the rainbow nation

As you're reading this, I might be driving through the French countryside, quenching my thirst with a Belgian beer, or snacking on frites with mayonnaise. This holiday is obviously an especially healthful one. Besides going home for Christmas in just one month (!), it's also my last trip of 2013. It recently occurred to me how thankful I am to have traveled so much this past year. I ventured to Malmö, Berlin, the Jura, Lisbon, Óbidos, and Porto. And it all started in Marrakech, my first visit to Africa. Hopefully not my last.

(Photo Credit: Jenna Finch)

I reflected then on how we tend to have an oversimplified perception of the continent. We think wild animals roaming the Savannah, but often forget about the pyramids. And the last time I overheard a conversation about South Africa, they were hosting the World Cup. But, gosh, how I'd love to explore it next. It's been on my list for quite some time. If I could, I'd hop on the next Emirates flight with Megan and Mike's Cape Town recommendations, and hopefully meet Jenna (the provider of these gorgeous photos) there.

(Photo Credit: Jenna Finch)

(Photo Credit: Jenna Finch)

(Photo Credit: Jenna Finch)

(Photo Credit: Jenna Finch)

Stunning landscape and cosmopolitan eateries aside, I'm also fascinated by the country's history. It's devastating, in so many ways, but also enlightening. I mean that in the most empathetic sense after having read An African Athens: Rhetoric and the Shaping of Democracy in South Africa (as I studied culture in areas of post-ethnic conflict) this past summer. For instance: “It can be said that, for better or worse, Mandela has held tightly to his preferred rhetorical role, to perform the nation in a way that makes her appear to herself united yet diverse,” (31). If that's not something we as an increasingly global society should progressively embrace, I don't know what is. I'll be back Tuesday evening with a Brussels recap. Until then, bon week-end !

jardin majorelle

Parisian winters are dreary. In general, days are cold and skies are grey; it's often raining, too. Real snow (the kind that covers cities in blankets of white), on the other hand, is rare... even if I've somehow managed to experience it twice. In other words, I totally appreciated my weekend of warm, shining sun in Marrakech. Anna, Leslie, and I made the most of it with a visit to the Jardin Majorelle.

This natural oasis in the midst of the new town would have felt like a secret garden had there not been other tourists there. Extending over more than an acre of land, it's--in a word--gorgeous. Apparently it took Jacques Majorelle, a French painter with a love for Morocco, over 40 years to completely create.

In the 1980's, French designer Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé purchased the garden and restored it. They also converted the painter's studio into a museum with their personal collections of Berber artifacts. Today, there's a separate entrance fee to the museum and cameras aren't allowed. It's worth seeing anyway.

Before leaving, we also stopped at their terrace café: mint tea for Anna and I, avocado smoothie for Leslie.  I couldn't have imagined a more enchanting last sight. We flew back to Paris a few hours later. 

Speaking of, though I strongly dislike airports, I l-o-v-e-d the one in Marrakech. Beautiful, isn't it?

sweet & savory in marrakech

This past week, I officially became a paid (!) teaching assistant (TA) for an undergraduate course: Food and Communications. I'll be helping my former professor with two of her other classes as well, but this one is the one I'm most involved and interested in. Surprise, surprise, huh? I'm very much nerdily excited.

The students are required to read two readings for next week; one being Food as a Cultural Construction by Anna Meigs. In the article, she explores "how food and eating ... are understood as a means that unite apparently separate and diverse objects and organisms ... in a single life" by the Hua, a small population living on Mount Michael in Papua New Guinea. A few excerpts:

"Food systems are, like myth or ritual systems, Douglas says, codes wherein the patterns by which a culture 'sees' are embedded."

" Reciprocal gift exchanges, often of food, bind members of a society together in relations of mutual participation and unity," (Mauss).

"Eating is understood and analyzed by Robertson Smith as a way of establishing physical unity not only with the deity but also with one's fellow humans." 

"In the act of eating [in the Hua conception] one is connecting oneself with the world, opening one's body and one's self to the dynamic influences of properties, vital essence, and emotions of other organisms."

In general, I approach food in four ways: nutritionally, based on cravings, for convenience, and/or in the spirit of tradition. This is why eating, for me, is such a vital part of any travel experience. I put aside most of my food-related habits in order to embrace those of the people raised in the place--thereby, beyond simply enjoying their culinary delicacies, understanding (or at least, exposing myself to) their culture even further.

On our Saturday evening in Marrakech, Leslie, Anna, and I headed to Jemaa el Fna. Each week, in this large historical square, local restaurants set up stalls to serve dinner. Anna's handy guidebook advised us to focus on those stalls which were visibly popular with the Moroccan community for the best and most fresh food.

I'm pretty sure we began with bowls of Harira (tomato-based, chickpea) soup. I'm only uncertain because we didn't ask :) just ate. Next, we ventured to another stall for our main course. I enjoyed a bowl of beef couscous and roasted potatoes... which both went un-photographed because I simply ate it too quickly.

To wrap up our dinner adventure, we walked over to the carts serving mint tea and dessert. I opted to try what I believe to be similar to these Moroccan-Date Bonbons. And, I didn't like them, at all.

Honestly, when it comes to dessert, I mostly just love chocolate. Furthermore, I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of Moroccan food in general. My palate just doesn't understand why fruit has such a prominent place in savory dishes, and apparently it doesn't understand desserts spiced with cardamon either.

I do appreciate Moroccan cuisine a whole lot more though. Begrir or Moroccan pancakes, for instance, are amazing; especially when paired with fresh, salty eggs, natural strawberry marmalade, sesame bread, and the best fresh-squeezed orange juice... ever a.k.a. the phenomenal breakfast at the riad.

I've also discovered how freaking good a tagine--a slow-cooked dish with traditional spices, tender braised meat, aromatic vegetables, and sweet prunes--could be. We spent our Sunday exploring the "new city" and stumbled upon an unassuming Café Bourneix. Their beef tagine, the second of my 3 courses, was fantastic.

Unfortunately or not, besides these two "authentic" meals we dined at restaurants which visibly catered to tourists. It seemed as though the only eateries flanked with locals served fast food... even if there was great Moroccan food to be found elsewhere. This led me to hypothesize that eating out didn't have the same significance to Moroccans as it does to Leslie, Anna, and I. I could be wrong or I could be right, I don't know. 

Either way :) it was a wonderful experience. I have one last Marrakech sight to share and then it's catch-up Parisian time with a bit of news. Wishing you a great weekend! I'm off to visit my French family in Melun.

bahia palace

I like having a plan... most of the time. My day-to-day life is filled with coffee dates, scheduled classes, dinner plans, and to-do lists. Likewise, I prefer to have an idea of what to expect in the near-ish future. When it comes to traveling, however, planning I do not do. I only make sure to have transportation and lodging. Otherwise, I prefer to wander, get lost, and stumble upon. It's tough to maintain this method on a weekend getaway though. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy Marrakech nearly as much without Leslie and Anna.

To start with, our Riad completely rocked. It was gorgeous, clean, and served a phenomenal breakfast: coffee, tea, fresh-squeezed orange juice, scrambled eggs, Moroccan pancakes, sesame bread, fruit preserves, and butter that would give the French a run for their money. Leslie chose it from Anna's guide book.

Furthermore, we actually got to where we wanted to go to, eventually. The Old Town of Marrakech is unbelievably challenging to navigate. Street signs are rare, for instance. I would've never made it out of the mazes of souks (literally) had Anna not been such a map reader extraordinaire.

And finally, we were able to narrow down our tight schedule with the best things to see and do thanks to a combination of Anna and Leslie's planning. My absolute favorite was, without a doubt, Bahia Palace. 

 

I thought I'd been introduced to Moorish architecture in Southern Spain, but this, my dears, brought impressive detail and beauty to a whole 'nother level. I also thought I didn't like Moroccan food...

I do. More on that later though :) I've got to get some sleep before another jam-packed day tomorrow.

P.S. A few travel photos are available for print at Society 6. Support a grad student, check it out!