of the Berber language (there are several and can vary significantly based on region).

On our trip I walked in the woods (kind of woods: it's not heavily forested and is visited frequently by tourists) outside of Ifrane and ran into some Berbers (Immazighn is the PC term, but I will refrain from this usage as a. I'm not PC and b. Berbers I have met thus far call themselves Berber) washing wool in a stream as well as doing laundry. I rode a horse around the "woods" for 10 dhirram, which is approximately $1.20 USD. Then we went to a nearby location to play with monkeys and fed them peanuts (they were SO cute). After, we travelled to a nearby lake and met some Berber kids and played with their donkeys and horses, which was perhaps my favorite part of our trip. A boy offered to sell me his baby donkey for 500 dhirram (approx. $60 USD) but unfortunately I had to refrain as I wouldn't have had anywhere to put him when we got back to Fes.

(all above photogrpahs courtesy Caroline Pilhower)

The America Language Institute

For anyone interested in studying the Arabic language abroad, I definitely recommend considering ALIF. I have two 2-hour sessions of MSA per day (two different professors: one AM and one PM) for the next 6 weeks in the new city of Fes. The instructors focus on having students speak the language, which is sometimes lacking from classes in the US. Additionally, class sizes are kept small; there are about 8 students in my class which seems to be an average size for the program. This means there is a lot of individual attention and the classes are small 3enough for the professors to spend a lot of individual time with their students to check vocabulary and comprehension, which is difficult in larger classes.

The American Language Institute also offers English classes for Moroccan students so it has been relatively easy to meet Moroccan friends. The building is absolutely beautiful; it's an old Jewish home with vaulted ceilings, big windows, and lots of intricate tile and plaster work. I thought I was going to be studying somewhere more like a typical classroom, and this was definitely a pleasant surprise. The building still has squat toilets in the bathrooms, but that is a calculated loss.

Anyone that wants more information regarding this program can find it here:

http://www.alif-fes.com/general.htm