Home, Sweet, Home

As of right now I do not have internet with my host family- I will try to write something about each day and then post them when I have internet at the Qalam center (my school). 

Friday June 21st

We have finally arrived in Rabat itself!  We visited a different school where we met about 30 other NSLI-Y scholars who were in Moorroco with Legacy International (we are here through I-EARN).  There we received a briefing from one of the US embassy security officers- moral of the story was don't buy drugs and don't follow strangers into dark alleys and you'll be fine.  After some tea we headed over to our school, the Qal center where we had a lovely couscous for lunch followed by a tour of the city by bus.  We visited the Old Medina and the Oudayas.  We then went back to Qalam where we met out host families!  I am currently staying with a young married couple outside of the old medina.  We are spending the weekend with our host families and then start classes on monday.  

Saturday/ Sunday June 22-23

I took the train to tangiers with my host mom and met up with one of her friends and he friend's daughter, Radia. We got henna and enjoyed the beach view.  Sunday night I met up with a couple friends and we explored the old medina- the medina is essentially a walled in maze with vendors covering every inch of space. It is one of the oldest parts of the city.  I live about a 15 minute walk from the medina.  

Monday June 24th

I had to wake up early (7) to get to class on time.  I met up with two other students and together we took a petit taxi to school. There are two kinds of taxis in Morocco- petit taxis which take 3 passengers and will go to a specific address and grand taxis which hold 6 passengers and follow a specific route.  

We had our first class- learning Arabic is a bit like learning to read all over again- the alphabet and sounds are completely different- picture a kindergarten level phonics class at an accelerated pace.

After class we hung out at Qalam center and then took the tram home- the tram is very clean an definitely the most comfortable way to get around.

Tuesday, June 25th

Today we had our first class in darija.  The majority of Arabic I am learning is modern standard Arabic (MSA). MSA is used in news, government, and other more official things.  Darija is the Moroccan dialect of Arabic- every Arab country has its own version of Arabic - many are as different from each other as French and Spanish.  

Currently the computers at Qalam aren't working so I can't post any pictures yet (I'm writing from my iPod) but I will upload them as soon as I can! 

Cheers,

Laurel