Days of discovery...

[a picture from my first protest. On Sunday afternoon, a crowd of about three hundred gathered in front of the parliament building to protest the government's refusal to acknowledge the Amazigh people and their culture. The Amazigh people are the native people of Morocco, and their history has been erased, and their language isn't acknowledged in the constitution of Morocco. History begins in school textbooks with the Arabs conquering North Africa and setting up their empire. Amazigh (Berber) history is not taught, and the language is only marginally taught, and poorly, at that. So, I joined Carly, my roommate and dear friend, and helped her gather information and interview people at the rally. She's researching Amazigh identity politics.

It was a great day. I want to protest more. ha.]


What a cliche title for an entry. It sounds dumb.

Oh well.

Morocco continues to be wonderful. I'm sitting in a nice cafe in central Rabat right now, stealing wireless from who knows where. I love when people don't "lock" their wireless, and I can use it. God bless them.

"Research" is going well, if you can call it research. Really researching the sex education of young women would take months, if not a year, so now I'm writing a paper of short essays and vignettes about my observations of Morocco. So far so good. I'm enjoying writing; I write when I have something to say, and usually I turn out well-worded and thought provoking pieces.

My paper won't be "academic" in its flavor (not your normal research paper), and I'm glad about this. When else will I have the opportunity to write 15-80 pages of whatever I want, in whatever form I choose? So, I'm just having fun with it. I'm telling stories, writing prosey poetry, analyzing popular opinion in Morocco, looking at the difference between Morocco's Islamic culture and America's culture which is only marginally influenced by Christianity.... and on and on. I'm taking photographs, waking up at four in the morning to watch street fights over prostitutes, attending protests, and drinking lots of coffee. And running. I like to run, now.

I don't know where I'll be tomorrow, who I will interview, who will return a questionnaire, what other thoughts I'll have about this country and it's "hush hush" world of sex, virginity, and illegal consumption of alcohol.

ISP is fun. And it's spoiling me. I have no idea how to be a college student anymore.