Last week

Thursday 10/21
So this week hasn't been all that exciting. I was a little down yesterday, but otherwise, nothing big. It's mainly just frustration with not being able to communicate and with the internet being as sketchy as it is. Ok, so I'm still in frickin Africa which is a pretty big deal. and my host family is adorable. Not only did I get an awesome gift and ecard from my real mom (which btw made me cry when I opened it at 8am) but when I went upstairs for dinner my host brother whipped out a bag as Chaimaa said "I TOLD him that you're birthday is tomorrow!" They got me this really cute silver bracelet and a traditional sleeveless dress that is white with big pink and red flowers on it. It was so sweet!
Oh and this week I decided I'm going to live with my friends Megan and Chandra in Rabat during my independent study. I've gotten really close with them and I think they'll be fun to live with so we're giving it a test run next week when we're going to stay in the hotels together during our week long trip. I went for a run with Chandra today (btw I'm going to be sooo sore tomorrow) and we talked about our independent study projects and living together (which I changed my mind about mainly because I can't imagine not seeing Chandra and Megan every day. they're pretty awesome) and next week's trip which starts Saturday... I'M SO EXCITED!!! Tomorrow is my birthday and let me tell you, I'm pretty pumped. I'm not having the traditional go and drink night that most 21 year olds have (actually I could probably have gone out tonight but I have an Arabic presentation tomorrow morning and I really want to get up early so I can use the internet before class) but tomorrow I think I'm going to have a movie night with my friends which should be fun. After class I'm going to Kenitra again to get a tour of the facilities where I'm going to be volunteering then movie time! If I have enough time I'm going to try to catch up on Grey's Anatomy (my guilty pleasure), so I can watch the new episode but we'll see. I've got 2 to see before I'm caught up and I don't think I have that kind of time. As for next week, Sunday is the only day that I'll really be MIA. by MIA i mean completely unreachable because I'll be on a freakin camel in the middle of the freakin desert. no joke. But otherwise, I have my phone on me in case Trish or Jason or Mom need to reach me (and if you need my number just ask them for it). otherwise i'm spending a lot of quality bus time and visiting some pretty awesome places. I don't think I can tell you how excited I am for this. Tuesday's trip to Marrakech is going to be epic. We have the whole day and all of Wednesday free to do whatever. It's seriously like a week-long celebration of my birthday that ends with a bang on Halloween when my friends and I are renting that apartment.

10/22
Happy Birthday to me! So my day started really well when jason called me at midnight =) I woke up early this morning, saw a few of my friends and went to class. My teacher, Fatiha, is so cute. When she found out that it's my birthday she decided that we would have class discussion in a cafe around the corner. It was so much fun! Then we had our presentations in arabic and went home for lunch. Chandra came over for lunch and we had awesome couscous with squash, chick peas, onions, chicken and carrots. It was awesome. Once again I left and got my train ticket just in time to make it on my train. I didn't get a seat this time, but it's only a half hour train ride, so meshimushkil. I got a tour of Chaml from this really nice young woman whose name means "smile" (Btissa). She was so cute! She gave me like 5 books (in French) for my independent study project. She doesn't speak very much English, but her French is very good. It's awesome for my French too! Then she left me for like an hour to translate their brochure from French to English. It was pretty easy but i'm going to double check a few words then email it to her. she seemed really excited that I'll be coming back regularly. As soon as she found out it was my birthday she ran downstairs to the kitchen and brought up several cookies as she sang to me. I can't tell you how adorable it was. haha. So now i think a bunch of my friends are going to get Indian food for dinner and maybe see a movie. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do. But before I forget, there were a few things that have been said the past few days that were hilarious. Like for example yesterday, when I went for a run with Chandra I was telling her about the harassment here and how it's only ok for men to harass non Moroccans. I was like
So wish me luck! I probably won't post again for a few days, but I'll try to post at least once while I'm gone. =)