March 8th was International Women's Day, and it was celebrated by giving all of the women at our hotel and at school a flower. The principal called a special meeting in the teacher's lounge, and told the teachers that they needed to give lessons about womens' rights and making women equal members of society. Morocco is a very traditional society, and many men and women think that there are mens' jobs and womens's jobs. When we spoke to the students, they told us that women were expected to do all the cooking and cleaning in the house. Ms. Skarsten asked them if they were going to go to the university, and almost everyone said, "yes." Then she asked them if their mother was going to go with them, and when they said, "no," she asked who was going to do their laundry? Would they bring it all home? How about cooking? McDonalds every day? (Yes, there are McDonalds in Morocco). Ms. Skarsten said that the boys needed to learn how to cook and clean, and that girls needed to know how to change a tire and fix things in the house when they are broken. I added that when the US was founded, women, Native Americans, and African-Americans did not have equal rights. I told them that as each group achieved the rights that they are entitled to, the US became a better country. Now there are women as leaders of companies, governors of states and members of Congress, and several women have been Secretary of State of the United States. And of course, an African-American, Barack Obama, is President of the United States.
So at the end of the day, we left our hotel and went out to eat. It is unusual for Moroccans to eat out, as most meals are eaten at home. However, there are many cafes where people can sit, drink tea, talk and watch as people walk around the city streets. Even in a smaller place like Beni Mellal, the streets are busy at night with people and families out.
Speaking of food, breakfast and lunch are the big meals of the day, and dinner is a smaller meal, like a snack. We are eating breakfast as the hotel, and usually it is breads, sliced tomatoes, yogart, cheese, and fresh orange juice. Moroccan meals are served on bowls in the center of the table, and everyone just takes what they want. There are usually salads, with fresh fruit at the beginning of the meal, also lots of dates, olives, and breads. Then comes the main course. Yesterday for lunch, we had couscous, which is a kind of pasta that looks like rice. It was delicious! It was served with vegetables, and we ate serveral servings. Then we had a dessert of huge, juicy oranges, bananas (which are smaller than we have in California), and apples. We were served tea, and thanked our host for a wonderful meal before heading back to school for the afternoon classes.
Tomorrow, we will tour a farm, teach more classes, and see a movie (in French), and listen to a discussion (also in French). Now, I am going to check on a speech that King Mohammed VI of Morocco made last night on TV. I heard he was proposing to makeimportant changes to help the Moroccan people gain more democracy. Morocco elects their leaders, but people want even more power to make changes in the government, and even kings need to listen to their people. How could you find out about the government of Morocco? How could you find the news about King Mohammed VI's speech?
Post your responses for extra credit if you can find out answers to my questions.
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