Borken arabic and avocado smoothies

My day was doomed from the start, and by the start I mean the night before when some other girls in the program and I grudgingly met up to study arabic in preparation for our placement tests today. Once again my alarmclocks failed, my roommates went off though neither of mine did, I had forgotten the planned time of departure anyway. Thus I ran into the group of test takers as they were leaving, grabbed some bread so go, and ate on the road. We made our way over to AMIDEAST, nerves in at least my stomach. The first part of the test, the written part, was scheduled for 2 hours. I took about 1 and a half and finished also about half of the test :)

Finishing early I went on a walk around the city with a new friend. We walked around the huge, beautiful, and modern library which we are expecting to do much studying in. We passed a construction site which at the moment is a ginormous hole in the ground with little around to keep people out. Finally we ended up at a smoothie place where I purchased a papaya passion smoothie of delicious goodness! Alas the mouth watering fun had to end and be replaced by yucky a yucky arabic oral placement test. This I did less than good on (the testers accents were hard to understand!) but they way I see it I could use to re-learn some arabic concepts.

At night a big group of us tried to catch some cabs and head to the Medina, a popular and cheap area of Rabat, for some dinner and shopping but it grew difficult and we were mostly hungry and tired so we opted for an easier option. We ended up back at the smoothie place which also had quite inexpensive food. I got a four cheese panini and, get this, an avocado smoothie for 25 dirhams which is roughly $3! Gotta love a good conversion rate.

I finallyended my day in my hotel room chatting with Caroline, my roommate from home, and havingmyfirst video chat with travis since I've been here, much needed. Now I am at peace and ready for a good nights sleep before it's on to more; more adventures, more smoothies, and more Morocco!

Falling in love

My day began as I jolted awake, looked at my watch, and realized that it was 8:30 when we had planned to meet for breakfast and anhour after our alarm had been set for. My roommate and I jumped up and got ready in record time beforeheading to our breakfast of mini pastries, bread, jams, sliced cucumber?, and perhaps the best orange juice I have ever tasted. The group, 13 of us total, walked to the AMIDEAST offices together, about a 30 minute walk. We had some very helpful orientation workshops. Thus far the AMIDEAST staff are all very welcoming, kind, and super informative. Awesome!

We had a short break

in the middleof the sessions for traditional Moroccan tea and small treats. Moroccan tea is minty and probably more sugar than water but wonderfully delicious. Mmm. We then boardeda bus, and when I say bus I mean a stumpy European-esque van. We drove a bit around Rabat but mostly focused on 3 stops, one to Chellah, Oulja, and Loudaya. Chellah is a necropolis and complex of ancient Roman and medieval ruins in Rabat, and also quite breathtaking. We spotted ornate designs in the ruins, ginormous stork nests (with storks in them), what wasleft of a mosque, many cats,saint houses, and a grave dating back to the 1300's! The Oulja was a store with anything from Moroccan rugs, to slippers, furniture, and books.

We ended our tour at the Loudaya which is the old area of the city surrounded by a large red wall. There were tons of Moroccans millin

g around. We think we spotted a famous Moroccan woman wearing a fedora and surrounded by body guards. Also I was informed that a lot of young couples in secret relationships go there to escape their families since most live at home until they are married. This area was beautiful, some greenery, narrow alleyways painted blue, a

nd a beautiful lookout over the ocean.

I stood there with the wind lightly lifting my hair and realized I am going to fall in love with this place. I am already falling in love with Morocco.

Oh the places you'll go....

From the sleepy town of Medford Oregon; along the coast to the waters of the San Francisco Bay; Across the Atlantic to Paris (Bonjour); and into the sky once more to the coastal city of Rabat, Morocco. What a journey this has been, and to think it's only just begun! I said goodbye to parents with teary eyes in Medford, kissed my love one last kiss in San Francisco, navigated treacherous lines of travelers in the Paris airport, and nearly hit at least a dozen pedestrians on my first taxi ride in Morocco. I can honestly say it's been one hell of a trip thus far.

I was able to look out and see the Mediterranean sea and the straight of Gibraltar from my airplane and then the firsts coastlines of Morocco which we followed to our descent in Rabat. Rabat appeared to me with boxy spanish looking buildings crowded together slowly turning into dirt roads and colorful half standing houses with lines of laundry strung from them. I made my way through the tiny airport out into the sunshine to meet my AMIDEAST representative and our driver. As we drove through the countryside toward the city of Rabat we passed women covered in headscarves squatting in a field, crowds of youngsters playing soccer,a man (with a huge cigar in his mouth) woman and baby on a tiny motorcycle, and roadside fruit sellers. The city became more compact and busy as we passed a mosque and a palace that we were still passing nearly 5 minutes later!

Finally we arrived at the hotel and I was escorted to my room by a kind Moroccan man who turned the tv on to a scratchy Moroccan soap opera for me before he left. I was alone for only a few moments before others in the program knocked on my door and we headed out to explore and eat. After some wandering, forcing myself to run in front of moving cars (or else you'll never get across), and clearly looking like tourists we settled for some pizza. I enjoyed a nice meal with new friends before wandering back to the hotel through the transformed night version of Rabat with neon signs and groups of singing boys. Finally at 10:05 pm after nearly 24 hours of traveling suffering a bit of culture shock, I am ready to surrender to the sleep man.

Also I forgot to not use the tap water for brushing and just went right ahead and brushed, here's to hoping my body accepts the water!

:)

My personal credo

I believe in actually physically stopping to smell the flowers

I believe in staying in bed all day to kiss and cuddle

I believe that if nothing else you can always have hope

I believe in ice cream at midnight with whip cream on top

I believe that it’s only human to be wrong, sad, jealous, or angry sometimes; but don’t make a habit of it

I believe in equality, for all people, at all times

I believe in a good cry

I believe that weird people make life more interesting

I believe in the power of music to brighten a day, inspire dance, or change the world

I believe that we create our own reality

I do not believe that hate, despair, or a bad attitude have ever accomplished anything good.

I believe in the slap of my shoes on the concrete and the wind rushing through my hair on a morning run

I believe in the ability to laugh at yourself

I believe in the touch of a dog’s wet nose to make everything better

I believe that the grand city of San Francisco and my small hometown of Medford Oregon each hold beauty and adventure

I believe in mountains, trees, rivers and lakes

I believe in coffee shops, local bookstores, and farmer markets

I believe in the ability of the human body to always exceed expectations

I believe that a kiss on the neck will always give me shivers

I believe in the power of love to heal, inspire, comfort, ignite, confuse, create, enlighten, and shine, brighter than the sun the moon and all the stars in the night sky.

- Amelia Clay

So what do you believe in? Explore yourself and enjoy writing your own personal credo. It really is quite fun! The only hard part is not saying too much. Alright, ready...set...GO!

When I Grow Up I want to be a forester run through the moss on high heels

good sounds, good colors, good moves. GOOD.

field daisy eyes

Wonderful words. Daybreak in Alabama When I get to be a composer I'm gonna write me some music about Daybreak in Alabama And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist And falling out of heaven like soft dew. I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it And the scent of pine needles And the smell of red clay after rain And long red necks And poppy colored faces And big brown arms And the field daisy eyes Of black and white black white black people And I'm gonna put white hands And black hands and brown and yellow hands And red clay earth hands in it Touching everybody with kind fingers And touching each other natural as dew In that dawn of music when I Get to be a composer And write about daybreak In Alabama. Langston Hughes

Om Nashi Me

I love you. And I love you forever. Om Nashi Me.

No truer words have ever been spoken than those by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros possibly and probably the most beautiful grouping of people and music I have ever experienced. They are in fact the group who inspired the name to this blog and they have captivated my soul.

I saw them in concert last night for the second time. But instead of being 100 feet away I was standing at their feet, sweat dripping down on me. It was an experience of pure pure bliss. The stage itself was tiny yet the band of 9 people sometimes more were jumping and janglin all around. I think the thing about them, besides their wonderful sound, that is so mesmerizing is their incredible joy. Each and every one of them lets loose, jumps and dances around the stage, all the while with a huge uninhibited grin on their face. Looking out at the crowd around me I saw this joy everywhere, I felt it in my body, it is infectious! It's electrifyin'!

At one point in the concert a violin player was hoisted up by the crowd and he played beautifully along, a girl form the crowd was brought up to bang on a drum for On Nashi Me, and for the last song, Brother, something like 30 people were brought onto stage to sing and be one. Yep I was up there and oh yeah it felt good.

It turns out after all this writing there is no way to do the beauty of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros justice. I think only Alex, Jade, Nora, Orpheo, Stewart and the rest can do that job. I urge you to listen to them, soak up their beauty their love, and if you ever get the chance see them live and let them transform you into a janglin soul.