I have less than two weeks left.  This [somewhat] sudden realization means about a billion and one things to me right now, but, the most important of which is that my return to the states is now “imminent” in status. So frighteningly close that I’m afraid if I blink I might miss out on the time I have left. And that feeling has me reminiscing…I still remember my two-week countdown before LEAVING. I remember how stressed I was, trying to get everything done and fit everyone in to my schedule…I [...]

I will never cease to be amazed at some aspects of Moroccan culture. The Spring Break was AMAZING, and I was able to see some of the finest beaches Morocco’s Atlantic coast has to offer. (And I have the sun burns to prove it!) Upon our return home, we were welcomed back to Fes with all the comments from men in the street that we’d been missing all week. The harassment here seems never-ending for foreigners, even after we’ve been living here for two months, but at least we learned [...]

So the smell of Jasmine is EVERYWHERE in the Medina these days, and it has made me come to realize that it is now spring here in Fes. Its April already, I’m not sure how that happened….but, as the changing weather and tree blossoms might be hinting, time never does stop or slow down. Since my last post, I’ve had the most amazing experiences, with a few really rough days scattered in between. I guess, even when you are “living the dream” you can’t expect every day to be absolutely [...]

So somehow over the course of my first month here, Fes has become “home.” It has those aspects of certain familiarity that, upon returning after weekend away, just make me feel like I’m coming home. Its also everything I associate with my day-to-day routine, including the ever-stressful and ovewrwhelming class schedule. I know my medina streets, at least in and out of my little neighborhood, the rest of the medina is still a mystery, but the woman who owns the corner shop down the street from my house nods hellos [...]

So I lived through the first week of classes! (This is quite the triumph, because somewhere around Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning, I really wasn’t sure I would). So, I am now one week in to my first six-week term here at the Arabic Language Institute of Fes, and I’ve been living with my family now for about a week and a half. I’ve learned SO MUCH so far, both in terms of Arabic language, and the Moroccan culture… so that gives me a lot of hope for the level I might [...]

I’m now all settled in with my new family, and let me tell YOU– it was so nice to FINALLY unpack! My room here is HUGE, and it has two beds in it…apparently this is because they have hosted two students at once before. Actually, it seems they’ve hosted quite a bit in the past, as there are all sorts of books and calendars and coffee mugs from various places decorating the modest apartment. Anyway, there is my host mother, this sweet, little Arab woman who dotes on me way [...]

I am OFFICIALLY on Moroccan soil!! And I couldn’t be happier or more excited or more ready to begin this next chapter. BUT before I move on to everything Moroccan, let me give a quick re-cap of my last couple weeks. Getting to Morocco was…long. I came from Spain, where I had been traveling. I took a bus from Malaga to Algeciras. Then I walked from the bus station in Algeciras to the Port in Algeciras. Then I boarded a ferry that went from Algeciras to Tangier, Morocco. Then I [...]