Fun Friday - some things harder than I expect, others easier

We had class from 8:00 - noon.  There's a new addition to our class.  We're not just 4 ladies anymore.  Ozzie has arrived.  He was here last session and then went to Europe with his parents for winter break.  His dad got a degree in Linguistics from IU in Bloomington! Same as me - just a few years later.  Such a small world.
Today there was the free couscous lunch in the Alif garden.  Our class got to the garden first and grabbed the table in the sun - nice and warm.  More people joined us and then they brought big platters of couscous with chicken and vegetables to the tables - delicious.  Since we had no class in the afternoon, a group of us decided to go to Marjane - the big store that feels like a Target.  We didn't have a lot of cash.  I went in the school and asked Yousif (housing coordinator & tech guy) if he thought there was an ATM at Marjane or if we needed to go to a bank first.  He said, "How much do you need?" and started taking out his wallet.   I said, "a lot.  You can't lend it.  We need about 600 dirham ($85)."  He handed me the money and said he knew I would pay him back!  So, then seven of us started looking for a taxi to Marjane.  This was much more difficult than I expected.  No taxi wanted to take us there.  And, taxis will only take 3 people at a time, so we needed 3 taxis.  In looking for the taxis, we passed a bank and went to the ATM.  The card I thought would work (Chase credit), didn't.  The one I thought wouldn't work (Suntrust debit) did.  (I called about both these cards before I left and was told there would be no problem using them in Morocco.)  So, finally, we found 3 taxis and headed out to Marjane.  We were like a group of college kids (which most were).  We got a cart and started throwing things in - shampoo, towel, cup, wine, etc.  Then, when we got to the cashier, we had to sort out whose was whose.  I feel well-stocked now.  When we got back, Valeria, Danny and I went to the cell phone store.  Danny and I bought phones.  Valeria had a phone from England and couldn't find a solution that worked for her.  Danny and I didn't have our passports with us, so they used Valeria's to put on both our contracts.  We had trouble understanding how the phones work and how many minutes we had.  When we didn't understand, they switched to English (which they didn't speak very well).  I got annoyed and said, "I understand the French.  I don't understand how the telephone works.)  They couldn't seem to get it that phones in the US are different.  Anyway, I have a phone now.  Here's my #:  (Morocco code is 212) then:  06-74-93-30-62.  It doesn't cost me anything to receive calls or texts, but you will pay for an international call if you call me - or you can also text, but email is still the best way to contact me.  I helped Danny buy his phone, because his French is weak.  He's only 20 years old!
Tonight we cooked again - nice warm kitchen with the stove on - and then had a large group of people to eat in the living room of the house.  Several people contributed bottles of wine.  Life is getting better and better here.  Tomorrow, I need to do some homework and studying.
Pictures of our dinner below: