Back to School

It has only been four days since my last post and already I feel that I've seen and done too much to be able to properly relay all of it here. But I will try.

On classes:

I left off writing that once classes began I would no longer be a tourist, and I was partially correct. Four hours of intensive Arabic (Darija) class a day is more than enough to make me feel like I am not on vacation. I am in beginner's Arabic because I have not once studied any form of Arabic ever. Ever. I could never have anticipated this type of crash course. It is so fast paced I start to feel dizzy if I don't maintain focus every second and cling to my Professor's every word, which I suppose is how it should be. I am certainly working much harder in class here than I usually do at home with the exception, perhaps, of my language courses at University of Hartford (pour vous Professeur Ealy:).

Our teacher speaks a fair amount of English and French. To explain our lessons she uses a combination of the two to translate. So there are consistently three languages whizzing around my brain and by the end of class I am physically and mentally exhausted. Physically exhausted because I am hunched over my note book gripping my pen in anxiety at the possibility of missing something and mentally exhausted from trying to not let my thoughts stray for a second, which is difficult to do when I look out the window and see the bright Moroccan sun beating down on the top of a solitary palm tree.

On life in the Kasbah:

I continue to be astounded by the beauty of this country. Every morning I wake up from a combination of the heat and the cool ocean breeze coming in through the window and am reminded again of how lucky I am to be living in the Kasbah. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I must say it truly is magical here in the Kasbah. I feel much more attuned to the people and the culture here than I expect I would living somewhere else. My host mother fondly says that we are “ vraie Marocains”, true, real Moroccans. She and the rest of our family has made us feel so incredibly welcome and comfortable. Already the Kasbah truly is a home away from home.