Oudaya and Beach, Trying to fast

I miss Chipotle. Also milkshakes.

I say this because I am trying fasting today. I can already tell that I am too weak to do this more than once. I just feel really tired. I don't even really feel hungry, I just have no energy. That might also be because these Arabic classes are draining me like crazy. 

Being in Morocco during Ramadan means that nobody really eats or sleeps at normal times. You break the fast around 8pm, then you stay up and eat around 2 or 3, then you take small naps throughout the day. It works for most Moroccans because shops are closed and school is on vacation, but not so much for foreign students in class from 8:30-5. Also, the hour before Iftar, nobody is in the streets, so you have to be home by 7 or you won't be able to find a cab. My host sister likes to stay up and play cards and chat with me, so we stay up till about 12 or 1. That's normal for me during the school year, but being here takes so much more energy than being back home. I have to think about every single thing that I do, things that I took for granted back home. For example, I walked every day to BCC by myself on the same route for no money and I knew exactly how long it would take and it was super easy. Here, I have to spend money every day, wait for an empty taxi, hail a taxi, talk to taxi drivers which stresses me out, and I never know how long it will be, so I leave extra early. 

My commute to school used to be my most relaxing part of my day back home, but here it's the most stressful. 

Also, being an only child, I'm used to coming home and being by myself and going on Twitter or doing my homework. Here, I come home and I have to socialize and speak Arabic and there is no wifi for Twitter and it's difficult to do homework because I want to spend time with my host sister. Last night, she actually helped me a lot with my homework so maybe we can spend time together and do homework at the same time! 

It's just very very different. I still haven't settled into a routine that works but it's only the first week. I think I need to sleep more and give myself a lot more breaks from Arabic throughout the day, and maybe every week I can try more and more to speak more Arabic but right now I need breaks.

Yesterday we went to the Oudaya (an enclosed neighborhood that is very pretty and old and has beautiful gardens) and the beach and here are some pictures:

(Yes there is a graveyard right by the beach. I promise it isn't that sketchy)

Guess who I met up with?!?!? Noa!!!

Pray for me on my test tomorrow everyone!!! 

Progress!!

Good news, I have successfully taken 2 taxis to and from home and school without overpaying or getting lost! Yay!

Also, class was a lot better today. We played Arabic Taboo with our vocabulary words, and went over very simple noun-adjective agreement stuff. I kept up pretty well, and my reading is already getting a little better.

We also did calligraphy:

It says: I like to eat. I have a mother. I live in a house.

What I didn't know- apparently I have a test on Friday that covers the two units that I wasn't here for, so I have to learn that in the next two days. Wish 

me luck! 

Today we are going over to the Oudaya and the beach. 

The best way I can describe driving in Morocco, especially the busses we take around town, is the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. You are zooming down streets and squeezing in between cars with almost no room and only stopping for pedestrians at the last second. It's like a rollercoaster! I actually feel surprisingly safe though. The drivers all know what they're doing. There's probably an equal chance of getting hit in Bethesda, honestly. 

I'm having fun and feeling a lot better than yesterday. My host sister and I have been playing a lot of card games and she helps me with my Arabic and my homework. As 2jrains would say, #blessed. 

Rose bud and thorn

There's a get to know you game called rose bud and thorn. Everyone shares something good that happened (rose), something challenging that happened (thorn), and an opportunity for growth (bud).

Arabic is really really really difficult, guys.

(My thorn)

I got placed into a class that's probably equivalent to level 3 Arabic at BCC, and I only took level 1. So I don't really know what's going on. Everyone else in my class knows how to conjugate all the verbs and can recognize written words and read pretty well. I'm good at speaking and decent at listening but I am literally a kindergartener when it comes to reading and writing. I don't want to slow the class down. I will wait a couple of days and see how it goes but it might be too hard for me. I didn't know what half of the words in my homework meant at first, but I looked them up and I will make flash cards tonight and try to learn as many as I can. 

I am extremely overwhelmed and exhausted at the moment, but it's good to challenge myself. (My bud) This will definitely prepare me for the high difficulty of Arabic at UMD in the fall. If I stay at the level I am in right now, I will probably just retake the equivalent class at UMD so I can really understand the material.

I'm planning on signing up for one on one tutoring tomorrow so that I can catch up  on the grammar lessons I missed and have them help me do my homework. I think I will try to stay late at school and do my homework there, because it's hard to concentrate at my host family with everything going on. 

I'm about to go try and take a taxi back home, let's hope that goes well! 

Today, we went to an art museum and a pottery workshop. The trips definitely made my difficult day a lot better. (My rose) Here are some pictures: 

Medina trip

This is the Medina, the old walked city in the north of Rabat. The lighting is terrible so I apologize.

La'ilatee! (My family)

I met my family last night, the Alaoui family! They are so so so kind and generous and wonderful. There is Idriss, the dad, Salima, the mom, Ghita, my sister who is 12, and Khalid, my brother who is 15. I haven't met Khalid yet because he was out last night. I can already tell Ghita and I will be BFFs. Here's a selfie we took: 

She made this sign for my room also

It says "Olivia I love you! <3 your sister!"

Ghita goes to a school that teaches in Fusha and French, and she has been learning English since she was young and speaks it extremely well, lhamdoullah. Salima is learning English also and would chime in with an English word occasionally. Idriss knows the important English words, like work, drive, taxi, morning, thank you, and the numbers. So it wasn't that difficult to communicate. They would speak to me in Darija, Ghita would translate if I needed  (which I did), and I would ask her how to respond to my parents in Darija. We came home to their house which was so clean and pretty. Then Ghita and I hung out for the rest of the day. We listened to Maroon 5, put my clothes away, I showed her my old Arabic notes, we showed each other dance moves, she taught me how to do tricks with a basketball, and we played cards for a while. She spoke mostly in English and I would ask her how to say everything we said in Darija. I learned a lot of words! Take a look:

Ghita also told me about Islam when we were watching TV. She was very mature; she said I don't want to make you believe anything you don't want to, I am just giving you information. I loved that. And she told me about what Islam is and how it's practiced, and she loves it, which makes me really happy that she's so passionate and can speak about it so intelligently. The family seems pretty religious (both parents left after Iftar to go pray) but at the same time pretty Western  and relaxed. They had a pretty big TV and Idriss and Ghita wore Western clothes. They were very chill and welcoming with me. And so excited to use their English, and loved when I spoke Darija :)

We had an amazing Iftar, I used some Darija to say thank you and everything was delicious, and then I felt really tired and went to bed. Ghita came in and we learned more Darija. Then I actually fell asleep around midnight.

I overslept a bit this morning, but I made it down in time to take the taxi to Qalam. I am on my way to knowing what I'm doing! Idriss talked to the driver and the driver was very kind. It's about 19 dirhams to get to Qalam, which is kind of expensive so I might try to find a cheaper way.

We just took a language placement test. I could only complete about 1/5 of it, and some of the other kids could do more. 

We will probably be placed in an advanced beginner/intermediate class. The classes here are all Arabic immersion, which will be an adventure! 

The staff here are wonderful. I am very very excited for the rest of the summer! 

More pictures

Olivia and Kiley happy to finally be in Morocco

The inside of our hotel

Entrance to the Medina

The ceiling at our hotel

Twinning

Our beautiful school

Selfie with the camel hair tent

Nap time in the tent

Moroccan Jam Band

Tagine dial djaj, khubz, and batikh! 

(Chicken tagine, bread, and water melon)

First Two Days in Morocco!

We made it to Rabat around 12:30 yesterday, lhamdoullah! Lhamdoullah means "praise be to God" and people here say it after anything good. For example, after eating meals. We had our first Iftar, the meal you eat after sundown to break the fast during Ramadan, and it was very delicious, "bneen bzaff" in Darija (Darija is the name for the Moroccan dialect.) We went to a very big fancy restaurant in downtown Rabat where a lot of other tourists were. Seven of us sat at a table and we each had our own plate filled with delicious food. Here is a picture:

We stayed overnight in an extremely nice fancy hotel, and the beds felt like heaven compared to sleeping overnight on the airplane. 

Side note- Iberia Airlines is actually an amazing airline, they were extremely kind and accommodating. So next time you go to Spain or Morocco, fly with them 😎

The staff in the hotel spoke Arabic, French, and a few words in English and they were amazingly kind to us. The hotel owner called us all "his children" and treated us fantastically.

Today, we headed to Qalam, our language center, and got a crash course in Moroccan culture and common Darija phrases. Darija is basically Fusha (modern standard Arabic, what I learned at BCC and what we are studying in school this summer) but with no vowels. 

My favorite phrases so far are:

Meshee mushkeel: No problem

Bneen Bzaf: Very delicious! 

 I can see already that people in other countries are much better at languages. The airport staff spoke Spanish, English, and even French. The people in Morocco speak Darija, Fusha, French, and some speak a little Amazigh (Berber), English, and Spanish. 

Sentences here may contain words from 2 or 3 different languages at a time. It definitely inspires me to become as fluent as I can get in Spanish and Arabic! 

Here are more pictures: 

Crossing into Spain

Arriving in the Airport with Nabeela