A quiet day

Today was just a quiet day.  I was tired from yesterday, so I just wanted to do some homework and rest.   I'm thinking I may be getting into a routine here now and will probably stop writing every day soon.  There just won't be very many new things. Also, uploading my pictures to Facebook went very quickly, but uploading to Snapfish takes forever.  I think I will just wait till I get home to put pictures on Snapfish.  The people who use Flicker say the same thing.  On Facebook, we are all changing our city we live in to Fez and our school to Alif.  I'll change it back when I get home, but for now, it's fun to have a FB page that says I live in Fez.
I forgot to tell you about the bakery yesterday.  In Fez, each neighborhood has a bakery.  Families bring their bread to the bakery to be baked in the communal oven.  Each family then picks up their own freshly-baked bread.  It looked like it just goes on a specific shelf.  The oven is wood-fired.  The guide said that bread has flour in the middle - good for your heart - and barley on the outside - good for your bones.  He said if someone breaks a bone, they give the person barley.  They also feed the donkeys barley so they can carry heavy loads in the medina.

Amazing day - but exhausting

Today is Saturday - no classes.  I signed up for the tour of the medina (souk).  We needed to be at the school at 8:30 a.m.  Then we took taxis to the medina.  The guide then brought us through the medina and explained many things.  The medina is a UNESCO world heritage site and was founded in 789.  It has thousands of streets.  Fez is in a bowl.  The center of the souk is the lowest part.  So, if you are going downhill, you are going toward the center of the souk.  If you are going uphill, you are on your way out.  Our guide showed us two types of homes.  They both look the same from the outside.  (You just see a wall and a big door.)  A riad has a courtyard in the center.  It has a big door.  A dar has a roof over the courtyard.  The door is smaller and it has a small door within the larger door.  Originally, stables were kept in the house (in the basement)  If you were entering with a horse, you would knock on the larger door (big noise).  If you were just people, you knocked on the smaller door.  Nowadays, you knock on either door or ring the bell.  There are no cars in the medina.  Donkeys carry everything.  Or people push carts.  We also saw the tannery.  This is what Fez is famous for.  First the hides are put in lime vats.  It cleans them and makes it easier to get the wool off.  (They use sheep and goat hides.)  People who work in those wear boots and gloves.  Then they go in the dye vats.  I think that's where there is also pigeon poop.  It helps soften the hide.  The tannery stinks really bad. They give you a sprig of mint to hold under your nose.

The tour ended around 12:00.  Then Nathan took us (10 people) to his homestay house to meet his family.  They were very nice.  After that we went for lunch - a long walk through the market to find the place.  We went in a tiny door and then climbed many narrow stairs.  It was about the equivalent of climbing to the 4th floor, but small winding steps.  By this time, it was about 1:30.  I was getting very tired and hungry and I thought those steps would never end.  We sat on the roof of the restaurant.  We took lots of pictures of the panoramic view of Fez.  The lunch was delicious.  I shared a tagine avec viande et legumes with Valeria.  By the time we finished lunch it was around 3:00.  Then we went shopping some more.  As we were shopping, we lost the other six and it ended up just Nathan, Danny, Valeria and me.  The merchants want you to come in their shop and let them give you a demonstration.  Valeria and I had bought scarves during the tour and we were running out of cash.  (We had more in our rooms, but not with us.)  We kept telling the merchants that we hadn't brought our money.  We would see their presentation, but buy another day.  They were okay with that.  By the time we got out of the souk, it was 5:30.  We were exhausted.  Valeria and Nathan walked to their homes near the medina.  Danny and I took a taxi back to the villa.
Smile, you're in Fez:

 Shops:

 Camel head for sale in market

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:

Pictures of my room

I know it doesn't look beautiful, but, believe it or not, everyone is jealous of me.  They say it's the best room - mostly because it's a single.  All my friends are in doubles.  And don't let that radiator fool you.  It's completely turned off during the day and slightly warm at night.

And still busier

Wow.  We finished class at 6:00 and my teacher just gave us enough homework to take 2 - 3 hours.  We have class again at 8:00 tomorrow.  We're eating left-overs tonight, thank goodness.  And I won't drink any wine.  I am definitely learning a lot, but it's challenging.  After my class finished at noon, I bought lunch at the concession in the Alif garden (tajine chicken and prunes).  Then Valaria (Italian friend) and I went on the roof to work on homework.  It was really warm!  I was peeling off clothes.  (Of course now that the sun has gone down, we all have our coats and gloves back on - inside.)  We worked from about 1:00 to 3:00, then decided we needed a break and got a coffee.  Then, I had my 4:00 - 6:00 class - where we got all the homework.  I also have homework for Abdelhafid, but I won't see him till Monday.  The weekend will be easier.  I'll have more time.  Valaria and I signed up for the free couscous lunch tomorrow.  (Moroccans eat couscous on Fridays.)  Then Valaria, maybe Danny (from NYC) and I want to try to go to the cell phone store and possibly also the big supermarket -- big plans for our half-day off from classes!
There's a stray cat that lives here.  I don't know his name.  If you're sitting on the porch, he'll jump in your lap and make himself comfortable.  He just came in my room and went under the bed.
So, off to eat left-overs with Jeremy and Stefan and then on to the homework!  I will be so smart when I get back.

Getting busy

So, I need to write fast.  Before classes started, the days seemed long.  Now, I am having trouble finding time for everything.  I have homework for both my morning class (a story that we read - I need to write it three times: (1) copy it.  (2) Change it from 1st to 3rd person  (3) Paraphrase it.  Then for my afternoon class with Sana, I have to write a paragraph about what I did last Sunday. 
This morning, before class, three of us went to the market and bought sausages, veggies and olives.  Then, after class ended at 6, we went out again to buy oil, spices and wine.  We cooked up a nice meal in the kitchen.  That made the kitchen nice and warm.  I'm sure the wine didn't hurt either. 
At noon today, we had orientation.  We filled out paperwork - passport #, emergency #s, etc.  Then they took us to see the bookstore, library and computer lab.  They're all pretty nice.  I was impressed.  They also gave us a lot of info about living in Fez.  One thing on the list was "dress modestly."  The coordinator said, "I don't think we need to worry about that because it's too cold."  They also passed out the list of extracurricular activities.  There's a trip to the desert for a weekend that I definitely want to go on.  You get to ride a camel.  Actually, all the activities look great.  Most of them are free (not the one to the desert).
Karen Milton asked in a comment how to become a follower.  I did it for Violet's blog, but I already have a blog, so I think that made it easier.  Can anyone answer that question for her.  Karen, at the very least, bookmark the page so you don't have to go through Facebook each time.
It's already after 9.  I've got to start homework.

First day of classes

Let me first say that last night we were eight going out to dinner.  Every other meal before this has been me and Jeremy, so it's nice to have a big group.  There are four people who are studying for an international MBA at USC.  They will be in Morocco for 3 months and then go to another country - probably Jordan.  One of them was in Peace Corps Gambia.  Another is in my class. 
There are seven students on the roster for my class, but only four were there today.  More people came in tonight, so maybe the other students will be in class tomorrow.  Right now the class is very nice - four women.  Three of us are new to Morocco, but studied Arabic in the states.  The other one has studied at the school before.  She is definitely much more able to talk than the rest of us.  We are all very rusty, but at about the same level.  I feel comfortable in the class.  I wish I hadn't forgotten so much, but I am definitely at the same level as the others.  We have only met one of our teachers, Abdelhafid.  We will see him again tomorrow morning, then have the other teacher, Sana, tomorrow afternoon.  We don't know anything about her, but we all agree that we really like Abdelhafid.  He speaks slowly in Arabic and we can understand him most of the time.  When we don't, he explains in English.  A women just came tonight - returning from winter break - and told us that Abdelhafid is her favorite teacher.  She said he can be a little tough at times, but we are all happy with that.  I feel confident that I will be much more able to speak in Arabic when I finish this course.  People keep asking if I am staying longer, but I have to get back to do WIDA testing.  (Lemore - thinking of what you said about the Peace Corps commercial.  You were right.)
Nicole, one of the students in my class studied Arabic in San Francisco.  Her bag didn't make it to Morocco.  (She flew SFO, Chicago, London, Fez).  First it was in London, then they sent it to Marrakesh and called the school and asked if she could pick it up.  The school told them that Marrakesh is several hours away and they needed to send it to Fez.  So they sent it to Paris and then Chicago.  It is on its way back to San Francisco.  She is trying to get it turned around.  It has her Arabic book in it and her warm socks.  So, tonight we sat at a table and shared my book to do our homework.  It's good to be living in the ALIF residence.  It reminds me of being in grad school.  Everyone is studying the same thing even if they are at different levels, so you can help each other. 
Tomorrow we have orientation.  I think that means filling out a lot of papers for the Moroccan government. 
I'm anxious to see what happened in the Iowa caucuses, but it is still early in the US.