This past weekend =)

Friday
I got pretty homesick today. I was working on my presentation and I showed Chayma the video "Can I get your number?" which she thought was hilarious, and I got to talk to Trish for a little bit. Lunch and breakfast were so good! I read outside until I thought I was going to melt worse than the wicked witch of the west but when all was said and done I started reading and listening to music in my room and I just got really sad that I can't see Trish or anyone for a while. It seems like every song I play reminds me of someone and I just got kinda sad. Don't get me wrong, the people here are amazing, it's beautiful every day, I get to eat with my hands (they use bread as silverware which is awesome) and my host family is sooo nice, but I miss my family and friends at home. It's only week 2 and I know this is the stupid study abroad emotional rollercoaster graph but it sucks. I know part of it is just that I don't have very much to do, but I'm not really interested in doing very much today. I think tomorrow my host mom is going to the hammam (public bath) and Ahmed was saying that tomorrow we're going to go on a rowboat. Sunday I think I'm going to the beach with Chayma and her friends so I'll be busy and once I'm busy I don't think about it as much.
I went out with Chayma and 2 of her cousins. Leila is engaged so I met her fiance. I have so many questions for Chayma because I have no idea how exactly it works. She said that they met on the bus and that he lives a few towns over but is looking for a house in Rabat for them. We actually went to McDonald's.. I've been there more in Morocco than I have in the past 5 years in the US! After, we came back and had these amazing pastries! Luckily I just bought a cookbook for moroccan pastries so I should be able to make them although they probably won't be as good. And one of her aunts just kept pouring tea for me while saying "cooli cooli" which means "eat eat!" We watched TV for a while, including their favorite drama, Diablo. By we I mean 2 of Chayma's aunts, 3 cousins, Ahmed, Chayma, her mom and dad and I. It was packed! Afterwards they left and we watched more TV. I think my host mom thinks she's doing me a favor by putting on MTV. It's really sweet, but the music makes me a little homesick. I don't have the heart to tell her though.

Saturday
So today I woke up pretty late, and we had this awesome breakfast of bread with cheese or jam and pastries. Then I read for a while... I really need to do more of that. After lunch (during which my host mom asked me if I was on a diet! I tried to explain that I eat really slowly, but when I said I was full even Chayma was surprised) Chayma showed me videos of moroccan weddings and oh man they are soooo awesome! I couldn't believe how long they are! there was a song that went on for 10 minutes... 10 minutes of dancing and the bride was on a little platform that 6 guys carried her on their shoulders and danced to the music! Oh my gosh it was incredible. Afterwards I went to work on my presentation with my friends at Jena's house and Chayma came with me. It was hilarious! We are in the midst of recreating "Can I have your number?" in darija. While we were there we had tea and this awesome flatbread. It really doesn't get much better. lol. There are only a few words that are tricky, but mostly it's vocab we've already had. We had a ton of fun doing ridiculous things. Chayma just can't get over how silly the phrase "the back of your head is ridiculous" sounds. I guess some things just don't translate! But honestly, is it that far off? I mean I was asked if I was frickin Chinese!
Anyway, when we got back there was more tea and more pastries! I really am convinced I'm going to develop diebetes and this is only speeding up the process. While we ate I realized... they were watching Legally Blonde 2! I was so excited!! Which reminds me, my friend Lauren and I have decided that we are movie and TV soulmates. We have every intention of staying up to date on our Grey's Anatomy fix (which btw starts Sept 23 in case anyone was wondering) and we're going to have random movie nights. After the movie, I came downstairs because I was actually cold! I changed and came out to find my sister dancing in the living room and oh man the women here are awesome dancers! My friends have said it too, it seems like women here are just incredible. But it's just at home.
This is why we should not go out anymore. We caused another scene tonight when we went down by the river near the carnival. It started with a guy stepping on Chayma's neighbor's shoe, then 3 of them appeared and started talking to us. They asked where I was from, whether I was french or german or american (i like how that's always their last guess). Bushara, Chayma's cousin, once again tells the guys that I'm from Argentina. It was hilarious! After a while we walked away, until we saw that there was a wedding party walking by. Bushara dragged me to the end and their next door neighbor starts yelling "SLAAA SLEEEEEM" which I guess is part of a wedding song that they sing while they walk. Idk. So I tried to get a picture, discreetly, while they were walking by, but our neighbor takes my arm saying in arabic "no we should get closer so you can take a good picture!" At least I think that's what she said. All I could say was "LA LA LA LA LA!" which is "no no no no no." So she's pulling me but I really didn't want to make a scene. So all I could say was no no no! I couldn't stop laughing! I think it may have been a you had to be there moment.
On our way back Amina, one of their neighbors, was asking me about going to the beach. A bunch of my friends and Chayma and her friends all made plans to go tomorrow, but Chayma had told me earlier that she really didn't want Amina to come with us because one of her friends really doesn't like her and she didn't want drama. So I told her that we'd have to go another time together. I felt bad but I really don't want drama.
We didn't have dinner until we got back which was like 10. It was this HUGE plate of pasta. I really think that my family thinks I have an eating disorder or something because they're always so surprised when I say I'm full. Meanwhile I'm convinced that I'm eating way more than I did at home!

Sunday
BEEEAAAACHHHH Beach beach beach. beach beach beach. beach beach beach!!!
Ok first we went to church which was really interesting. The mass was a little different and they definitely said tha apostle's creed ( in French) which I was completely unprepared for! Most people there weren't Catholic, which I figured out when no one was going up for communion. It was really cool! one song was in darija, while the rest were French. After church we went and took the bus to the beach! It was amazing! the sand felt so nice under our feet and we climbed on the rocks and jumped off! there were tons of seashells and the water was perfect. It got so deep after like 10 steps! We hung out in the water and on the beach just chatting and having a great time. One guy came up to us and asked if we were american and my friend Chandra started talking to him in Croatian! Oh man it was hilarious. He looked so confused! But otherwise, the beach was a lot like beaches in the US. No real harassment or anything. It was really nice! On the way back my friend Lauren, who we decided is my movie and TV soulmate, and I were listening to music and dancing. All the way to the bus. and on the bus. We sat next to these little girls who thought it was hilarious that we were dancing and the mom even said good bye when they left! Of course we were only listening to the classiest music like Justin Bieber, Glee and Katy Perry. It was awesome.
After we got back we ate a little, then we went to the river to see the jet ski race. We went on a rowboat and I was sooo mad that I forgot my camera!! It was absolutely beautiful out. There was a crescent moon and the lights on the kasbah were just breath taking. We each tried to steer the row boat but we were ridiculously bad at it. One of our neighbors, a little girl named Zahaira, kept standing up and dancing or trying to put her hands in the water. I was convinced that she was going to fall off! Everyone on the boat kept telling her to sit, but she just kept standing back up! When we got back to shore (luckily with no casualties) we walked down to see the end of the race. I found out that one of the guys from the other SIT group lives in the house across the street from me! We've been living across the street for over a week and didn't even know. Meanwhile, I felt so bad because Chayma wasn't feeling well. We're both soooo tired from swimming so much! I didn't realize how long a day it was until I almost fell asleep walking back. It's only 10pm and I'm already in my pjs ready for bed! Bushara is leaving early tomorrow morning. She's been here for 2 months! I can't imagine living with my cousins for 2 months, but I guess it's pretty normal for them. So she returns to Agadir tomorrow.