How To Give Your Family A Heart Attack: 101

        On Saturday night, after dropping my things off at the hotel room I went to get dinner on the beach. Instead of walking down the boardwalk, I decided to walk along the beach to get there because the soccer games had finished and I could walk more peacefully there. It was lit up from the lights on the boardwalk which was nice... and mostly couples walked down on the beach which gave me relief from avoiding groups of giggling spikey-haired boys. I only got approached once but the guy gave up pretty easily and left me alone. I had a panini for dinner that really didn't taste as good as it looked but I had a really good cup of Verveine tea (which is my new favorite thanks to Mama Marouazi), and that made up for it I suppose. I texted Mo Mo to see what was up and he agreed to meet me by the restaurant when I was done eating. As I was paying the waiter, I heard a ton of noise consisting of off beat chanting, banging of drums, scuffling of feet and laughing. Down the steps to the beach and right by my table came a parade of kids looking very pleased with themselves as they followed some boys beating on drums and yelling. Nobody seemed particularly interested in the children so I just drank the rest of my tea and left to find Mo Mo. I walked a little ways down because I didn’t want to just stand around and give guys an excuse to come up to me. This did not work of course because I talked to about 4 guys in about 10 minutes and finally just sat down to call Mo Mo and see where he was. As soon as I sat down someone plopped down next to me and I just started laughing, I know he had seen me shoo away the other guys but apparently he didn’t care. My laughing confused him so I apologized and told him I wasn’t laughing at him, I explained that I just wanted to be left alone but that seemed impossible in El Jadida. He laughed and agreed with me then proceeded to try to talk to me still. Luckily Mo Mo called and I escaped pretty easily. Mo Mo had gone down the steps to the café so I went back down and was followed by yet another guy… I reached the bottom and realized that Mo Mo must have gone back up to meet me so I did an about face and walked back up the stairs while the guy also did an about face and followed me back up. Way to be obvious dude. I was just about to go crazy when finally I saw Mo Mo coming and he laughed at me because he saw me avoiding the guy following on my heels. Jerk.

        We walked up to the main street where I had been earlier that day and he pointed to a place on the corner of a street and said we were going there. I looked at the place skeptically because it was dark, smoky, full of men and I am not kidding when I say the name of the place was “Le Tit”… Yeah that looks like a winner. I was about to say hasta lavista baby and head back to my hotel but he grabbed my arm and pulled me and my skeptical expression away from the place and across the street. He looked very proud of himself and I realized (with great relief!) that he was just messing with me. I repressed the urge to slug him and asked where we were really going. He said he knew a good place to get a beer that had more foreigners and wasn’t nasty and creepy. This sounded better but I asked him if he was allowed to drink beer since it’s technically forbidden to Muslims. He informed me that he is berber, from the desert and his people aren’t Muslim (for the most part). He told me that he rarely wears the style he was wearing that day (Fitted faded jeans, t-shirt and track jacket) because he is a “blue man”. I recognized the term but asked him what a blue man was. He replied that he always wears the long blue kaftan and blue head wrap. I remembered seeing people dressed like this in Merzouga when I went there so this made sense. We arrived at the door of a hotel and walked back to a little courtyard covered by a tarp with people sitting around drinking beer and watching “footy” on TV. There were a few girls there so I agreed to hang out there for a while. We sat with an acquaintance of his, a small man eating pomegranate seeds and drinking a glass of red wine. The man was small and seemed to be very shy and soft spoken. Mo Mo went to order some beer and I attempted to talk to the man in Arabic which seemed to make him happy. He told me he used to speak English but hasn’t practiced in a long time. When Mo Mo came back I found out that this guy was a tax investigator who was very well known for being nice. The man explained that he was sitting at work one day when a man who had worked in the business for years and years came back to do something. He said that the man had been very strict and harsh with the people he investigated and nobody liked him. When he returned to the office the man received no welcome and nobody cared that he was there. Mo Mo’s friend got very emphatic at this point and said that if people he investigates are nice to him, he will let them pay less or pay at another time if they don’t have the money. He pointed out that when he saw this man come into his office, he realized that the government and coworkers don’t care about you after you’re done working and old. The people he helps and makes friends with will help him and care about him when he is old while people at his job and in the government won’t care about him or reward him. I felt the positive vibes flowing out of Mo Mo as he talked about unity, acceptance and respect. He is a very easy-going and happy person who claims to be “with all religions” and just loves people. The small tax investigator man looked very pleased with Mo Mo’s speech and kept nodding and saying “Rrrrrespect! Yes!” every once in a while. After about an hour of peace love and care-bears, he bought our drinks, informed us that we were great people and announced that he was going to bed. Mo Mo and I only stayed a little bit longer then headed out.

        The next place on our agenda was apparently a hookah café where I was pleasantly surprised to have a large hookah placed on the table instead of tea. I thought he said that we would drink tea but apparently in the Arabic language, they say that they “drink” the hookah and they call hookahs “shishas.” It’s an easy mistake to make I guess… It was good but it was apple and annis flavored. I hate annis and licorice flavoring but the apple made it bearable I guess. There was also an adorable cat that I became good friends with right away. I didn’t have any food for it but it came on my lap and just wanted attention… Sooo cute! So I was in heaven for a while, talking about peace, love and respect with my new hippie friend, smoking hookah and cuddling with a cute kitty.  After we were done there, he wanted to show me another place but it was getting late and I needed to get some studying done. He wanted very badly to give me something from his berber tribe for my brother (I won’t say what it is so I don’t ruin gift) but in order to get this gift I had to go back to the Portuguese City where Mo Mo lived so he could get it. I fought with myself quite a lot over whether or not I should go with Mo Mo. I mean, how much did I really know this guy? Could I trust him to actually want to give me a gift? Or did he want something else? Was it a trick? How could I get out of the situation if it turned bad? Did I know my way back if I had to run? Etc… Okay so I know that my family in particular is probably going to be frightened by this next part BUT I will tell it all because you all know that I am currently safe and sound typing away in my little Arabic School in Rabat. RELAX! Heheh…

        It really isn’t that exciting honestly, but as you’ve probably guessed, I went ahead with him back to the Portuguese City. On the way he told me a story about when he had been held up at knife point when he had first moved to the city from the desert. The man who held him up was extremely drunk and Mo Mo confessed that he was rather “high.” Mo Mo pointed out that he tends to get very scared when he is high and nearly soiled himself when the man asked him for his wallet. Somehow he convinced the man that he really didn’t want to go to jail for killing someone for a little bit of money and offered to buy the guy a beer if he left him alone. Mo Mo turned to me and said “man, nobody wants to kill … they just wanna get drunk or high, it’s sad sometimes but true.” Hahah ohhh the wise words of Mo Mo... I wish I had taken notes on what he said so I could repeat it all. As we entered the Portuguese City and we passed his store and the Cistern, I knew exactly where I was. He lived right down a side street from the Cistern and as we went down it, I grabbed the pocket knife that I keep in my pocket and unfolded the biggest blade. I did not feel threatened mind you, Mo Mo was still rambling on, but I knew I could get away quick if I needed to with the help of a knife. Yikes, I felt like such a violent person… then I felt a wave of guilt when we walked through the doorway and he handed me the gift from his tribe. I wasn’t guilty but I felt like I should be for not trusting him. Better safe than sorry ;-)  Anyways, His apartment was tiny and I could see all of it from where I stood at the door. He showed me how he had just painted and installed a new window and wall fixtures and was building a few beds in his living room. He said that he is going to host couch surfers when he is finished fixing it up! Here’s the link to the couch surfing website if you don’t know what it is: http://www.couchsurfing.org/   . I have friends who have done this in cities around the US but I had no idea that it was world-wide! Very very cool. After talking about that Mo Mo tried to tell my fortune with his fortune cards but most of the things just confused me. Apparently I will buy a really nice house in the next 5 years though so I’m looking forward to that, or more looking forward to the job that gives me the money for buying a nice house in the next 5 years! Hahah…We left, he called me a cab, and I went back to face my flash cards and Arabic notes. It was a lovely night and I’m glad I was brave (and slightly stupid), because I wouldn’t have so many good memories. Sorry mom!

        Sunday morning, I threw open my window to see that the weather was gorgeous and warm. I wanted so badly to extend my stay another night, go rent a surfboard and enjoy the day, but I studied some more (patting myself on the back now… I’m such a good little girl) then packed up my stuff to go home. After checking out, the friendly hotel manager offered to call me a cab and marveled once again at the “very strange henna” on my hands that he had never seen in his life. I got to the train station way too early so I sat in the little café and drank verveine tea while eating a really weird croissant filled with apricot jam or something. I realized that my train changed in a different station than it had on the trip there so I spent the time puzzling over whether the internet was correct or my ticket. The internet schedule said that the trains change in Casa Port (where I had changed before), and my ticket stated that I would change trains in the other Casa station. I decided I would go with my ticket since it would be easier to wave that emphatically in an official’s face and get another way home than waving my computer around. Good logic if I do say so myself ;-D  It turns out my ticket was right and I fortunately didn’t need to wave anything in anyone’s face, I just had to sit on the cold hard cement for an hour and a half because my train was delayed 45 minutes.

        When I arrived in Rabat, I was happy to see Mourad waiting for me and even happier to assign him to watch my stuff so I could use the bathroom without taking everything into the stall with me hahah… I ate at the pizza hut in the station and showed Mourad my pictures while he told me about his progress in planning an international breakdancing event/ battle. He already has sponsors lined up and people flying in from New York, France and other places. He said how important it is for him to get the sponsors on board because he is covering the travel, lodging, and food costs for the special people he’s bringing in. He has also booked the largest theatre in Rabat so it sounds like this thing will be pretty awesome. I wish I could be around to see it!

        We didn’t hang out too long because I was exhausted and still wanted to review some more flash cards before bed so I thanked him for meeting me and I grabbed a taxi back to the hood (Yousseffia!).  It was good to see the Marouazis and they were glad that I was still alive… I think :)

 I’m now a week behind on posts but I will catch up this week… Hopefully! BEAR with me ;-D

LAISSEZ-MOI TRANQUILE!

        Friday morning I left the house around 10 for my 11:15 train. I made it on with no trouble and there were very few people in first class so I got to spread out and enjoy the ride to Casablanca. In Casa, I changed trains and this one had even less people in it. The windows were coated with grime and the fabric on the seats and carpets was threadbare… It was clean on the inside and air conditioned so that’s all that mattered. I was even able to take some semi-decent pictures through the dirty window. When the train pulled into the El Jadida station, it was the last stop, no train goes farther south as far as I know. I walked through the tiny station and out the front doors and grabbed a taxi to my hotel, the Ibis. It took only ten minutes to get through the city and as we emerged on the other side I saw the ocean in front of me with huge waves crashing onto the shore, we turned onto a road that ran along the boardwalk and the Hotel was right there. There’s something about seeing the ocean or even a sea or one of the great lakes that just makes me excited. I feel a rush of energy and a tingly sensation runs through my body, any large body of water seems to symbolize freedom and adventure to me. I love it!

        While I was checking in at the front desk, the manager came over and asked where I was from then proceeded to marvel at the henna on my hands. He said he had seen nothing like it and it was very strange hahah… he asked where I had it done and I said that I did it myself in Rabat. He nodded and continued to shake his head and say how strange it was. I don’t think he understood that I had done it because I think he was mainly concerned with who would have done such an awful job on a foreigner. After he was done exclaiming over my hands, he checked my paperwork, grinned at me and said proudly “You have room 106… ocean view!!” When I heard this I couldn’t help but grin back at him and say “Mezzian!” (which means “good!”). He was even more excited by that and asked if I spoke Arabic to which I shook my head and explained that I was studying it in hopes of someday speaking it. He smiled and said “Mezzian, welcome to Jedida! Tell me if you want anything.” Finally free of his questioning, I almost sprinted for the elevator and took the long ride all the way up to the first floor ;-) My room was definitely an ocean view, I opened my window right away but realized there were no blinds and the whole boardwalk could see into my room. I put the curtain in front of the window but I couldn’t make myself close the window, the sound of the waves was fabulous. The room was very clean and my bathroom had a shower that was separate from the toilet! Now that is something to be happy about! The best part of the room, however, was that I had a giant bed all to myself and in front of it was a large painting of a Moroccan lady who was sporting a uni-brow and scandalously clad in a see-through white dress. Mezzian! Haahha…

        It didn’t take me long at all to find out that the website I had booked the hotel through was wrong in saying that the hotel had wifi in every room and a gym by the pool. I was disappointed, but I really didn’t mind that much. I had come to relax and study so the internet would have only been more of a distraction. The lack of a gym disappointed me more since my Moroccan high-carb diet has my body needing energy more than ever. The pool was gorgeous but I wasn’t able to work up enough courage to dive in especially since it was only about 65 degrees out… Not very tempting. I organized my things and headed out to explore a little and get some food before it got dark. The board walk got busier and busier as the afternoon turned into evening, apparently it’s the place to be. Couples strolled in the sand down on the beach or sat on the concrete wall and flirted. Groups of young men with gelled hair and faded jeans stood around smelling strongly of cologne and whispering sweet nothings to any female that happened to walk by. Middle aged men parked their shiny BMWs and Mercedes along the street and watched everyone from their cars while listening to the radio. Older couples and families walked around talking and laughing and watched soccer games that began on the beach as soon as the tide went out. I loved the feel of it and walked leisurely along in order to observe everything, I couldn’t walk too leisurely though because guys would break away from their pack of men and try to casually match their step with mine, getting closer and closer and talking to me in every language they could think of until I had to acknowledge them somehow. I had purposely worn a hat and a large scarf to look more discrete and get less attention but apparently it didn’t work. I now think that it is virtually impossible for someone to be truly alone in this country. There is a large sense of community and with that comes very little privacy.

        I didn’t feel threatened in any way, I was more annoyed that when I would politely say hello and told them I wanted to be left alone, they would keep walking with me, trying to convince me to talk to them just for a minute or just for a quick cup of coffee or something of that sort. That’s how guys do their thing in Jedida apparently. I had managed to shake off most of the guys when one guy who actually spoke decent English started asking me a bunch of questions and, stupid me, I was tired of trying to get him to go away so I answered his questions about what I study, where I’m from and blah blah blah… I then realized that I had just told him I wanted to go into diplomacy and I’m trying to learn Arabic and yet I was trying to be alone and not talk to anyone. It seemed like a slight oxymoron to me and I was in a slight moral dilemma since he was very adamant about just wanting to talk about school, politics, and work over some tea. For some reason I told him I didn’t want tea but I was going to get something to eat and he took that as “Oh hey I would LOVE for you to join me for dinner!”… So we went to a café on the beach, I ordered a Salad Nicoise and he got some tea. I must admit that I didn’t mind the company, but I was still kind-of annoyed that now I had to try to keep a conversation going with someone I didn’t want to talk to in the first place. He told me he was an agricultural engineer and asked why I was learning Arabic. I thought he was joking since most people would consider it a very important language for people in diplomacy to learn but he seemed genuinely amused that I was learning Arabic. I must have been in a very easily annoyed that night because this too annoyed me. Or maybe he was just annoying? I’m still not sure. He was a nice person but the longer we talked, I got more of the feeling that he didn’t just want to talk about politics and work. He started to talk about how much he loved America and wanted to marry a foreign girl… and that was my signal to get going.

        When we had finished and we had watched the waves for a while, I began to get antsy and look around for the waiter who was MIA. Said, my dinner companion, asked if I was ready to go. I said yes, apologized for being slightly rude and explained that I was very tired and had a lot on my mind. He asked if I was mad at him for intruding on my time alone and I bluntly told him that I was at first but I didn’t mind anymore. That seemed to satisfy him and he began to look for the waiter as well. When the waiter didn’t come, he was about to get up and pay when I realized he intended to pay for me too. I thanked him but said that I wouldn’t allow him to pay for me, I wouldn’t accept it. He got a stubborn look on his face and said that I was his guest and I would not pay. I said he could pay for my drink since I suppose he had invited me to get a drink, but I would pay for my food. He ignored me and paid for it all anyways which annoyed me more than anything. I thanked him of course but I really didn’t appreciate him not respecting my wishes. He asked for my phone number and at this point I refused to give it to him and said that I would take his number. He asked me to call him if I wanted him to show me around the next day, so I thanked him and said that I had my own plans the next day but if I would call if I changed my mind. I declined his offer to drive me home and breathed a sigh of relief when we finally parted ways.

        The rest of my night consisted of making Arabic flash cards while watching Minority Report and CNN with the ocean breeze blowing in through my window. I couldn’t have been much happier. I realized how little privacy I have had this entire trip and even though I love people and being in constant contact with them, I do need my time alone. It lets me re-charge and focus on tasks a little better. I slept well that night :)

        On Saturday I woke up late and immediately opened my window to see that clouds hid the sun and the weather looked rather wet and gloomy. The ocean was still gorgeous, but I used this as an excuse to stick around the hotel; get in a good workout, take a long shower, study a little and make a plan for exploring a little bit of the town. I finally ventured out to explore my surroundings and realized that in all my fascination with the people and the ocean, I had failed to notice the abandoned hotels along the beachfront. Two decent sized skeletons of once elegant hotels now gaped vacantly at the ocean. They looked like they had been empty for quite a while and were now consumed by overgrown trees and bushes that used to decorate their lawns. They looked like something out of a movie about the end of civilization. I realized that El Jedida had probably seen better days and wondered what they had been like. My hunger led me to a little café on the beach… this time I happily ate in peace and paid for my own meal. Feeling rather self-indulgent, I paid some guys a few dollars to let me ride their gorgeous black horse on the beach. They had camels too, but I figured I had had enough of camels for a while. Plus, no camel could ever live up to my beloved Pookie from the camel trek ;-D I was also able to go faster on the horse so my decision was easy. I bonded with the horse and let it slobber on my arm while I talked to the owners for a bit. I got to practice some Arabic with them and I was happy when they didn’t find it funny that I would want to learn their language.

         I meandered downtown not really knowing where I was going, but I knew the general direction and remembered seeing it on my cab ride through town. I was followed by a guy down the road that lead to the main street. He was similar to Said in not taking a hint when I bluntly said that I didn’t want to talk and would like to be left alone. Fortunately he asked me if I was married so I flashed my faux wedding band his way and with that, he muttered “quelle domage” and pretty much did an about face and headed back in the direction he had come. Quite proud of myself for not completely lying (I never actually said that I was married, he just assumed heheh), I smiled and kept walking. However, as soon as he had departed, a car creeped up beside me and I prayed that all they wanted was directions… but no, to 20-something men with childish grins on their faces nodded and motioned for me to come over. I looked away and kept walking and they passed me and rolled backwards to try to talk to me again. I’m starting to think this is like a serious hobby or pastime for these guys. When I still didn’t acknowledge them, the driver parked the car on the road, got out and tried walking with me. I almost started laughing, turned to him and said “S'il vous plait! LAISSEZ-MOI TRANQUILE!” (which basically means, “Please! Leave me alone!”). He looked shocked, backed away and retreated back to his car looking like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be frightened by my unexpected outburst.

        I was definitely happy to reach the main road and duck inside a little spa with a friendly cross-eyed man who eagerly told me about all their new treatments including the age spots and wrinkle reducers. I pretended to act shocked that he would even suggest that I needed a treatment to which he grinned and told me that it wasn’t for me of course hahah… I decided to get a manicure and pretty much zoned out for an hour watching two little green and blue lovebirds preen each other in their cage outside the window. The cross-eyed owner came up and nearly scared me to death when he tapped me on the shoulder and asked if everything was alright. He asked if I was always in such deep thought to which I just shrugged and smiled. After I paid, he gave me a handful of maps and city guide pamphlets to help me get around and told me that I had to go see the Portuguese city before I left. I thanked him and feeling relaxed again, I headed out. I took a stroll through a pretty little park and sat on a bench for a while trying to figure out how to get to the Portuguese city. I walked for about 15 minutes and found the old fortress with no problems. I went in through one of the gates and stood there for a minute wondering where to go… there were no street signs… very few people… and it was very old looking. I turned to the right and stared up at a church looking building for a minute trying to decide if I should just head back or try to explore more before the sun set. A man with dread locks rushed past me and stopped distractedly asking me something in Arabic, he looked in a hurry so I shook my head and said I didn’t understand him. He broke into nearly perfect English and asked me if I had the time; I told him the time and before he could turn to go I asked him if he could point me in the direction of the cistern. I figured I could trust a guy who seemed to be short on time and took little to no interest in me. I was right because he lead me part of the way and stopped at his shop and pointed at the door of the cistern that was only about 10 yards away. He didn’t even ask me to look in his shop or anything.

       As I walked through the little doorway I thought it was closed because the lights were off inside and no other tourists were around. Luckily the lights in the little lobby flicked on and I paid a small entrance fee to the guard to get in. He pointed me towards a little old man in a white robe who was waiting for me by a giant wooden door. He pulled it open and motioned me into a dimly lit cavernous room. He closed the door behind me and motioned for me to follow him down a ramp onto the floor of the cistern. A huge well was in the middle with a hole above it to let in the rain water. Surrounding the well was a huge pool of water that had collected and branched out almost to the walls. We had to walk along the walls where the ground was highest in order to not get wet. The little white figure waddled on in front of me, stopping now and then to tell me dates and explain things. He motioned for me to look at a line on the wall that was about two or three feet above my head. This was the water line that the cistern was usually full to back when it was in full working order. The whole thing was rather creepy and marvelous all at the same time. I especially loved being down there with no other tourists around so I could hear the drip drip of the water and get better pictures of the reflections. Very cool.

        As we emerged from the cave, the old man showed me a 3D map of the fortress and told me that I should go see the corners if I could (there’s a special name for them that I can’t remember…) I thanked him with a small tip and headed on my way. As I made my way towards one of the outer corners of the fortress I was surprised to see that it wasn’t just a tourist attraction, the Portuguese city was still a little city that people lived and worked in. I had to dodge through a soccer game and cautiously walk around two little boys throwing rocks at each other, but somehow I made it up to the top and knew why the old man told me I had to see it. It had old cannons placed along it’s walls and a gorgeous view out over the water and the city. On top of that, the sun was going down in orange, pink and blue sunset that reflected beautifully off of the orange-ish walls of the fortress and the glistening clear water below. The dark blue fishing boats were anchored around the bay and seagulls squatted on the dark black rocks poking out of the shallow water. I ran around like a little kid exploring all the little outpost areas and cannon holes except for that one creepy dark doorway that lead down somewhere I didn’t have the courage to investigate. After my camera and I were satisfied and the sun was almost gone, I headed back.

        As I passed the shop of the guy who had helped me find the cistern I heard him ask if I had found everything okay. I said I had seen everything and thanked him for his help. We talked for a little bit and he told me how a bunch of his American friends just left for home but some of them had been studying Arabic in Rabat too. He said that others had been living with Berber families and learning specific Berber dialects. I somehow began exploring his shop because he had some adorable miniature hookahs that caught my eye. I didn’t get those but I did end up buying some stuff and he helped me carry it outside the fortress and called a taxi for me since it was after dark. He said his name was Mo Mo, gave me his number and said to call him if I wanted to go out later.

To be continued ;-D

Being A Vegetarian Never Looked So Good...

        Before leaving school on Tuesday, I threw together a loose plan to get away for the weekend by myself. One of the staff, an American guy, tried to help me by giving me his friend’s number who was traveling to Chefchauoen that week, but not only did I want to go somewhere I hadn’t been yet, but his friend was leaving that day or the next and I wanted to spend Eid (which was the next day) with my host family. My B1 teacher, Sarah, took me to a bookstore where I could find index cards to make vocab flash cards over break. We have learned a ridiculous amount of new vocab and this is the only way I’ll be able to keep up. I was relieved to have a break but still overwhelmed by the thought of all of the things that needed to get done and the idea of traveling alone on such short notice. I decided to not worry about it that night and met up with some school friends for dinner. The little market in Youseffia was alive and bustling with stalls selling piles of coal and men sitting at stone wheels sharpening knife blades for the next day. It was like Christmas Eve when people rush out to get whatever they need for the holiday since everything would be closed down on Eid. I wanted so badly to wander around and take pictures but I had to run home and get ready for dinner with my friends. While eating I talked with a guy named Zane who I hadn’t really met yet since he had just started classes a week or two ago. This really is a small world because I found out that he is from Bloomfield Hills and graduated in the same high school class as Kelsey at Cranbrook! So that was cool, and the evening lowered my stress level to a manageable level. When I walked part of the way home with Ciara, she told me about a blind girl at our school who is from the US. This girl sounds really cool and it blows my mind to think that despite not being able to see, she is still able to travel to a foreign country, learn a foreign language, and I believe she even has a boyfriend here! She is no stick in the mud, that’s for sure. Later that night when I returned home, Nadia agreed to walk around the market with me so I could take pictures of the hustle and bustle, it had slowed down a little since before, but I got a few good shots and that’s all that matters. I loved the excitement in the air and wanted pictures to remember it by. When we got home They got out the henna and I got to try to henna my own hands. The left hand turned out nice, but the right hand looks really weird and we were laughing pretty hard about it. On top of it being weird, I put it on too thick and it dripped down the side of my hand and it made it look even more odd. Oh well… next time I’ll be better :P

        On Wednesday the family was up bright and early and Nadia woke me up to tell me that a student from my school was here to spend Eid with us. They told me earlier that it was an American girl but all the American girls I knew were either already with host families or had plans already so I was curious to find out who this mystery American was. The school is pretty small and I was surprised to not even have an idea who it might be. Nadia rummaged through her closet and threw a pair of soft pants and a matching kaftan at me… I guess this was what I was wearing hahah… They were a black velvety material with gold stitching decorating the edges. I put a belt around it and it was actually quite pretty and very comfortable. When I came downstairs Mohammed and his wife Sana (I think that’s her name, I have the worst memory in the world!) were already there and so was Tanja (I spelled her name Tania earlier.. Oops), I guess somehow someone thought Tanja was an American despite her thick German accent… easy mistake to make ;-) …I was very happy to see her and my curiosity was satisfied.

        Mama Kaltoum had a huge spread of wonderful baked things for breakfast, we feasted on the little fried crepe things, the spongy honey pancake things, the “Moroccan Chips”, coconut cookies, apricot wafer cookie things and a bunch of other random carbs. Unfortunately I was immediately sleepy again after eating all of that and we weren’t supposed to commence the sheep slaughtering until after the King killed the first one so we lounged around like a bunch of bums and I tried very hard not to sleep. The king finally came on TV and to my amusement he looked even more tired than me. We watched him praying at the mosque with a bunch of other important people and the poor guy could hardly keep his eyes open. The hair on his chin looked like he hadn’t shaved in a day or two and he had dark circles under his eyes. I mentioned this to Mohammed who told me that if he had the chance, he would go up to the King, shake his hand and just say “THANK YOU.” I asked him why and Mohammed proceeded to tell me that he knows people close to the King and they say that he rarely sleeps. The only times he really gets a half-decent rest is when he is being driven from place to place. He also told me that the King had recently (I think it was recent) gone to a little town that was behind a bunch of mountains that few people even knew about and had found that they were dying out because their living conditions were so bad. Apparently he immediately called in aid and set up military hospitals. He also found the officials who were supposed to be helping these people and made them live under those same living conditions for a week! Apparently this lit the fire under more appointed leaders to stay involved in the needs of the people and not sit back and enjoy fat paychecks for nothing. I must say that despite some unfavorable views I have heard about the King, I have seen how much Moroccan people respect him and love him and how much he is actually working to make life better for the people and I am impressed with his work ethic. I don’t agree with him on every aspect of his reign but he does seem to be helping this country way more than hurting it.

        After watching the king kill two lambs (one for him and one for poor people), Baba Ali and Mohammed got dressed in their “killer clothes” as Mohammed called them, then proceeded to the roof to do the deed. Tanja and I reluctantly followed them since they wanted us to see it. We kind of watched and made faces at each other, the worst part was watching them slit it’s throat and see the life fading from it’s eyes and body. I could only watch for a second and had to leave. I had pet those little guys that morning and now I was watching them die… it wasn’t pleasant at all. I came back up to see how they prepared it and was a little grossed out when they poked holes in the skin at the ankles of the lamb and started blowing air into it’s carcass to separate it from the body and make it easier to skin. Whenever they would do something especially gross like breaking a bone, Tanja and I would cringe and make noises to which Mohammed would say “Don’t picture it as your leg” or “Don’t think of it as your arm,” he also said “It is not pleasant but it is time for us to be selfish.” I could understand that I guess, that was how they get in the mindset to do icky work like that. Sana came up to help them and I had to chuckle a little to see this dainty little lady walking through puddles of blood in her little heels and movie star sunglasses. Nadia held the other sheep behind the door in the laundry room because the sheep are not supposed to see each other killed. I think it knew what happened because it kept trying to get out and see the deck where it had been, either that or it just really wanted it’s friend back. Either way it was a little heartbreaking and I almost teared up a little when Tanja and I were petting it to calm it down and I realized that I was telling it “shhhh… it’s okay, it’s okay”…I was lying to the poor sheep! But what was I supposed to say?! … “shhh, calm down honey, we’ll kill you next and eat you for dinner, don’t worry!” Ahhh… This is NOT my kind of Holliday. Not cool.

        I had to leave for a while when they brought out the other sheep to kill, I knew I wouldn’t be any help and I had already seen one die. That was enough. Tanja stayed up there so I just went to my room and studied to get my mind off of it. Nadia came to check on me and asked if I wanted to come up, I said I had seen enough and thanked her. She understood and motioned that she was staying downstairs to bake bread so I went down to keep her company. When the lamb was done, they came down with a tray of freshly cut meat that Mohammed cut into small pieces and wrapped in fat to make shish kabobs. It looked delicious but when Baba put them on the coal grill, the who entire room filled with smoke from the fat and I had to run out of the room because I couldn’t see and my eyes were stinging and streaming with tears. Nadia came down to make sure I was okay and I said I would just wait down there until they were done cooking the kabobs, it was really kind-of funny that they cook them inside the kitchen and everyone just chills in there not being able to see each other hahah… When I came up, Tanja said her eyes didn’t sting because she wears contacts, apparently they protect your eyes or something? Weird. Soon after the doorbell rang and in came a girl who they referred to as “The Korean” hahah… I don’t even remember he name because they called her that almost the whole time. She had lived with them in the same way as me a few years ago and comes back every Eid to see them because she works in Morocco now.

        Over dinner, Baba Ali and Mohammed joked that this was the United Nations since we had almost every continent represented: America, Europe, Asia and Africa! Baba Ali dubbed himself Kofi Annan. I purposely didn’t ask what parts of the lamb we were eating because I knew from seeing the meat raw that it wasn’t the main part of the lamb that I’m used to eating. They were some strange looking cuts so I knew I would be better off just eating it and trying not to think about what it was. After I had eaten a few bites, Tanja asked what we were eating and I cringed as Mohammed informed us that we were currently eating the liver and we would eat the heart next! Woo Hoo! My favorite… I love eating the hearts of adorable little animals that I had pet that morning and told that everything was okay and not to be scared. Ughhhh… I must say that for being a meat lover, this was the closest I have ever been to becoming a vegetarian. I politely tried three bites of the heart, my parents always taught me to take three bites (the three bite rule!) before deciding not to eat something. They seemed to be very exited about eating heart as well so I couldn’t just NOT try it.

        After dinner we went downstairs to the salon, ate fruit and talked. Mohammed told us how Eid is becoming way overdone and less of what it should be. He said that wealthy and well off families are supposed to buy a lamb and keep just a small part for themselves while giving the rest to the poor. Now, he said that EVERYONE feels the need to buy a lamb because it’s a status thing. If the neighbor has a lamb, the others want two lambs, it has become a competition for some people and many of them keep most of the meat for themselves because they spend a fortune on the sheep and need the meat to feed their own families. He said that some wives even urge their husbands to sell their TV or furniture to make sure they have a lamb on Eid. Gee… this reminds me of a little holiday we call Christmas in the states hmmm? Yes, I do believe we have the same problem in the US. Everyone wants to keep up with the Joneses ;-D

        We also watched a protest on TV in front of the parliament building and it actually showed the police beating peaceful protesters. Mohammed exclaimed his surprise at them actually being allowed to show that on TV and my jaw was on the floor. They even had a full interview with the protesters who explained the situation. I had read that not long ago they would even chase tourists who took pictures of beatings and try to make them delete the pictures or hand over their camera. This is a very good sign that Morocco is slowly becoming more accepting of opposition. It’s only a matter of time :) Mohammed and his wife left, Mama Kaltoum and Nadia got out the henna again and had me henna Tanja’s hand and the Korean as well since apparently I’m good at it. I was surprised I had any cred after the horrible mess I made of my right hand. I made sure to make them much more simple and delicate this time, It’s also a lot easier to do it on someone else hahah so there were no catastrophes this time.

On Thursday, I had lunch with the family since I have a hard time passing up couscous. I was a little apprehensive though because I had heard that the tradition is to eat the lamb’s head the day after Eid. My fears were realized when I sat down to see the lovely mound of couscous and veggies along with more strange looking meat. Luckily it was easy to eat around and they were satisfied with me trying one small part of the brain since mama Kaltoum doesn’t even like it. She smiled slyly and started cutting another part of meat for us that was actually normal! I almost cried with happiness hahah… It was very good and all traces of vegitarian thoughts were wiped from my mind. Baba Ali got to chow down on his prized lamb brain alone and apparently this affected his brain because he found a funny looking bone in the pile of couscous and started pretending to tell the future with it. He said that I would leave them in a day since I we all knew I was leaving the next day to travel, and he said that the Korean would go back to her home etc… We were cracking up because he predicted things we all knew would happen, and he did it VERY accurately! Hahah… Gotta love him.

        After eating I went to the train station to buy my tickets to a little seaside town called El Jadida. I decided on that town because it was closer than Agadir and easier to get to. I didn’t want to worry about such a long trip and changing trains AND busses when I was traveling by myself. Mama Kaltoum said it was a nice quiet place and Baba Ali said I had to visit the old Portuguese City that it was known for. I met Valeria and Lavenia outside of the train station and went down to the Medina to shop. We found that most of the big stores were closed for Eid (the country basically shuts down for 5 days) but there were people selling things on tarps and lots of food vendors with rickety old cotton candy machines, carts piled with snails and boiling pots for escargot on the fly and people making chips that smelled fabulous. It was a whole different feel from the Medina on regular days, there were lots of people but they all seemed so carefree compared to the normal desperate hustle and bustle. People strolled up and down and vendors didn’t care if you bought things or not, people were there to enjoy the holiday. We didn’t find much we wanted to buy but we did find a guy selling gorgeous scarves for very cheap so I got like 5 or 6 of them for less than 10 dollars. I have decided that I’m going to decorate my room (my apartment room) with them when I get back.

        After a while Valeria felt sick and we got some tea before they headed home and Mourad came out to shop with me. I looked at lamps and these cool little stool things but I was just checking prices because people were not bargaining well that day since there was less competition for prices. Mourad agreed that they were not giving me good prices so I kept it moving. We went to an internet café and he helped me book my hotel in El Jadida then we walked around for a while just enjoying the night. So many people were out just wandering around so it was really nice to get some exercise and fresh air while people watching. He also feeds my need for a lively debate and conversation on politics and current affairs. I was ready to go spend some time alone though and I was getting really really excited to embark on my adventure the next day. He thought I was crazy for wanting to go alone but I didn’t care what he thought. Not in the least bit.

Counting Sheep

Last night I came home to what sounded like high heels clicking across the roof and an occasional “Baaaaaaaaa” “Baaaaaaayaaaaaaaahhhh” echoing down the stairs. Yes, I have sheep on my ceiling… not just one, but two adorable fluffy sheep above my head. Let me tell you, they have nothing to do with helping me sleep! On the contrary unfortunately… not that I really need help sleeping anyways. After dinner I went up to visit them on the roof and they were all cuddled up together on a pile of grass and hay, apparently they had cost the Marouazi family quite a lot of money so this is a pretty big deal for them. The sheep stared at me quietly with eyes that don’t seem to see anything but are still stupidly cute somehow. Mama Kaltoum came up and told me they were only 7 months old and were very attached to each other. She proceeded to tell me that they had gone to buy one of the sheep and it wouldn’t stop bleating until they brought over the other one too. She said one was for baba Ali and the other was for Mohammad… each guy gets a sheep here I guess. I asked her how they got them home and she said they put them in the back seat of the car so of course I asked her if they put on their seatbelts and she said that they indeed put on the sheep’s seatbelts. How precious… I took a pic of Mama Kaltoum fixing the tie on one of the sheep’s legs because it was too tight. They took pictures of me trying to pet the sheep but the sheep kept hiding their heads in the corner as if to say “I know you act nice now but your going to eat me on Wednesday!!!” The smaller sheep would also put it’s head on the other and the bigger one would look at me in the most menacing look a sheep can possibly give… which in reality was pretty darn cute and resembled a sullen 5 year old guarding his favorite teddy bear from the washing machine. Eventually I figured out they both hated their noses being touched but loved a good rub behind the ears (don’t we all? Hahah..).

        So I bonded with some sheep last night, no big deal. I’m going to pay dearly for it on Wednesday and somehow the lamb may not taste as good knowing I’m eating my darling little ceiling sheep. I love animals but I refuse to be a vegetarian, meat is just too good… I don’t know if I can watch them get killed though. Is it worse to kill it for fun/ unnecessary ritual or not be able to watch it die, but eat it anyway? …sigh… one of those moral struggles I may not have a conclusion to. I will admit I have fantasized about letting the fluffy things free but they would have no chance out there on the streets of Rabat where children get really excited every time they see a lamb or a goat and rush to it… there’s no way to disguise my sheepies, they wouldn’t  make very good cows… maybe poodles? …I’ll keep plotting I guess...


Speaking of plotting, I've been going around to pretty much EVERYONE at school to find someone to travel with me to Agadir this weekend but most people are going on the camel trip or spending it with their host families. I spoke to the Italian girls Valeria and Lavinia (I may have mangled their names but I think I'm close lol) about traveling the next two weekends together but this weekend they are going on the camels so that doesn't solve the problem of THIS weekend :/ ...they also want me and Jackie to meet up with them in Italy and are helping me figure out the best places to go and in what order. That has helped tremendously! It's good to have an idea of what to do there and have more people to see :) WELL, I'm going to figure out more travel plans... wish me luck!

TGIF in Rabat!

On Friday I felt a lot better, I still had that sick feeling every once in a while but my body didn't ache from head to toe and THAT was something to be happy about. I made it through class without any major catastrophes because luckily for me, the day I missed they had gone over family members and some other things that I had already learned. I met with Sarah after class and she helped me with some of my homework that I was behind on. It's really frustrating to me that a lot of the homework has vocabulary that hasn't been taught or even explained in it and I don't have internet at home to look up the words I don't know. I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed by the vocabulary we ARE learning, so I don't want to see things that I haven't even learned yet. It makes me want to explode lol... okay not literally... that would be rather messy :P
        That night I met up with Ciara and Donna in Agdal and we went to meet some fellow classmates at TGI Fridays for dinner. Yes, Rabat has a TGI Fridays! Unlike the Moroccan Dominoes Pizza, they knew what boneless buffalo wings were and made them right, and I got to enjoy a good old grilled chicken ceasar salad... Heaven on earth. Not that I don't love Moroccan food, It's just hard not to crave the things I love at home, my comfort foods. Like most Moroccan hot spots, they played an awesome selection of American 90s music that I forgot even existed. The waiters had to wear the dorky suspenders and visor hats too, it was precious. It was one of the guys' birthdays and we were sad that we forgot to tell the staff that it was his birthday because apparently the waiters come sing for you there too. I almost forgot I was in Morocco for a minute!
        The girls went home to get dressed and then we met at the guys' apartment to try Will's chewy birthday cake and some 40 DH per bottle Moroccan wines (which weren't bad at all!). Mourad and his friend met us there as well as two other guys I didn't know very well. One of them was Moroccan but raised in France and voiced great approval of the Moroccan love for Americans. He also said that he hates the French and didn't know why anyone would want to be French or live in France (this seems to be a common sentiment around here). Good thing we didn't have any of our French friends with us that night... At about midnight, we took taxis downtown to a nightclub called Amnesia that is frequented by my friends. At the door the bouncers weren't going to let us in at first (even though they're in love with Donna and Ciara) because they thought that the Moroccans with us were trying to get in with us and didn't really know us. On the contrary, we INVITED them and were largely unable to convince the bouncers of this. Luckily Mourad pulled out his business card that describes his Free Art association and somehow that convinced the bouncers that they weren't riding on our coat-tails. Each guy had to pay dearly to enter while us girls got in for free. We got our own area and bottle of some terrible alcohol like gin or something that we left for the guys to help themselves to. Mourad and his friend didn't drink since they are Muslim so I felt terrible that they had to pay so much to get into the club. They danced and had fun though so hopefully it wasn't too much of a problem to them. I think we left around 5:00... the club wasn't even closed but it was getting ridiculous and we were tired, those people can dance FOREVER! I would have been good leaving by 3! We bargained with a cab driver who was trying to rip us off, unfortunately we weren't drunk and knew how much a cab costs to get back to where the girls live. On our way home, a police car followed us then stopped to talk to our cab driver at a light then waved us through a red light... weird. Then the cop car showed up again with it's lights on and pulled us over, he tried to talk to us but we didn't understand him. I think that's all he needed to know because he got back in his car and just followed us for a while then left when we got dropped off. Donna said he was probably just making sure we weren't prostitutes and had seen her sitting in the front seat and thought she was Moroccan. Yikes...
        
Saturday, I woke up exhausted on their apartment couch reeking of smoke and nastiness. I put myself together and ran down to KFC to get some food that I could carry out because I wouldn't want to sit anywhere in the condition I was in. They were out of mashed potatoes... quel domage! So I got some panini sandwich that ended up being disgusting. I just didn't want to not have food and get back to the house and find out that I had missed lunch, I didn't want mama Kaltoum to feel like she had to make me anything either since I didn't tell her when I would be back that day. My cab driver who took me back to Yassoufia laughed at me when I hit my head on the roof trying to get in... these cars are made for midgets I think. I was happy to get home and enjoy a shower and sleep for most of the afternoon. I spent some time with the fam and did some studying but my stomach was bothering me again so it was hard to concentrate on schoolwork. I really didn't do much else on Saturday... it was a lame day.


Sunday, I got up early for breakfast since I knew that the family was planning on going somewhere for the day and I didn't want to miss it. While I was back in bed doing homework, mama Kaltoum came bustling into my room with Nadia behind her looking like they were almost ready to leave so I assumed they were coming to say goodbye. Mama Kaltoum asked if I was going somewhere that day and I told her that I was going shopping with a friend later. She then asked if I wanted to go with them to Casablanca for the day and I had no idea what to say because I knew they were leaving soon (and I wasn't ready), I really did have plans to shop in a few hours, and I had no idea what they would be doing there. She informed me that they were visiting her son Mohammad and his wife to eat and would be back around 5 and that I should call my friend and say I was going to Casablanca and would be back at 5 to go shopping later. Hahah... SO I guess my decision was made for me and I was going to Casa. I got dressed and threw some homework in my purse and squeezed into the car with my happy little Moroccan family.
        The ride wasn't bad, and probably less hectic and smelly than the train ride to Casa. Unfortunately the road was kind of bouncy and my homework had to wait since my stomach was threatening to kill me if I didn't watch the road. Then baba Ali lit up his cig and hardly had his window open so I started to get a headache and my stomach wanted to jump ship. Okay, and while I'm complaining, Nadia is adorable, I love her, don't get me wrong! But the back seat is a decent enough size to fit both of our booties but she loves to practically sit on top of me so she can see and talk and hold onto my arm when she's feeling extra cuddly lol... This was also a problem when my head started to hurt because she's one of those people who doesn't have volume control and pretty much yells whatever she has to say... and this yelling was right in my unwelcoming ear :)
        I was relieved when we arrived at Mo's house and I finally got to meet their "artiste" son and his "artiste" wife. They were very loving and welcoming people, I loved watching them interact with their family because they are really affectionate and laugh all the time. I feel so bad that I can NEVER remember the name of Mohammad's wife! She is the cutest little thing and looks just like her goofy little character on the comedy show I saw her on TV. She cannot be over 5 feet tall if that, with rosy cheeks and gigantic eyes. I swear the girl never stops smiling and laughing! I can tell the whole family adores her. She speaks a little english but I think she was timid to try with me and just decided to speak a little french with me instead. 
        I got to speak in English with Mohammad and he told me about his most recent film projects, he is doing a series of short films since he is actually trying to be a director and not just an actor. After these projects in Italy, he will be working more on a movie with another director who worked with some big names in the business. The film is based on a Moroccan slave who discovered New Mexico and apparently Denzel Washington has already agreed to play the part so I'm excited to see how that turns out. It's supposed to be very controversial though so I want to find out more about the basis of the story since it's supposed to be true. Mohammed also told me that he was in the movie Babel and they had filmed right under his old house so he had Leonardo DiCaprio and some other actors come up to rest and have tea with them in his house lol so random... We also got on a political topic somehow and he briefly mentioned that Obama is hurting the relationship of the US with Morocco somehow, I asked him how and he didn't really answer me. He just said that Morocco agrees more with the Republicans and hope that the next president is not like Obama. I have heard a lot of Bush haters here so I am really curious to understand why he said all this. I'm hoping to talk more with him when he and his wife come over for Eid this week.
        Dinner was very good, it was a more modern salad and a traditional lamb tagine. I was so excited to actually have good lamb, and lots of it! yum :) Before we left, Mohammad's wife gave gifts to me, Nadia and mama Kaltoum. Nadia and I got jewelry and mama Kaltoum got a huge jug of this rare honey from central Africa that is good for people who can't have a lot of sugar. Mama Kaltoum hugged the bottle to her like it was a heap of gold lol it was really cute. I can't wait to see them again for Eid.

Today I paid a cab to take me to school since the freaking bus made me mad. I got to the bus stop early and it was about to pull out when I knocked on the doors to let me on and he just pulled away! They never do that unless they're full so I was not in the mood to wait 15+ minutes until the next bus came and be late for class because I knew it would be too full to let me off in the right spot lol... It only cost a little over 50 cents more than if I had taken the bus, this MAY become normal for me :D
        I got a little overwhelmed in class and decided to sign up for extra tutoring other than the time I had with Sarah. That worked out well because they helped me get through most of my homework and the rest I can do at home without dying too much... it think... hahah... This week is weird though because it's a huge holiday for the Moroccans and we get wed-fri off of school for Eid. This means we only have two days of real class and the rest is going to be studying on our own (NOT COOL). But I am kinda excited to celebrate with my family on Wednesday, minus the slaughtering of the sheep which will be crying on my rooftop when I get home tonight. It's comical to see the ways people bring sheep back to their houses because all week I've been seeing sheep on the back of motorcycles and mopeds, in the back seat of cars, being carried or dragged down the street... and on top of that I hear them bleating all through the neighborhood at night in the CITY! Oh my... I wonder if those poor little things have any idea what they will face come Wednesday morning.
        Due to the short week, I don't know how much internet access I will have so I'm trying to figure out a trip for this weekend on very short notice. Since I will have extra time this weekend, I want to go to Agadir since it will be in the 80s and I really need some sun and warmth. I know there are lots of good hotels for reasonable prices so I'm just trying to find people to go with me who aren't going on the Sahara trip this weekend. I obviously don't have the funds to take a second Sahara trip :P


Wish me luck!

"Good For You Baby!"

Tuesday was cold and rainy, It probably seemed colder to me since I didn’t pack any truly substantial enough layers. I’m VERY glad that mom encouraged me to bring my rain coat because I would’ve been a sad freezing and soggy girl without it. So now I’m just a sad freezing girl hahah… okay I’m not really sad either. The bus was packed and foggy from so many bodies, I had quite a hard time getting off at my bus stop since I wasn’t close to a door and had to squeeze between people with my gigantic backpack and nothing to hold onto but the people around me. I also had to pretty much step on an old lady and her folded up wheel chair that had been squeezed onto the little steps by the door. I didn’t really step on her but it was quite an obstacle and I basically had to launch myself off the top step and onto the pavement to avoid her. Sooo much fun lol…

        I was a little late to class and was completely lost when I first sat down, he was speaking in vocab that I had no clue what it even related to. Luckily Matthew showed me his notes and I got in the loop pretty fast. Hassan, my teacher, really doesn’t waste time in introducing new vocab lol… The pace of the class is perfect though and I wouldn’t want it any other way. He kind-of surprises us with vocab that some of us may or may not know and has us attempt to use it and explain it before he confirms or disconfirms what it actually is. I think it’s a really good memory technique as well as a good way to keep people from being scared to try saying things they aren’t sure of. One of my biggest downfalls is that I have very little confidence in my grammar and I hate saying something if I’m not sure it’s right. I’m not a perfectionist or anything, but with all languages I’ve tried, there seems to be this reoccurring fear. I think the people that learn the quickest tend to try everything and just say stuff whether it’s wrong or not, so I need to try to go with my instincts and be less afraid of failure. Hey… that’s a good life lesson as well hahah. I found a quote the other day by some successful person that basically encouraged people to keep trying big things despite failure because it will make you less afraid of failure and more likely to succeed in at least the small things.

        As I waited for the bus it started pouring so I was REALLY glad I had my raincoat. I swear the only have two busses running the route now for how long we have to wait for one and how crowded they always are now. Two busses passed us by because there were too full… finally one stopped (after I had been waiting for 45 minutes), but it was full and everyone was just cramming themselves in like sardines. At this point I just started walking because I was not going to try to get on there. I made the right decision because as the bus drove away I saw someone’s hand caught in the door… that SO would have been me… or my backpack lol The walk wasn’t bad, I don’t mind the rain and there were other people walking, a policeman smiled at me in a friendly-non-creepy way as he passed me so that was nice. I did get a few ride offers from someone on a motor bike but I had to pass on that one. I was about half way home when I saw a cab pulling out of a parking lot in front of me. I waved him down and he took me the rest of the way. We had a broken conversation in which he kept slyly asking if I was married and I would pretend not to understand or change the subject. Finally when he dropped me off he asked again and I told him no as I got OUT of the car and before I closed the door he said “marry me?!” with a goofy grin on his face. I must say I was tempted to say yes just to see what he would do lol but I just smiled and told him no thank you and ran off. I told Mama Katoum and baba Ali about my wet walk home, expecting them to feel sorry for me or be sympathetic but they were proud of me hahah… they pretty much said “good for you baby!” I love these people :) 

Wednesday I actually wasn’t late for class for the first time but I thought I would be since the freaking bus driver literally wouldn’t let me off! It was packed again and I made sure to get near the door before my bus stop but he closed the doors in my face before I could get off, I banged on the door for him to open them but he kept driving. Someone yelled something that I assume had to do with me needing to get off but even at the next stop, he didn’t open the back doors that I was at! Just the front doors! I couldn’t help but laugh but I really needed to get off so luckily at the next stop the guy near me yelled at the driver to open the back doors for me, they opened then closed again so I banged on them and he opened them again hahah… It was really weird.

        Class was only two hours since we were all required to attend a lecture from a guest speaker on the Western Sahara conflict. I was really excited to hear how they would talk about such a touchy issue but unfortunately the whole presentation was in Arabic and less than 50% of the students actually understood what he was saying. However, there was Q&A session after that we all asked to be in English so we could understand some of it. The speaker seemed a little high and mighty about his position on the issue and laughed at the thought of Western Sahara being it’s own self governed state. I don’t know much about the issue but I could tell he wasn’t the most unbiased source to learn from but I appreciated hearing his opinion. He gave a lot of history that was really helpful as well. One American guy who asked a question started off by saying that he was proud to say that this conflict is actually one that the US is NOT involved in… heh… Once again I don’t claim to be a W. Sahara expert but I’m pretty sure that the US has had plenty of involvement in the issue since it doesn’t recognize the W. Sahara Polisario front and gives lots of military and financial aid to Morocco’s war efforts (despite UN security council disapproval). I’m not saying the US is right or wrong in it’s support since I don’t know all the motivation behind all sides, but I had to stifle a chuckle when the guy said that. Maybe he meant that it was one issue that the US hasn’t caused? Meh…

        After class I dropped my stuff at the house and went down to the Medina to buy a warm coat. Mourad met me down there to help me bargain and be my body guard hahah… I proudly used my Arabic to ask how much things were and usually understood the price though Mourad had to translate that sometimes. I wanted a coat in one store that was a mens store I guess and Mourad steered me away since he didn’t think I should buy a guy’s coat. It was really cool looking though :(  …oh well, the next store went to get a coat for me and while we waited Mourad told the girl that I’m learning Arabic and she got all excited and made me practice with her too. The coat they brought for me was perfect! It was long, warm, and had a hood… and Mourad said it was “jamiiiiila” so I got it. Unfortunately I found out later that the zipper didn’t work but I fixed that with a pair of pliers so no harm done. We walked around and got gelato and he asked me about going to Marrakech this weekend but I told him that I couldn’t go with him unless some of my school friends came too. He kept asking me why and I finally got through to him by asking ‘hypothetically if he had a daughter and she was in a far away country would he want her traveling alone with a guy she just met?’ – He replied “NO!” immediately and I smugly said “I win” and he admitted that I had indeed won. He showed me a newspaper from the Western Sahara that he got over the weekend. There was an uprising and a small-scale war in the same area he went to for the break dancing battle. His group was delayed at the airport since their plane was used to bring dead bodies back to Morocco. He told me that his dad called him every two minutes while Mourad was waiting for a flight out, asking where he was and if he was okay. Mourad told his dad that he was in a different city so he wouldn’t worry about him as much :/ We had a minor awkward moment because a cop and a plain clothed guy came up to us as we were talking and started harshly talking to Mourad. After they left, he told me they were asking if we were married and he had told them YES to get them to leave us alone hahah… I had failed to notice that we had chosen to sit in an area of a park with a lot of young teenager couples being all lovey dovey. They were going around breaking them all up and I’m sure they assumed we were doing the same thing. My stomach had been hurting so I decided it was a good time to get a taxi and bid my *wink* “husband” *wink* goodnight. Still not in Kansas Toto…

  

Thursday was miserable because I got home and was freezing as usual but this time I couldn’t get warm no matter how many blankets I piled on my bed. I even wore my new coat in bed to do my homework. I was up all night tossing and turning with my upset stomach and inability to keep my body heat up. I dozed in and out of dreams between 4 and 6am but started to realize every part of my body hurt; my legs ached, my back had this awful pinched feeling, my shoulders and neck were stiff and tense and my head was throbbing. As soon as I heard mama Katoum in the kitchen I shuffled down to ask for some water. She immediately knew I was sick and made me some tea from some weird smelling herbs. The tea was really strong and numbed my mouth, it was really strange but it felt good so I drank it all. Baba Ali came up the stairs and exclaimed at my being up so early. When he learned that I was sick he lit a cigarette and told me that if I wear my big coat and walk all the way to school I’d feel better, he was sure of it. I thanked him but since I had a hard time walking down the stairs I doubted how much walking I was really up for that morning. They offered me breakfast but my stomach was churning and I didn’t think that the fried bread would be good for my stomach. I went upstairs, passed out for a few hours and was woken up by mama Katoum looking worried and asking if I was going to class. I looked at my phone and it was almost time for class to start, I was still aching from head to toe so I told her that I would stay home today, I needed to sleep this off whatever it was. I must admit that I had a minor "I want MY mommy moment" but Mama Katoum did a good job as a substitute.

        I did some homework and slept until mama Katoum brought me cookies and orange juice saying it was good for me and to finish it all lol… At lunch they made me come downstairs and try to eat a little. It was a really yummy Tagine and fresh veggies so I managed to eat a little bit and drink a lot of water and orange juice. Nadia was animatedly telling mama Katoum a story while I was zoned out watching the news covering something on the West Sahara, I snapped back to it when mama Katoum started translating for me. Apparently Nadia ran into a man that morning who had greeted her pleasantly, shook her hand, asked how she was (all the standard stuff); then proceeded to ask her for all her money! Here! In the Morning! They were almost laughing about it but Nadia clearly had a little bit of a scare and was lucky she literally had NO money on her. This made me glad that I try not to acknowledge anyone on the street.

        Every time I coughed or sneezed, Nadia and Mama Katoum would look at each other very decidedly and told me that I had “trappe le froid” which I’m guessing they were diagnosing me with catching cold. I hope that’s all it is, and I really wish I could “trappe le chaud” but I can’t seem to warm up no matter what. Mama Katoum made me wear slippers and told me that it was bad for me to just wear socks on the cold floor. I was also instructed to take a long shower and I would feel much better… long showers ALWAYS make me feel better :) The rest of the day I just went between doing homework and lots of sleeping.

What Class Is This??

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to march down the street to a little cafe for breakfast. On our walk down the hill there was a brightly painted wall covered in modern murals that depicted a wide range of things. It was very vivid and stood out beautifully against the blue and white uniform of the town. Breakfast was the usual breads and spreads with coffee, tea and orange juice. I love that the orange juice is always fresh squeezed here :) We went back to the hotel for a little bit and I ran upstairs to the terrace to snap a quick pic of the view before meeting everyone outside with the guide. Our guide was a short little guy with very few teeth in front but his english was very articulate. He was also very informative on everything from the history of Chaouen to the economics issues and Ganja production. Chaouen supposedly has some of the best hash around and people come from all around to enjoy it even though it isn't legal and the Moroccan prison system is not something a foreigner, or anyone for that matter, would want to add to their list of experiences. He took us on a speedy hike part way up the mountain through their burial grounds and up to a little mosque at the top of a hill. The hike was beautiful but I am embarrassed to admit that it was quite exhausting trying to keep up with our little old guide... hahah yikes... fortunately I wasn't the only one so I guess this guy was a pro ;)
        After the hike we ate lunch and I was sooo excited that they had lamb tagine. Unfortunately I was disappointed to see that there was very little lamb with the bones they mixed in with the veggies. I really need more lamb here people! This IS Morocco isn't it? hahah I think I'll get more than my fill of it when I celebrate Eid next week with the fam. After lunch we were released for two hours to wander and shop where we wanted so Tania and I walked around and tried not to get lost in the maze of blue and white streets. We did pretty well until we had to get back and couldn't remember one of the last turns we made. I made a lucky guess since I knew the hotel was at the top of a hill and we took the street that headed towards upwards and we ended up at the gate where we needed to be! The trip back was long and cold since the driver either had the air conditioning on or the window open. I tried to stay bundled up but I had little to bundle with so it was nice when we stopped and I got to walk around and warm up a little bit. We just happened to stop in front of a cafe that had chicken roasting on spits so our "15 minute break" turned into more of a 50 minute dinner break since it was hard to turn down the eager waiters and good smells. The waiters quickly put 5 or 6 tables together and brought chairs around so we could fit about 27 people at the table and a huge piece of chicken and fries was only 20 dh (about $2.50)! I love Morocco :)
        When we got back I decided I didn't want to brave the bus that late so I paid for the driver to drop me off at my house. My Moroccan family was up and waiting for me so I had tea and cookies with them before bed. So cute lol...

Monday, I started class at 8:30am and I am NOT happy to be waking up that early but it is nice to be done with class by 12:30. When I checked the room list at school, I noticed that I wasn't listed in the same classroom as Tiberiu and Wouter so I wondered why they had changed it. Sarah told us that we would all be in the same class in B2. Tiberiu said it was probably a mistake, but I knew there were a lot of people coming from B1 so I assumed that they had just split us into two different classes. I came in while the teacher was talking and saw only two other students in the class... I didn't recognize either of them. The teacher was telling them to write what they heard in english letters (which had been a no-no in my other classes) and she was having a hard time getting one of the students to say anything at all. After about 15-20 minutes of this, I asked her to write something out in arabic on the board because she hadn't written anything yet and I wanted to know how a word was spelled. She looked confused that I wanted her to do that so I asked her what level this class was. It was B1... Soooo I thanked her for her time, ran down the stairs and asked the front desk why I was in B1. They had no explanation for me, but they said that it was a mistake and I was supposed to be in B2 with the others lol. So I walked into my first day of B2 30 minutes late, how fabulous :) I was relieved to immediately see arabic writing on the board and included in non-forced arabic conversation hahah. The teacher is really nice and he is really good about repeating things over and over so we remember them and are able to pronounce them properly. There are nine of us in the class so it's a little cramped but everyone is really cool and I think class will be almost as fun as the class with Sarah. There are two Italian girls, Simon (the guy from England who I had met on the trip to Chaouen), Wouter & Tiberiu, Agnes (from Germany), Colin and Mathew (two American guys). 
        After class, I met with Sarah for a bit to go over some vocab and work on some things I need help in. I feel really good about how much I've learned in just two weeks! I'm starting to think in the Arabic words I know, read faster, write faster, I can have basic conversations with people and I keep finding myself accidentally mixing Arabic words with French when I'm talking to mama Katoum at home. My only fear is that I will get home and lose a lot of what I learn here since I won't be taking the next level in Arabic until next fall semester. I'm going to have to find a way to practice and build my vocab on my own so that doesn't happen. I hope some of the Arab students at GV speak standard Arabic so I can possibly meet with them to practice or for tutoring... or maybe I'll just have to get Rosetta Stone. Either way, I really hope I can continue to soak up the language even when I get home. 


Otayyyy well that's all I've got for now... peace :D

I met Alladin in Chefchaouen!

Friday - On the bus to school I was reviewing my homework on the bus when I heard a cheerful voice from right behind me say "salam alaykum!" and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the girl who I had briefly spoken to on the bus the other day, she came and plopped herself down next to me and proceeded to correct little things in my homework. I found out her name is Samia and she lives and works in Rabat; we got off at the same bus stop and walked for a little while together. She's a very nice woman :)

        I was late for class again but it hadn't even started since we were waiting for a room or something. But who needs a room?! It was beautiful and sunny out in the courtyard so we set up class at a big table outside in the garden. It was much warmer than our freezing little basement room! Samia brought a really yummy chocolate cake for everyone to snack on since it was our last class together. I was still full from practically being force-fed too much breakfast that morning but I HAD to try a little :) Sarah passed out our tests and to my delight (and slight surprise) I had received a 96 on it! Yayy! Hahah then she gave us our oral exams which went pretty well, I'm still a little slow to speak but hopefully with practice I'll get faster and more normal sounding hahah... We learned a little more vocab until class time was up (Sarah NEVER wastes a minute of our class time) Then we took lots of pictures of the class together and said goodbye to Samia and Stephanie. Wouter, Tiberiu and I will be in class together still, but Stephanie is going back to Switzerland and Samia is going to travel for a few weeks :(

        When I left school I was totally brain-dead and extremely hungry so therefore I was in NO mood to wait for a million years at the bus stop. So, of course, the bus pulled away before I could cross the street and the next one took it's sweet time coming. It probably seemed longer than it really was because of the strange thing that happened to me while I was waiting. As I was standing there, a boy (about 13 or 14 years old) walked by me and said something I didn’t understand but I thought nothing of it since he kept on walking. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn stand for a while by the side of the street then slowly turn around and walk back in my direction. I willed the bus to come faster but it didn’t and the boy appeared in front of me speaking words that I couldn’t even guess at. He kept trying over and over to tell me or ask me something, the whole time he kept a blank face so I couldn’t even tell if he was scared, angry, sad or whatever… It was so weird. I tried my best to look apologetic and say in every way possible that I didn’t understand. He eventually just sat down on the bench near where I stood and every 30 seconds or so, he would tap me shoulder and try again to say something and I would shrug and shake my head. I didn’t know what he expected of me. The bus was taking FOREVER! Why did it pick today to be so slow… this was so awkward. All of a sudden I felt something move in my backpack so I quickly turned around ready to grab whatever he took back but he leaned away opened my water bottle and took a sip out of it! I looked at his blank face in disbelief and slight anger that he had the nerve to just take it out of my bag and sit there looking at me with that ever present blank expression! He took another drink, put the cap back on and reached over to put it back in my back pack! I moved away from him and almost laughed while shaking my head… I didn’t want it back now that he had drank out of it. He finally showed a glimmer of emotion in his face which seemed to be slight CONFUSION! Hahah… I knew he didn’t speak English but I told him “You think YOU are confused?” He tried a few more times to put it back but I wanted him nowhere near my bag and if he wanted water that bad he should just keep it since I wouldn’t drink out of it anyway.

        The bus finally came and I made it home without anymore strange occurrences or people trying to take my other water bottle (I always have a spare!). At home, I watched cheesy Moroccan soap operas with Ali & Katoum. Mama Katoum showed me a new magazine that had her son Mohammad’s wife on the front cover. Inside there was a beautiful 10 page spread her and two other Moroccan celebs dressed in all kinds of elaborate Kaftans… I think they were wedding ones. In the pics she had henna all over her hands and feet from her recent marriage to Mohammad in Essouira (Brides get covered in henna designs as a wedding tradition). I want to see a Moroccan wedding soooo bad! I heard they are a party that nobody would want to miss. For dinner, Mama Katoum made me some chicken and green beans that had this amazing flavor. I keep asking her what the seasonings are but she is very secretive. She said she will take me spice shopping but I still have to work on her more to get the recipes… it’s only a matter of hugs ;D

Saturday I woke up wayyyy too early and mama Katoum was up making breakfast for me! I am so spoiled here. I left the house around 6:30 and met everyone at the school for tea and another breakfast spread before we left on our trip. I felt bad for not eating since they had a huge amount of food laid out for us, but I was stuffed from breakfast at the house. We all sat in the van waiting for a while wondering what was taking so long and getting antsy to leave when the cook came out with baskets of homemade chips that he had gotten to school early to make for us as a snack on our trip. We were so full so we put them in big baskets and saved them for later in the trip. We waited longer and wondered what it was this time when Yocine (our guide who is one of the professors at the school) emerged from the school carrying MORE baskets of chips! Hahah… we were WELL supplied for this trip!

        I sat behind Donna and Ciara and they informed me that I would LOVE Mohammad’s (the driver) music mix. He played a little dance music, some Celine Dion (of course), Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Bryan Adams, and a few cultural songs here and there as well. It was great lol… Conversation was lively in the car and kept me distracted from my vocab flash cards that I had brought to study in the car. Simon (a guy from England), Tiberiu, and Will (a guy from the US) talked about a range of political and economic issues in a wide range of countries. They are all very smart and know a lot about politics so it was cool listening to them. I joined the conversation a few times, mainly when they were talking about Detroit and Kwame got brought up hahah… So sad that a Romanian and a Brit know about Kwame. God save Detroit lol… I also talked a little bit with Tania (a girl from Germany) and Barbara who is from Toronto and has traveled to some pretty crazy places to teach and learn.

        Tangier was an impressive and beautiful city (from what I saw of it). Our tour guide didn’t show up, so Yocine showed us around his “second favorite city.” I can’t remember what his first favorite is. Tangier is undergoing a lot of growth and some people think that it will become as commercial and modern as Casablanca in the next decade or so. We walked down on the beach after lunch and even though it was kind of hazy outside, I could see the coastline of Spain across the ocean. They took us in the van to another part of Tangier where there was a café on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was really cool because it was terraced down the cliff with about 3 or 4 different levels of places for people to eat so wherever they sit, they will have the best view. We just stood there for a while talking and taking pictures until it got too cold to bear because despite the sun being warm, the wind was brutal and I had left my coat in the van :( We also walked through the souk for a little bit but didn’t have much time because we left around 4 or 5 to get to Chefchaouen in time for dinner.

        The drive to Chaouen was kind of crazy because it was through the mountains, it was dark and Mohammad drives FAST! People pass a lot on the mountain roads so it was very exciting to say the least. We got there around 8 or 9 I think but we were all exhausted and thought it felt much later than it really was. We had 30 minutes to settle into our rooms and explore the terrace on top of the hotel before we had to meet for dinner. They almost made one of the girls sleep by themselves because there were 5 of us and only 2 beds per room, but luckily one room had a queen and a twin so three people shared that one and Me and Tania took the other room. They were small rooms and the whole bathroom (like most Moroccan bathrooms) WAS the shower. You could sit on the toilet and get a shower at the same time hahah… I wonder if anyone does that? We had a little sitting area, for what? I have no idea… And a teeny room that barely fit our two twin beds in it. I took the bed with the asian themed comforter and let Tania have the one with the cool skate-boarding themed comforter, aren’t I nice?! The view from the top of the hotel was gorgeous, the whole city almost glowed even though there were no big street lights, all the buildings are white and blue so it was picturesque even at night.

        We walked down into the souk and more touristy area of Chaouen and found it to be still bustling and lit up. Our restaurant was called Aladdin’s Palace and was painted completely blue and themed to look just like Aladdin’s Palace would look hahah… I was hoping to see the Genie somewhere but he didn’t make an appearance. It was beautifully decorated with dark red curtains and colorful pillows and candles everywhere. Our waiter was dressed in poofy silky pants and shirt and we decided that he himself was Aladdin. Us girls sat at one table and the guys sat at the other, we talked about everything from Kosher rules and prohibited foods to midgets coming out of the fireplace and grabbing Ciara and thinking up all the cheesy pick-up lines we could use on Aladdin… I think we covered all the bases. We didn't actually try our lines on Aladdin though, maybe I'll get up the courage next time ;-)

Gotta go study now :) Later dudes!