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
So glad you got to go on the weekend trip with classmates.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you can already speak in phrases, since I've heard Arabic is so difficult.
Maybe you can start an Arabic conversation club at the cafe when you return to GVSU!
Reading Sunday's account (and some of your earlier ones) reminds me of getting turned around and lost in VARIOUS foreign cities over the years! (Hong Kong was the worst ... though the hutongs in Beijing came close, come to think of it.)
ReplyDeleteLuckily for me it's never been anything but short-lived confusion and uncertainty. Tip: ALWAYS keeping a couple of cards on you with your hotel's or house's address on it, to hand to a taxi driver, is a BIG help toward always getting home, even when you can't speak the language.