Salam oualaykum

Among the most complicated days in my life were the past two days.  Monday provided a bit of rest for those of us who did not have Arabic placement testing, but we received the whiplash of intensive Arabic survival skills across the past two days.  While the day is coming to an end in Rabat, with a bit of relaxation, there is a lot to reflect on from this week.

While walking on Monday we found these pillars around a
major road with arabic writing on all sides.  This is sideways,
but the person's height adds perspective.

Monday, again, was a free day for students with only French background.  We started the day slowly at the hotel and did a bit of exploring, which led to our getting lost twice on the way to our one class.  Computer skills were the run down for the day and after an hour we knew how to access the internet in the computer lab and use our laptops on AmidEast's wifi.  The exchange students are also provided with a room with Skype, for those who will not receive internet at their host families.  Much to my surprise one of the computer technicians studied at a Portuguese university and brought me some entertainment with a short Portuguese chat.

Up close

Avocado smoothie dinner

Most of us were wiped out by our excursions by the end of the day, but we attempted to go to the Medina anyway for our dinner.  After a long conversation with the door man and repeated disagreement with taxi drivers, we split off and some girls went to the Medina while the rest of us grabbed smoothies and sandwiches closer to the hotel.  Again, to my surprise there was another hint of my Brazilian adventure when we were able to buy avocat smoothies, AVOCADO!  The only time I have had one before was in Brazil and it probably was the cause of my serious weight gain.  This year I will share each occasional smoothie instead of wolfing them down every day.

Tuesday was an intense day of Arabic survival skills for all of us weary travelers.  Class started with everyone following Doha's instructions on non-verbal communication.  The next post will go into further detail with that information.  We then engaged in skits about home-stay situations and how to avoid offending our hosts during our stay.  The skits included not stretching in front of males and being careful to avoid showing the bottom of your feet to people along with taking off shoes while entering someone's home.  It is also true that you are to eat with your right hand in Morocco, as the left is seen as dirty.  The lack of toilet paper in many bathrooms supports this notion.

After a very short lunch of moroccan pizza, we began survival Arabic.  We learned over 100 terms and phrases in the first day, and the only thing which absorbed all of this information was my notebook.  My head cannot seem to distinguish between so many consonants and gutteral sounds.  I have been told I will improve, but I can still only remember a few words at a time.  Within 2 hours we were sent to a cafe next door to order coffee (kahwa, not to be confused with kawa, which my mom would not like me to define on this blog) or tea (atay- mint tea is atay b naynay).  The students with arabic background were rather successful.  The rest of us were very good when our notes were in front of us.  My first arabic word spoken in public- "Kif-kif", which means "the same" and is accompanied by a hand gesture of rubbing the index fingers together.  

The coffee recharged all of us and we set out on a march to the Medina.  We reached the inner city just after dark and were surprised by the hustle and bustle of the markets into the night time.  Even on their national holiday of independence the streets were packed and overwhelming.  We many times had to stop just to be sure no one had gotten lost into the maze of shoppers.  When we made it to the restaurant we were shocked by the abundance of mosaics and traditional stools and low sofas around the dining tables.  Dinner consisted of Moroccan salad, tajine, and finally flan or yogurt with mint tea.  The waiter poured the tea down to his shins from high above his head- a skill we all yearn to acquire.  It was a delight just to experience such a traditional meal and it only cost about $10 per head!  This was considered expensive by Moroccan standards.  Wow.

A night time photo of the Medina

Another view of the Medina at night.  Not much to go on yet, but better pictures will come.

After dinner we split into groups to be led back through the Medina.  We were overwhelmed by the amount of items for sale- none of which cost over $20- and the sheer variety.  The last street we walked down displayed rows and rows of shops selling caftans- the most beautiful and expensive robes money can buy in all shades and colors.  Not to be outdone, Hassan led us away from the Moroccan leather section and into the wealthy part of Rabat.  We passed the Parliament and the new train station where the streets widened to four times their normal size to accommodate the sprawling government palaces and foreign embassies.  It was all too much to take in for me, so I stuck close to a new friend and fell deep into a linguistic debate about sociolinguistic attitudes.  The evening came to a close when we tested our new arabic on the sweet shopkeeper next to the hotel who has been keeping a close eye on us since we arrived.  It was a beautiful day  in Rabat.  Lilya sa'aida.  Good night