SO FAR!

I'M HERE!!

Our flight coming in was a bit late so we landed an hour behind schedule. Then, our driver was not there to pick us up at the airport (it was 1am). 

Foreshadow: Here in Morocco it is the norm to tell people what they want to hear even if it is not the truth. 

We called the driver and he said he was very close. Okay. 30 minutes pass and we call again. He is almost here. Okay. 30 minutes pass, he is five minutes away. Okay. An hour passes and we call him. "I'm here but don't come outside". Oh yea, like we are supposed to believe that. Anyway, we are all sitting at a cafe in the airport, talking, waiting for him to show. When he finally does, it's four in the morning. 

We go outside, and I have so much luggage that I end up tripping over my own carry-on and falling in the middle of the street. Ooops. The Americans have arrived. 

We get to the hotel at around 6am and have to be up at 10. Yay. 

We get up, eat, and go meet our host families. 

*fast forward a couple hours, days... I don't know, I lost count*

It's super fun here. I love my host family and my roomie, I love taking taxis, talking to them in arabic (the little arabic I know) and just putting my "Resting Bitch Face" on when random people in the street want to talk. So much fun :). 

I have been in class for a week now. Standard Arabic from 9-11:45, and then an hour of Darija which is "Moroccan Arabic". It's great. The people here expect me to be European, so when I start speaking Darija (which only Moroccan's speak) they are super surprised. GOTCHA MF'S! 

I still have so much to see of Rabat. I also have to make friends outside of NSLIY. I hung out with a Moroccan girl I met the other day, and I played tennis with a guy from America yesterday. Tomorrow I am going to the American School in Rabat with my friends to see who we meet and also.... make friends.

This Wednesday I am going to a horse stable in Rabat with a Moroccan guy friend of mine (who rides everyday and has been riding since he was four) to look at the stables and decide whether I want to ride there. 

OH! I almost forgot! Thursday is Eid Kabir which is the sacrificing of a goat/cow for Allah and those who can't afford the meat. Our family is getting three sheep!!!!!! Tomorrow our host dad is getting one, and the in-laws will be getting there's relatively soon. I think we are keeping it downstairs (outside) but I'm not so sure. I also think that my host mom said her mother-in-law walks her sheep around the area when she gets hers... but that may have been a language misunderstanding because that doesn't seem right. But if it is, I love her for it. 

We will go to a slaughter house ( I think ) and watch a butcher kill all our sheep, then we will cook them! Again, some details may not be accurate as their Arabic is not as concrete as mine... hehe

(P.S. My host father's mother is sooo amazing! She is older so I really have to bang on the door and say hi. She invited my roomie and I over the other day for cous cous, and it was delish. She thought it could be better, but that's because she has obvi had some amazing food. Also, there was a cow hoof in our cous cous.... just saying.)