FYI, these are the Moroccan Arabic numbers, 1-10:
wahead (1)
juuj (2)
tleta (3)
rrba (4)
hkumsaa (5)
stah (6)
sahba (7)
toomineeah (8)
tsud (9)
asherah (10)
Where was I? The mosque in Casa, I think...
One thing I get really frustrated about in Morocco is the fact that I don't speak much Arabic, and I obviously look Western. Therefore, taxi drivers always try to rip you off! On our ride from the hotel to the mosque in a petit-taxi, the guy told us we owed him 40 dirhams. I only paid him 20. On the way back from the mosque, I didn't tell the driver we were going to a hotel, but instead told him to take us to the train station across the street from our hotel. He metered it (which is what they're SUPPOSED to do), and it was a 7 dirham ride. Now, OK, the difference between 20 dirhams and 7 dirhams isn't THAT much - not even 2 US dollars - but it's the IDEA behind it that ticks me off!
Anyhow, I practice saying, "Non! Tre cheri!" or "Pissah? La. Bzeff. Heshooma!" which basically means, "you're over charging me, you should fear not getting booted out of paradise if Allah takes note of this!" There is Moroccan sign language to go with several of those words, so if incorporate that into my rant, they're a little more likely to be charmed by my ability with Arabic and they'll lower the rate by a couple dirhams.
Alas, I fear I digress! (Actually, I just really like saying that phrase, so sometimes I let myself go on rabbit trails just so I can pull myself back to the subject at hand with that phrase!)
We took our train to Fes (HOT ride!), during which time we played things like "get to know you" questions and compared travel details with each other.
Once in Fes, we had a pretty laid back evening, only getting lost on the way to our hotel and then being dropped off at the wrong spot and walking back. We had a nice dinner, and then I joined a couple other young people - Lindsey, Hillary, Anthony, and Hunter - for a midnight walkabout. Monday morning saw us off to our little language school where we started the routine of language class and culture class. We also got introduced to the AMAZING French cafe called "So Sweet" which pretty much became our favorite place. The peach juice there was buonissimo! The crepes and chef salads weren't bad either!
We also met our host families Monday night. I was placed in a small, fairly poor family with a gal named Joanna. The Lord really knew what he was doing putting the two of us together! Joanna was a BLAST to be with, a great balance for my personality, and she didn't really seem to get phased by anything, not even the fact that we had no shower, no private sink, and only a glorified hole in the ground to take care of business in. Not to worry, Joanna had lived in Indonesia for 3 years and is well prepared to take on using a little scooper and a bucket to wash oneself... and let me tell you, it is AMAZING how good you feel after such a rustic "shower" when it's either that or nothing! And because it was so HOT (both in Fes and especially in the house we were staying in on the top floor with no windows... and no, we never really planned what we would do if there was a fire!), the cold water from the faucet in the squatty-potty room was just cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to not put your body into shock.
Our living accomodations were something else. We were put on "froshes," which are kind of like these couches that line the walls in a Moroccan room made for socializing, in a room off the main salon. In the main salon was the table for eating, the TV for watching, and the center for the bedroom, other salon, and kitchen. Our salon was the less private, it had windows that had no coverings into the main salon, and french doors that didn't shut. Literally, we were practically sleeping in the public family room! Our family included a Mom and a teenage son and daughter. They all slept on the froshes in the main salon, so to be modest (with a teenage son in the house!) Joanna and I slept in t-shirts and long pants. I cannot begin to describe how many nights I woke up SOAKED in sweat because our room was so hot and had no airflow! And then a misquito or two would hang out right around my ears all night... I had to take a couple DEEP breaths a couple times!
The huge blessing of the two weeks, though, was getting to hang out with the team of learners (21 total) either at the school, at the cafe's for lunch, or at our team leader's house, which was basically a riad in the middle of the medina. It was a NICE house, bought by an American intending to use it as a guest house, but for some reason that fell through. Nobody lives there full time now, but it's all restored and set up for people to come through and stay if they need to. It is HUGE, with 3 stories, various roofs, SIX bathrooms (with Western toilets!), and three showers. Several bedrooms, a nice kitchen, and a really cool open courtyard with a large skylight and windows opening in to the courtyard. It was always nice an cool in the house, so sometimes in the afternoons during the heat of the day we'd escape to that house.
Language school and culture class were facinating! Arabic language is a little difficult, of course, but it was such a fun challenge. It's the first time I've "studied" a language without having a school grade rest on it, which makes it a delightful process. And writing in Arabic script was just so thrilling! Culture class was really interesting too, especially because I've already spent time in Morocco. Learning about anthropological theories about how cultures work, and then being able to apply them to a series of memories and experiences I've had in Morocco - or Italy for that matter - made the learning part seem a lot more like a game.
The week passed quickly, and we made plans to get away during the weekend. Although it involved more HOT train rides, escaping our host families and being able to really spend quality and large quantities of time hanging out wiih the group resulted in a pleasurable experience. I'll have to fill you in on that a little later, though, as I'm having to backspace practically more than I write due to the fact that my brain keeps misfiring!
Stay tuned!
