The Office

When I'm not commuting I wake up every morning and go to the office. My office is about a ten minute walk from my apartment and, although I don't like coffee, I've heard they serve an awfully good cup of joe. Yes, my office is the Starbucks on Boulevard Anfaa.

I detest going to American establishments while abroad. I travel to another country to experience what it has to offer! My advisor, Professor Hitchner, once said, though, that it can be interesting to once and a while check out a McDonalds, for example, abroad. It's an interesting means of exploring globalization. So I tried Starbucks out one day when my ISJ advisor, Aida Alami (Morocccan. Went to Hunter and then Columbia Journalism. Returned to Morocco and now files for Bloomberg, the NY Times, and others) and Mary were meeting there. Aida told me she loves working there because their internet, although not always reliable, is the best in Casa. I loved the internet, the atmosphere, and the staff. They are so happy to see me and they love to teach me French and Darija, as well as practice their English. So Starbucks has become my office. I sit in Starbucks and work all day, even on the weekends sometimes. Working from Starbucks has been an anthropological learning experience all on its own.

All different types of people come in here: expats from all over, knitting clubs, high school students, and business people. The majority of Starbucks goers seem to be a bit elite. The women are often wearing heels and outfits that would generally solicit a 'Hashuma' (Shame! One use involves strangers yelling it out in the street when someone does something immoral). I've seen kids pull up in a décapotable (convertible), run in to get their drinks, and run back out to the car. I've also heard many a French discussion among teenage girls about how "the chauffeur wouldn't do this or that." In Starbucks I usually only hear French and sometimes English. There is a language hierarchy in Morocco. Some elite Moroccans pretend they do not even know Arabic and if you can speak English, "well then you've won" my French teacher once said. One day a girl came over to me and asked me in English if she could use my computer for a second. She wanted to check admissions decisions for the French universities she had applied to.

So, as far as I'm concerned, spending a lot of the time at the office has meant gaining an added dimension to my experience abroad.