Day 3

Today was a fun and exciting day! We spent a lot of time outside on the streets! First thing in the morning, we had a Moroccan Arabic class for an hour and a half, then went to see the other CCCL annexes.

The library

The annex where our Arabic classes will be held.

I am also surprised at the amount of stray cats all over the medina.

This kitty was really cute. It was the smallest cat I've ever seen in my life. Most of them aren't very cute, but this one definitely was :-)

After lunch, we had a lecture on bargaining, then had a field exercise in the souk (market). We were each given 10 dirhams, which is about $1.30 to work with. I first tried to bargain with a guy to get some sparkly slides that were originally 15 dirham. He wouldn't lower the price, even though I told him that was all I had, so I left. I ended up getting a scarf that was originally either 15 or 20 dirhams. I bought it with the 10 dirhams I had :-)

After we did our bargaining "field exercise", we got a little bit lost on our way back to the CCCL. Some kids started heckling us playfully. It was really funny.

Tomorrow, we are taking a bus tour of Rabat, taking another Moroccan Arabic class, and meeting our homestay families! I am so excited to meet my family! I am a little bit nervous, but I bet we will get along really well. I am mainly nervous about there not being a western-style toilet, since that is what I am used to and have always used. I am glad to be getting away from the shower in our hotel room, not because it is small or that I have to keep pushing the button to keep the water running, but because the curtain doesn't go all the way to the ground and water gets EVERYWHERE! Not that it won't happen in my family's home, but one can always wonder. In terms of the homestay, my biggest stress is the toilet, whereas for some others it is the shower. Not all of the homes have a shower. I would be okay with using buckets and dumping water on my body, but for some other people, it's a huge stress. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Unfortunately, I probably will not be able to post daily blog entries since there will be no internet access in my home, but I DO have internet access at all of the CCCL buildings and internet cafés. 

In terms of food, everything I've eaten has been great! Even stuff I wouldn't normally eat in the United States tastes good here! Before I left the US, I recently discovered that I like many cooked vegetables, which was a huge epiphany for me. Here, they are even better!!! (I do not like very many raw vegetables, but all the vegetables that have been served to me have been cooked and mixed with spices.) Everything also feels really healthy when I eat it. I don't think I've put one "fake" thing in my stomach since being here. One thing I have noticed about Moroccan cuisine is that bread and rice are separate food groups ;-)

Everyone in the program is getting along great! It's only been a few days, but we are all so comfortable with each other and so close that it's like we've been friends for a lot longer! 

I am now adjusted to Moroccan time and doing quite well! The first full day was really hard, but today was a lot better.