The Couscous Chronicles: Eid al-Kabeer

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Gobbling up one "eid" and sheepishly celebrating another: Thanksgiving and Eid al-Kabeer in Morocco

As chance would have it, the Gregorian solar calendar and Islamic lunar calendar aligned in such a way this year that within two days of the great American turkey slaughter, millions of Arabic-bleating sheep met a similar fate across the Islamic world. That’s right: it was a holiday double-header this past weekend for us Americans in Morocco.

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Ahlan wa Sahlan, Welcome

Greetings all! It's Caitlyn here, and, armed with not much more than that brand new liberal arts degree, beginning Arabic skills now two years rusty and a youthful zeal inclined to overlook any such limitations, I am currently spending fifteen months living and studying in Morocco. The initial six will be in the imperial city of Fes, where I'll be burnishing my linguistic abilities at the Arabic Language Institute in Fes (ALIF). Then, in February, I'll move up north to Tetouan and shift my focus to an independent research project having generally to do with relations between Spain and Morocco during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s (see the first posting for details). I hope to use this blog to chronicle not only these academic endeavors but also -- primarily -- the ins and outs of daily life in Morocco.

How am I here?

My time in Morocco is principally facilitated through a Fulbright research grant. Run and partly funded* by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs within the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright program was established in 1946 with the aim of coordinating an intercultural exchange of knowledge, skills and ideas. Fulbright grants come in a variety of forms, from teaching to research projects, for everyone from recent college graduates to established professors and scholars; they are available for Americans who want to work in another country and for non-Americans to come to the States. As is typical, my Fulbright lasts about nine months. It will begin at the end of February, but from September until then I will be studying Arabic under a Critical Language Enhancement Award (CLEA). The CLEA is made available to those Fulbright grantees whose projects necessitate research in a "critical language," such as Arabic, Chinese, Pashto and Urdu.
* The other part of the funding is provided by the partner country. Morocco takes an especially active role in this partnership through the Moroccan American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (MACECE).

The Couscous Chronicles

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Gobbling up one "eid" and sheepishly celebrating another: Thanksgiving and Eid al-Kabeer in Morocco

Ahlan wa Sahlan, Welcome

Morocco

How am I here?

Brave the Moroccan mail system!

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