The weekend is here

It's 11:45 and my first week of work is over. It's been an amazing experience so far. Morocco is a beautiful country. The people here are extremely friendly, eager to help you and show you around. I hope i have made as good an impression on them as they have on me.

The house we live in in an area called Hay Riad - which just signifies a neighborhood like West Seattle, Ballard, etc. Hay Riad is VERY upscale, however. This is the area of Rabat where most foreign diplomats live. The houses are very large, surrounded by walls and typically very ornate gates. There's a fairly new "shopping mall" about 1/2 block away so it's pretty easy for us to buy essentials and they have ATM's there as well. There's also a very trendy area about a mile away with upscale shops, restaurants, etc.

I'll give you an idea of what a typical day for me is:

Breakfast is at 7:00. usually we have coffee (very good), Juice (apple or orange) hard boiled eggs, yogurt and fresh french bread with butter & jam or cheese (outstanding!)

after breakfast we have about an hour to get ready to go to our respective work places. At 8:40 a bell is rung, which tells us it's time to head for the van to leave for work. The East/West Foundation is about 3 miles from the house.

Classes start at 9:00. but it's usual for students to get there late because most of them live a considerable distance from the foundation, and traffic in the area is atrocious. Usually we take a break about 9:45 and go sit outside for 10 minutes or so. At 10:30 my class is technically over. The van picks us up at 10:45 so I usually sit with any students that can stay a while and we talk. Or, if some have the time we will go across the street to the cafe and spend as long as they want. This where the discussions get really interesting! Sitting in the cafe and discussing issues is part of Moroccan culture, and it's not usual for folks to sit for 2-3 hours discussing a wide range of issues.

When I go to the cafe I usually take a taxi back to the home base. It cost about 80 cents for a 3 mile taxi ride and it's forbidden to tip (although the driver will take one if offered!).

1:00 is lunch. Usually it's a combination of what was leftover for the previous nights dinner, always fresh veggies (usually green beans w/red & yellow peppers or cauliflower or both), rice or potatoes or both, french bread, and orange slices. The oranges here are fantastic.

After lunch we have some kind of cultural exchange/class. This week they were about the country & history, and Moroccan Arabic lessons. Moroccan Arabic is very different from the Arabic spoken is the Middle East. In fact most Moroccans would not be able to talk with someone from say Saudi Arabia unless they spoke French or English. However, All Moroccans write only in Classical Arabic, which is the same everywhere.

4:00 is tea time. Tea is Moroccan mint tea. It's very good but very sweet. It's served in a glass, never a cup. With the tea we have some kind of pastry. God it's tough around here.

After tea you're on your own time until 7:00, when the dinner bell is rung. Breakfast, lunch and Tea can be eaten in the common area or out on the patio, but dinner is always eaten in the common area. No exceptions. We can go out for dinner if we want, but usually no one does. The food here is much better than any restaurant.

Dinner is usually veggies, potatoes, rice, chicken, lamb (or sheep), bread and some kind of fruit dessert.

After dinner (which usually ends about 8:00) is a good time to make skype calls back home. And there are always discussions or games (banana-gram is the most popular) going on in the common area.

Most folks head off to bed about 11:00 although some of the young ones will venture out to a wine bar or cafe. Curfew is 12:00 am.

That's a typical day for me. By the time i hit the rack (around 10:30 -11) i'm beat!

Almost time for lunch, then it's off to ride a camel in the desert!

Inchalla