Sick in (but not sick OF) Morocco!
The last three days I've had a bit of a cold/cough. Each day, something gets better (i.e. my migraine goes away) but something else makes it worse (I get a runny nose). I haven't been going to work, but it sounds like I'm not missing out on much. Liz taught a class on Monday, but didn't really know what she was doing, so our boss, Aziz, took over eventually at the end. Peter told me that yesterday when she went in and was expecting her students to come for her class, they didn't come - and Aziz basically told her it's because she did a shitty teaching job. Hearing this story and from conversations I've had with him about politics and life make me not very fond of him.
Yesterday we said goodbye to Romain. I'm really going to miss him playing guitar and singing around the house, his drunken antics, and his overall French-ness. I recently decided that I'm traveling with him and Rachid through Europe in late July/early August, so it definitely wasn't goodbye for me. Now that we have an extra space in the house, Rafael might move in, which would be amazing!
In a couple weekends there is a huge Gnawa festival in Essouira that everyone is going to. Karim facebook messaged me today to tell me that AIESEC will be planning a trip for 500dh (about $70). Even though that doesn't sound like much for a weekend trip, I've managed to get by most weekends on about 350-400dh. I still haven't decided if I want to go with this organized group. I know he's trying to do something "cheap" for us, but 500dh is actually a lot. It's frustrating that a lot of Moroccans think that just bceause we're American, we have thousands of dirhams to just throw around. For example, last week in Meknes, we agreed to pay 350dh to a taxi to drive us to and from Volubilis. When we arrived back in Meknes, they asked for another 100dh, when we were actually half a dirham short for train tickets back to Rabat!
Aunt Donna asked if I had noticed the colors of the cities, so I guess now is a good time to talk about it. Rabat has been my favorite so far - it's all white! In the Kasbah-Oudaya, where we live, the walls and floors are whitewashed, except for from the floor to about 5 feet up is light blue. Meknes is green. Marrakech is the red city. I haven't been to the other cities, but I guess each one has a color. It's really interesting to see as you travel.
Yesterday we said goodbye to Romain. I'm really going to miss him playing guitar and singing around the house, his drunken antics, and his overall French-ness. I recently decided that I'm traveling with him and Rachid through Europe in late July/early August, so it definitely wasn't goodbye for me. Now that we have an extra space in the house, Rafael might move in, which would be amazing!
In a couple weekends there is a huge Gnawa festival in Essouira that everyone is going to. Karim facebook messaged me today to tell me that AIESEC will be planning a trip for 500dh (about $70). Even though that doesn't sound like much for a weekend trip, I've managed to get by most weekends on about 350-400dh. I still haven't decided if I want to go with this organized group. I know he's trying to do something "cheap" for us, but 500dh is actually a lot. It's frustrating that a lot of Moroccans think that just bceause we're American, we have thousands of dirhams to just throw around. For example, last week in Meknes, we agreed to pay 350dh to a taxi to drive us to and from Volubilis. When we arrived back in Meknes, they asked for another 100dh, when we were actually half a dirham short for train tickets back to Rabat!
Aunt Donna asked if I had noticed the colors of the cities, so I guess now is a good time to talk about it. Rabat has been my favorite so far - it's all white! In the Kasbah-Oudaya, where we live, the walls and floors are whitewashed, except for from the floor to about 5 feet up is light blue. Meknes is green. Marrakech is the red city. I haven't been to the other cities, but I guess each one has a color. It's really interesting to see as you travel.
posted by caitie at
7:05 AM
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