La Grève au Maroc?

In addition to introducing espresso, pastries, language and educational system, the French successfully passed on the idea of the strike to Morocco. oh colonialism. thanks to you, all of the taxis in Morocco are not operating, stranding us poor students in Ifrane for ANOTHER weekend. I had plans to escape to the beach and relax in warmer weather and sunshine. the strike started on Tuesday and the drivers are holding their ground against the increased prices of driving tickets from 400 Dh to 2000 Dh. That is the difference between $50 and $250. I have also heard that the drivers want to reduce the number of passengers from 6 to 4 and want subsidies from the government since gas has gone up. Even though the strike seriously drained the fun of the weekend, the drivers have a legitimate claim and successfully unified all over the country. I am most amazed that they were able to get everyone on the same page. One of the cultural differences that I have faced here is the lack of coordiantion and organization. Even the little taxis that operate in cities and take us from the campus into the town at AUI to save us from a 30 minute walk and eating campus food are not running.

Petit Taxis on Strike:

In other news, the weather in Ifrane is still cold and have developed a cold, which I am recovering from, inshallah. Yesterday, the campus Turkish hammam was open. It was the perfect activity to pick us up from the taxi disappointment. Thanks to much practice, I am now fully self-sufficient in a hammam and did a pretty decent job scrubbing off the unecessary layers of skin that had built up since my hammam with my mom in Marrakech. There were a couple ladies cutting hair and doing manicures also. I abandoned my reservations and got a trim. Its not a very even cut and looks a little awkward but at least its healthier and cost me less than 5 bucks.

I seem to have a lot of work and am just itching to be done with my semester at AUI. I have some adventures lined up which include travelling through Spain and working on a farm in France. I miss you all and am sorry if I havent replied to your emails recently. Maintaining communication is much easier said than done, especially when I dont have a computer of my own and am left up to my own devices in the computer lab. love to all