Blogs from Temara, Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer, Morocco, Africa

So this week I have been in a weird mood. It's getting to be the end of the program, I only have one month left and it's really bittersweet. I am craving home(I legitimately had a dream about eating Domines Pizza last night) but at the same time I can't bear the thought of saying goodbye to my host family. They are the best part of this program hands down and I can't believe I have only known them for three months, they make me feel like I have been part of their family forever. I've been looking at jobs for next semester online and I'm also starting to look at different programs through with I can teach in China or Taiwan next year, and that's absolutely crazy to think about. The other day we had ... read more

I have a LOT to say about the last weekend, however I have to write fast because I have a cold and I just took Nyquil, I want to get this finished before I fall asleep.... Firstly, a week ago we had our CIEE culture party at my Resident Director's house. It was amazing, we all wore traditional clothes, ate couscous, got to dance with bellydancers, and got henna done for the first time. My Director's two year old daughter also got henna done, and it was hysterical because it was only on her palms, and she was clearly not content waiting for it to dry. They eventually had to bribe her to wait longer by adding small amounts of glitter to her hands every once in a while, but it did not change the look ... read more

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! It's been crazy busy here--we finished a single 3 credit course in a span of two weeks so that means 5 hours a day of classtime then homework and whatever else you have enough energy for. I have started to get used to the ridiculous amount of catcalls Moroccan men make, everything from "Beautiful! Bonjour! Hola como estas?? ***kissing noises****" to actually following you around and asking ridiculous questons even if it's super clear you want them to go away. I actually pretended to be mute once. For some reason they also seem to think I speak Spanish, and constantly say things in Spanish to me, which is odd considering I look even less Spanish than I do Moroccan...It happens to all of the girls we are with! My ... read more

The last two days have been busy as ever. We went to the old medina in Rabat to look around and shopped at the souk, or market. It is HUGE and has millions of different kinds of things ranging from leather shoes, to cow hooves, to hookahs. Mostly you have to barter, but prices are very good! We also went on a small boat ride around Sale, and talked about ways to volunteer, so I will hopefully get to do some cool charity work with women's rights and the environment. We also may have opportunities to teach english to children. When I got home to my house my sister and I hung out for a little while which was awesome, I am so much less shy now and my family is so sweet. My sister was ... read more