The first week of June

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The week has been pretty routine so far so I thought I would catch people up on what that means over hear.

I am having a blast. It is constantly learning experience to be living in an Islamic country and getting used to the mix of semi-religious overtones, culture gaps, and language barriers. We are living with families and I was very lucky to get paired with Roger Connaroe. He is my year at UVa, Phi Delt, and his outlook on life makes him a great roommate. He's constantly exploring in our trips around Rabat. All in all there are like 25 of us in the group, most from UVa with like 6 people from different schools. I have been spending a lot of time with Roger, Christie Hercik, Michelle Lamont, Rachel Leeds, Dylan Chapman, and Jane Latham Hodges and a number of other friends and classmates. Although I went on Brazil with Roger and Dylan, most of the others I did not know very well up to the trip but we have had a lot of fun together.

The fun is definitely different from some other summer abroad experiences. Drinking is pretty low key (non-existent) in Rabat and we don't really go out at night. At the same time, we do a lot with the group that has given us both an amazing perspective of a unique country and a lot of practice with our French. For example, last week we saw a lot of the famous monuments in our city (Rabat, the capital) and this past weekend we took that packed three day voyage to the middle of the country. There is almost to much to explain but we've seen royal palaces, Roman ruins, the cultural capital of Morocco, winding streets of yelling vendors, a giant leather tannery, the Atlas mountains, Barbary apes, development projects, oh, and stayed in a beautiful hotel. The days were non-stop and the nights we some hang out and a lot of rest. It was amazing how many things I saw just struck me as essentially "arabic" or evoked images of Aladdin and at the same time how Western other parts feel. Morocco is definitely a mix or a number of influential cultures.

Afternoons are most of the hang out time. We have class from 9:00-1:15 and then find a cafe for lunch near the school. In the afternoons we have done things like read at cafes, go to the beach, and watch movies. Nothing too crazy, but a fun you rarely experience of nothing to do but be with friends.

The family we are with is great. There is a newly-wed couple, and the wife's 21 year-old sister, so everyone is up to their own thing and it is not like we are intruding into scheduled family life. At the same time, they are very nice and pretty funny. The guy speaks better English then French so it is usually him talking in English and us responding in French.

This week has been mostly been spent at school or at the apartment. Monday after school Roger and I went searching for a park to read in after lunch but ended up just coming back home. The city's big park is currently undergoing construction.

Yesterday, Roger was sick and stayed home when I was at school. It was probably something he ate in the past few days and he was feeling better within 30 hours. With him out of commission, I have been spending a lot of time on emails. While my French has not gotten much better these past few days, I have had some important things to talk with friends and family about. I got back this weekend to find a message in my in-box informing me of my acceptance to the Comm school. I was very surprised based on the fact that my GPA is not that strong but clearly the number one undergraduate business program in the country is not something to quickly pass up. Thus, I have revisited a decision I thought I made months ago when my acceptance chances were slim and I was perfectly content with my liberal arts question.

Thus it has been a long week of email chains and second guessing. My most recent thought is that I will enter the comm school. Based on how I learn and interact with people and the opportunities it opens up to someone like me who loves advertising and learning in groups.

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