الله يمسك علي خير Morocco lla yemsek 'la khir

Morocco lla yemsek 'la khir

Yes, I had to say "Goodbye, Morocco."  In the 6 weeks since my last post, I have been so busy and thought I had plenty of time to post a lot more blogs. :-(
February was very busy.  I was putting my classes at the university online as a way to deal with enormous classes which only meet for 2 hours, once a week.  I had the students read grammar explanations and watch videos about it at home and then come to class and practice in groups.  In my essay writing class, I had students submit essays and peer edit before coming to class to discuss structural requirements of an essay and, in groups, outline what they read as a way to see what needed to be changed.  I was really excited to be doing this since other instructors could use my ideas in the future.  Little did I know how quickly they would need to transition online.

Street Art in Casa

My workshops to train teachers were also going really well, The participants were learning a lot, from me and each other, and valued the training.
I was also continuing to work on the volunteer project that I was involved with at a rural school outside of Essaouira, a coastal city about 4 1/2 hours away.  A group of us are looking at how to use tech to get distance learning into the schools for middle and high school students who can't travel back and forth to school in the city, how to integrate local heritage into primary education, and how to train teachers to do these things.

Sunset in Casa

Colleagues/friends from Rabat and Oujda came to visit and we did all of the fun big city things: dancing, bars, shopping, etc.  I planned some trips around Morocco and had even planned to come back to Oregon to see Rory's final show.

Normal breakfast out in Morocco

On the town in Casa

Then the COVID spread.  First, travel to Madrid from Morocco was suspended, so I couldn't stop there on my way to the US to see my mom.  She had cancelled her trip anyway, so that was out.
Then we got the news a week ago (Thursday night) that the State Department wanted us to voluntarily evacuate. Friday the Moroccan Ministry of Education closed all schools.  Some of us didn't want to go and said we would take the weekend to think about it.  Sunday morning we were called and told that Morocco would be closing its borders and we needed to get out.  There was a final flight which had been created with the intention of getting Americans out of the country.  We had less than 24 hours to pack and get to the airport.  It was less stressful for me since I was in Casa which is where the international flights come.  Having volunteered for the Red Cross, I had gone out the week before and gotten supplies for a few weeks (rice, pasta, milk, juice, eggs, NOT toilet paper), so I now had to figure out what to do with all of that.  

Morning of Departure
Empty Casa street

Monday afternoon we flew out of Casa.  We landed at JFK 8 hours later to no health screening whatsoever.  Since then, I have watched Morocco prepare quickly and efficiently, closing events and public spaces, announcing a curfew, and today, a week after I left, they have a lockdown.  They are not messing around and are trying to deal with the virus in an aggressive way, like China did, to avoid a major crisis.  Meanwhile in the US, very few changes have happened and they vary from state to state with some places taking no action at all.  The borders with Canada and Mexico are closing, but the state borders (except California) are not.  There is still no health screening of incoming flights although the government says there is.

Tiny House Airbnb in Portland

Spring in Oregon

I am feeling very sad.  I plan to continue online with my classes at the university for the next few weeks to transition the other teachers.  I am also continuing to work remotely on my volunteer project.  I didn't want to leave Morocco so soon and especially not so abruptly.  I was scheduled to return for a second year in the fall and still hope to if at all possible.  At this point, I am trying to deal with the emotions of an enormous change happening so quickly.

When one door closes...

...a window opens.

The Roller-coaster of January

January was a roller-coaster of highs and lows.  One of the first things I did was play laser tag for the first time in my life with a friend and his 9 year-old son.  As I posted on FB, I upheld not only my national honor, but I was also a credit to my gender because I kicked a**.  😉

Laser Tag, Casablanca, 2020

I flew to Oujda, a city on the Algerian border to work with a colleague.  While I was there, the Amazight New Year happened and I went to a music event to celebrate.

The second week of January I had to give my final exams.  I wasn't worried about this.  For the composition class, I was using the rubric provided by the department head who was teaching the other two sections.  Also, to be certain that I was grading validly, I had another Fellow grade a few and compared our scores; they were the same.  However, after submitting my grades, I was informed by the dept. head that I could not give a grade higher than a 16.  They use the French grading system here which is 0-20 and 10 is a passing grade.  Therefore, the highest grade that a student could receive would be a 20, but Moroccan professors don't give anything higher than a 16.  I argued that I had graded fairly, my grades had fallen (without manipulation on my part) into a bell curve, and the high scores reflected the students' ability to write a very good paragraph.  Finally, I told the department head that she had the authority to change my grades, but I refused to do it.  I felt that I had no other ethical choice.😞
The following week I was at conferences in El Jadida and Tangier. We attended workshops on many areas of EFL teaching and a colleague and I presented a workshop on differentiated learning.  The conferences were a lot of fun; EFL instructors know how to party after working hard! We also visited historical sites and the beach in both cities. However, I was very happy to return to Casa and have "quality alone time" after constantly being around so many people.  The El Jadida conference had over 700 attendees!

Luxurious Conference Site in El Jadida 

Fellows from around North Africa/Near East

American Legation in Tangier

Left by the maid in Tangier

Train notice to remember all your belongings

Leaving Tangier on the TGV

When I got back to Casa, I immediately jumped into preparing for spring term.  I am creating "flipped classes" this term to try to deal with the huge number of students.  Since I am not a tech wizard, this has been challenging for me, but I am slowly getting the hang of it.  I'll see how successful it is.  The university where I teach is really pushing to incorporate online/blended classes.
The last week of January was probably the most emotionally up and down.  On Thursday a protest of the American Middle East "Peace Plan" was scheduled for the consulate in Casablanca.  There aren't many tourist sites in Casa and I have told many people that the one place where Americans gather (and which would be a good target) is the consulate.  It also happens to be right next door to my apartment!  Although the street was closed off and there were approximately 40+ soldiers outside, there was no need for any preparations.  The protest never happened.  Friday I went to the university to attend a meeting of all faculty in the university system (5 or 6 campuses) on the proposed change next year to a 4 year bachelor's degree modeled on the American system.  The meeting was held in French and Darija and then, at the end, the president asked me, as the only Anglo-Saxon present, to speak.  Aaaahhh!  It was nerve-wracking!
At the end of the month, I had to deal with many students approaching me to ask why they had gotten such low grades.  I had to tell them that the dept. head had changed them and that there was nothing I could do.  This made me think about spring term.  My grammar classes will be easy to grade, but the composition/essay writing class will be just like fall term.  At that point, I decided I would teach and edit the students, but I refused to grade them and then have the grades changed again.  My argument is that the university requested an American and in the US, changing grades like that would not only be unethical, it would be illegal.  That's my line in the sand.  😎
Maybe February won't be quite as crazy.  We'll see.

The holidays come to an end

The holidays have come to an end... and not a moment too soon. The partying in Casa seems to follow the Mediterranean timetable.  Bars and clubs don't really get hopping until after midnight.  I celebrated Solstice at an early get together and then in solitude (which I enjoyed very much.)  Christmas Eve I had the traditional Mexican food and open house.  As always it was an eclectic mix of guests which makes conversation interesting.  Many of my colleagues from the ELF program and the State Department came as well as some coworkers.  Although there were fewer guests than in years past, the party didn't end until after 1.

Final guests on Christmas Eve 2019

Christmas Day was very unusual.  I had a couple of guests staying with me, Ajita and Jordan (also ELFs), and we had a very slow-paced day.  We went to a hammam (one of Morocco's greatest inventions) and then went shopping.  We stopped at Starbucks for a jolt of caffeine.  For dinner we tried an Indian restaurant (which will remain nameless since it was not good), had drinks with some friends, and then went to a club to listen to live music.  American music...  It was okay, but 4 people had mics on stage and there were no harmonies!!!!

Christmas day at Casablanca Starbucks

Going to a club on Christmas Day

The next day, Ajita and Jordan went to Marrakech for a few days and I worked.  In a Muslim country, December doesn't have any holidays (unless Ramadan falls during that time.)  However, New Year's Day is a national holiday.  New Year's Eve Ajita and Jordan were back and we went to a friend's house and then went out to an underground "alternative" club.  I wanted to go around 11:30 to ring in the new year.  Luckily everyone else talked me out of it because when we got there after 1, we were the first to arrive.  The music selection was odd, but wide-ranging.  They started with The Gambler by Kenny Rogers???? but went on to play U2, lots of Arab pop, etc.

Here are a couple of other photos to end the year with... yes, those are spices stacked in the shape of pyramids!

Spice shop, Essaouira

Camel on the beach, Casa

I have been speaking a lot of French lately and a friend sent this to me, so I will share it with you as wishes for the New Year:

Best Wishes
A page is turning
A new one is ready to write upon...

365 days to live and share
In Love and Friendship
So the New Year is nothing but
Gentleness and Beauty!