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Arriving in Morocco?
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cbbjork



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 4
Location: Peru

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:58 am    Post subject: Arriving in Morocco? Reply with quote

Hi everyone! First post on this board, and I have a quick question!

I'm hoping to travel through France and Spain after my TEFL course in Prague, and I'm wondering how easy/difficult it would be to obtain a job teaching English in Morocco?

I have about 2 or 3 years teaching ESL/Spanish and I'm curious. Also, if possible, would I be able to find temporary jobs? for only a month or two? I'd arrive in December.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Smile
Christian
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TwinCentre



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't think trying to get a job on spec is a good tactic for Morocco. Nearly all of the schools recruit overseas. So, try to get a job offer with Amideast/British Council/BPEC/American Language Center etc prior to your trip. However, most of these schools seem to have a high turn-over as Morocco isn't for everyone.
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mitsui



Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

is English First still there?
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TwinCentre



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dunno but suspect not.
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snooty



Joined: 04 May 2009
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 4:41 am    Post subject: Avoid BPEC! Reply with quote

My advice is to avoid BPEC, otherwise you may get yourself into trouble as I did. Cheers.
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MichiganFan



Joined: 28 Oct 2009
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 5:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TwinCentre wrote:
Don't think trying to get a job on spec is a good tactic for Morocco. Nearly all of the schools recruit overseas. So, try to get a job offer with Amideast/British Council/BPEC/American Language Center etc prior to your trip. However, most of these schools seem to have a high turn-over as Morocco isn't for everyone.

If you're still reading this thread, can you talk about some downsides to Morocco? It looks like a good enough place.
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Hod



Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 1613
Location: Home

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichiganFan wrote:
TwinCentre wrote:
Don't think trying to get a job on spec is a good tactic for Morocco. Nearly all of the schools recruit overseas. So, try to get a job offer with Amideast/British Council/BPEC/American Language Center etc prior to your trip. However, most of these schools seem to have a high turn-over as Morocco isn't for everyone.

If you're still reading this thread, can you talk about some downsides to Morocco? It looks like a good enough place.


Yes, TwinCenter, can you tell us about the bad bits too? You've been labelled a Morocco lily gilder, so it's only right to inject some balance, preferably with some brevity involved, so keep it under 10000 words if possible.
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TwinCentre



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow

PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bad points? Okay....just for the sake of balance:

- Very poor local food in eateries, chips with everything. Heart attack stuff
- Dust everywhere, very polluted; I sneezed 24/7 when I lived in Casa
- Very small English speaking expat community
- Not much to do in Casa
- Few decent places to drink
- Gotta go everywhere by petit taxi and it's a death wish
- Gotta bargin hard to get fair prices
- Lots and lots of hustlers, hassling you day in day out.

Of course quite a few good points. I can reiliterate them if you wish...otherwise I'm off in my new host country to grab a beer in minus 21 degrees!!! Moroccan weather pretty good!
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Hod



Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 1613
Location: Home

PostPosted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I�ll be devil�s advocate then.

Quote:
Very poor local food in eateries, chips with everything. Heart attack stuff

No arguing Moroccan food is among the world�s best, but you wouldn�t believe the amount of labour and time required. The huge communal bowls of Couscous families eat on a Friday take two or more likely three hours to prepare. They are great to eat, though. But does this mean if you head to a restaurant and order your restaurant food at 7pm, you won�t eat until 10pm? Of course not. You will be served a quick and dirty substitute for the real thing. You can go five star, but no restaurant in the Kingdom, as anywhere, could afford to have customers sat around for three hours. Like it or not, and despite what anyone else on here might claim, that will be the Moroccan dining experience for 99.9% of you. But also believe it or not, I was in the other 0.1%, and dining out in public Casablanca was without fail a miserable experience.

Quote:
Dust everywhere, very polluted; I sneezed 24/7 when I lived in Casa

I can�t really defend this as my knowledge of the health benefits of inhaling dust and exhaust fumes are sketchy. I think going to Casa with any respiratory problem might be wrong, though.

Quote:
Very small English speaking expat community

Unlike most Brits, I speak one or at a push one and a half foreign languages. Sadly, my French is a sack of merde. If your French is good, you might make a few friends in Morocco. If not, you will have a dwindling expat community to choose from. You can say that I should have spoken or learned French, and you would be right. As I say, with very good French you may well be OK.

Quote:
Not much to do in Casa

No comment.

Quote:
Few decent places to drink

Outside of Ramadan, alcohol is easy to get. Cheap too! But is it just me, or is there something amiss about drinking in a bar with one hundred other males? A female colleague once bravely set foot in a Casa bar, and to be fair after twenty minutes of rubbernecking the local men left her alone. But then she asked where the ladies toilets were, and lo and behold there weren�t any. If anyone can defend Morocco�s biggest city having bars with no toilets for 50% of the population, feel free and good luck.

Quote:
Gotta go everywhere by petit taxi and it's a death wish

I didn�t mind petit taxis. The drivers were OK, and I was only involved in one minor crash. I liked the Sam Browne affect on my shirts after wearing the dirty seat belts too.

Me and a colleague (OK, it might have been TwinCentre, not sure) were quite friendly with a Petit Taxi driver called Hassan. We were waiting for a taxi one afternoon at Ain Diab when Hassan pulled up and offered us a ride. Unfortunately, Hassan had to kick out his two lady passengers first. We felt a bit bad to be honest but gave him a big tip.

Quote:
Gotta bargin hard to get fair prices

Now come on, where? Name names.

Quote:
Lots and lots of hustlers, hassling you day in day

I have to say, for me this pretty much stopped after about two weeks. No, I wasn�t hidden under a new djellaba. The reason is actually an eye opening and rather sad testament to how un-cosmopolitan Casablanca has become. The truth is, in a city with a population of over four million, and with the largest port in the whole of Morocco, after two weeks as a foreigner there, I had become recognised.
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MichiganFan



Joined: 28 Oct 2009
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So where did you guys stay until you got housing sorted out? I've got to find someplace to stay while I grab an apartment, and following that, possibly a job. Hotels at tourist rates can get pretty spendy.
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TwinCentre



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow

PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichiganFan wrote:
So where did you guys stay until you got housing sorted out? I've got to find someplace to stay while I grab an apartment, and following that, possibly a job. Hotels at tourist rates can get pretty spendy.


We were housed in a sad, old hotel, can't remember the name, but near Mers Sultan...it was well grim and noisy as hell at night.

If you want to stay cheaply, there are some doss houses that I would, at a push, have taken my chances on...there is one particular one right off II Mars before Mers sultan where a teacher I knew lived! Expect to pay about 70 to 100 dhs a night. Full of labourers from the countryside...they are well hard.

More upmarket but affordable is Hotel Paris downtown...still grim in real terms though.

I don't envy you, I would go on one of the many Moroccan forums in French and put some feelers out..see if someone will give you some leads..someone might help.

Morocco on spec is a bit radical for me. A fellow poster and I were 'posted' there in all the true expat glory one could imagine, with housing allowance, set-up allowance, subsistance etc etc....and it was still mighty grim to start with!
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MichiganFan



Joined: 28 Oct 2009
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 4:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TwinCentre wrote:
Morocco on spec is a bit radical for me. A fellow poster and I were 'posted' there in all the true expat glory one could imagine, with housing allowance, set-up allowance, subsistance etc etc....and it was still mighty grim to start with!

Sounds grim. Maybe I'll rethink this and try to get a job there first. Did you go through a recruiter or direct? Any contacts?
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TwinCentre



Joined: 22 Mar 2007
Posts: 273
Location: Mokotow

PostPosted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichiganFan wrote:
TwinCentre wrote:

Sounds grim. Maybe I'll rethink this and try to get a job there first. Did you go through a recruiter or direct? Any contacts?


We were employed by the British Council.
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MichiganFan



Joined: 28 Oct 2009
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TwinCentre wrote:
We were employed by the British Council.

Ugh...chains. Sad

Well, I *may* have a roommate lined up which should bring my costs waaaay down. He's Moroccan too. So... Not really sure what I'm going to do when I get there.

Is Bab Doukkala really all they say it is?
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Hod



Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 1613
Location: Home

PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichiganFan wrote:
TwinCentre wrote:
We were employed by the British Council.

Ugh...chains. Sad


I can't think of anything good to say about the BC right now, but calling it a chain is a bit harsh.

TwinCentre already mentioned their benefits such as hotel accommodation, flights and loans, etc. You could ask a real money-maker such as EF for similar help, but EF off will be the reply.
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