fait un effort...

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yesterday was actually somewhat interesting..I mean, most of the day was the same old routine.

But we had a nice ftour with all the study abroad/exchange/international students + all the Moroccan students who went abroad last spring and the AUI president and several deans at AUI.
It was really good. It was kind of awkward because they gave us assigned seats and my table was basically all Moroccans and so I didn't really talk a lot but I did listen..as always...

Afterward I hung out with Marybeth, Yesenia, and Maryam for a while. It felt good to be outside and with my friends..we made a plan to go to Fez on Saturday evening for Ftour. A reward after our day of classes..ugh.


Later I had a really good talk with my roommate. I always enjoy talking to her but I feel like we're both kind of quiet so I don't think we talk as much as we should.

Anyway, we talked a lot about Ramadan..she didn't realise I was still fasting everyday..heh.
so we talked about that..
One of the things she said that stuck with me was commenting on the schedule Moroccans (well ok, the AUI students) seem to adopt during Ramadan..it's like..do as little as possible during the day and then stay up almost all night.
to me that seems to defeat the purpose of Ramadan and it was good to hear that she has a similar view.
She talked about how the point really should be to go about your normal routine..get up at the same time..work hard and treat the days normally...just fasting while doing so.

This makes sense. I understand that naturally you would stay up a little bit later during Ramadan in order to get a decent dinner..because one cannot (and should not) function only on the traditional ftour food. But what I see here is so many students staying up until 4ish in the morning and sleeping most of the day until they can eat again. Sleeping makes Ramadan too easy. Again, it's normal to take naps..I know Moroccans do it outside of Ramadan..I do as well..but when you spend the entire day sleeping and occasionally going to class I don't think it gives enough of the intensity of fasting. you don't really feel it when you sleep it away.

So,that's my take on Ramadan at AUI anyway.
I will say I am most impressed by those that I met while I was travelling..especially in Asilah.
The men working in the tourist industry who stand by all day maintaining their fast while serving delicious meals and fresh juice to the hungry Europeans vacationing in Morocco.
I was so happy to keep my fast during that time..even though it was much harder because I felt so bad watching them work and serve while they couldn't eat.

I'd also like to point out how angry I was to see to exchange students yesterday, in the middle of the afternoon while everybody was changing classes smoking cigarettes right in the crowd.
It's incredibly disrespectful and I was embarrassed for us a group when I saw that.
We were told over and over again, of COURSE we aren't expected to fast but PLEASE use some consideration during the month PARTICULARLY when it comes to smoking.
It's so easy to find a secluded place on campus I just hate that they chose to do it in the middle of EVERYTHING..we could all see them and smell them.

while I'm on the subject some of them were also extremely rude during the presidents speech at ftour yesterday and I know at least some of the AUI faculty noticed.
Americans already have a bad reputation in many places and I hate to be around some of these students who are making it worse. I would have expected more consideration out of a group of people willing choosing to live in another country for four months..especially one so culturally different.




well anyway, I believe Yesenia is cooking again tonight. That makes me happy.
and I invited my roommate to come which I'm also happy about.

so yeah,now that that is off my mind I need to finish my Arabic homework.

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