ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Middle East and North AfricaMale Circumcision
QUOTE (caybee @ Jul 17 2008, 03:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (Carolyn @ Jul 17 2008, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
rclouse,
Have you tried to get your son a Moroccan passport? I have heard that if your child does not have an Arabic name it isn't possible. Maybe there is some way around that with middle names, but I'm not sure...

FWIW, a Moroccan conditional PR friend of ours just returned from Morocco after taking his one-year-old son Adam for a visit, just the two of them. (I think Adam is one of the "approved" Arabic names.) The baby traveled on a U.S. passport. They didn't try to get him a Moroccan one yet -- father and son aren't yet even registered with the Moroccan Embassy here yet -- and had no trouble at all with the Moroccan authorities. We had read something on a State Department website indicating a Moroccan-American child might have a hassle if he didn't have a Moroccan passport since the Moroccan citizenship is acknowledged first (or exclusively?) in Morocco, but in this case, everything went smoothly. Just wanted to throw that anecdote out there for the new and expected Moroccan-American babies who haven't yet been to visit the other side of the family.

We also had no troubles coming or going with Michael. He travelled on his US passport and my wife with her Moroccan passport & 10 year GC took him through Morocco's immigration booth both times.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-07-17 15:39:00
Middle East and North AfricaMale Circumcision
QUOTE (Carolyn @ Jul 17 2008, 02:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
rclouse,
Have you tried to get your son a Moroccan passport? I have heard that if your child does not have an Arabic name it isn't possible. Maybe there is some way around that with middle names, but I'm not sure...

We just registered his birth w/ the consulate and they used his middle name, Naseem. Good thing we decided to give him an Arabic middle name.

Stupid, though. Where do they get off deciding what names are acceptable?

/next boy: Hugh Janus Clouse
/girl: Mona Lott Clouse
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-07-17 14:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaMale Circumcision
Our son had it done on day two. Dr. took him while he was sleeping, returned him still asleep.

I was taking the train back from Marrakech in December and there was a couple in my compartment with their five month old boy. When they changed him I noticed he hadn't been circumsized yet and commented so, they said it'd happen "later". Now that I see "later" means "3 years later", I'm glad Michael's junk is taken care of already.

/if #2 is a boy, same deal
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-07-17 12:46:00
Middle East and North AfricaI'm just a little upset right now
QUOTE (babyeshell @ Aug 1 2008, 09:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Last night, on expedia.com I found a flight from Casablanca to Paris to Newark to Columbus. 16 hours all together and he would arrive here in Columbus at 6:30pm (PERFECT) plus a one way flight was only $1,328.90.


Yeesh! I hope that's mainly due to it being summer and last minute rather than fuel costs.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-01 11:04:00
Middle East and North AfricaPurchasing a Ticket for Someone Else to Use - Any Problems?
I bought a ticket for my mother-in-law on Royal Air Maroc, JetBlue, and Air France and she used them all with no problems.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-06 10:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaDoes your muslim husband mind if you drink?
After my wife (fiancee then) got here she went through a little "wild" phase with the alcohol. You know, forbidden fruit and all. But after she discovered she was pregnant with our son she hasn't indulged since, though I think in social situations she will after our daughter is born. As for me, she tolerates my wine-with-dinner Saturday night, and on special occasions I'll go have some beer at a fantastic beer bar nearby. During Ramadan she wants us to be more observant so I'll jump on the wagon then.

I question the whole "zero-tolerance" understanding of Islam anyway. There are only two places in the Koran that mention it, I think prohibition is more a cultural thing. I'd love to talk to a sheikh about these kinds of things but we're not terribly observant (suits me fine; observance leads to fundyism) so I've not had the opportunity.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-05 15:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaWould you live in MENA if you had to?
Morocco is a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Especially someplace like Marrakech, the noise and the traffic and the crazy hectic lifestyle. Plus with our son and daughter on-the-way, raising them in that environment is just plain dangerous. I'd feel extremely uncomfortable every time they'd go outside to play near a street.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-11 12:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaRamadan Checklist!!
QUOTE (polarbear @ Aug 14 2008, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (rclouse @ Aug 14 2008, 02:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE
3. Read the whole Qur'an at least once as the Prophet peace be upon him did.


Ummm, wasn't the Prophet illiterate his entire life?


From what I understand, alot of times what's translated as "read" is really refering to reciting.

My understanding is also that the quran wasn't even written down into a consice book until after the Prophet (PBUH) died. They had a society of oral tradition, memorization, and recitition - with practice and training you would be suprised at the amount of information you can quickly and accurately memorize.

OK, thanks for the clarification. I don't doubt the ability to memorize; lots of people memorize the Koran today after all.

It does put us non-Arabic speakers at a disadvantage though unfortunately. We'll never be able to understand Islam the way a native speaker can.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-14 15:46:00
Middle East and North AfricaRamadan Checklist!!
QUOTE
3. Read the whole Qur'an at least once as the Prophet peace be upon him did.


Ummm, wasn't the Prophet illiterate his entire life?
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-14 13:18:00
Middle East and North AfricaDefining haram?
The list is interesting.

03. Practising magic
How do you define that? If I pull a rabbit out of my hat, is that magic?

07. Not performing Hajj, while being able to do so
How do you define "ability"? One could cash in their 401K to do it, but that will hurt them later on. But it does make them "able".

Which leads to...
12. Interest(Riba)
Lots of Muslims here have bank accounts (which earn interest) and mortgages (which charge interest). So how does one stay "halal" and own a home, or prepare for retirement?

19. Drinking Khamr (wine)
On the link above, they changed this one to:
19. Drinking alcohol
Now the only references to alcohol I've found in my translation say 1. don't be drunk when you pray, and 2. while drinking wine may have some benefits, the negatives outweigh them so you shouldn't drink wine. How does that expand to all alcoholic beverages being haram? What about the alcohol found in certain medicines? And since hash and heroin aren't mentioned, I guess they're OK?

33. Woman's imitating man and man's imitating woman
I guess Ann Coulter is in trouble.

57. A slave's running away from his master
Excuse me? No way could I accept that.

Anyway, I'm not "down" on Islam. I'm down on supposed Muslims taking a "holier than thou" position and dictating how others are to behave. Islam (from what I understand) is supposed to be a personal relationship with God and one is to use the Koran to help you lead a better life. Unfortunately, as with religion everywhere, people use it to wield power over others. And that should absolutely be haram.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-22 12:32:00
Middle East and North AfricaVeil shed for bikini on Egypt's women-only beaches
QUOTE (HisLittleMasriyah @ Aug 21 2008, 01:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
BTW- if u want to teach men to stop being MEN!!! then go give them transformation surgery. Allah has created men the way they r to be attracted to women so they wd get together n there wd a breed of humans!!!! if u want to kill men from their emotions and what nature gave them then u will unbalance the perfect proportion of Allah and chaos will increase!!!

Its so weird when there is so much infedility; perverts n pedophiles in a country where PORN IS EVERYWHERE AND FREE SEX N PROSTITUTES makes u think the problem is solved but obviously not!!!! Plz think twice before u speak!!

Why is it Europe has lots of nude beaches and porn and legal prostitution and yet their rate of sexual crime is much lower than the US? By your assertion they should have more of these problems, not less.

So God gives men an uncontrollable sexual urge, and (radical) Islam's solution is to remove women from men's sight? I can hardly disagree more. Stuff like this is what drives unemployed, unmarried, and unlaid Saudi men to volunteer to blow themselves up (or worse) in the name of Allah.

/wow, I went there
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-21 17:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaVeil shed for bikini on Egypt's women-only beaches
Instead of segregating men & women, why not teach men to respect women regardless of what they're wearing?

Nah, better to bury your head in the sand and try to turn back the clock a thousand years. tongue.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-21 13:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaWhy arabic instead of English
QUOTE (Virtual wife @ Sep 22 2008, 11:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Just a friendly reminder. While Arabic is the common language of Islam, it is allowed to pray in a language you understand. The Message of the Quran was spread all over the world and Messengers of Allah spoke, taught and paryed in many languages, and their prayers were accepted. There was only one Arabic speaking Messenger. The Quran says it is delivered to the Arabs in a language they understand, but Jesus prayed in Aramaic, Moses in Hebrew, etc. Allah knows all languages, so while prayer in Arabic is a unifying factor in the ummah, non-Arabic speakers may pray in their own lanuage until they can speak and feel the prayer in Arabic. Otherwise, they may feel forced and artificial to you.


Wow, that was amazingly reasonable. I agree with most of that. Kudos!
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-09-23 10:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaWho will pop first?
I think you've all got my wife beat. Our daughter is due around December 18.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-08-15 12:00:00
Middle East and North Africaneed a good place to buy halal meat
QUOTE (Y_habibitk @ Oct 6 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (sereia @ Oct 3 2008, 02:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I don't think I've ever seen beef bacon in our stores. Only turkey. I'll have to keep an eye out!


Beef bacon? this gem exists?!?! oh my! You know I tried the turkey smoked sausage last week for the first time and YUMMO!

Good luck in your search for places close to you..

Turkey bacon is a reasonable facsimile. Also turkey sausage, that's good for pasta & spaghetti.

In Morocco for the first time we went to Pizza Hut and I was very disappointed in the beef -based pepperoni. We need a fatwa to free the pork, just like the Jews did. wink.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-10-07 11:13:00
Middle East and North Africaneed a good place to buy halal meat
Yeah, where's a good place to buy halal pork?

wink.gif

/I miss bacon sad.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-10-03 10:34:00
Middle East and North Africamarriage process in morocco
we will go K-3 way, we want to be together as soon as possible and CR-1 way is too long for us

Couldn't you go K-1 and get married here? That's what we did. We had a marriage ceremony in Morocco for her (huge) family without the civil (legal) part. Then after we were married legally here we registered the marriage through the consulate in New York.

Either way good luck!
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-09-08 16:59:00
Middle East and North AfricaArabic-English interpreter in Rabat, Morocco
Thanks for the info.

I Googled a guy, he wants $400 for a day! I just want to talk to my in-laws, not negotiate a treaty. (His English in correspondence was impeccable, perfect)
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-11-04 11:28:00
Middle East and North AfricaArabic-English interpreter in Rabat, Morocco
Does anyone know of a translation or interpretation service in Rabat?
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-11-03 17:16:00
Middle East and North AfricaThe hijab is a symbol of oppression, sexism and perversion - Agree or disagree?
QUOTE (Sheherazade @ Nov 24 2008, 04:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
To me there is a difference between women who are FORCED to wear it and women who choose to. Some women may be forced by the laws of their country, by their husbands and/or family, peer pressure, etc. And other women wear it proud because they want to.

So I find it hard to categorize a hijab in one way and leave it there.

That's pretty much what I'd want to say. I think it should be up to the woman, and she should not feel any pressure one way or the other regarding it.

From what I understand, Muslim women are supposed to dress "modestly" as a form of protection. Islamic dress identifies her as a Muslim so men will treat her as an equal human being and not a sexual object. It's intended to empower women, not oppress them.

Of course in places like the Silly Kingdom they turn this on its head to oppress women based on their dress.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-11-24 17:14:00
Middle East and North AfricaDo we need to register our marriage in Morocco?
We registered our marriage with the consulate in NY so when we're in Morocco we don't get hassled at hotels and the like. We registered our son as well.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-11-26 17:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaCalling spouse
My wife uses 3U Telecom, which is about $0.30 per minute. It covers our cellphones too.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-11-25 10:55:00
Middle East and North AfricaEID AND XMAS
I've been in Morocco a couple of times during the holidays and the Marjane has Christmas (Noel) presents and decorations, and you see some shops having "Noel" red & green decorations and slogans in French.

Next year we'll have a tree and do all the secular things associated with the holiday. This year we're too busy. wink.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-01 16:37:00
Middle East and North Africavisitor/tourist visa for spouse
I think age has a lot to do with it. My MIL is here on her B1 for the second time and, like before, the immigration guy hardly blinked as he was stamping her passport.

I swear, I should travel with her all the time. She brings good luck, we always breeze through immigration, baggage claim & customs.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-09 11:39:00
Middle East and North AfricaHe doesn't know his parent's birthday...and neither do they!!!!
For my in-laws they only knew the year they were born. I made up dates for the K-1 and there was no problem. Later on they got new national IDs and their birthday was set to January 1. So I'd put down that for your future in-laws on the K-1.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-15 11:13:00
Middle East and North AfricaWomen arrested for wearing Hijab in traffic court!
From what I understand, the Koran says muslim men and women should "dress modestly". And also FWIU the intent is for muslims to be considered as people, not as sexual objects. That is, you dress modestly so people will take you seriously and not be sexually distracted. Another component of this is to not draw attention to yourself.

But, here in the United States, when a woman dresses as one would in an Arab or muslim country, it does exactly the opposite: it draws attention TO yourself. That's what this woman was doing: she was dressing that way to get everyone to LOOK AT ME. In other words, she's an attention #######.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-19 11:56:00
Middle East and North AfricaWomen arrested for wearing Hijab in traffic court!
QUOTE (TamaraLovesAdam @ Dec 17 2008, 06:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
hmm seems as though if shes more worried about outward modesty than what comes outta her mouth. Cursing is what got her arrested it seems. She could have explained her situation to the judge instead of cursing them out.
It doesnt matter how modest you dress on the outside, if you dont have good words coming out of your mouth then it doesnt mean a thing.

QFT
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-17 23:37:00
Middle East and North AfricaWomen arrested for wearing Hijab in traffic court!
QUOTE (trailmix @ Dec 17 2008, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Yeah - I think we don't have the whole story here. She was held in contempt for not removing her hijab, we don't know if she was given the option of just leaving - which of course she should have been. Not sure about the nun scenario, interesting question, one would hope they would be asked to remove their head gear as well.

This story is lacking in facts.


You don't have all the facts: Frustrated, she turned to leave and uttered an expletive. She said the bailiff then told her she could take the matter up in front of the judge. She said she was handcuffed and taken into Rollins’ courtroom.

So she was arrested for telling the bailiff to fsck off, not because of her hijab. Of course CAIR will milk this regardless for as much indignation as they can...

Linky
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-17 17:25:00
Middle East and North AfricaWhat airline do you use to fly to Morocco?
Best service: British Airways
Best frequent flyer program: Air France (Skyteam, Delta)

I've flown RAM a few times but it's like a flying bus. Sure, they get you there, but customer service is not a priority with them.

Air France has decent customer service, but the big selling point with me is the frequent flyer program. I get Delta Skymiles 1 for 1, and coupled with my AmEx Skymiles card I get award travel much faster. As I've just completed my 15th trip to Morocco, earning award travel is important. smile.gif

For a while it was much cheaper to fly to Europe than Morocco, so a few times I flew Iberia to Spain, then got to Algeciras to take the ferry to Tangier. That was exciting, but transferring miles to American was very disappointing, cause you only get 25% of them.

BA has the best CS, but unless you buy a higher fare you don't earn any frequent flyer miles.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-12-18 14:07:00
Middle East and North Africacheck in time - who are you, hows it going and just saying hi thread
QUOTE (charles! @ Sep 19 2008, 08:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (ks71905 @ Sep 19 2008, 08:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Charles, does your company offer paternity leave when nessa has the baby? just curious cuz i know she will need ya around smile.gif

no idea. i'd imagine it depends quite a bit on our schedule at work. some things just can't be missed.

Here in California one can use state disability insurance for 6 weeks of paternity leave; it pays 55% of base salary, then you can use vacation or sick time to make up the rest. Might want to check MO law.

Personal update: our son is 13 months and doing great, while he isn't walking yet he's doing everything else. Aicha's pregnancy is progressing normally and we're looking forward to our little girl joining our family in December. Aicha's citizenship process is stuck in CSC's slow system, waiting for the interview letter. We've already booked tickets to bring our family to Morocco in April so everyone there can see how Michael has progressed and meet our daughter.
rclouseMaleMorocco2008-09-22 12:28:00
Middle East and North AfricaAdvice needed
Turmeric. Lots and lots of turmeric.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-02-03 17:21:00
Middle East and North AfricaStopped cooking for my husband!
You should start making other dishes, like spaghetti with Italian sausage, or pork chops. Tell him if he doesn't like (or accept) your cooking then he should cook for himself. wink.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-02-02 12:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaIs abuse ever OK in a relationship?
QUOTE (allousa @ Feb 17 2009, 03:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Don't EVEN get me started on how I feel about human trafficking! mad.gif


So.... it's bad?

wink.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-02-17 17:51:00
Middle East and North AfricaDentist in Morocco
A friend of my wife's is a dentist. She even cleaned my teeth once for free. Dunno her last name, her first name is Majda. She's in Rabat someplace. If I drove by it I could point it out.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-02-23 11:43:00
Middle East and North AfricaMorocco Phone Number Changes
Yes, and the changes are so easy to understand. I'm sure absolutely no one will be confused at all, ever.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-02-25 13:24:00
Middle East and North AfricaSMOKING CIGARETTES
Neither of us smoke.

I hope all the smokers here will quit soon voluntarily. However difficult that might be, it's better than the other, inevitable way to quit.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-03-13 16:50:00
Middle East and North Africais good to marry within the first time we meet?
QUOTE (Ihavequestions @ Apr 22 2009, 02:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
A (western) friend of mine has a son who has been in love with a girl for many years and this girl happens to be four years older than him. He wants to marry her but his (Egyptian) father will not approve of it because of the age difference. The son says if he can't marry this girl, he won't ever marry anyone. Well, now the concern is that he may have married her secretly. My friend told me today this is her suspicion, anyway. And, she says, if that's the case, she may just have to honor kill her husband. What a sad position to put the entire family in, eh?


blink.gif
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-04-22 17:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaStaashi's back with baby in tow...
Congratulations, glad it all worked out and everyone came home OK.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-04-09 12:11:00
Middle East and North AfricaArabic learning Enthusiasts
QUOTE (S and S @ Apr 22 2009, 05:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Okay, I haven't found a full dictionary yet with transliteration, but I did find a site that provides vocabulary by subject for Arabic and Egyptian Arabic with the transliterations for both. Anyone interested should check it out and let me know what they think.

http://arabic.desert....net/index.html

That's very cool, the kind of thing I'm looking for.

Already found some of the words I know are actually Moroccan dialect, like "sleep" is "nas", not "yanaamu".
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-04-22 18:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaArabic learning Enthusiasts
What I'd like to find is a decent online Arabic-English English-Arabic dictionary. The ones I've found don't provide a transliteration, plus I'd want to see what the "official" definition of the Arabic word is before using it.
rclouseMaleMorocco2009-04-15 16:16:00