meh

Jan 11 2012, 01:21 AM

Quote:

 

Having been to Ifrane I can attest that visually it is pretty much the place other than Marrakesh that gets a lot of tourism. Though when I was there over the summer it seemed to mostly be Moroccans and Fezians (trying to escape the heat of Fez) than international people. Though I can note that experiences like that are not the most reliable of sources. Personally I'd give it some thought (partially because Ifrane is pretty cool in both sense of the term. In general it is the most "western" looking town in Morocco at least on the outside, and is possibly where I may have developed my addiction to pistachio ice cream. I'd do some research on the university there though as I do not know its student population or demographics offhand or by memory (It was mentioned when I was there but I was hungry enough to not listen at all). On the plus side the Dirrham is pretty weak against the USD so money might not be too much of a problem though you will have to haggle (or learn to haggle if you have not already) as most places have two menus one for foreigners and one for Moroccans, or may have no menu at all. Also remember that when haggling always do so in advance, I forgot once and man did I get a shock on the price.

But I'd probably put Sharjah at the top as their arabic will be more commonly understood in the wider Arab World, with Al Akhawayn around the two spot. I do not think that Turkey would be as good for immersion due to Turkish being the main language but iirc Al Aaram studied in Turkey (may be wrong) so he would offer better advice than I ever could.

Well thank you :D I really appreciate your input. I'll sit down and talk to one of my advisers at school and see what I can find.

My main obstacle is to convince my parents that I wont be killed if I travel to the Middle East.

Siadhal

 

You're in your second semester of college, right? 3.62 GPA so you already have some A's. Why do you say you can't get any letters of recommendation? Professors are used to writing them all the time. You just have to ask them and give them enough time to write one, usually two weeks. I've even gotten letters of recommendation from professors whose classes I didn't do so well in.

Yep, I'm just starting my second semester, thought technically I'm a Sophomore due to my extra credits. The 3.62 is good, but its not good enough to get me any scholarship or anything special notice. Last semester though, I applied for the Critical Language Scholarship (which I didn't get) and had to supply two letters of recommendation. One professor told me flat out that he didn't know my name and all he could really write was that I showed up and got A's in the class. Keep in mind, that this is the professor that I would routinely speak to after class about current events relating to his class and much more, all on top of my participation in the class. The guy never even bothered to remember my name. Some of the blame can be put on me, as I obviously didn't try hard enough to get noticed, but he is the professor who told us that before we came to him with anything, we should go to the TA first, and then and only should we come to him if she couldn't answer our questions. It's not like his job is hard, he only teaches four entry level classes, and three of them are the same class.

I just haven't been around long enough to do any real networking.

meh

Jan 11 2012, 03:01 PM

I hope so. It doesn't help that he's the head of my department. At least he'll be retiring in a year or two.

New Harumf

Jan 11 2012, 05:19 PM

meh

Jan 11 2012, 03:01 PM

I hope so. It doesn't help that he's the head of my department. At least he'll be retiring in a year or two.

Oh shit. Well, he is on cruise control, so don't expect much.

meh

Jan 11 2012, 05:37 PM

New Harumf

Jan 11 2012, 05:19 PM

meh

Jan 11 2012, 03:01 PM

I hope so. It doesn't help that he's the head of my department. At least he'll be retiring in a year or two.

Oh shit. Well, he is on cruise control, so don't expect much.

Screw tenure.