Originally Published on St. Olaf's Term in the Middle East Group Blog. On our last Thursday evening in Fez, Lauren and I were invited to a birthday party by our host sister, Mejda. The party was for her friend Rita, whom Lauren and I had met before, and she was adamant that we should attend. Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to experience a real Moroccan celebration (we’ve heard they know how to have a good time), and desperately seeking an excuse to return to the wor

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harem- noun 1. The part of a palace or house reserved for the residence of women. 2 .The women of a (Muslim) household, including the mother, sisters, wives, concubines, daughters, entertainers and servants. Note: Definitions retain to gender distinction. The feminine is defined in relation to otherness, that is, separate from male. Harem therefore becomes reliant on the presence of males in order to create and make distinct this otherness. According to definition, without t

Originally Published on St. Olaf's Term in the Middle East Group Blog. The city retires early. When the sun sets at 5:30 over the towering walls of the medina, the winding roads are empty. The German tourists with unsightly mullets, the braying donkeys with their loads of Coca-Cola, the coercive shopkeepers with shelves and shelves of turquoise earrings and worn yellow-leathered shoes – they all disappear, stall doors snapped shut. Where they go is unclear. Perhaps to night c

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Originally Published on St. Olaf's Term in the Middle East Group Blog. Kule, Kule. Lauren. Jessica. Kule!” I do not know Colloquial Moroccan Arabic, but in the limited time since my arrival in Fez, I have learned this one word, kul, well: eat. My host mother, Helema, a warm, round babushka of a women, easily in her seventies, likewise knows nothing of English, which makes for many a confusing conversation, often including ridiculous pantomimes. However, three times a day, we

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Originally Published on St. Olaf's Her Campus Ole Abroad Blog. It’s been a week since our arrival in Morocco, and the transition has been rough. The wheel on my suitcase broke two minutes before I was expected to roll it to my homestay, deep within the twisted alleys of the old Fez medina (walled city). The language is foreign and difficult, deep and throaty, with sounds I’m not used to making and a grammar structure I can’t wrap my head around. My original homestay lacked pr

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