Lasagna in Morocco

So this past week we had Moroccan Independence Day, which didn’t mean much except a day off of school and a small fiesta the night before at my friends apartment. When I told my family I was going to celebrate Eleum Al Istiqlal, they laughed at me and said they don’t even celebrate it. But they sent me off and we had a nice party at my friends apartment on the other side of Rabat on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, I woke up after abusing my well deserved sleeping in privileges and decided to cook dinner for my family! I had been telling them all along that I knew how to cook, but I don’t think they ever believed that a 20 year old student could cook for himself. So that afternoon I headed to Marjane (a giant costco-esque supermarket) with my friend Maura. To get to the main supermarket in Rabat, we had to take a taxi, but it was only 8 dirhams.
Upon arrival at Marjane we were astounded by the civilization before us. It felt like being in a regular supermarket (which we were), though there were constant reminders of Morocco around us (Qurans in the aisles, lack of brown sugar, people eating from the produce aisles…).
After an adventure through the store, and me breaking a giant glass picture of a framed quranic script in one of the aisles, we ate Pizza Hut and took a cab home. [No stress, as soon as I accidentally knocked the frame over with tthe cart, I was horrified, but the Marjane employees didn’t seem to be to worried and told me to keep shopping and not worry about it mashee mushkel.
At home, I began to cook my delicious meal, complete with a veggie Lasagna, garlic bread, green salad, and a Betty Crocker yellow cake. My mother loved seeing me in the kitchen, she wanted to learn how to make it, even though she had never had lasagna. She spent the whole time looking over my shoulder and asking me questions about what I was doing. On the other hand, my grandmother was not too fond of me preparing a meal. I guess some traditions stick, and I don’t think she liked seeing a young man in the kitchen. (But she did like her first Lasagna!)
I prepared the meal pretty smoothly, with inevitable mishaps and bumps, as my traditional Moroccan kitchen is not designed for what i’m used to, i.e. oven temperatures, spices, broilers, foil…
My family loved the whole meal and I was really happy to prepare it for them. It was everyone’s first taste of lasagna, except for my father and there were NO leftovers. I was worried but it all worked out.

So that is my story, here are some other quicker updates:
-I am really starting to feel a part of my Moroccan family. My mother calls me ibnee, which means my son, and after cooking the meal for them, I think they know that I want to be a part of their family too.
-After another dinner last week, my father and I jumped into a fifteen minute debate/discussion. A man on the TV was talking about human rights in Morocco and because I had studied this, I jumped into talking with my father about this. This heated conversation was also in Arabic only. It was one of the first times outside of class that I was very confident in my language skills and was able to make my self clear and understood to a native speaker. Go Me!
-I now have a sheep living in my house. We are preparing for Eid Al Adha (The Big Holiday in Morocco) and this sheep is a vital part of it….more to come on that.
-Classes are going well, I now have to start two big papers. I guess it’s time for real schoolwork!
-I miss everybody so much! I will get back to the West Coast on December 21st! So I better see everyone ASAP, and I will get back to Boston in January 10th…the day before my 21st birthday!

Ma’a Salaama

Arabic Word of the Day:

ماشي مشكل

mashe mushkel

No Problem!

Advertisement