Miscellaneous Morocco

Learned a few interesting things about Morocco today:

• "Nurses" that work at the volunteer locations for CCS, other than the one I'm at, such as the Children's Hospital & the Orphanage are not trained or educated in health care. They make approximately 1000 DH/month, which is the equivalent of $120 US.
• Minimum wage is 1800 DH.
• Beggars can get easily twice minimum wage & it's estimated that there are over 200,000 beggars in Morocco. This is why street children are so prevalent.
• Nurses & minimum wagers can work in Rabat, but they can't live here because it's too expensive. Most will commute up to two hours, take at least two buses from either Sale or Temara, leaving their homes at 6am.
• There are many transportation challenges in the Rabat area right now. Each town has a certain colored cab. For example, blue ones are for Rabat & take only 3 passengers. You do not tip these drivers.
• If you want to take a white taxi, you can have more passengers, but there is not meter & you have to negotiate the fare. These are white Mercedes and are the only ones that can travel between towns.
• There are 35 political parties in Morocco.
• The current King Mohammed VI is in his mid-40s and has been in power since 1999. He married after becoming King (his wife is called a Princess, not Queen) and she is about 30 years old. She is known by the public, whereas the former King's wife was never seen - no photograph or portrait was ever made public. The King's family has been in power since 1600.
• This King is modernizing a lot of policies & Family Law. For example, according to Islamic Law a man can have up to 4 wives & this was common practice Oct. 2003 when King Mohammed VI instituted new Family Law that you can have a 2nd wife ONLY if the 1st wife approves & then a judge reviews it and decides if it is allowed.
• The King also upped the age when women can marry from 15 to 18.
• There have been some changes to Freedom of Speech, but no one can say bad things about the monarchy. For example, the Prime Minister is elected to office, but the policies are set by the King. So, if the policies fail, it's the Prime Minister's fault. If the policies are successful, it's because of the King.
• Berbers are considered the "Free People" or nomads. They are the first people who populated Morocco & there are three dialects: Tarifit, Tashelhit, and Tamazight.
• Arabic is the official language of Morocco, but since it was was colonized by the French in 1912, that language is also prevalent.
• The city of Essaouria has the most prevalent Jewish population, but every city in Morocco has a Synagogue. The one in Rabat is unmarked & has a guard that stands outside. Any tension between Jews and the Islamic doesn't have as much to do with religion than most Westerners think.