Category: School

School and Home Life

Can’t really write a lot here because I’m working on my last paper of the summer (Yay! For it being the last one, that is. Not for having to work on it) about drought and agriculture in Morocco. Riveting. But I do get to talk about climate change which is rad.

Anyway, my dad requested pictures of my everyday life, like where I sleep and go to school and such… this is reasonable and I am happy to oblige.

This is where I sleep. Pretty comfy.
This is where I sleep. Pretty comfy.
This is my school, deceptively small from the outside, it has six classrooms, offices and a computer lab.
This is my school; deceptively small from the outside, it has six classrooms, several professor offices and a computer lab.
This is the classroom where I take Arabic. A lot of desks for just one student...
This is the classroom where I take Arabic. A lot of desks for just one student...

Sorry about the picture posts with little substance; but I figure people like pictures, right? Well, this weekend I’m going on another adventure, out to the Sahara desert to get my camel-and-sand fix. I mean hopefully. I refuse to leave Morocco without riding a camel! Expect an exciting chronicle of my trip on Sunday night or Monday (depending on how tired I am).

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Viande Hachee and Calligraphy

So today I evaded an Arabic quiz, had a panini at one of our usual cafes called “Midnight Express” (great name, right?) and was pleased to discover that “viande hachee” (literally translated as, like, ground/minced beef) is delicious and the closest thing to carne asada that I’ve come into contact so far in Morocco. So far I had been playing the “chicken is a relatively safe choice” game but my risk-taking was rewarded today with a delicious taste sensation.

Speaking of food, someone told Brynn that camel meat is delicious. I’m not sure I want to find out.

Later, we returned to school because we were supposed to have calligraphy class. I call it my “weekly dose of positive affirmation” because, well, I am good at it. Our instructor is heavy on the praise and it does wonders to restore my morale which has been systematically chipped away at by my Arabic teacher throughout the week. But, sadly, our instructor (who Pete and Brynn insist is a clone of Rasputin, and I admit I see some resemblance) stood us up! Therefore I missed my weekly dose of positive affirmation but I did get to come home and take a nap… very delightful… and finish Vonnegut’s Bluebeard. Highly reccomended.

See? Everyday life in Rabat is just like like life in the USA. Boring. Only without the wide variety of food choices!

Also, I forgot to mention! Last night, right before I was about to go to bed, I heard some big-band music coming from the TV in the living room and then muffled talking that sounded like it could be English. I am getting kind of good at identifying what language the TV in there is speaking in. Anyway, I wandered out and was extremely pleased to see my ole pal David Letterman on TV (ENGLISH!) interviewing my other ole pal Michael J Fox! Needless to say it was a GREAT moment for me to see something on TV in a language I could understand–the bonus being MJF who I looooove. Haha. He was talking about his trip to Bhutan and the fact that the Bhutanese measure their country’s prosperity not only in GDP but in GNH… that’s right, Gross National Happiness. True facts.

Midterms, boo! Festival, yay!!

So, this whole STUDY abroad thing has finally caught up to me. So far the trip has felt like an extended vacation with a few weekly seminars thrown in here and there, but tomorrow I have an Arabic midterm AND I have to give a presentation in my CORE class. Both on the same day–I know right?

The reason they’re both on the same day like that is because we’re skipping class on Thursday to head to Essaouira for a famous musical festival (www.festival-gnaoua.net) that will take place all weekend. Until I started googling it I wasn’t too psyched about going… sometimes I get in these moods where I’m more of a homebody and just lounge in bed all weekend which is kind of what I wanted to do…  but after yesterday’s lecture on Gnawa music and a little bit of Youtubing… I am SO TOTALLY PSYCHED to go to this festival! Not to mention we’re staying in a hotel and I love staying in hotels :)

Awwww man they sure get down around the 3 minute mark!! Anyway that’s enough procrastinating I think, feel free to watch the awesome video and be jealous of me. Back to paper writing.

Also, I’m coming home one month from tomorrow. Pretty depressing but kind of a relief :)