An Overdue Update

Hey again! Please forgive me for not having posted in so long, but I'll give an update of what's been going on in the last couple of weeks.

A couple of weekends ago I was invited to another Moroccan wedding, but this time as a performer. It's great to have friends in fun places. A couple of friends of mine who live in Temara are musicians who play in weddings each weekend. They invited me to attend one with them, so I met them at their house a couple of hours before the wedding. They dressed me up in a typical outfit for Moroccan wedding musicians, and we crammed into the back of a van and headed across town, drumming with our hands on our thighs, singing and dancing the whole way. Fortunately we weren't the main musicians for the wedding, so we were only required to make two entrances, play for about 10 minutes each time, and exit. So instead of performing until 7am like the main musical group, we got to experience the wedding, play music, sing, dance, and go home, all in about 2 hours. I didn't know the words to the songs nor how to play an instrument, so I was responsible for carrying a flag and dancing, which I had no qualms about. I love the Moroccan music rhythm, and I fulfilled my duties to the utmost of my ability, moving and grooving in place while my partners sang and played their instruments. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the actual performance, but I did get one of one of the other members and me before entering the wedding ceremony.

Holding a flag is something I can do! The uniform was very comfortable! It included some Aladdin-like pants that only reached slightly past the knees but were baggy enough to hide an elephant in. I think I'm gonna get some to wear even outside of weddings. I would just have to be careful not to get blown aware by strong gusts of wind...

This man was truly a unique character. he played a Moroccan flute in my friends' group, and he spoke absolutely no French, or any other language I speak. But this didn't stop him from talking my ear off the entire night I was with the group. When I didn't understand his Arabic (which was about 98.5% of the time) he would get closer and talk louder. He did this to the point of being within two inches of my face and kindly showering me with saliva as he tried to make me understand what he was telling me. Oh the things I do to learn Arabic...

I'm still not officially enrolled in the University here, but I'm in a Portuguese and Arabic class at the University. The teachers are very kind and have welcomed me whether I ever get enrolled or not. I am immensely enjoying the classes and I am meeting all kinds of awesome students in my classes. The University atmosphere is definitely where I will best be able to meet new people and find "my crowd." Once I get officially enrolled I'm hoping to move into a residence hall on campus. I think that would be the best way to get integrated into Moroccan University student life and learn the language.

I have, however, finally moved out of the hotel where I stayed for over a month waiting on University housing. Through Annemarie, a fellow Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Rabat who is from Chicago, I met a German girl and Romanian guy, Jette and Iulian, who are living in an apartment in the oldest neighborhood in Rabat, called L'oudaya, which is located right on the coast. They invited me to stay with them for as long as I needed to before getting University housing, and I gladly accepted. I've now been with them for about 10 days and I'm loving every minute of it. Jette and Iulian are great people, and the apartment is terrifically simple, old, and with an awesome rooftop terrace that overlooks the city and ocean. I will send pics soon, but I am currently without batteries that work for my camera. I haven't yet been able to find batteries here that work with my camera = (

From Right: Dina (Russia), Annemarie (Chicago), Iulian (Romania)

The girl next to me is Jette (Germany).

A Moroccan toad (for you animals freaks like me!) It was so much more colorful in person. It even ribboted differently...had an Arabic accent.