Ssalam, everyone! This has been a crazy week here in Rabat. Monday (1/13) was spent getting a crash course in Darija, the primary language here. I have learned so much of the language already and it is so fun to practice! We like to speak with our cab drivers, dorm staff, and anyone else that will talk to us in Darija. Moroccans love seeing us make an effort to speak their language and they get very excited when we do, which makes it even more fun. On Monday evening, three of us walked down to the coast to see the sunset. We walked through a poorer part of town, which was interesting to see since we live in an affluent neighborhood. The sunset was stunning. I don’t have the words to describe the beauty. It was magical, to say the least. What a way to end the day!
Tuesday brought real life – we realized we would actually have to do work while in Morocco, and a lot of it (unfortunately). The humanities students have Darija 3 days a week, so we had this class. Afterwards, we went through the syllabi of the other two classes we will be taking while here. One is the inquiry seminar, the project I am researching on public health. The other class is a film study, focusing on Moroccan made films. They will be a lot of work each week, but the work is interesting and we are in Morocco!!!
Wednesday evening, after a day of classes and work, the humanities students went to Rabat Beach to watch the sunset. We walked out along a stone pier, with 15ft waves crashing over it. Getting our feet soaked was completely worth it. It was another amazing sunset from the other side of the Atlantic. After the sun went down, we walked along the water and found a restaurant (with an accidental stop in the Medina). We talked and ate for almost two hours before heading back to the dorm for the night.
It is now Thursday morning, 1/16. My group and I are heading to Tangier this afternoon on the bullet train and then will be traveling from there to Chefchaouen tomorrow. I am so excited for more adventure! I’ll post again after my weekend. B’slama!
Morocco in 7 Weeks 