Bowling Barefoot!

Wednesday got off to an interesting start! This time Mama Katoum didn’t walk me to the bus so of course when I got to the bus stop there were two buses without numbers on them. A lady came and asked me what number a bus was and I told her I don’t know. Apparently the buses were broken down and weren’t going anywhere. We waited for a while until finally a 37 came, but the driver and ticket taker pretty much ran out of the bus. When they were asked what was wrong… the bus was broken and we had to wait for the next bus! The next bus FINALLY came and we were able to get on, however, a few minutes into our drive the bus began to smell terrible and we pulled over at the next bus stop. We waited on the bus for the next bus to come until we saw a 37 speed right past us, then we just got off the bus and people started talking about getting grand taxis. One woman was telling me I should get a grand taxi with her and a man was telling me to just wait because the next bus would be around soon. He struck up a conversation with me in a mix of French and Arabic because he had seen me practicing my numbers on the bus. After talking for about ten minutes a 37 pulled in and we all boarded. We didn’t have to pay again because our bus driver jumped on and told the other one what happened to his bus. The rest of the trip was smooth except for a minor yelling fight between the ticket taker and an angry passenger (about what? I have no clue). This bus driver let me off right next to the school instead of the hair place so that was coolio.

        I ate lunch at school with Samia and found out that she is from Morocco but lived in Paris most of her life. She got a job in Casablanca as an event coordinator but didn’t like how fast paced it was. She wanted to come to Morocco for a break from the fast paced Paris life so she is now staying here in Rabat with her family who lives in Hay Riad! The same neighborhood as the CCS home base. She’s learning Arabic because she feels like a fake when she says she’s from Morocco and doesn’t know how to speak Arabic. It’s funny because she speaks really good Moroccan Arabic, French AND English already. I doubt anyone would think she’s a fake of any kind! Hahah but she’s super cool and I told her I want to go to Chefchouan next weekend and she’s down to go with me! Yay! She knows where to go to see the waterfalls and hiking trails so that will be cool.

        As for the others in the class, there’s Tiberiu (still not sure if I spelled that right) who is 23 and from Romania, Wouter who is 33 and from Holland, and Stephanie (who just joined the class from the level above) who is 40 and comes from Switzerland. I love the diversity hahah and that I am the only native English speaker!

        After class we decided that it was too late to go to the Souk and went out to the Mega Mall instead. The Mega Mall is the only mall in Rabat (and in the whole country too I think). It has a food court, some stores, a kid’s area, and a bowling alley. We got a bite to eat by a panini place that was blasting Akon, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga etc… and every time a song came on that they liked, they would turn it up louder. It was amusing and I enjoyed watching the employees dance :D After eating, we went to the kid area and looked for Halloween stuff for the party. We actually found a place selling some costumes and candy but everything was WAY overpriced… like $45 for a box of candy coins! We decided it was better to just be creative and find our own props and costumes.

        We went to the bowling alley after and paid an entrance fee to get in and then paid again to play heheh… I was wearing sandals and didn’t want to put my feet in the bowling shoes so I bowled barefoot which was  interesting :P Samia’s older brother joined us for bowling, I can’t remember his name but he was very nice. He told me the difference between living in Paris and living in Morocco… “In Paris you can go anywhere, do anything, without anyone looking at you. In Morocco you CAN’T go anywhere or do anything without everyone looking at you.” He said this perfectly, and it’s so true. Parisians really don’t look at much, and nothing really shocks them (or at least they don’t show it), while in Morocco the men gather at cafes all looking out at the street; like it’s a big show and they are the spectators and judges of all that goes on. Despite all this, he adamantly  said that he loves HIS country and likes it better here.

        Samia drove me home from the mall since it was too late to take the bus and she didn’t want me to take a taxi, so that was nice. I remembered most of the way except one turn so we did get a teeny bit lost (oopsy!). We drove by a car being flipped back upright by some men on the side of the road, apparently this is a normal thing?

Thursday, we (Me, Samia, Wouter and Tiberiu) got up early and met at the school so we could buy stuff for our costumes at the souk. Samia is a new driver, and driving in Morocco is insane to say the least. On top of this, she has never been to the souk in Rabat and had to rely on our directions. We would disagree on which way to go and she would be like “guys, guys? Tout droit? A gauche? Where do I go? QUIIIICK!” hahah… But we made it in one piece. Samia and I decided that we would dress up as Gypsies so we bought some cheep rings and bracelets. I bought a belly dancing scarf to either put in my hair or on my waist.. I haven’t decided yet. Wouter bought a white shirt because he’s going to be James Bond, and Tiberiu bought a fez and long white mens kaftan because he’s going to be a Moroccan!

        We walked down to the ocean because Samia hadn’t been there yet either but then we realized we had to get back to class AND eat first so we had to speed walk a LONG way back to the car. We just barely got back to school in time to buy lunch so we were still eating lunch when Sarah started class… we were a teeny bit late, but we wouldn’t have lasted through class without some kind of food. Sarah is so sweet and didn’t mind at all, she is such a positive person ALL the time, and VERY encouraging. I’m so glad to have her as a teacher ( I can use all the encouragement that I can get!)

        Class was long and I think my brain may have imploded a few times but I’m really starting to get some of the new terminology and vocab so that’s good. Even though it’s difficult, class goes by so fast and I really don’t feel like it’s a long time. We got out late but I had no problems taking the bus home. I didn’t spend much time with the family tonight because I had so much homework and review to do, I was too tired and stressed to try to work on it while I watch tv with them like I had been doing.

I have to start class early now because we have a quiz……. Sigh… K bye!