Pause

Our first break!  After a week of intense girl time, we are finally allowed a little R&R with our host families.  For Leah and me this means sleeping in and trying to figure out how to communicate our weekend plans in foreign languages.  Eventually we decided to spend Saturday playing catchup with our workout schedules and doing some local exploring.

A few of us have decided to join a local gym, and from the look of the pictures people are now posting of me on the internet I am in sore need of the exercise.  We have memberships which allow us access during womens' hours to the machines and also to bellydancing and aerobics courses.  In the morning I finally did some yoga and then we took a taxi back to the gym, which is conveniently located near our school.  We used ellipticals and stationary bikes while our friend, Brie, partook in the bellydancing course.  Next weekend we plan on joining her.  There is nothing quite as interesting as listening to bellydancing tunes while exercising.

Afterward our host mom served us a very interesting and delicious lunch.  She carried out into the dining area a very large plate with chicken around the sides and eight cooked eggs in the center.  It was covered in cumin- very very tasty and filling after our work out.

With Lilia, my host sister. Bad hair day for both of us.

Lilia took us for a walk around the neighborhood after an hour of rest.  We walked east to the Medina and found our bus stop for school and afterward we approached the medina.  This time we allowed ourselves the pace we desired to look at items and to enjoy the fresh air.  The day was cool, around 60-70 degrees, but everyone thought it was freezing.  For the first time Leah and I saw the covered portion of the market which has a curved glass ceiling.  There are sections where the market surrounds side doors to the mosque and it is easy to be swept away in the afternoon prayer crowds.  I bought my first moroccan scarf, but otherwise we are waiting until we know the prices better to make many purchases.  It is easy to be ripped off as Americans, because even their elevated tourist prices seem very cheap to us.

We ended our walk down along the ocean and then winding our way back through the neighborhood.  It seems that we live in a very nice neighborhood, and all of the buildings seem like residential complexes.

Our host family is giving us a lot of alone time, which is good and bad.  I know I need some space, but I also crave more experience and exposure.  Sunday morning has been very restful for us, but this afternoon we plan on going to see a movie in Arabic with some of our friends from Amideast.  I am sure there will be much to report on the format of the Moroccan movie theatre.  B'slama.