Nearly a month later...

It still feel like I just arrived here in Marrakech! The smells, sights, and sounds are still foreign to me. There are mostly differences however. Now I can speak, read, and write rudimentary Moroccan arabic, I sleep through the night without waking up during call to prayer, and I'm getting used to eating bread and olive oil for breakfast and taking showers with a pail of water. 

Life has been pretty scheduled here, not much time to relax. Each day we have 4 hours of Moroccan arabic (Dareeja) and some days we have lectures on Moroccan Modernity in english. On the weekends we go on excursions or stay in Marrakech to explore the labyrinth that is the souk (market) and the jma al fna (the large square in the old town where people gather). At night, the jma al fna comes alive with dancing, music, and the smell of delicious street food. I cannot compare it to any place I have been before. 

I have been living with quite an interesting host family. I've been eating delicious food each day. I have even ridden a camel! What a life! However a busy schedule takes its toll and I have been sick a couple of times. Sleeping and eating well usually solves that. 

Last weekend, we went to the Sahara desert where we rode camels for 2 hours into the dunes to find a lovely blanket tent to camp in. We ate a delicious meal of cous cous and laid in the dunes looking at more stars than I've ever seen before! In the morning we watched the sunrise come up in the desert and we went back on our camels to continue our journey. That was an experience I will never forget!

This weekend I am traveling to Essouaira, a coastal town, with some friends. I can't wait to see the ocean after all of this desert and mountains business! 

We have one more week in Marrakech, and then we are traveling to Senegal for 5 days before we go to Fes. Kevin is visiting me the first weekend we are in Fes. I can't wait! I have so much to look forward to. 

Morocco is a beautiful country and each city offers something new. I'm excited to move on from Marrakech and get to know Fes. 

I will try to update this blog more, perhaps in Fes I will have more steady internet than I do here. 

Until next time,

-Michelle

 (thats my name in arabic!) ميسيل تينان