Solde in Sale

Yesterday was full of amazing adventures.  In the morning my roommate and I went down to meet the other girls and grabbed some bread for breakfast before walking to AmidEast.  Our school is its own building off of a very busy and entertaining street- much like France to those of us who have been there because of the amount of sidewalk cafes- and the school caters to all of our needs.  There we met Joe and Doha, the program leaders, and Muhammed- one of our many teachers named Muhammed.  Last names will have to be learned.  The three led us into many conversations on culture and our goals here.  Many of the 13 girls in orientation have background in Arabic, but only a few semesters.  More of us have working knowledge of French and it seems to be a huge help in restaurants and stores.

After tea time- yes tea time with hot sweet mint tea and little cakes- we returned for more training until lunch.  8 of us stopped at a sidewalk cafe to eat sandwiches and pizza.  Most meals cost under $5 for a main dish, drink, and sides.  After our very entertaining lunch,, including many traffic mishaps and a group of young boys tossing a backpack on top of a street sign and one lonely cat, we headed back for more culture talk and a three hour tour of the city by bus.

lunch.  Olives are in everything. Yuck.

The outside gate of Challa.  Sideways, but here.

Although the market we stopped at was interesting and the Medina will definitely become an area much wandered for me, the Challa was the highlight of the trip.  Challa is an ancient Roman ruin in Rabat which was settled in the 12th century and then conquered by Muslims and finally by a Spanish group.  It is a beautiful area which smells like lilacs and feels like a rainforest.  Storks live there and there are sunken bath houses that still remain.  There is endless beauty in this spot and apparently it has been considered one of the most romantic and mysterious places in the world.

After the tour we grabbed dinner at a Moroccan restaurant because all of us wanted to try tangines.  Mine came with french fries on top.  But at least it was very good.  This is all I have time to post this morning, but more will come soon.