Life in Rabat
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. ” ― Anthony Bourdain
I’m not going to lie, the adjustment was hard at first. I felt stuck. Stuck in my apartment, stuck in a city where I didn’t know the language, stuck with only one other person for 6 weeks. The atmosphere in Rabat is very city-like, filled with loud car horns and narrow streets and tall buildings. It wasn’t the quintessential colored walls and urban atmosphere of night markets that I was expecting from Morocco, but once we got to work Rabat started to feel more comfortable.
Our office is only a ten minute walk from our apartment, and it’s fun being part of the hustle and bustle of the working commute each morning. We learned how to take the tram down to the Medina, which the part of Rabat that is on the water and it is full of life in the evening. We often go down there when we want to go somewhere after work or on our days off, and have started to find hidden cafes and our favorite market vendors.
The hardest adjustment has definitely been the stares. I was warned on multiple occasions that I wouldn’t exactly blend into this culture with my fair complexion and blonde hair, but I was not prepared for just how uncomfortable I’d feel in my own skin on a daily basis. Men loiter on the streets here so it’s impossible to avoid feeling their stares, and cars will even drive beside me as I walk on the sidewalk, often accompanied by whistling or honking. The unsettling attention was very overwhelming and suffocating at first, but I’m learning to ignore them which makes my daily life a lot easier.
Last weekend we drove 5 hours to Marrakech to start meeting with some of the woman artisans behind all of the merchandise we’re working with, and they welcomed us with open arms (and lots of cheek kisses) into their homes. We watched them hand-braid leather and create incredibly intricate shirts from a blank slate, but what was most impressive was just how determined they all were determined to re-write the narrative for other women artisans along the way, both through their co-ops and mobilizations of entire communities.
Manal, our boss, has the most incredible spirit. She quite literally never stops, as she juggles making sure we have all the resources we need, rotating through English, French, or Arabic in each conversation, running her own company, participating in multiple forums and conferences daily, and raising three girls, all under the age of 4. We joke with her that she gets more phone calls hourly than we get in a year, and she lives each moment with such joy and enthusiasm that it’s contagious. I’m convinced there’s nothing she can’t do, and she handles it all with such ease (and usually with some dancing, too).
We saw Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, and Louis Fonsi this week for free, as well, as we just happened to get here in time for Rabat’s annual music festival, Mawazine! I quite literally never know what each day will hold, and sometimes we don’t even know what city we’ll be working in the next day. That was another tough adjustment as a girl who likes a schedule, but I’ve come to love the unexpectedness of it all since each day is an adventure, and it sure makes for far better stories.
I can’t wait for all the incredible sights that are still left to see, the endless cities we haven’t even discovered, and for more dance parties in the car along the way.
