我 在 环 游 世 界 中 的 生 活

Casablanca to Rabat

5/20/12

Left Casablanca early on a train to Rabat.  Everyone told me that Casablanca was the least interesting of the three main cities (Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech) so I cut out one night in Casablanca and added a night in Rabat.

It turned out to be quite true, and I was definitely a bit disappointed with Casablanca.  Apparently it used to be a better resort town (hence the movie) but now it’s just a big city with outdated buildings.  My time wasn’t bad there, though.  It started off a bit difficult because I was exhausted from getting up early in Tunis and then got lost in the Ancient Medina the first time I left the hostel.  Once I finally found my way back, I was in desperate need of a nap so I just slept for a couple of hours.  When I woke up, the Wi-Fi worked all of a sudden and the sun had come out so my mood got exponentially better and I ended up having a good afternoon there just walking around and going to places on my list.  Place Mohammed V was cool but nothing special.  I ended up getting lost again at the Musee d’Architecture because it turns out that it isn’t actually a building, but the museum is just “all around you.”  The brochure was in French but I still felt kind of dumb.  After that, I ate dinner in this old fortress near the water, which was obviously nice, but I’m still just not a fan of eating alone.  I guess that’s what I get for traveling alone.

Casablanca definitely redeemed itself this morning, though.  I went to the Great Mosque of Hassam II (the tallest mosque in the world) and it was definitely the best work of architecture I’ve seen since St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  I don’t think the pictures will even come close to showing how tall it really was.  I did an overpriced tour that was completely worth it and I got to see the bathhouses underneath.  The mosque is built out over the ocean, which must be a big theme in the Middle East/North Africa region because the two nicest neighborhoods in Tunis were built out over the giant lake and of course there are all of the manmade islands in Dubai.  Apparently the Koran says that the thrown of God was out over the water or something?  I didn’t pay enough attention during the tour but I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.

As of now, all of my clothes have been dirty for at least a week and I’m starting to feel gross haha.  There was laundry service at the hotel in Tunis but it was ridiculously expensive.  There was also a free laundry service at my hostel in Lisbon but I was too dumb to realize that it wouldn’t be free in Tunis (and too lazy :/) so I didn’t take advantage of it.  Oops.  Anyways, kind of glad to be out of Casablanca even though I’m a bit nervous about my hostel in Rabat because it’s costing me less than $7…. But it’s just for one night so oh well. 

Microfinancing, Dean’s Dinner, and Camels

5/19/12 - 6:30am

Sitting at my terminal to go to Casablanca an hour early.  It took me until this morning to realize that the maids in my hotel had been throwing away the coke bottles I had been keeping for my collection :/, but I snagged one from the overpriced mini-fridge.  Excited about the next six days but already looking forward to going home.

The last few days in Tunisia were great.  We had some really good visits to a microfinancing firm and an IT firm.  The microfinancing was really interesting because I never really understood what it was until now.  There is a man in Bangladesh who has made thousands of microloans to extremely poor Bangladesh citizens and really changed their lives.  It’s called Grameen Bank, and the founder was actually given the Nobel Prize.  Basically, a group of people act as each other’s collateral (I think in the sense that they hold each other accountable, but still confused on this detail) since they have no real collateral, and then they are given a small loan to use to buy tools to make something to sell or provide some other service.  It has allowed a lot of beggars to completely change their circumstances, and it’s a sustainable solution because the loans are repaid, so the people really value the money they are given and use it in a fruitful way instead of just spending it on a big meal or something temporary.  Then of course, once the money is repaid, that same money can be given in the form of a loan to another person.  Makes so much more sense than payouts because it adds an aspect of responsibility to the recipient.  Obviously, the bank has to help them with minor training on how to run their small operation, but the system seems to be working there and has really seen some positive benefits.  Apparently, it’s a bit more complicated in Tunisia.  The fact that it is a loan is controversial, and it seems that some institutions use it as another way to keep people in debt for the rest of their lives.  The institution we visited here has had mixed reviews from critics and it seems to me that some of the people they are providing loans to have actually just begun a cycle debt, but others that we talked to had paid their loans back in full and were running profitable shops or whatever other trade.  I hate to admit this, but I don’t think microloans would ever work in America.  In Bangladesh’s case, the people are absolutely poor, meaning they can’t even provide for their own basic needs of food and water.  They are not in this situation because they are lazy, but because they were born into poverty.  This is sometimes the case in the US, but more often than not I think people become content with their situation and would rather put more effort into getting around paying the loan back than just using the system properly and honestly.  So in conclusion, I think the loans are a good thing in many situations but have a lot of room for manipulation.

The IT company seemed really well run but nothing too interesting to write about.  Although the guy who we talked to apparently brought IT to Morocco or something, which seems impressive.  The dinner with the Dean later that night was much more entertaining.  Since we have such a small group, he invited us to drinks at his home and then a really nice dinner nearby.  I was excited for this since the party at the US Embassy didn’t pan out (the MSB Americans just didn’t seem to understand that we wanted to go, I still don’t understand).  The Dean’s house was of course in Sidi Bou Said, in a huge complex of sorts with an amazing view of the Mediterranean.  He actually got his MBA from Harvard at the same time as Dr. Folks, the founder of the IB program at USC was getting his MBA there.  His daughter was somehow also a Dean of the school (maybe Associate-Dean?) and lived in the floor above.  Then, the floor above that was his son who was an MIT and UChicago grad working in private equity.  They all somehow have dual citizenship with the US, meaning they are not only well educated but of extremely high social standing.  They didn’t seem pompous though, but they were extremely eccentric… especially the Dean.  There were photographs all over the house that he had taken over the years, which isn’t that weird, but he literally held his giant camera the entire night.  Even when we were at the restaurant, he was snapping pictures of everyone while they were talking and eating.  I looked through his pictures at the end and half of them were of people who had no idea they were being photographed.  It made everyone seem a little uncomfortable, which I enjoyed because all the professors have to put up with it with a smile whether they wanted to or not.  It was by far the nicest meal I’ve had since I’ve been abroad and tons of free wine, so I didn’t mind having a camera flash in my face the whole time.   He also gave us all personal gifts of different photographs he had taken and printed on a nice plaque thing, so that was cool.

Yesterday we went to Hammamet and I got to ride a camel and swim at the beach.  It was overcast and the camel part could have been better but I was happy to have a relaxing day for once.  I was really hoping to ride one in the desert or actually ON the beach, but the camel was instead a few blocks away at the entrance of some theme park.  Basically, I just rode it a couple of blocks through the streets.  I saw some pictures of people riding a camel through the Gobi Desert on Facebook recently so now I want to try that next year in China. 

All I have left now is to finish my paper for the class.  Kicking myself for not working on it more while I was in Tunis but oh well.  Off to Morocco!  

African Development Bank

Alright so I lied and we actually went to the AfDB today, not yesterday.  Yesterday we went to the northernmost city in Africa, Bizerte.  Apparently it was traditionally a military town because of it’s strategic location in the Mediterranean but you wouldn’t know by the port town appearance.  We ate at an awesome restaurant right by the sea for lunch and then went to a textile mill.  The mill was a bit depressing as you could actually see the ocean through the barred windows, which seemed almost taunting to the workers.  The conditions weren’t bad though and there was air conditioning which I think is definitely rarer than it should be for similar mills.

Anywho, went to the African Development Bank today!  It was awesome.  The bank provides loans and guidance for small to medium sized enterprises, as well as loans for large scale economic development projects throughout the continent.  We went to the headquarters today (which are temporarily located in Tunis because the original headquarters in Sierra Leone is currently too dangerous) and met with some of the employees.  Of course somehow China comes up and is spoken about for much of the day.  They are (not surprisingly) by far the biggest investors in Africa.  However, their methods are very questionable as usual and not typically in the best interests of the company.  Weirdly enough, the AfDB was invited to China last year and had some big annual meeting there.  Anddd lucky for me, they’re having a big conference in Hong Kong this November!  I spoke to one of the employees about it and she said she would definitely be in touch about me getting involved in HK so I really hope that works out.

On a more negative note, I’m pissed about tonight.  At the risk of sounding like a brat, I’m extremely annoyed with one of the Mediterranean Business School faculty who insists on constantly singling me out as an undergraduate.  Some young American guy who married a Tunisian and hasn’t gotten off his I’m-an-American-changing-the-world-in-Africa high horse since.  Once for drinking wine with dinner (I know I don’t look 21, but I am.  Oh and wait, there isn’t even a drinking age here) and once for suggesting students spend a night in the Sahara the next time they do this trip.  I believe he said, “Well why don’t we just drive people all around Tunisia and call the class ‘Tourism’”.  Sounds nice to me, douche.

But back to tonight.  There are two undergraduate students, two graduate students, and two faculty members from the Moore School on this trip.  The grad students were paired with Med. Business School alum in their respective fields (energy and finance) for different dinners tonight.  However, they somehow assumed I wouldn’t be interested in doing this because I was an undergraduate?  We went out with some students a couple of nights ago so that was supposed to be our outing with alum I suppose?  No, actually, I would have liked it very much to meet someone in the financial field in North Africa, thank you.  Anyways, the other undergrad and I ended up having the night off.  I’m happy about the extra free time but it’s just so frustrating on principle.  I’m not used to being treated as young and inexperienced because the Moore School is really good about remembering that students should think for themselves… but alas we are in an Islamic region.  It is the first time the Moore School has had a faculty led trip to the Middle East/North Africa region so I understand that it is a work in progress, but it’s just tiring always having to be the guinea pig.  The same has happened with IBCE.  There is definitely something to be said about NOT being in the pioneer program because you don’t see all of the benefits that the people who follow will.  I guess it’s just a fact of life though.  On a less negative note, the Moore School faculty on the trip have been great and I actually think they’ll listen to my advice as an undergraduate student.

Anyways, going camel riding Friday!  And probably lots of other things in the following few days too.  Haven’t really done any planning for Morocco or Madrid yet but oh well. Can’t believe I’ll be working in just a couple of weeks.

Tunisia تونس

I’ve been insanely busy the past week so I don’t even know where to begin.  Tunisia has been great so far, although I’m exhausted.  It’s on the coast so about half of it has a Mediterranean climate and appears like Greece or Italy and then the other half is Saharan and looks very Middle Eastern.  Also, the people here are not at all what I expected.  Seeing as it’s an Islamic country, I have been very surprised at how open the people are.  Some people even drink wine which is extremely strange for Muslims.

We went out on Friday because some of the kids at the school here wanted to show us the nightlife (which I didn’t think existed).  As it turns out, Hammamet is actually the second most popular place for DJ’s, after Ibiza and before Miami.  We were expecting a low key night but one of the undergraduate kids, who must be one of the wealthier people in Tunis, actually came and picked us up in his dad’s Audi and took us to some bar on the beach.  Tunisian driving is the worst I’ve ever seen in the world and they actually declare it an act of suicide sometimes when pedestrians are hit so the ride to the club was terrifying.  I think he just wanted to show us a good time but I kept forgetting the speedometer was in kilometers and freaking out.  Anyways, the bar ended up being in this building that juts out over the water and has an awesome view.  All of the music was kind of techno dj-ish which isn’t really my favorite but I’m still shocked we went out in an Islamic country at all so I’m completely satisfied.

It turns out the entertainment industry has been expanding more and more since the revolution.  In December 2010 a man set himself on fire (in a town called Sidi Bou Said which I’ll talk about later), which was followed by a revolution in January-which actually spread through Facebook-called the Jasmine Revolution.  Since then there has been no dictator (although I wouldn’t really call it democracy yet).  Everyone speaks freely and a lot of women don’t cover their head.  It’s actually become the most liberal country in the Middle East.  Even so, people are much more conservative than Americans or Europeans but it’s kind of cool to watch.  A waiter overheard me talking about it with a Tunisian faculty member at the business school when we were all out to dinner and goes, “Yes we are free now!”  It’s actually a bit unsettling realizing how recently the whole ordeal occurred.

Other than class in the morning, we have been to about 5,000 museums and historical sites.  I LOVED Carthage and the Amphitheatre of El Djem but I’m really tired of museums.  We went to the zoo, too, which was the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen.  The peacocks had actually gotten loose and were in all of the other exhibits.  And yet, somehow, not a single zoo employee seemed to care.  Haha literally they were walking among the zoo-goers.  The condition of the animals was deplorable and depressing to watch.  I’m not sure how I feel about zoos anymore.  Oh and I went to a baby burial site were Phoenicians used to do first-born sacrifices so that was weird.

In other news, everyone is super nice here.  A taxi driver actually went off the road to pass cars for me because I was running late a couple of days ago.  No one tries to rip me off toooo bad and I actually got a free turban thing from someone I bought a mosaic from today!  I was walking on the beach earlier this week and a military van honked at me to move and when I turned around they just smiled and waved at me super animatedly.  It’s so weird how happy they all are…. I think it’s definitely the new political freedoms, although unfortunately their economy is actually suffering because it’s viewed as unstable now.  Pros and cons to everything I guess.

My absolute favorite place so far has been Sidi Bou Said.  It’s a town built on a mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean.  The architecture is a white with blue roofs so it looks a lot like Santorini but with Islamic/French architecture.  It easily had the best view I’ve ever seen.  Weird to think a man lit himself on fire there just a year and a half ago.  Still blows my mind.  To end on a positive note, I bought the coolest preserved viper and scorpion souvenir things while I was there so I’m pretty excited about that.

We’re going to the African Development Bank tomorrow so I will definitely be writing about that later.  Happy Mother’s Day mom and grandma!  

North Africa Maymester / Leaving Cola