‘ayndee sooaal? N’aam! (Do you have a question? Yes!)

Yesterday I found myself on a very tragic toobees (bus in Derija) bound for Sihame’s University. After about an hour from Rabat to Sale, we arrived. I started to walk to the entrance but Sihame stopped me and explained, “We wait.”
Waiting was more like a chance to see and be seen! Just like on Mohammed V, we stood around, preened, laughed too loudly and pretended not to notice the boys on the other side of the street staring us down. Occasionally, an emissary would be dispatched from the boys and would shake hands with each girl and chat about something I didn’t understand. The handshake was firm but no eye contact was involved…a little bizarre after being stared at for 20 minutes.
As each girl arrived, she gave the typical Moroccan greeting: a kiss on each cheek, even if she didn’t know you, which again, takes a few times to get used to. Finally, we went inside.
I thought class started at 1:30, but we got to the classroom around 2, which was fine, Sihame assured me. The teacher (of Rights in the Workplace) was waiting with the rest of the students, but nothing happened for another half an hour, during which the teacher stared out the window, played on a student’s mobile, and casually wrote something on the board. Eventually, we collectively decided to play a game: hot seat!
A chair was set up for the purpose and at first I assumed the questions were academic, until Sihame told me that her best friend Hind had been asked who is her enemy in the class. She also answered questions about her personality flaws (she acts “like a man”), what she wants to do (“police woman”) and who her best friend is (“Sihame, of course!). My turn in the hot seat came and I answered questions about why I was in Morocco, what I study, etc.
A boy raised his hand and asked, “Have you heard Muslims are terrorists?” I took a deep breath. This is the kind of thing I came here for: to have this kind of conversation and learn from it. Everyone smiled and relaxed after my answer but tensed up when I answered the question about countries I’ve visited: the list includes Israel. The last question: “We want to know what you think about Gaza.” Sihame stood up and said something very fast in Derija and the girl responded, “It’s just a question! Just a question!”
It ended there, but the teacher said, “The class enjoys this because you have confidence and you talk with your hands! This means you are honest.” Although I can’t put too much significance on my own actions, it’s important to me to represent the US well while I’m in the Arab world.
The second class was equally as puzzling, although in different ways. It was a class about Accountability (?) but Sihame and all her friends peaced out half way through because they were bored.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think this experience is typical; we had a workshop on the academic differences between the US and Morocco and I was under the impression that Morocco is more strict and formal, but who knows. Whatever the case is, I made a bevy of new friends so it was a good day. I start class of my own tomorrow…at 8:30 AM!

Love,
Sarah