Today was my first full day in Rabat. It consisted of getting some breakfast, spending all day at the CCCL doing orientation stuff, and hanging around town. We get hotel breakfast while we are still staying in the hotel, and it's not your typical continental breakfast. We got a coffee/espresso thing (which was awesome), fresh-squeezed orange juice (which was awesomer and so much better than Tropicana), and a croissant-type thing.
Jet lag hit me really hard today. It was hard to stay awake, so I am going to bed at a decent hour tonight.
In orientation, I took a placement exam, met some of the CCCL staff, learned a little bit about Moroccan history, and sat through a health lecture and a harassment lecture. The harassment lecture was interesting. Basically, if you are out in public, it is normal to get bumped...it's public space! Also, Moroccans are not as strict about personal space as Americans. Your body is your own, but any other space, even if it's a centimeter away, is fair game. And in Moroccan culture, being whistled at or having people say things to you is just "attention", and sometimes even liked. Of course we were told what to do if things get out of hand or if we get really uncomfortable, but just to be aware of the "culture" of harassment/attention. This evening while walking through the souk with some friends, a guy apparently did a double-take on me and checked me out hard-core. I didn't notice, but one of my friends couldn't stop laughing. I guess it's nice to know that someone thinks I have a hot bod ;-)
As a group, we really stick out. Everyone knows we aren't Moroccan, however, a lot of people assume we can speak French. Regardless, everyone is super nice to us.
Tomorrow we are learning how to bargain! I remember a bit from Moroccan Arabic class, but it'll be a good review. We will also be learning some Moroccan Arabic to help us in day-to-day situations.
I'm still absolutely loving it here and I really enjoy all the people in my program!
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