degeneration

Its been two weeks. We've broken. Pizza hut is on tonights agenda.

I look forward to a tide of greasy cheese flowing into my stomach, just as waves enter and fill a voided bay ...

So? I dont get poetic or sentimental about much... especially since im a junky poet. But yeah, pizza hut, you're worth it. I almost feel shame knowing i've regressed to this point.

But, our level of degeneration goes far beyond a meal. Next to the pizza hut, one can also find Marjane- the moroccan equivalent of walmart.........how she tempts us with her low prices on notebooks and useless plastic containers

I can hardly believe admitting to this. After all, at home, the last place you might find me is walmart or pizza hut. And if you DO find me there, its undoubtedly with a sneer on my face.

But, here, yes. I can strut in Marjane and feel like I own the place. Souqs, medinas, kasbahs- there are places unknown to me- the whole culture and etiquette surrounding them is... foreign.

Ahh, but Marjane?? Heck. I know my way around a freaking supermarket. Just show me the peanut butter aisle. Then I can spend 2 or 3 hours blissfully filling a shopping cart under the radiance of fluorescent bulbs. I think thats about how long it will take my grease to digest.

Upon arrival, I had really high expectations for myself. I thought, yeah, im gonna go 6, maybe 7 weeks without eating American food. Ahh, im really in culture overload, though. I've been living with a Moroccan family in the medina for over a week now. That means: Lebanese music blaring, always- children kicking soccer balls on my door at one in the morning, because they NEVER SLEEP- and, a super hard bed because apparently they don't think softness is nice. notice how all these things incidentally conspire to affect my quality of sleep.

Oh im not complaining. Im just adjusting. Really, i'm not unhappy. I can handle all these things, with patience, time. Just like when you have a headache, it's manageable, take an advil. In this case, noise/crazy family=cultural headache, and advil=pizza hut. Thus, we maintain our composure, because I think lapses in sanity can certainly result from too many over-salted olives and sugar-coated fried cookies.

And really, its a mystery that this whole country is not on diabetic pumps. They eat more sugar than they drink water. seriously. The people are camels. they never drink. thats why fasting (which includes no water during the day) is not even hard for them. They barely drink, and instead of water, i think they consume sugar. Like the mint tea... it's equal parts mint, sugar, and water. Whatever, its good.

Like I said. this is not complaining. heres why. Im only pointing out the differences. maybe in a slightly agitated tone of voice, but thats because i want a flipping latte right now but the cafes are not open during Ramadan (no water/coffee/tea etc during the day). Its not like i want to run home, or im sick of it here, or im not enjoying myself. Quite the opposite. However painful some cultural adjustment may be, i still find myself wanting to roam the streets, learn new darijian (moroccan arabic) words, listen to the absurdly loud music, and occasionally join the soccer game with the kids- if it occurs at a reasonable hour. But, we all have our necessary sanctuaries. And yes, tonight, we make the pilgrimage to our own, dear pizza hut, so that we can stuff ourselves with deep dish crusts and American pride.....


Pictures (of everything, not just cheesy pizza) coming soon :) !

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