The Office Politics Between French, Arabs, Berbers, and Americans are Incroyable!
For this week, I thought I would describe some more of the people I work with, or will have worked with.
Julian is a very nice and intelligent guy, but only when he is not stressed out. I've been hanging out with him a lot since the festival has ended, and I can't thank him enough for letting me stay in his flat. As I am writing this, we are actually sharing his flat, which is interesting for me because I've never had a boss who later turned out to be a roommate. We have had some adventures together in Medina, and he is teaching me many things about Morocco. He speaks French, English, Arabic, and Spanish fluently, and I am incredibly jealous.
Unfortunately, the landlord in charge of the building is so bad that he forgot to pay for the water this month, and Julian had no water for a day. You could tell, because he used more cologne than usual. He did go to the landlord to say that I would be living there until the end of the month, and he told him, "Listen, my friend Adrian is staying in the flat for the rest of the month because I already paid for it for the month. You have to let him stay there, because if anything happens to him, I know the chief of police here in Fez. Everybody in the foundation knows that he is living there, and if I find out that something has happened to him, I make one phone call and you are in prison." I really couldn't ask him for more. Its probably something that only could happen here in Morocco. People fear the police here like I've never seen before in my life.
(The living situation for the rest of my time here is as follows. I am staying in Julian's flat for the rest of this month, but for July I am living in the flat of a friend of Julian's next door for 600 dirhams for the month (about $70 or so). It is even more third world than this one. If I want to take a shower I heat water on the stove and I use a bucket.)
One day this week he was bored and waiting for somebody to come, so he googled his own name, and then my name, and when the found the CISLA page with everybody's name and photograph on it. He said, "Adrian, viens!" and since something like 90% of the people in CISLA program are girls, he was like. "Woah! You're université is beautiful. (Points to somebody, can't remember who) I would like a date with her. Can you ask her if she would like a French lover?" I had to laugh, it was too funny. We went to dinner the other night with some other people in the office, and he was looking at a girl in the street and saying, "Beautiful! But you know I can't have just one girl, you know? Its not fair for them!" (Its all the more funny if you know the French)
He also sort of gave me an overview on the office politics of the foundation. Apparently, he is going back to France because they work him like a slave here, and they pay him in dirhams, which, in comparison to the euro, is quite pathetic. He also doesn't like a lot of people in the foundation, who he feels don't deserve the money they earn. Apparently, the local directrice, Amina Fassi-Fehri Laraqui earns 20,000 dirham per month, and she does absolutely nothing. Apparently Amel, who is the person who hired me and who is rather nice, is working here because the directrice knows her mother. Needless to say, Julian doesn't like either of them. He likes Nadia Benjelloun, the international directrice of the colloquium, but she lives in France. I've actually seen Julian and Amel go at each other, and it's a bit scary. Amel had asked me to go pick up someone at the airport, and Julian was saying, "No, I need Adrian, Ismael, and Jihan as part of my time" (I think our team was part of a turf-war between the two).
First they start speaking very fast French to each other, and then Amel starts speaking Arabic and forgets that Julian also speaks Arabic, so Julian starts speaking really fast Arabic. All the while I'm going, "Calmez! Calmez! J'irai à l'aéroport à minuit ce soir! Ce n'est pas de problème pour moi!".
What is even more interesting is that he hates even complaining about the people because it makes him feel like a French colonist, and he understands how bad the colonial rule was in North Africa by the French.
Bleh! Anyway, even Ahmed the Egyptian is more relaxed now, I just saw him with a coffee in his hand instead of a cigarette, and he seemed happier. He even invited me to come to Egypt some day. But Jihane and Ismael are gone now. Jihane went back to Rabat to start an internship in the ministry of foreign affairs, the festival was just a fun thing for her, and Ismael was just a volunteer. He is still here, and he has contacts with musicians here in Fez. Pretty soon, its just going to be just me and Amel and the directrice.
I think even Fatima, the nice Berber girl who works in the accounting office is leaving soon. I actually don't know if she is Berber or not, but she did say that she was from the Sahara and she is very dark. She says that she doesn't like living in Fez because its very small, and most of the people in the north look down on the people from the South because they think they are primitive. Apparently, going shopping here in the medina, while it is very cheap, is always difficult for her because people are expert hagglers and will try to get the best kind of price available. There is because ordinary people do not buy the kinds of things that they sell in the medina, and poverty is something that kills here. In the Sahara, she says, they are very also poor, but they fear God so they won't try to cheat you.
Fabrice Villain is another Frenchman, who is very hairy and always has a cigarette in his hand. It is funny, because he'll rarely take a puff from it. He will be working on something at his desk, dossiers or something like that for the press, and he'll have the cigarette lit in one hand outstretched over the ashtray. He'll point with it, and he'll always have it away from him, but it will be just sitting there in his hand, billowing smoke into the room.
Adil is a native of Fez, who seems to the only person I've met here who openly admits he drinks alcohol. He has said to me at least once, "Hey, you should come with Jihan, we all go to nightclub, shake something up and boom boom. You know"? Apparently he called Jihan once when he was drunk, and it was hilarious. I helped his friend Mohammed the other day with his green card application for the US and as it turns out, he helps to manage a ceramics factory. So if you guys want a Tagine or some other piece of elaborate piece of pottery, just let me know and I will try and make a deal for you. If its under 25 kilos they can ship it to your door.
To show how dynamics between all of us work, I will close with a simple, somewhat humorous anecdote. During the opening days of the big conference, Jihan (who is Moroccan), Juneid, Julian (who are both French), and I were in a car going to the airport in order to pick up a large number of people involved in the conference. Julian was reminding everyone to be as polite and helpful as they could, and in doing so he reminded Juneid that they were both ambassadors of France, so it especially important for them to do a good job. I piped in and said it was the same thing for the United States and me. However, Julian responded with, " No, you cannot represent the United States because your government has not signed the Kyoto treaty. Only California has made good emission laws, so unless you come from California, you cannot represent the US." I didn't really know what to say, but thankfully Jihan jumped in and said, "You see, Adrian, this is French humor. You are supposed to laugh now."
There is much more to come.
-Adrian
Julian is a very nice and intelligent guy, but only when he is not stressed out. I've been hanging out with him a lot since the festival has ended, and I can't thank him enough for letting me stay in his flat. As I am writing this, we are actually sharing his flat, which is interesting for me because I've never had a boss who later turned out to be a roommate. We have had some adventures together in Medina, and he is teaching me many things about Morocco. He speaks French, English, Arabic, and Spanish fluently, and I am incredibly jealous.
Unfortunately, the landlord in charge of the building is so bad that he forgot to pay for the water this month, and Julian had no water for a day. You could tell, because he used more cologne than usual. He did go to the landlord to say that I would be living there until the end of the month, and he told him, "Listen, my friend Adrian is staying in the flat for the rest of the month because I already paid for it for the month. You have to let him stay there, because if anything happens to him, I know the chief of police here in Fez. Everybody in the foundation knows that he is living there, and if I find out that something has happened to him, I make one phone call and you are in prison." I really couldn't ask him for more. Its probably something that only could happen here in Morocco. People fear the police here like I've never seen before in my life.
(The living situation for the rest of my time here is as follows. I am staying in Julian's flat for the rest of this month, but for July I am living in the flat of a friend of Julian's next door for 600 dirhams for the month (about $70 or so). It is even more third world than this one. If I want to take a shower I heat water on the stove and I use a bucket.)
One day this week he was bored and waiting for somebody to come, so he googled his own name, and then my name, and when the found the CISLA page with everybody's name and photograph on it. He said, "Adrian, viens!" and since something like 90% of the people in CISLA program are girls, he was like. "Woah! You're université is beautiful. (Points to somebody, can't remember who) I would like a date with her. Can you ask her if she would like a French lover?" I had to laugh, it was too funny. We went to dinner the other night with some other people in the office, and he was looking at a girl in the street and saying, "Beautiful! But you know I can't have just one girl, you know? Its not fair for them!" (Its all the more funny if you know the French)
He also sort of gave me an overview on the office politics of the foundation. Apparently, he is going back to France because they work him like a slave here, and they pay him in dirhams, which, in comparison to the euro, is quite pathetic. He also doesn't like a lot of people in the foundation, who he feels don't deserve the money they earn. Apparently, the local directrice, Amina Fassi-Fehri Laraqui earns 20,000 dirham per month, and she does absolutely nothing. Apparently Amel, who is the person who hired me and who is rather nice, is working here because the directrice knows her mother. Needless to say, Julian doesn't like either of them. He likes Nadia Benjelloun, the international directrice of the colloquium, but she lives in France. I've actually seen Julian and Amel go at each other, and it's a bit scary. Amel had asked me to go pick up someone at the airport, and Julian was saying, "No, I need Adrian, Ismael, and Jihan as part of my time" (I think our team was part of a turf-war between the two).
First they start speaking very fast French to each other, and then Amel starts speaking Arabic and forgets that Julian also speaks Arabic, so Julian starts speaking really fast Arabic. All the while I'm going, "Calmez! Calmez! J'irai à l'aéroport à minuit ce soir! Ce n'est pas de problème pour moi!".
What is even more interesting is that he hates even complaining about the people because it makes him feel like a French colonist, and he understands how bad the colonial rule was in North Africa by the French.
Bleh! Anyway, even Ahmed the Egyptian is more relaxed now, I just saw him with a coffee in his hand instead of a cigarette, and he seemed happier. He even invited me to come to Egypt some day. But Jihane and Ismael are gone now. Jihane went back to Rabat to start an internship in the ministry of foreign affairs, the festival was just a fun thing for her, and Ismael was just a volunteer. He is still here, and he has contacts with musicians here in Fez. Pretty soon, its just going to be just me and Amel and the directrice.
I think even Fatima, the nice Berber girl who works in the accounting office is leaving soon. I actually don't know if she is Berber or not, but she did say that she was from the Sahara and she is very dark. She says that she doesn't like living in Fez because its very small, and most of the people in the north look down on the people from the South because they think they are primitive. Apparently, going shopping here in the medina, while it is very cheap, is always difficult for her because people are expert hagglers and will try to get the best kind of price available. There is because ordinary people do not buy the kinds of things that they sell in the medina, and poverty is something that kills here. In the Sahara, she says, they are very also poor, but they fear God so they won't try to cheat you.
Fabrice Villain is another Frenchman, who is very hairy and always has a cigarette in his hand. It is funny, because he'll rarely take a puff from it. He will be working on something at his desk, dossiers or something like that for the press, and he'll have the cigarette lit in one hand outstretched over the ashtray. He'll point with it, and he'll always have it away from him, but it will be just sitting there in his hand, billowing smoke into the room.
Adil is a native of Fez, who seems to the only person I've met here who openly admits he drinks alcohol. He has said to me at least once, "Hey, you should come with Jihan, we all go to nightclub, shake something up and boom boom. You know"? Apparently he called Jihan once when he was drunk, and it was hilarious. I helped his friend Mohammed the other day with his green card application for the US and as it turns out, he helps to manage a ceramics factory. So if you guys want a Tagine or some other piece of elaborate piece of pottery, just let me know and I will try and make a deal for you. If its under 25 kilos they can ship it to your door.
To show how dynamics between all of us work, I will close with a simple, somewhat humorous anecdote. During the opening days of the big conference, Jihan (who is Moroccan), Juneid, Julian (who are both French), and I were in a car going to the airport in order to pick up a large number of people involved in the conference. Julian was reminding everyone to be as polite and helpful as they could, and in doing so he reminded Juneid that they were both ambassadors of France, so it especially important for them to do a good job. I piped in and said it was the same thing for the United States and me. However, Julian responded with, " No, you cannot represent the United States because your government has not signed the Kyoto treaty. Only California has made good emission laws, so unless you come from California, you cannot represent the US." I didn't really know what to say, but thankfully Jihan jumped in and said, "You see, Adrian, this is French humor. You are supposed to laugh now."
There is much more to come.
-Adrian
posted by Adrian's Fabulous Name Goes Here at 4:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home