Many of the ideas Meriem shared were reinforced by Dr. James Miller, who we met today in Rabat near the old U.S. Embassy. He oversees the American-Moroccan Fulbright programs primarily, and is a retired geography professor from Clemson. He himself was a three-time Fulbright recipient, and yes, he did research in Morocco. He also reminded us of what Meriem told us earlier: that the American-Moroccan treaty is the oldest, unbroken treaty that the U.S. has! It is called The Treaty of Peace and Friendship and was signed in 1787! He also reiterated what we had already learned in that as a response to the Arab Spring, a new Constitution was written here in Morocco, thus giving parliament more say in affairs. And while Morocco may have been a desired place in the past for its geographic location, it still plays just as important of a role. It seems the nation has an immigration problem of sorts, with Syrians and other Arabs coming in through Algeria (with which border tensions exist), and African refugees from Nigeria to Congo also come through Morocco. Most of the Arabs and Africans use Morocco as a gateway to Europe. It sounded a lot like the situation Turkey is in at times.
After this visit and a plentiful buffet lunch at the hotel with assorted meats, vegetables, and desserts, we headed to the U.S. Embassy, which just opened its new doors in its new location, six kilometers outside the city, in November. One sight I noticed en route, which is something I also noticed when driving into Rabat from the airport, is that the Moroccan flag is flying everywhere! The streets are lined with them, the medians in the roundabouts have clusters planted, it really is quite the nationalistic display. I have often been told by exchange students I have in class that we Americans have flags everywhere-- perhaps this is just another American-Moroccan connection!Since we can't take any photos at the embassy, I can only describe what we did and saw. Our primary goal was to speak to Ms. Rebecca Smoak, the Regional English Language Officer. What an interesting program! The goal of this aspect of the State Department is to teach underprivileged youth English. They literally seek out troubled kids and try to not only expose them to the language, but provide them with positive experiences with Americans. Many of these students would not otherwise have such encounters (one diplomat said they need to counter what the Hollywood image of Americans) and many of them are kids who actually struggle in their English courses. The idea is to offer more hands-on, application kinds of instruction as opposed to just memorization and testing. I am hoping that when we travel to Nador I may seek out one such tutoring center to meet some of these kids, and to hopefully offer them a positive view of my people as well. In addition to learning about this incredible program, everyone at the embassy was so kind and seems truly happy to spend time with us today. It was refreshing to hear about the impressive programs in diplomacy our nation works on; we are not just sending drone strikes and troops around the world. And while our soldiers certainly deserve our praise and admiration, so do those who work as civil servants. Rebecca is on her fifth tour, yes they are called tours, and is away from home, family, and country to work for the good of our nation in peaceful ways. Thank you Americans!
In addition to having a coffee in a cafe along the street after our day of meetings on this sunny, splendid spring day, we visited the Hassan II Mausoleum and Hassan Tower. The Mausoleum is a five-star resort for the Sultan's after they have passed, perhaps not like King Tut's tomb, but still pretty darn elegant for those who have perished. This is the site of incredible architecture, intricate tile work, and ancient walls. The Tower, I learned, is where the call to prayer I heard our first day of arrival originates (was that really just yesterday!?), and actually the man who makes this call to prayer each day is the only one who goes up the tower. While I would like to tell you all the facts about this site, I am exhausted, and the pictures take forever to upload. So with that, I will leave you with some great shots :)
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