Creative Writing

“Yes, yes,” I shouted. I munched on my hot salad as I cheered for our national football team, The Lions of the Atlas. My dad and I were at the local café-that is the place to be during a football-or as they call it in America-soccer game. The hot salad was very spicy, so I asked my dad for some mint tea. That is my favorite thing to drink. A waiter gave me my mint tea, and it helped me cope with sadness that I had just experienced. The Lions of the Atlas had missed a goal, and lost the game.

I went to my house, and saw my grandma playing the zither, a Moroccan instrument. I said hello to her-my entire family would be offended if I didn’t show respect towards elders. I told my little sister about the football game, and then I went outside to play with my friend from school, Hassan. I am really excited for school tomorrow; we are going on a field trip to the beach! I think we are going to Tangiers Town Beach.

The tide is really high today, that makes it harder to pick up trash. Tangiers Town Beach isn't very clean, so our class picking up all the garbage that is on the shore, but there isn't very much trash with the high tide. The water is covering it all up. At first I thought that would make our job easy, but I guess we have to go to the picnic tables for lunch, and we're going to pick up the trash when high tide is over. Yum.... my mom packed me some salad and couscous."Hey, Hassan, what did your mom pack you?"

"Oh not much, just some bread and Lamb," he said.

"JUST some lamb? Lamb is a really special treat! How could it be so ordinary for you to have; it's so expensive." I said.

"Well, my dad just got a new job in Rabat. He is making a lot more money now that he works in a big city, and I guess eating more lamb is the result of it all." he explained.

"Okay class," our teacher said, "Now it is time to pick up the trash. The tide has gone down significantly, and I see a lot of things to pick up." We headed down towards the beach, and started to pick up every piece of garbage. I grabbed a coca-cola bottle, a couple plastic bags, and an old newspaper that said, "Vegetable Prices Rising by 18%."

It was time to swim. As I put on some sunscreen, I saw Hassan head towards the water. A couple minutes later, when I was just finishing up the sunscreen on my ears, I heard a scream. it was Hassan. He was being pulled out into the ocean, towards a school of Piranhas. I could see their gleaming eyes staring at Hassan's shiny watch. He desperately waved his arms and tried to swim back to shore, but the current was too strong. I knew I had to do something. The wind was picking up, and storm clouds were starting to shadow the beach. I had to get Hassan out of there before he was pulled out into the ocean, bitten by piranhas, and struck by lightning.

I knew I must first distract the piranhas. I rapidly unscrewed the shiny bottle cap off of the coke bottle, and I threw it as far as I could. The cap landed only three meters away from Hassan. I was aiming for a further distance, but for now, that would have to do. I had no time to mess around. I quickly ran up to cowboy-obviously a tourist-riding his horse on the beach. He had a long rope in his hand. I told him the situation, and at first he didn't understand me. I got my point across with actions and sign language. He immediately gave me the rope. I tried to cast it out to Hassan, but I couldn't reach. I felt desperate for some sort of help. Suddenly, the cowboy was standing right behind me. He threw the rope incredibly far, and Hassan barely grabbed it. I tried to pull him in, but the current was too strong. The cowboy started to help me, but the current was too strong for the both of us. Then all of a sudden it felt like we were able to pull Hassan in. I looked behind myself, and my whole class was pulling and tugging on the rope.

Finally, he reached the shore, and the piranhas swam away. We wrapped a towel around Hassan, and then everyone got onto the bus. We had just seen a flash of lightning. Our swimming trip might have been cancelled because of the weather, but at least my friend is safe.

News

Lately, Moroccans have been seeing their prices of food go up by almost 20 % in the past couple of months. The poor are getting even poorer, and can’t buy as much food. Some Moroccans say that this is the government’s fault, while others think it is the food venders fault. The reason this matters so much is because the low-income people in morocco mainly eat vegetables because they are not very expensive, especially compared to meat, but now vegetable prices are going up by 18%, and even they are too expensive for the low-income people.

I am worried about Morocco’s poverty level. If the prices of vegetables continue to rise, the people that are poor to start off with will get even poorer. It is not good that the most common thing that the low-income people buy is the thing that is going up in price. This problem has been going on for a couple months and does not seem to be getting better. It is one thing if you have a problem for a short period of time, but it is another thing if the problem lasts and does not seem to be coming to a stop. I think the people of Morocco need to figure out the direct cause of this problem, and then at least consider their options of solving it. If they don’t do anything soon, the price of vegetables and the poverty level could get worse and worse.

Morocco is planning to continue to get better by adding high-speed rail systems from Tangier to Casablanca. This will make what is usually a five hour trip, a 2 hour trip. Doing this will save time, reduce the number of car accidents, and it will be better for the environment.

I think it is good, that in the midst of all the bad vegetable prices, and poverty throughout Morocco, there is still news about good things that they are doing in Morocco. This high-speed rail system sounds really beneficial. The only bad thing about it is the cost, but saving time, reducing car accidents, and helping the environment is worth it. These rail systems will definitely improve Morocco, which shows that the country is heading towards eventual overall improvement.

Learn More about Morocco

Morocco's Culture

CUISINE
Unlike some places in the world, lunch is there main big meal. For lunch there is usually meat, bread, salad-the salad can be hot or cold-, stew, vegetables, maybe another main dish, and they end with mint tea. It is common for many to use their hands and bread as silver ware. In a lot of their food they use many spices. One of the most common things to eat there is couscous. Couscous is basically pasta that is shaped and sized by rice. When it is served it is often served with vegetables and meat. Most of the time they use beef as the meat, but they would like to use lamb. Unfortunately lamb is a lot more expensive, so most people just use beef. There is one month of the year when lunch is not their biggest meal. It is the month (the Islamic calendar) of Ramadan. Ramadan is an Islamic holiday, where Muslims celebrate the making of the first verses of the Qur’an. The Qur’an for Muslims is kind of like the Bible for Christians. During this month lunch is not the biggest meal, because they fast when the sun is up. During Ramadan, most restaurants are closed during sunlight hours. Most people eat suhoor, a meal before the sun rises, then, when the sun has set they end with a meal called iftar.

MOROCCAN FAIRY TALES
If you were growing up in Morocco, a fairy tale you might hear would be called the bachelor and the bean. The bachelor and the bean us a story about an old bachelor, who buys beans for a snack, and loses his last one by accidentally dropping it in a well. He started yelling all around because he was so upset that he lost his bean. A little “imp” or mischievous fairy came out of the well, and gave the bachelor a magic pot that would keep him occupied and quiet. The magic pot will make any food you tell it to. His neighbor, a grumpy old lady, wants the magic pot, so she steals it. When he runs into the old lady, he thinks she is not a very good person, but realizes that she is perfect for him, because she as just as bad as he is. They get married, and live the rest of their lives together, but they are always arguing. Another tale you might hear is about a girl who was blind, most likely because of her father’s wrong doings. She was always sitting in her garden, and was sad about being blind. One day she hears someone singing lovely music outside the garden, so she asks her father if he can let the singer come in and sing to her. Her father agrees, so the singer, a young man, comes into the garden. He sings songs about mercy, and then the girls eyes open up, and she is no longer blind. After what the young man has done, it is a rule that she must marry him. At first she feels this will be a problem, but when she sees the man, she falls in love with him, and they get married. The couple lives happily ever after.

ARTS
Literature- writing essays and poems is popular to do in Morocco. The same way scientists in America use the metric system for scientific research, Moroccans usually write in French for scientific research. Non-research literature is most often written in Arabic and French. Recently, Morocco has really started to produce a lot of painting, sculptures, music, theater, and movies. There are many art and music festivals in Morocco. Moroccan music often includes instruments such as the flute, drum, and zither. A zither is the stringed instrument you see in the picture. The Master Musicians of Jajouka are popular to listen to. Some of the music popular with teenagers is Moroccan music mixed with rock and reggae.

Watch the Master Musicians of Jajouka:

Go to the video under the map of Morocco, to the side of the blog...

Morocco's Physical Geography

PHYSICAL FEATURES
Morocco is made up of a variety of Terrain. You can see snow capped mountains and dry deserts all in this one tiny little country. There are the Atlas Mountains; they are beautiful snow-capped mountains. If you were to visit them you good go hiking or mountain biking. Morocco also is home to a part of the Sahara Desert. In the Sahara you can only see beautiful sand dunes and people riding on camels, it would be a nice break from the city. In Morocco there is the Souss Masa national Park. In this park there are sand dunes, beaches, and a lot of different types of birds. One of the types of birds is called the Northern Bald Ibis. One of the main conservation efforts of this park is to help the Northern Bald Ibis. This National Park is also near the Souss Valley, which is home to many citrus trees and the argan tree, which you will read more about later.

PLANT & ANIMAL LIFE
There are many types of plants in the many different regions of Morocco. There are evergreen and pine trees on the Atlas Mountains. In other regions of Morocco there are a lot of shrubs and mastic trees. I know shrubs aren’t very exciting, but Jujube trees are. In the same region where the shrubs are present, there are a lot of Jujube trees that produce jujube fruit. In the desert area of Morocco there are generally not very many plants, but there is one exception: the oasis areas. In the oasis areas of the desert, there are often willow trees and tamarisks. Tamarisks are small trees or shrubs that produce flowers. Olive trees grow throughout a lot of Morocco. There is an interesting tree, it is the argan tree, that only grows in one place; the Souss Valley of Morocco. This tree produces oil, and often you’ll see goats climbing in it.



There used to be a lot of lions in Morocco, but now they are becoming extinct from the area. Even though the lions have gone away, there is still a big-cat living around the area; the panther. Some other animals such as the fox, jackal, camel, and goat live in Morocco. Gazelles and birds are other common inhabitants of Morocco. One of this country’s main exports is seafood, so it is not surprising that a lot of the marine animals that live on the cost are tuna, sardines, and anchovies. All of these fish are popular seafood items.


CLIMATE
The coastal parts of Morocco have a nice neutral temperature. It stays around 60-70 degrees all year. The non-coastal parts of Morocco can reach temperature extremes. This is because the non- coastal areas have a lot of desert area. It will get very cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer. In the Atlas Mountains, temperatures are cold yearlong.The mountains almost always have some snow on them. In the winter, Northern Morocco becomes really rainy, and Southern Morocco becomes dry. During the summer, Morocco is mostly sunny.

Morocco's History

For a long time now, Morocco has been home to the Berbers. It is located in the Northern part of Africa.Once the land was taken by the Romans, and made a part of Mauritania, but now it is an independent African Nation. Arabs invaded the land of Morocco, and brought Islam to the country. The Berbers, joined with the Arabs, and then together invaded Spain. By that time the Berbers were the 2nd best, and the Arabs were the first best! The Berbers stopped being friends with the Arabs, because they wanted to try to be the 1st best. They gained control of a lot of Spain, but were then expelled from the land. Morocco, the country that had once been one, and had been ruled by small tribes, was not one anymore. There was a lot of conflict The Berbers and the Arabs. Later, Portugal and Spain invaded Morocco, so the Berbers and the Arabs became one again in order to defend themselves.

In the 1660’s, Morocco was taken over by the Alawite dynasty- a dynasty that descended from the prophet, Muhammad. Later, Morocco became headquarters for pirates in the Mediterranean.

In 1840, France and Spain started colonizing. There was a lot of conflict between the French and Spanish. They secretly agreed that certain zones of Morocco belonged to the French, and certain zones belonged to the Spanish. It ended up that the French got the majority of Morocco. Later, Morocco was even more fought over by European countries, because it was discovered to be a country with good natural resources. Eventually, the leader or, sultan, of Morocco had control of the land, and the French’s control was ended. The sultan of Morocco let the French partly control the land, but they had to protect it. In 1956 France and Spain decided that Morocco should become an independent country, so Morocco officially became their own country. At that point Morocco gained their land back from Spain.

In the 1970’s Morocco tried to claim the Western Sahara. The Spanish had released their control on it, and many countries wanted the land. Even today, it is still not settled who has rights to the Western Sahara.

When sultan Muhammed V died, his son, Hassan II took over and ruled.He established a new type of government, the “Hassanian democracy”, which allowed more freedom, and gave more power to the sultan. Hassan II died, and his son, Muhammed VI took over, and still rules today, and deals with issues such as women’s rights and economics.