Interneters Anonymous

Until I came to Morocco, I wasn't really aware of how reliant on (or addicted to) the internet I am.

Long story short, I left my iPhone at home for a variety of reasons, so I’ve been without it since I went through security at Kansas City Airport a week ago. Not having a smart phone isn’t really the issue.  I have a cheap, unlocked phone with a Moroccan SIM card that works fine for texts and calls.  

The real issue is my lack of internet.  We have very  limited time with our study abroad center's internet, and occasionally you can set up at a café with free wifi (if you buy a cup of tea or something), or pay for a real internet café.  But until I invest in an "internet usb" (as they call it here), all my correspondence is written in advance and sent or posted whenever I have a minute of wifi.

 

But basically I’m having an internet crisis in Morocco.

It’s been stressful and slightly traumatic to have no way to stay in consistent contact with people in the U.S., check my email, or keep tabs on world news, even for just a week so far.  We were informed by our program coordinator that SIT students studying at the Amman, Jordan site would soon be evacuated to continue their studies here in Rabat, in the wake of escalations in the Syrian crisis.  Which none of us knew had escalated.  We’re out of the loop, and that’s a hard thing to deal with. We’re free of the pressures of constant communication, but we’ve lost most of our connections to the rest of the world. 

On a more trivial note, it’s strange (at least for someone used to constantly googling things) to not be able to look up the exotic foods, spices, plants, etc. encountered here.  (And I still have no idea what that Sandra Bullock movie was. A few weeks ago I’d have already looked it up and could have given you the release date, synopsis, and critical reviews.)  But without internet, even some cultural explanations are much more limited.  Some things here don’t have any kind of English equivalents; 10 minutes of roundabout explanation leaves you with the unsatisfying answer that things are just unfamiliar “melons” or “figs” or “red spice.”.