Settling Into a Routine
I feel like I have nothing new to blog about. My life is starting to fall into a routine of waking up, going to school, going home, eating, and sleeping. However it’s definitely not boring! Here are some of the highlights!
The kids and their bombs: For some reason, maybe it’s Halloween time but someone told me it’s because of a religious month tradition, someone decided way back when that kids should be allowed to play with little exploding bombs just for the fun of it. So now, instead of writing this blogpost in peace, I’m writing with the frequent interruption of a KABOOOM part way through a…. Oh hell…. sentence. It’s nuts! Thankfully we’re inside now because if you’re nearby when one goes off, you can hear ringing in your ear for a while after. Stupid kids!
Getting involved: The people at the EGE (pronounced in the French style kinda like uhh jay uhh) are super kind. I mentioned previously about being woken up by pretty girls, but just in general everyone wants to get to know you and know what you like. In the true Queen’s spirit I got involved in basically an AMS election campaign, except one which is a whole team of people running for students union. Except here, the student’s union’s job isn’t to represent students as much as it is to plan fun things to do. The people on the team are so committed to planning events and parties that I think we’ll win! Voting happens this Friday so I’ll be sure to update y'all on the results in my next post.
Moroccan dance party: As part of getting involved, our campaign decided to surprise the school over lunch and have Moroccan musicians and drummers come in for an impromptu dance party. It was probably the best lunch I’ve ever had at school! Literally as soon as they walked in with their drums, the whole school started smiling and a mob of people started dancing and cheering along. We even got the school security guard and the cafeteria lady to dance with us! It was a true show of the community spirit of EGE!
Cafe culture: Things have been getting really busy at school. School feels like it’s bogging me down with readings and writing assignments and presentations. However on the weekends, I try to get out of the house for a few hours to do work in a cafe. It’s just like being home and working in Cogro except for a couple small things. Firstly, here in Morocco people smoke indoors… everywhere. But the cafe I study at tends to be reasonably breathable thus far and it even has wifi… when it works. The best part of my favourite cafe, called Aqua, is that it has a pastry section with cakes and breads, all of which are super cheap. It’s a nice change from cafes which usually only serve drinks.
Eating and sleeping: Since coming to Morocco, I’ve sorta forgotten about my stomach. Sometimes I’ll just get busy talking to people or going to class and just accidentally forget to eat for 8 hours. It’s a bit of a problem, but I mean it’s a small thing that I can actively change. Also, most of you know how I like my sleep and am pretty lazy about getting out of bed. Here in Morocco, I’ve become such an old person about my sleeping habits. I’ve started sleeping around 10-11pm but then for some reason waking up at 6am and not being able to fall back asleep. It’s a problem for me because at 6am, everyone back home is already asleep and everyone here is still asleep so I’m just sitting there like…. What do I do…
Classes: This one’s for you mum! I’m currently taking 6 official classes. I’m in classical arabic, darija which is Moroccan Arabic, Cross cultural leadership and business which is a three week intensive course, gender and natural resources, studies in postcolonialism, and Islamic civilizations. A couple quick notes: The difference between classical arabic and darija is that classical arabic is the written language which is closer to Saudi arabic than any other. Darija is a mix of classical arabic, French, and spanish, but has been separate from classical arabic for a while. As such, it morphed into a different language than classical arabic. It’s like how English evolved from old english to modern english, but areas like Newfoundland and the Appalachians in the States kept a different form of the language. My other courses are all good! Just trying to manage the work and still find time to enjoy my time here.
On a final fun note, guess who’s off to Portugal next weekend! This guy! I’ll definitely be posting a blogpost about that adventure so stay tuned. In the meantime, here’s a selfie!
