Day 7 - final shots and tea making!

Fri Apr 13

We were picked up again at 8:15 in the morning, and drove back to Amina's house. We filmed her preparing for the day, including good interaction with her mother. Whitney and I were both continually amazed at how at-ease the family acted, not appearing nervous or edgy when we were filming, and friendly towards us when we weren't. After Amina had breakfast, we interviewed the parents separately, asking them to answer a variety of questions related to Amina's daily routine, her effect on the family, and how they perceived Special Olympics involvement as having changed or helped her. I didn't say this in the previous post, but the way we did the interviews (since we don't speak Arabic) was to have Said sit next to the camera and ask the interview questions which fed to him in English. After the response was given, Said would then give an approximate translation towards the microphone, so we could get a rough idea of if the answer was satisfactory. We later planned to go back over the interview in detail with Said, and have him give us an exact translation.

Once the parent's interviews were done, we headed into town for Amina's swimming practice at the facility we'd been at earlier in the week, and got some good footage of her swimming (duh) and interacting with friends and the coach in the pool. At one point I was holding the camera down about 1 ft. above the water to get a good angle, this was a bit scary as a) that was our only video camera, and b) this was the only time we could tape her swimming, but hey, you've got to have some excitement sometime. One mistake I made was that as Amina was about to get out of the pool (and be greeted by her father), I hit the record button thinking I was in standby, but it turned out I stopped recording. We needed her getting out the pool for a transition shot, so we asked her to swim a bit more, and then once she got out, I was sure to be recording.

Once swimming was done, all that was left to do was to interview Amina. We only had a short amount of time as she and her family were leaving for an aunt's house at 2 that day, but we were unable to find someplace quiet enough in the immediate vicinity. It would have taken too long to go back to her house, so we ended up deciding that it was going to be quietest in our hotel room. We moved furniture to set it up, but it worked out OK. I didn't like the fact that we couldn't portray her in a setting that said "Morocco", but we had to go with what we had. Amina did pretty well and sat still while being interviewed, but as a result of her disability, she would just go blank when we asked her questions related to how she felt about something. Her responses were also short and not usually in complete sentences the first time, so there was a bunch of coaching and repeating Said and Amina's father had to do to get her to give us usable answers. We'll just have to use the other 3 interviews a good deal.

After that was finished, the we said goodbye to the family, and then Mr. Attar took us to his house for a lunch of couscous, made slightly differently than the stuff we'd had the previous night, with beef instead of lamb. It was certainly just as good, if not better. His house was just as nice as Amina's house, and similar in architecture. We had been asking the previous day regarding how exactly tea was prepared, so he took the time after lunch to bring everything out and prepare it in front of us. That was pretty nice, and now I know how to make green mint tea Moroccan style! Got some nice pics of him doing so, using bounced flash.

We then were driven back to SO headquarters, were Said went in and came back out with windsuit jacket and pants for us, the same that the SO athletes wear to their competitions (inc'l the world games)! This was really cool, as we had commented earlier in the week how it'd be nice to have one, but we didn't think they'd do anything about that, cause we're not athletes, right? They're mostly read, with green accents, and say MOROCCO on the back. We've already made plans to wear them to class when we get back.

We took some pics in front of the building with Said and us in the jackets. Then back to the hotel around 6, where we worked on capturing some of the interview footage. Went back into town around 8:30, just to experience the market once more, and just walked around for a while. Took the 50mm 1.4, got some nice low-light pics. It's certainly hard to take pictures here, not just because of security, but just the people are distrustful in general. I can understand it -- how would you react if some foreign folks were walking around your supermarket -- 'wow, look at those great colors!' or 'those repeating shapes could make a cool picture' or let me take a pic of the guy who sliced our lunch meat!'? Back to the room around 10:30.

Day 6 - Finally, on the right track!

Thurs Apr 12

Picked up at 8:30 to go to SO office to figure a different athlete from a list on the office. We waited at the office 'til past 9:30 for someone to show up and unlock the main office, apparently neither of our friends had a key. Finally somebody did come, and we discussed several options for a good story. We left it up the SO folks to make the ultimate decision, as they knew the athletes in question much better than us. It was decided that a girl who swam and was 15 years old would be best, as she interacted a good deal with friends, and was one of the more expressive and vibrant athletes. A quick call to her parents confirmed that it'd be fine to do our story on her.

So, we drove to the same center we'd been at several days before when Hasna was training for table tennis (the Moroccan Center for Handicapped People), but this time it was to work with 'Amina'. She was playing basketball when we came into the gym, and when introduced to us she greeted Whitney and I with the traditional cheek touch that most people here do. She seemed like a very sweet girl, and has a mild form of Down Syndrome. She's 15, but her condition causes her to act more like she's 10. We shot her playing basketball with other athletes for a bit, and once she was done and had gone to shower, I played a little soccer with the athletes, and then some basketball with another. And then against the coach. I was nice and let him win, I was a foot taller than him and he wasn't all that good... wouldn't turn and face me like a man, dribbled with his back to me (had to write that, jokingly).

Anyways, Amina then had class in another area of the center, working on arithmetic and reading. Lunch followed, which we briefly shot, and we then left to get our own lunch in town. Went to a cafeteria-style place, but of course the food was still great. Mr. Attar (I finally figured out the Director's name) bought the meal for all of us, something he and/or Said had insisted on doing each time we had eaten with them, saying that a Moroccan never lets a guest pay (that means we've not had to spend much while here!). On the way to eat, we drove past a local weekly market, and asked to stop by on the way back to the center, following lunch. We did so, and it was the real nitty-gritty of Morocco we'd not been able to find in the city. The whole place smelled a lot. People everywhere selling everything one could need, from vegetables to spices to clothes to meat to cow heads to... you get my point. There were areas where they killed and plucked chickens, and a sheep slaughterhouse as well. Fun stuff. Hard to take pictures, because we really stood out like a sore thumb. Got some good ones though of course, and Mr. Attar helped us get permission to take some photos of various vendor's wares. He also bought us some freshly-cooked chickpeas, and no, I didn't think I'd like them, and they still weren't great, but they were pretty good... I might have to try hummus once I get back. Maybe.

So, back to the Center, shot Amina getting on the bus for the ride home, and then rode with them for about an hour back to Rabat as students were dropped off. So cool, great access and shots. Arrived at her house around 5:45, smiled at the waiting parents (who we'd not yet met, mind you), and shot her being greeted and then entering the house. Then sat and talked for a bit, explained what were doing, met her two brothers. They were all more than happy to let us tape whatever we wanted. What access! It was a beautiful house, nicely decorated and large, 3 stories plus a roof terrace. Moroccan houses are not built the same way as ours, built in blocks town home style side by side touching. They are tall and narrow, maybe three rooms on each floor. And don't look like much on the outside. Inside, though, is completely different. Tile decorated the walls in this one where we would have used paint. Long couches were everywhere, the house looked designed to have people, not a lot of things cluttering the rooms. Anyways. We shot her fixing dinner, doing crafts with the mother, watching TV, doing homework, interaction, ect. Great footage. This is so much better and exactly what we wanted and didn't find in Hasna's story.

Their house was literally attached to a mosque, so we got to go to the roof level when the call to prayer went out at 8:20, of which we recored the audio. We then did an interview with one of the brothers, the one that seemed to interact more with her, which went well, except for a slight ringing/buzzing the camera was adding to the mic input. Nothing that can't be fixed in Final Cut, it was very faint, but frustrating not to get top-notch audio. Anyways, Moroccans eat dinner late, and this was no exception, so dinner ended up being at 10. We shot a little of Amina eating with the fam, and then the parents insisted we join them for the meal. It was delicious, real, authentic couscous, a huge heaping platter of it. Steamed vegetables were on top of meat in the middle, of course I'll post pictures. Very good, and even better to be experiencing a meal in a real Moroccan house! Perhaps the only time this will happen in my life, who knows?

We left there about 10:45, and will return in the a.m. to shoot her getting ready, interview her parents, and then her attending swim practice. Has been a long day, but quite productive, and perhaps the best yet!

Day 5 - Change of plans

Weds Apr 11

Left hotel around 7:30, arrived at Hasna's house shortly before 8. Barely had time to get in and unpack gear before they woke her, nothing too special about getting-up routine. She prays (Muslim) shortly after getting up. Were treated to our first (and maybe only?) authentic Moroccan breakfast; something that looked like a patty of spaghetti at first, was actually dough, not noodles, put honey on top, very good. Also, crepes with jam, and some form of pound cake. Shot Hesna eating, then talking on computer to sister in Canada via MSN Messenger. One of the brothers had dragged their computer from a side room and set it up in the main area of the house, where he started a video chat with the sister, I'm guessing to show that Americans were at their house? Because he left it pointed on us a lot. Anyways, nothing uncomfortable, I guess we may have been the first to have visited their house.

Ok, so story going alright, we didn't have a lot of good stuff yet, but the day was just starting, right? Then, as breakfast was being cleaned up, the family found out that an uncle nearby had died. It wasn't unexpected, he had been ill, but the mother left immediately to be with extended family. We weren't sure how this would affect things, but we decided to continue to pursue what we'd been working on. Hasna had planned to go train more in table tennis at the SO headquarters, and she agreed to go through with that, I guess she didn't know the uncle well. On the way to SO office, Said informs us that the mourning process in Morocco takes 3 days, and the family wouldn't be available until Saturday, and that was iffy, and may have been awkward / not respectful to interview with them so soon after the death.

Alright, so Hesna practices table tennis, we shoot some other this, good footage, all the time we're trying to think of ways to make what we've been given work out. She's still not that expressive, even after we ask her to show some emotion while playing if she's happy or frustrated with how her practice is going. In the same room are a group of SO athletes, guys who work to make soccer balls by hand. The experienced ones can stitch 1 ball a day, while the newer people spend their time practicing on cheap leather. SO is all about better the lives of the athletes by giving them things to do, not just a sport to play. Each ball that's made goes for 150 Dr, and the athlete gets a portion of that money. Good moments with the guys there, they even formed a dance circle and drummed and danced for us. Then they had us join in! Gave us robe/shirt to put on with the cap thing, and had us attempt to play the drums with them. A lot of fun, and we felt very accepted. Set camera on auto and had Director snap pics of us in action!

After this, Hasna headed out to go be with the rest of her family. We shot some of her walking to potentially use, but more and more we were realizing that her story was not going to work out. We spent a little more time with the soccer ball guys, especially one named Rasheed who was actually the athlete originally chosen for us, the problem was he wasn't going to be competing in China this fall. Got some detail shots (photo) of him and the others working. Decided to call Rich (professor) that afternoon and see if we could do the story on Rasheed, not Hasna. So went back to room at 12:30, called, but were told we had to do a China athlete story, that is the point of the website we're making!

So we called Said and told him we needed to change our story, and pick one of the 4 other athletes who were going to be competing in China. He understood, and we'll meet tomorrow morning with the Director guy and others to figure that out.

So, it's the afternoon free for us. And what better way to spend it except to take pictures! We both had wanted to go back to Chellah (the Roman city) and take more pics, especially of the cats. So that's where we went, for about an hour and half, filled up 2 1gb memory cards, will take me forever to sort though them all, but a lot of fun. Experimented with some dramatic off-camera flash once the sky turned overcast. Started to look like rain, so we headed out, walked into city a bit and bought sodas, bananas, and fresh bread, then taxi back to hotel to dl pics. An hour later I happened to notice the clouds were breaking and a great sunset was in the works, so we rushed out to find a taxi and head to la plage, where we arrived with minutes to spare. There were some clouds on the horizon, so nothing super-dramatic, but still beautiful light and colors all around. Shot half an hour past sunset on the beach, clouds, reflections, ect, eventually pulled out the flash, zoomed flash with slow shutter speed to get sunset with us lit in front. I think I'm photo-ed out for the day.

Walked back into the city, through the Rue de Consule, headed towards a restaurant the guide book recommended, called Restaurant el-Bahia. Don't know what it means. I got a tagine there, essentially pot roast cooked in a pottery dish with vegetables. Very good, but not a very big piece of meat. Back to hotel afterwards.

Day 4 - Beginnings of a story?

Tues Apr 10

Met again by Said and Director at 8:45, went to athletic practice at activity center that all the athletes attend. We were unable to shoot for first 20 minutes, security problems relating to gov't buildings being nearby, missed some of Hasna running. Shot some footage of running, long jump, but nothing we liked very much. Apparently she practices here Thursday as well as today, so we'll hope for that to be better.

Afterwards, drove 30 minutes out past Salé to the Morocco Center for handicapped people, where Hasna practiced table tennis for an hour, which we shot. I played the coach for a few minutes. We then a drove short distance to local artesian shops, where a lot of pottery was being sold, as well as various other craft type things. Walked around for ~2 hours, Director wanted to make sure we saw everything there was to see. Got to see pottery being made, saw raw clay --> finished pots. Pots drying in sun. Got some nice shots of man painting pottery. Great light. Can we do a photo story here? Made some purchases, vases, bowls, straw hanging baskets.

Headed back to Rabat about 3pm for lunch at a delicious restaurant, brochette sandwiches, lemon Fanta. 64 Dirham. Taxi to hotel, then picked up at 5:15 for more scene setting shots of the city. Afterwards, we were taken to a cafe that overlooked the river, facing towards the Hassan Tower / Mausoleum, and we drank some mint tea. Returned to hotel about 7:30. Tomorrow we'll go to Hasna's house at 8 am, so that means up at 6:30...

Day 3 - Down to Business

...rest of the pictures not up yet...

Mon Apr 9

Met Said and driver at 10:30, went to Special Olympic head offices in Rabat. Met with National Director and Sports Training Director (who's been working with mentally disabled persons since 1980) and were given an athlete. Her name is Hasna, she plays table tennis, and lives in a poor to moderate household. After the customary glass of tea, we drove to the athletic center were a lot of the local athletes come to train. We watched the Sports Director lead swimming practice, he was even in the pool helping an encouraging someone as they learned to swim. He'd make a great story if we had time.

After about 30 minutes, we left and went to lunch at Marché Central, same restaurant as the day before (remember, Said eats there everyday normally). Whitney had chicken, brochettes again for me. Taxi back to hotel. Worked on pictures and video stuff (what's new). We were picked up again at 4:30 to go to Hasna's house, she lives in a satellite town of Rabat, where we met the family and chatted for a while (one of the brother knew a little English). We were offered and politely drank some Moroccan tap water (!), and had some 'Hawaii' orange soda as well. (think Orangina) About a 20 minute drive back to the Hilton. We were driven back by way of the coast, then went into the city to shoot scene setting shots of the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and city from across the water. Got in trouble with the security officers who were guard a construction project (essentially a road and shop foundations), he thought we might have been filming the construction they were doing. (remember, security is tight here, we can't shoot in a lot of places) We were slightly worried they might take our tape from the camera. The Director (I still can't remember his name) had to go talk to site manager, and explained we were working for the Princess (who endorses and champions SO in Morocco), so everything OK after 20 minutes of waiting around.

Dinner at pizza place, recommended by Said. I had pizza with meat, g peppers, oregano, W had calzone. It was very good. Both of us ate for around $10 total. Taxi back to hotel, we wrote down all expenses (which yes, Mom, we're keeping track of) looked at pictures, bed...

Day 2 - Sightseeing!

Pictures on Flickr, not all from that day are up yet.

In the morning we met the SO contact, Said (pronounced Sah-eed) and a driver, who took us sightseeing essentially for the day. First, he took us to Chellah, the ruins of a Roman city that was initially build long before Rabat. Inside the high stone walls of the old city, storks and heron were everywhere. There was a woman who spent her day caring for cats, 48 of them, and to everyone who came to take pictures she asked for a bit of money, in order to help pay for the cat food. Afterwards, we went into downtown Rabat and stopped by a cafe for tea, as it was close to noon. This was our first introduction to mint tea, which was surprisingly good considering I don't normally drink tea. It was much sweeter than what's usually had in the US (in terms of green tea, of course sweet tea is different). We also received some instructions on how much to pay and tip for various items and services. Afterwards, we were taken to the Hassan Tower & Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The Tower and columns next to it were the beginnings of a large mosque a king once started to build, but then he died and it was never finished. So today, it's not in ruins, just an unfinished state.

We then went to the Rue de Consule, where traditional Moroccan things are sold, scarves, leather wares, pottery, shoes, spices, etc... Whitney bought some scarves. Walked down length of that street, came out near 'la plage de Rabat' (the beach), stopped by an art galery, and then walked out along the jetty. More pictures of the Atlantic. Next, the driver took us to the 'Marché Central', more shops,these selling a lot of imported Asian goods cheap. Interestingly, the majority of Moroccans come to this market, while tourists are often found in the previously mentioned Rue de Consule. I tried some salted almonds, which ignited my quest for finding good almonds (I have two .5 kilo bags sitting in my room right now). We then went to lunch at a restaurant that Said said he goes to for most meals, and had brouchettes, which were small pieces of meat cooked on skewers over a box of coals. Very good food, I can understand why he goes there most everyday. We then were dropped off at the hotel around 3:30.

Later that night we took a taxi into town and went back to Marché Central at night, which was bustling with people. The people come at out at night, between 7-10pm. Bought a few things, including a bag of almonds, some apricots, $1 DVDs (illegal, of course), also bought a Swiss Swatch for only $5 - fake of course. Turtles & chameleons being sold on street, and butchers had cuts of meat hanging in the open along the front of their shops (see pics), along with cow brains too. For dinner we bought sandwiches from a street vendor, we went to one first but he was cooking liver and meat fat on skewers, so we settled on bread stuffed with hamburger meat, onions, and pico. Tomorrow we will go to the SO headquarters and figure out what athlete we'll do a story on.

Day One in Morocco

Fri, Apr 6 / Sat, Apr 7

These and other pictures posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstotts/

Off to Morocco! The Special Olympic World Games are happening this fall in Shanghai, China, and the UNC Journalism school is teaming up with students in China to do video coverage of every event and put those online on a comprehensive website. I'm part of a class in which we are building said website, as well as producing documentary pieces on select athletes from around the world. I was assigned a story in Morocco, so here I am headed to Rabat, Morocco, for over a week!

My story partner, Whitney, and I flew out of RDU Friday evening, were in Atlanta an hour and a half later, and flew across the Atlantic overnight on a 747. A pretty big plane. They served us dinner and wine (it's Air France, what do you expect?)



I got about 2 hours of sleep during the flight, watched bits and pieces of Rocky Balboa and a 24 episode on the iPod, and squirmed around the rest of the time. I wasn't by a window, so I probably got up 15 times towards the end of the flight to look out the window at the rear of the plane. Spent some time talking to the man sitting a seat over from me, he had seen me reading a guide to Morocco and exclaimed that he was from there, now lived the United States, and was flying to Paris to visit his mother who was ill. Gave me some assurances and advice about Rabat, most of which verified what the guidebook had said.

The moonlight over the clouds was amazing, the photo doesn't do it justice. This was a half hour before sunrise.



Got my first glimpse of the French coast. It was really cool to be seeing what a place I had studied for years in high school looked like (thanks Mme. Little), the land look very rich and green, and I stared out the window (at the back of the plane) for a good 5 minutes. Sadly, didn't get to see Paris from the air, as we came in from the north. Hopefully on the way back. [note: we've got an evening layover in Paris on the return trip, so look out Effiel Tower!]



After touching down in Paris at 11 am local, 5 am EST, we took a bus to get to Terminal B, as many flights unload onto the tarmac, far from the main terminals. Charels de Gaule airport is huge. It probably took us a good 15 minutes for the bus to navigate the narrow route through the airport tarmac traffic. We were dropped off, had to walk to another bus stop, finally got to B. With more security lines. We were maybe the 2nd to last folks to board. Anyways, last leg of journey to Rabat. More lunch, more wine...



Rabat was about a 2 1/2 hour flight from Paris, here was our first view of the Moroccan coast.



The land look dry in most places, and sparse. Right before we touched down, we passed directly over a cow/goat field. The airport wasn't much bigger than two buildings, a small 'Rabat air club' building, and the main terminal. No problems with passing through customs. Except... as we stepped off the plane onto the tarmac, I snapped a photo of the plane (and the fact we were the only plane at the airport) -- and was promptly reprimanded by a guard that photos were not allowed there, national security I guess. Can't blame me for being a journalist!



Morocco was ruled by the French until 1953, so everyone here in the capital speaks French just as well as they do Arabic. How sweet is that? Finally my work / slaving away in high school is paying off! I'm certainly a bit rusty, but am trying to speak as little English as possible while here.

A small trouble after gaining entry was that Saeed, our SO contact, was not there to pick us up. I had to call him (the cell is *only* $2.50 a minute), and found out he'd not been in to office to see the itineray we'd e-mailed to him, so we had to take a grand taxi to the hotel. A small highway robbery, it cost us 200 Dr for the 20 minute trip. 8 dirhams to a dollar, so ~$25. As I get more comfortable with my french, I'll be able to bargain out of paying that much in the future. Around the town the guidebook says we should only pay 12-16 Dr. to get around, as it's based on a counter in the city taxis. Oh well. At least we'll be reimbursed for travel costs.

We're staying in the Hilton Hotel Rabat, and no, I am not paying for it either. (This whole trip's covered by Special Olympics.) Here's a view from where I am now writing...



..and a quick panorama from a balcony.



After settling in to the hotel, we ventured into Rabat on our own, walked about a mile there. We had no idea where a good restaurant was, didn't speak Arabic, and being tired and hungry, settled on, uh, Pizza Hut. I actually was the best PH I've ever had. Guess they freeze their pre-made dough a special way. :-)



And yes, Mom, we made it back safely to the hotel. Went to bed around 10, 6pm EST. Nice.

Better pictures to come. Promise. The culture here is just full of color...

See other pictures from the day at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstotts/