34. Started from the bottom, now we're back there!

It's been almost three months since the last time I published a review on this blog. 
Three months looking for inspiration everywhere in Tunisia: Cafés, public parks, my bedroom, even the bathroom ... until I went (back) to Morocco on the third week of April and lived a very unusual experience. Inspiration is now back for a life-lesson story. 

I worry too much about the security of the protagonists of my story so I will not mention any names nor any details that could reveal their identities ... and you will know the reason later.

I have received tens of messages from my old and new friends on social media asking me what was I doing in Morocco the last two weeks. I was unable to answer because I did not have enough energy to explain the whole story and give all the details in order to have a coherent narrative but now, the final episode is out! 

FYI, I am not writing this to spread hate or to show how angry I am, but I am writing this to share a very meaningful life lesson I have recently learned due to my naivety and overly expressed enthusiasm. 

Since I finished my internship with UN Women in Rabat, I came back to Tunisia with a dream: the dream of coming back (ideally) to that city and work there. I made amazing friends, established a great routine, got strongly attached to the city's beautiful streets and of course, got used to the beautiful weather. 
I started looking for job opportunities here and there ... started talking to my family and friends about my situation as a young jobless woman hoping to find the great opportunity. 
Now if you are an alumnus, you already know what I am talking about so I will just skip this part. 


One day, February 28, 2019 to be precise, I received an email from ... someone. Let's call him "Mr.Blabla". He introduced himself as a "blabla editor" in a press agency and wanted me to be part of the team as a "video-journalist" listing the greatest work conditions everyone in the beginning of their professional career could dream of: salary, benefits … 
No need to mention that I immediately accepted. 

A skype interview was scheduled, a skype interview was done.

I got asked several questions about my skills and my future contribution in the agency. I considered it as a test and passed it. Then, I was waiting for Mr.Blabla to share with me the date I was supposed to go to Morocco in order to be settled and start my new job. 
Each time Mr.Blabla called me on WhatsApp, he kept telling me that I still have to wait before booking my flight to Morocco and that was weird. No exact dates, Mr.Blabla seemed so confused. The job was supposed to be in Casablanca but in the last minute, I knew that the whole office got moved to Rabat so I was "doubly" and “idiotically” happy. 

It is important to know that there was no official document mentioning that I got accepted for the position, everything was on WhatsApp, where the mistake has all began. Mr.Blabla doesn’t appreciate emails and he clearly said it. I had no legal document proving that these people (Mr.Blabla and his friend) have selected me to work with them in this "press agency". I was so happy and excited about the news that I was constantly asking the two misters to tell me an exact date when to come to Morocco in order to organize my schedule and get prepared for my "new job". 

Thanks to the financial support of my parents, they were willing to help me until I receive my first salary and be fully independent. They booked me a flight to Casablanca, a room where to stay for ten days until I could find a place to rent and gave me my pocket money for the first month, I was so spoiled! 

Once in Morocco, I started freaking out and my critical thinking started to operate correctly: 
What if Mr.Blabla was a fake profile? 
What if he won’t show up to our first meeting? 
What if all the story was a trap? 
and so many similar what ifs were savagely hitting my thoughts ... 

Fortunately, Mr.Blabla was a real person and showed up to the meeting. 
Without giving many details about the story because it's too boring, too long and too complicated: the project I was supposed to work for (the press agency) suddenly got interrupted ("stolen" will be a better adjective) three days after I landed in Morocco. 
It’s once there that I knew the following: since I was still in Tunisia, the press agency was facing many legal problems, fights between the directors, angry investors, confused employees and so on. Mr.Blabla did not want to share them with me because he knew that I would have never accepted coming with all of these problems around the opportunity. He kept telling me “to wait”, and “a new project was about to start” so I don’t get demotivated for the job. 
I was completely shocked and indeed, demotivated. 

My situation was not the best and I had no right to claim, no signed contract, no reason to stay in Morocco anymore. Mr.Blabla and his friend kept apologizing for what happened, for being dishonest from the beginning and for not being able to arrange the situation quickly but as Timbaland says: “It’s too late to apologize!” I already had no job anymore, neither in Morocco nor in Tunisia, I was physically and morally tired and more importantly, I felt betrayed because a huge part of the story wasn’t told until I showed up in Morocco! 
To be completely honest, Mr.Blabla tried to reimburse me by providing me with the equivalent of less than half of what I spent for the whole trip. Effort appreciated but, it’s not all about the money! 
It's more about the ethics and principles right? 

What was the lesson from all of this? 
Never trust someone online, even though they are real and very kind persons and don't engage yourself into travelling for work purposes until you have a legal proof such as a contract mentioning the reason for your travel! 

Now concerning the job hunting: started from the bottom, now we’re back there 😃