“Do you speak Arabic? Inchallah !”

As part of my program here in Marseille, we went to Fez, Morocco this past week to experience first hand some of the cultural, political, and religious differences of North Africa and of course to try to use the little bit of Arabic that we’ve learned this semester! Throughout the week, we had a few conferences with professors at the university in Fez (to talk about the cultural and political situations of Fez) and with Muslim women who wear the veil to discuss how the practice of Islam affects their daily life. Each day we also went on various tours to see the Medina (the older part of the city where all of the markets are), the Volubilis (Roman Ruins), and a monkey infested forrest in the highlands of Morocco! :) 

During the week, I stayed with a host family that was wonderful and very welcoming! (We were each paired with a “correspondent” student studying French at the university in Fez and their family was our host family.) My correspondent, Atika, lives with her parents, her 4 brothers and 2 sisters…needless to say there was always a lot going on at their home! Atika, her dad, and one of her sisters spoke French fairly well so I was able to communicate pretty easily with them, but the rest of the family spoke Arabic so I learned some useful Arabic words and phrases :) but there was also a lot of “charades” to understand each other. Here are some words that are used ALL the time in Morocco:

-          Chukran (“Thanks”)

-          Inchallah (“If god wants it” or “god-willing”)

-          Asalamoualieekoum (For “hello”, literally “peace with you”) and the response is alieekoumousalama (That's not confusing, right? :))

-          Kol (“Eat!”)

-          Khubz (“Bread”)

Part of the welcoming nature of the Moroccans is that they want to feed you everything (hence the phrase “kol”…I heard that a lot throughout the week!)…I’m pretty sure that I’ve never eaten more bread and drank more thé à la menthe (mint tea) in my whole life than I did the past week in Morocco! But my host mom was a great cook and throughout the week I had some delicious couscous and tangine!

It was great to be in a host family because I got to do some interesting and “traditional” things with my family. One day I went to the neighborhood hamam (Turkish baths) with my host mom and we were there for two hours! (The Moroccans know how to do baths :)) Another day, my host sisters and I did traditional henna on our hands (see pictures!). Also, my host dad was a photo journalist so he invited me along to the events that he was attending throughout the week. We went to a concert of Soufie (sacred music)…the sofies are the traditional dancers with the big white skirts that twirl around in a circle for like 15-20 minutes and then when the music stops then stop all of the sudden and just walk off the stage normally…they aren’t dizzy at all! It’s quite amazing! We also went to a ‘community’ wedding with 25 couples! Since marriages are quite a big deal - there 3 days of celebration and it can get quite expensive – if a couple can’t afford their own celebration, the city of Fez offers ‘all-inclusive weddings’ :) where they provide the catering, music, dresses, everything for the couple. It was cool to see how there are different traditions than occidental weddings, for example the brides are carried into the room in a palankeen (see photos!) but there are other traditions that are exactly the same like cutting the wedding cake and the first dance :)

Here are some pictures from my week in Fez: http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/Morocco?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmB24bCs8uoew&feat=directlink

Skiing in the Alps!

So while some Marseillais headed to the beach to sunbathe this weekend, my host family and I headed up to the mountains for some spring skiing! My host family has a small house (that's 150 years old!) near Serre Chevalier in the Alps...we spent the weekend there with two collegues of my host dad (2 other math teachers) and some family friends (one family had two daughters 7 and 4 years old...soo cute!). It was my first time skiing anyplace other than Colorado, but after Colorado the Alps aren't too bad :) I think I still like Colorado snow better, but the Alps (at least the ski area that we were at) seemed huge! The runs seem to be a little more open and we were able to go up to the top of a lot of different peaks which had wonderful views! It's also interesting that they label their runs a little differently...they have green (easy), blue (intermediate), and black (difficult) runs but they also have red which is in between blue and black, but no black diamonds, double black diamonds, etc...I was trying to explain the diamond system to my host dad and he thought that was kind of funny :)

The town at the base of Serre Chevalier is also known for its natural hot springs and so we went to the "bains chauds" (or "hot tubs"!) after skiing. There they had two different warm pools with lots of jets (like big hot tubs) and a hamam (turkish bath...like a really really hot sauna)...they also had "les trois bains" which are three bath: one really warm (40°C) which you are supposed to spend 20 minutes in, one lukewarm bath (24°C) which you spend 10 minutes in, and one freezing cold bath (7°C) which you are "supposed" spend 2 minutes in :) (yeah right, i only made it like 10 seconds in the really cold bath!)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend: http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/SerreChevalier?authkey=Gv1sRgCKv8mszD2smSAw&feat=directlink

More travels...

So, I like the French system of breaks...during this semester, I have a winter break AND spring break (and a few random 'holidays' in the middle of the week just because!) which makes traveling around a little easier :) This past week for winter break, my friend Emma from Colorado College (who is also studying in France) and I went to Nice, France. We stayed the full week in Nice - there is a ton of stuff to do! We went to a few museums, some cool parks, hung out on the beach, and shopped in the marchés. It was also the week of Carnaval (which is quite popular in Nice) so there were parades in the afternoons and at night. Its kind of funny that silly string is so popular at these parades...not only do kids run around spraying each other but adults will spray other random adults with silly string and just laugh at each other! Throughout the week, we also took a few day trips to some other cities (and a country!) that are close by...Cannes, St. Paul de Vance, and Monaco. (Monaco is actually a lot smaller than I realized...Emma and I walked across the whole country in just one day! :))

Here are some pictures from my week...the first few are in Nice, then Monaco, St. Paul de Vance, Cannes, and then some more from Carnaval in Nice :) http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/NiceWinterBreak?authkey=Gv1sRgCLXm1uiJ_IaLIQ&feat=directlink

Vive la grève!

So, only a few days after I arrived in Marseille, I got to see a French strike (grève). After working at the Democratic National Convention this summer, I thought that I had seen some pretty big protests in Denver, but American protests are nothing compared to the French “manifestations”! La Canebière, the main street of Marseille which leads into the city from the Vieux Port, was completely packed with protestors, but it was interesting because it wasn’t only adults – there were whole families, students from elementary through college, and even older retired people, who were all there just to watch like it was a parade! The protestors were singing, dancing, and chanting, while carrying banners and flags…I even saw a group of young students doing the Macarena…I’m not sure how that expresses a concern for the rising unemployment in France…maybe something was lost in translation :) Anyway, it was fascinating because it almost seemed like a celebration, but then I realized that maybe it is a way for the French to celebrate their rights and express their opinions :) It was also kind of cool because in Paris, the strikes can get a little violent and out of control, but they are really calm here in Marseille! At night the protestors just all went home (and probably watched all of the craziness in Paris on T.V.)!

So far I have really enjoyed Marseille and my host family! I’m not quite sure exactly what I expected Marseille to be like, but it really is a mixture of cultures…on my walk to school everyday I pass through narrow streets that remind me of tiny European towns, walk down huge boulevards with buildings that remind me of Paris, and pass by a small North African market! I have a host mom and a host dad who have been so welcoming and helpful…we’ve had some great conversations because they are very interested in my views on American politics. They are also very active…in fact, my first day in Marseille, my host dad took me on a 3 hour mountain bike tour of the Calanques (the mountain range that runs along the coast of France). They’ve also told me all about the good places to ski that aren’t too far from Marseille, so maybe we can try to go skiing while I’m here and I can compare France snow to Colorado snow!

Since all of my classes are in French and our program has a language contract that we will only speak French with our host families and the other students, I’ve been doing (or attempting to do!) everything in French! It’s a little weird, but “au fur et à mesure” (“little by little”…they love this phrase here!), it’s gotten to the point where if I hear something in English (or even as I’m trying to type this!) it feels pretty strange.

Also, here’s a link to a few of my pictures from Marseille and the small towns that my group visited last weekend in the Luberon region!

http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/Marseille?authkey=kkrK-nJf6T0&feat=directlink

A plus tard!
Beth :)

Why Ireland is so green...

Here are some Ireland pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/IrelandTrip?authkey=_af9xHIkMwc&feat=directlink

“Raining Between the Showers”

It’s a really good thing that I remembered to bring my rain jacket to Ireland this week! At the beginning of the week, we hopped onto a tour bus that took us around the countryside and to the Cliffs of Moher (also known as the “Cliffs of Insanity” where the Princess Bride was filmed!). As we set off from Galway toward the cliffs with a steady drizzle of rain outside, our tour bus driver said that the forecast for today would be “raining between the showers”…But despite all of the rain, I’ve actually had a very nice time being in Ireland the past week :)

I started the week off in Dublin with some friends, where we did the obligatory tour of the Guinness Storehouse :) It was actually a pretty interesting self-led tour that shows everything that goes into a Guinness and the company’s history (and of course at the end of the tour, you get to drink a pint of Guinness at their bar at the top of the factory, overlooking Dublin!) We also spent time walking around Grafton Street (a big shopping street with street performers…when it’s not raining!) and the Temple Bar area (where a lot of Dublin’s best pubs are).

Then we took a bus across the country to Galway and stayed with my friends who are studying at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Throughout the week, we’ve done some shopping, relaxing, and took the tour bus around Galway. I also went to an Irish Step Dancing class here at the university where I learned 3 different steps (I’m on my way to Riverdance!). Also, Obama is quite popular over here so we watched the inauguration at the College Bar with the rest of the student body which is made up of Irish and International students. It was definitely more of a subdued reaction to his speech than I would have seen if I was at school or at home!

Well, I’m leaving Ireland tomorrow and I will take the TGV down to Marseille over the weekend where I’ll meet my host family and begin my classes! I’ll put up some more pictures of rainy Ireland and will hopefully update you once I’m down in Marseille!

A plus tard!
Beth :)

Paris Pictures!

Click this link for a few of my pictures from Paris :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/erichards20/BethMarseille2009?authkey=6eCv2PDaK0g&feat=directlink