http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Morocco , Rabat Sal Zemmour Zaer , Rabat en-us Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:57:56 +0000 Fri, 04 Dec 09 11:57:56 +0000 I may have more to write when I get home but I want to get these down while I am still in Morocco.I just finished my final exam which was divided into two parts reading comprehension and grammar. It wasn't too hard and I am not too worried about how I did. Overall my satisfaction with AmidEast is mixed. The homestay has been awesome because I have been able to improve my speaking in modern stand http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447909.html So I got back from Asilah at around 8 pm on Saturday night 4th of July and as I got close to the apartment I heard really loud music. When I got to the apartment building entrance I noticed that a large truck was parked right up to the door and there were men in uniforms scrambling around carrying things up the stairs. As I made my way past them I was eyed cautiously because they were probably w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447905.html On Thursday night my family brought a rather large sheep home for the party they were having on Friday and Saturday. The sheep was delivered in the trunk of a BMW sedan and the dad the butcher and I carried it up 3 flights of stairs in their apartment building to the apartment where it was tied up outside.Then a bunch of female relatives and the daughter of the family who is married and just ha http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447902.html well today is wednesday and i havent had much to write about but id figure id try to put another post up. i guess ill do one about an average day in rabat and then some just funny stuff ive seen.typical daywake up between 7 and 730am. Then breakfast from 745 to around 810. 810 I get a taxi to AmidEast.830 through 1220 class. Then lunch from 1220 to 1pm. Then Darijah Moroccan colloquial http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447901.html This post picks up from where the last one left off.So Jess went to have tea with a Moroccan family and Sara and I decided to take a cab to her neighborhood so she could figure out exactly where it was. After riding from Agdal to Hassan and walking around for a bit we found her house.She went inside and I continued to explore the area on my own. I walked to the Hassan Tower and took some pictures http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447853.html Yesterday was the first full day of classes. The morning class is Modern Standard Arabic MSA and the afternoon class is Darijah Moroccan colloquial. The MSA class is kind of intense and we get a lot of homework. The Darijah is fun bc the teacher doesnt speak English and it is all oral with really no homework. After spending the afternoon doing MSA homework Sara's home stay family came and pic http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447852.html Well my first night here Michael took me to get some leather slippers to wear in the house. It was hard to find some that would fit me but once we found some we bartered the guy down to around 10 USD. The slippers are really nice hand made. When we got home Rashid asked what I got and so I pulled em out and handed them to him. He thought they were cool and put them on. Yesterday I couldn't find http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447851.html I arrived in the Agdal neighborhood around 4pm Moroccan time. Agdal is a wealthy part of Rabat btw. Inside of amideast's HQ I met up with Michael. He has been here for a month and really knows his way around and his Arabic is really good I am impressed. I am living with the host family he had. They came and picked me up and the mom Fatima tried to carry my backpack. It was really funny beca http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-447847.html We roamed the Medina. The Medina was filled with amazing aroamas. The food is so vibrant almost as vibrant as the people. We went to the Kasbah des Oudaia. The views were amazing. The Kasbah reminded me a little of Mykonos Island in Greece. The blue and white homes stand out so beautifully. We all had a great time exploring http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-443553.html hi Salut.welcom to any one who desire to learn Arabic in Rabat Morocco or Online with good prices.bienvenu pour toute personne dsirant tudier l'Arabe Rabat Maroc ou d'avoir des cours en Ligne.the package of trip in Morocco is le pack inclus les services suivantsArabic courses fees in a sckool. cours d'Arabe dans une cole specialiseAccomodation in privat houses. sejour dans une http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-439457.html Les Jacarandas I wandered around the medina or Rabat today full of hectic locals buying everything from bootleg DVDs to the most amawing smelling herbs corriander and thyme by the cartful. I experienced the Atlantic Ocean for the first time afterwards then took a look up at the beautfil Kasbah aith its painted and lovingly adorned entrances. I was pleasantly suprised to find that growing in http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-435942.html Lair Lair Lying is aparently a deeply cultural thing. As my bespeckled literatureguru Muhammed told me yesterday In muslim culture deviousness is considered fine almost commendable and this has been the most glaring item of culture shock that i have experienced. An exampleAbdel my new 26 year old Maghrebi friend who has spent the last eight years working and living in America was kind http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-435940.html Thank Cod for Rabat Casablanca brings forth in my mind the words of Banjo Patterson in my favorite poem Clancy of the OverflowAnd the foetid air and gritty of the dusty dirty cityThrough the open window floating spreads it foulness over allAs an introduction to Morocco Casablanca can be likened to showing a new tourist to Australia the town of Nambour. On a very bad day. After a small http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-435674.html Saturday around 6 PM I said goodbye to my Dad and hopped the train to the Barcelona airport. My flight with Royal Air Maroc Royal Moroccan Airlines was scheduled to leave around 9 PM. However when I checked in they told me the flight was delayed an hour. After I got through security I saw on the monitors that I was now leaving around 11 PM. After grabbing something to eat the little TVs http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-432509.html Lucas I visited Morocco for 5 days returned this past Sunday. My friend and colleague Karen lives there with her husband Adil and 2 children Amira and Salah. We had a great time visiting Rabat Casablanca and Lucas loved playing with his new friends. http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-425601.html First off I would like to give a warm welcome to Peggy Thompson. Her daughter Emily joined us in Morocco two weeks ago around the last time I updated and Mrs. Thompson found the blog through googling UVa and Morocco. Thanks for being a fan.Also thank you to everyone who has sent me messages over the course of these six weeks. Sorry I have not responded the blog website is strange about t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-414589.html After class today Roger and I took a walk to the beach to meet some friends. We took the scenic route and I practiced my photography skills. Enjoy the pictures Tomorrow we go to Casablanca.On another note I committed to the Commerce school today I am concentrating in marketing. It was definitely a tough decisions talk about two paths diverged but I am very excited for the next two yea http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-405686.html 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 semireligious 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-405526.html Here are pictures from the first field trip we took. They are from Tuesday May 26. Everything was impressive and interesting but I kept finding myself thinking of the learning process involved in a field trip. Middle school graduation marks the end of the field trip's golden years and I don't think I think this might have been my first field trip since high school. For the most part the pictu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-404286.html It's a good thing I am getting to this now because I am already forgetting things that happen each day. Monday was my first full day which now strangely seems routine. Roger and I woke up around 745 got ready and had a very French breakfast of baguette jelly and cafe au lait. Ahmine then drove us to Amideast because there was no way we were going to make the 20 minute walk and be there on http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Rabat-Sal--Zemmour-Zaer/Rabat/blog-403014.html