I would say my two big things have been the journalism experience I’ve gotten and then just the fact that I came here expecting a challenge, and I came here expecting the culture to be very different, but I never expected I would actually love it. And also, that I could take a story from the beginning to the end and put it somewhere where it wasn’t my school paper.”
Jackie’s story was published in the New York Times.
Walid and I had a final goodbye coffee just before I left, and had a long conversation about how lucky we feel to have had the opportunity to work on a project like the one we did together. I am certain we will be in touch, likely for the rest of our lives. The program was brilliantly designed. I think journalism is a potential path for me. Thank you for showing me this. Thank you also for showing me how to apply the questions in my head to the real world.
By SADIA KHATRI
Food streets in Morocco are a vegetarian’s nightmare. Butcher shops flaunt meat in every form: cut into sausage, minced, sliced, finely chopped. Roadside restaurants advertise an assortment of chawarmas, paninis and burgers while customers loiter about. Biased menus flap in defiance, offering modest salads as their sole vegetarian option, as smoke from barbequed chicken lingers invitingly above grilles, and snail and fish smells waft in to tantalize passerbys. In Morocco, meat is more than a popular cuisine: it is a lifestyle
“It’s very shame[ful] if you have people in your house and you put Tajine without meat,” stresses Ibrahim Adaoui, 46, referring to his favourite stew of chicken, tendered to perfection.
The water boils and is poured atop tiny rolls of dark brown, gunpowder tea pellets. A handful of freshly picked, vividly green mint leaves are stuffed inside of the teapot. Instantly, the aroma rises: a minty fresh scent makes its way throughout the traditional Moroccan household, greeting the guests with hospitality, generosity and a refreshing ambiance.The tea is poured back and forth between glass cups: a routine of cooling, making the temperature just right for the perfect warmth to seep through the fingertips. The Ougaamou family sits comfortably at the dinner table: television on, bread in basket, but most importantly, tea at the center.
Modern fast food in Rabat offers customers a polar opposite experience from the bustle of the medina. Restaurants give way for budding teenagers couples and cheerful families. Greasy aromas of “McNuggets” and “Big Macs” compete for space in an atmosphere of anticipation, where the wait can take up to 15 minutes. However, customers will also find food triple the price.
“It’s the culture.” states 33-year-old local chef, Hicham Radi. “The rich people go to famous places like McDonalds”
According to the World Bank, the average Moroccan family can be identified as lower middle income.
By MOHINI UFELI
2013 has been a busy year for former Student Journalist AnnaMarie Houlis.
Since MOJ, she’s interned at MediaBend Capital in New York City, publishers of both LifeStyleMirror.com and ElizabethStreet.com, writing primarily for the travel sections. AnnaMarie is currently Editor-in-Chief of The Gettysburgian at Gettysburg College and is keeping herself extra busy building her own women’s news and travel blog, HerReport.com—an international, interactive platform that communicates undisclosed stories of women around the world. Anna writes “the inspiration came from my travels in Morocco and, in fact, the kickoff article on Her Report is the story I investigated during my time there.”
HerReport.com is still in the developmental stages, but AnnaMarie plans to travel post graduation to focus solely on her blog.
By MICHELLE DUTRO and AMULYA SHANKAR
