"Ma Petit"

Saturday

        We got to sleep in for the first time in a long time which was kind-of nice, though we could only sleep until around 8 or 9. I filled out the paperwork for staying an extra night and all the feedback forms for CCS. I really had nothing to complain about, but I gave a few suggestions especially about my placement at the school but I don’t know how much CCS can really do about all that. There were only five of us left in the house (Me, Jordan, Jean, Heidi and Becky), and Becky left after lunch I think.

        In the morning, Jean and I went to the Acima for internet and it wasn’t working so we walked all the way to a café near the Mahaj Riad and it didn’t work there either. Just when we were about to give up all hope, our favorite waiter came up to get our order so I told him the internet wasn’t working and he went and fixed it for us somehow! So we got to get a little bit done before heading back to the house for tea. After tea, Jean told me what she could see in my future (she’s psychic if you missed my earlier post that mentioned her). Then we (me and Jean) went to the Medina and on the bus she told me what she about my past life J It was fun and I would write what she said here, but I don’t have time right now so maybe later. It was really nice just strolling around the Medina together because we were in no hurry and neither of us NEEDED to get anything so it was a lot more fun. I got some sun glasses and earrings but that was about it.

        All through the day new people started arriving and moving in. It was weird because I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. I didn’t want to be rude and ignore them because they were all excited to be there and begin their adventure, and yet I didn’t necessarily want to socialize either. I had a paper looming over my head, I didn’t have the energy to get to know a bunch of new names and faces when I’m about to leave and I didn’t want them to waste their time getting to know me either. Despite all these fabulous reasons to close myself off and hide away until I left, I ended up socializing and hanging out a bit anyway.

        Mohamed fixed the internet right after the majority of people had shown up so those of us who had been without internet were on our computers for a bit, plus Bethy skyped me so I HAD to talk to her! Then Jackie got on and we did a three way skype which was fun. Then Jean told me I should be doing my paper… and she was right, so I worked on my paper some more but it was really hard to concentrate with all the people excitedly talking everywhere. After dinner we went for gelato and a bunch of the new people came with, I made myself stop stressing for a bit and actually talked and got to know a few people like a decent human being would :P I’m actually going to miss getting to know some of these people FOR REAL. They’re a cool bunch.

        That night, I had a really hard time concentrating because I was so anxious about moving out the next day so I was up super late. This ended up being good because I was online when Jackie skyped me to tell me she had just gotten ENGAGED!! She and Justin were there with Reggie, Nick, Danielle and Wendy. I got to see everyone and Jackie’s ring, it was very cool and I am very happy that I got to be a part of it. All my girls are getting HITCHED… It’s soooo weird hahah…

Sunday

         I was up early because even though I didn’t get to sleep until 4am, the call to prayer woke me up, then the ladies who had moved into our room were up early to go running and showered early so I was UP. I had a lot to do still, so that was fine with me! After breakfast everyone had orientation while I finished up packing and put the last touches on my paper. Jean and Heidi went to Casablanca for the day, so I hugged her goodbye and said I’d try to come back and visit every once in a while. I returned all my teaching supplies to Abdellah and took pictures with Aicha (my singing cook) and one with Mohamed and Abdellah. Khadija had gone on errands so I couldn’t get one with her L …all the more reasons to come back to visit! They all made sure I knew I was welcome back anytime which was very sweet. Mohamed called the number I had for my host family before I left to make sure they were there, and good thing he did! The number wasn’t for my host family, it was for the SCHOOL! The person at the school said that I’m supposed to come there first for an orientation and then the family comes to pick me up from there. So that was good to hear, a little less weird than just showing up on their doorstep knowing nothing about them.

        Mohamed walked me to the other side of the street and got me a cab, he made sure the driver knew where the school was and gave me money to cover the cab ride. The people who had just arrived were walking back from their little exploring assignment for orientation and saw me with the cab and all waved goodbye to me. I had to fight off tears a little when I was getting into the cab and driving away. I’m not sure why I was getting so emotional but I think it had to do with me being on my own, really on my own, and not exactly sure what was going to happen next.

        The driver dropped me off at the door of the school that said “Qalam Wa Lawh” on the side of the building. I paid him and he got my bags out for me while I rang the door bell. A man let me in and took my luggage through a little garden and through double carved wooden doors. Inside there was a huge front desk that was as tall as I am I think but nobody was there so he had me sit on a couch and told me to wait a few minutes and something about someone being here soon. A friendly looking woman came in and greeted me in Arabic, asked where I was from and what my name was then left and went on with whatever she was doing so I must not have been waiting for her. I checked out the glass window I was sitting against which was completely inside the center of the building surrounding a little garden of some sort with trees. It was open to the air and there were no doors to get in, so I assume it was just for decoration. I liked it though, whatever it was. I played sudoku on my phone until a slim, dark haired guy with white jeans and a white t-shirt waltzed in and greeted me immediately. I was waiting for him, his name was Lotfi and he was the new student advisor. He looks like he’s in his 20s and said he had been working there for only 6 months. His English was very good, he said he had taken the job so he could practice English and kept apologizing for it but I understood everything he said. I could only hope to speak Arabic like he speaks English.

        Lotfi put my passport information into the computer and gave me a quick tour around the school. I'm in love with the garden area so I doubt I will ever be inside unless I have a class :) There's WiFi there so I won't die too much from lack of internet at my host family's house. Lutfi said that the family I'm staying with is an older couple and their 40-something year old daughter. He says there are tons of host families so if I don't want to stay there, he can find me another. That was comforting i guess. He called Mrs. Marouazi to come pick me up and we just talked until she came. A little lady shuffled in smiling from ear to ear and hugged Lutfi who patted her on the back and said "she's so cute, you will love her." And I did. After introductions, I told her "yala!"which means "lets go"... she thought that was hilarious and said "yala ma petite." I met Mr. Marouazi outside waiting at the car for us. He too was a short man with a kind face and twinkling eyes. I knew I would like them from that moment. We drove home listening to muslim praise music (that's all I can really categorize it as lol)... to my surprise it was in english hahah sweet. Even though we didn't understand much of what each-other said, I could definitely recognize exclamations over traffic. It was hilarious to watch them interact. 

        We pulled into a small street and onto another where there were apartment-like buildings. The doors were all on street level and the houses all went up to the roof so they were skinny and tall i guess. My suitcase was was almost bigger than the stairwell and was almost impossible to get up hahah... My room is on the second floor with two beds and a big wooden dresser that I got half of. I immediately organized all my things since the room was small and I wanted to keep my suitcase out of the way. I came down to hang out in the kitchen area because there was a low couch lining the walls. I studied a bit and then Madame Marouazi introduced me to her daughter Nadia and we all sat around and ate out of the same tagine. It was delicious LAMB! My favorite, and a salad of green pepper, tomatoes and onions. I loved it all. After dinner I showed Nadia and MM some of my pictures from home. They thought that Kelsey was my boyfriend and loved the dance picture (thanks mom!). MM said that she loved Grandma Wrenn just from looking at her which made me smile. They really are so sweet.

        The rest of the day consisted of going to the market as a "family" and visiting the Bookstore that Nadia owns. They showed me around and gave me a necklace from the store. When I got home, MM brought out tons of little photo books from all the other students they have hosted. Apparently I am the 6th Sarah to stay with them! Some of the pictures looked like they dated back to the 80s or earlier! She also showed me pictures of the rest of her children. She has 5 I think, one is a french teacher who married and english teacher in Marrakech I think, another is married to a tunisian and lives there, their youngest son lives in France right now and is studying I think. Their oldest son is an actor, to show me his picture they pulled out a magazine where he and a co-star were featured on the cover. There was a whole article and tons of pictures of him and the lady from the show. They said he just got married in Essouira a few weeks ago.

        Before bed, we watched a movie with Tommy Lee Jones called Double Jeopardy. It was in english with Arabic subtitles but they had seen the movie before so whenever I got scared or cringed they would assure me that it would be okay and tried to tell me what would happen next hahah... When I went up to bed, MM said that she loves her new foreign daughter and "bon nuit ma petit." She even came in to get my bed ready for me, I feel like a little kid :P

More later!