Just Some Thoughts

Today I left Morocco, but not before taking one last walk through Agdal in the (fairly) early morning as the town was waking up. I covered different ground than I had before, and came away thinking that Rabat could be a nice place to start another vacation. Nice people, good food, wonderful climate…just maybe not during Ramadan next time.

One of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel a bit early for the drive to the airport. On the way we stopped at a craft village where there were ironworkers, people making mosaics, carpets, pottery, rataan things, woodworking; all pretty impressive. I really liked some of the wrought iron, moasic topped tables – they’d be great for a patio – but there’s just no room in my luggage for a set. Some of the craftsmen there were doing a delicate dance between maintaining traditional patterns, colors and designs, and yet innovating. For instance, one potter created (evolved, really, because he tried 3 or 4 designs) a plate to hold shishkabob skewers and salad or other food. Unlike some other traditional craftsmen, these guys weren’t afraid to push things just a little to keep up with the times.

The flight from Rabat to Paris (where I am now) paralleled the Atlantic coast. Not long after takeoff we flew just to the west of the Straights of Gibralter. I had a seat on the correct side of the plane to see the mouth of the Mediterrainian Sea. It was _spectacular_! I now, unquestionably, want to take a vacation in which I fly into Morocco and see more of that wonderful country, cross Gibralter by ferry into Spain or Portugal to see part of those countries, and fly home from there.

As we neared Paris, the skys were still clear. We flew right over downtown and from my seat I had a perfect view of Trocadero, the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palace, Louvre, Notre Dame…best of all, I could recognize ‘em!!

It’s now about midnight here, and I just returned from spending who knows how long sitting in a cafe over a kir (wine and cassise) at Odeon metro just watching the people go by and being stunned that I’m here again. I know I’ve only scratched the surface of Paris and on this, my second trip here, I won’t get much deeper. Still, in this part of the city (left bank), where the buildings are not skyscrapers, where each time you turn a corner you’re in another village, where the people surge with energy, there’s life that we just don’t have in Washington, DC. I can’t believe I’m here again!

ckagy On the road

Today was a day of ups and downs. Well, that’s overstating it a bit. Most everything went very well, but I did have one disappointment on a personal level.

The Ups

This was the big day. A group of 20 people from different project offices came together today for me to lead a training session. Most of the people in attendance were administrative staff — not very high up on the pecking order. As it is Ramadan, we worked pretty well straight through the day from 9:00am until about 2:00pm. In that time we took a break or two, and coming back from one of those breaks one of the people mentioned how happy she was to attend. She explained that until today she had never had a chance to meet her counterparts from these other projects in a professional setting. I could see from the stack of business cards in her hand that she would most likely keep in communication with at least some of them.

All in all, the training was well received and the participants were very attentive and asked good questions. We had a visit by the Mission Director and the head of the Education Team; again, these are people that my participants would not normally have a chance to interact with. It was a long day, but now it’s done. Tomorrow I give a brief presentation to the management of the Mission so that they know what I told their partners. All pretty standard stuff.

The Down

Anyway, on the drive back to the Mission from the training site, I was sitting in the front seat and talking the the driver.

A friendly, animated and curious guy, he asked me if this was my first trip to Morocco. After I answered yes, it was, came the inevitable follow-up, “do you like it?” Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do, and I was surprised by a few things like the climate, the greenery, and the cliffs. “And that the Moroccan people are friendly?” he said.

My heart sank. I know he was joking, but this is what it has come to. There is an expectation that Americans assume pro forma that other cultures will be unfriendly and that we are surprised to find out that people are people (for good and bad) the world over. There’s an element of truth to it, and that’s why exchanges are so important. Ah well. Still, it was a pleasant ride back to the Mission.

ckagy On the road

Shortly after sundown, at least during Ramadan, Rabat becomes a ghost town. Most all of the residents have fasted (or severely reduced their caloric intake) all day, and at sundown everyone is at home to break the fast — Iftar.

I was out tonight walking through a park near the hotel around sundown. Shortly after the official sundown, I wandered back up to Agdal, the part of town I visited on Sunday. Sunday afternoon there were people everywhere and the streets were full of cars. Tonight, I could have sworn I was the only person in the city; no one on the sidewalks, no cars to dodge in the street, silence. It was eery!

Rabat is actually two cities, Rabat and Saleh that are separated by a river. On this satellite image, notice how the line of houses on each side of the river doesn’t quite come up to the edge; see how there’s a lot of farmland right at the river. Well, that’s because there are some pretty dramatic cliffs that you can’t quite see from the satellite. Tomorrow I’m going to try to get a picture or two of the view to post later.

I learned today that there is a lot of agriculture here in Morocco. Citrus, olives and, of all things, strawberries! A couple people remarked about the strawberries and how, during season, you can get a kilo for just under $1.

Tomorrow is the big day and I’ll be working with about 20 people for most of the day. Since it’s Ramadan we won’t break for “lunch,” but I’m going to need a snack even though I expect to eat a huge breakfast. We visited the site today, and everything is up to par and ready to go.

ckagy On the road

Saturday afternoon I hopped on the plane to Rabat, Morocco and arrived Sunday afternoon. Day one of five is done, and I live to tell the tale.

The flights (DC – Paris – Rabat) were okay save for two things. It left DC at just after 5:00pm and 7 hours later (midnight) landed in Paris. Those are not good hours to fly when you want to try to slee It just didn’t work. Then there was a 5ish hour layover in Paris. Normally not a bad thing, because I’ll wander through the airport terminal, check out duty free, find a nice place to sit, etc. The terminal where I was put in Charles DeGaulle was small and not much was available or open. I think it was maybe 200m long in total. I couldn’t go to another terminal without having to go through passport control. Just too much hassle.

Okay, so all was not bad on the trip. I had a wonderful seatmate who was travelling to Paris with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to recognize a building as a Heratige Site. The building was designed by Gustaf Eiffle (of the Tower fame) and was selected by a joint French/American committee. We talked about a little bit of everything, from how cool modern planes are with the things composite construction allows, to why can’t the U.S. have a good rail system (he was a big train buff), to jusy why can’t schools use Darwinism to teach the concept of a testable theory?

Rabat, so far, is lovely. I’m in the Hilton, which is on the outskirts of the city, not far from either USAID or a funky part of town called Agdal. I wandered Agdal yesterday with a friend of Rachel’s who works here, and plan to go back later this week for a cafe experience.

I don’t have a lot more to say yet, but I’m sure there are more things to experience. Maybe a real Iftar? It is Ramadan here and who knows? Maybe I’ll be invited to break the fast with someone.

ckagy On the road