Ana fi maghrib!!!

Hello world!

My post title means "I'm in Morocco," which i most definitely am, and loving it. I've been here for less than a week and already I'm feeling a bit comfortable, which amazes me. I guess when you're in a totally new environment you just grab on to whatever you can. We're staying at a hotel called Hotel Majestic in the Ville Nouvelle (the new part of Morocco built by the French during colonization) but it's right outside the medina (the old city) and that's where the Center for Cross-Cultural Learning, where we take our classes, is located. This basically means that we walk through the medina, which was all constructed in the 8th century, every day to get to class. The medina is surrounded by a high orange stone wall with many different gates (comparable to the old city of Jerusalem I guess) and inside is just chaos. No cars are allowed, which is good because Moroccan drivers are some of the craziest people I have ever seen. Their policy seems to be accelerate when you see a pedestrian!

I only have 5 more minutes to write before I return, but in the medina there are people selling everything you could imagine on the streets, shoes, pants, sweaters, barrels full of powdered spices, roasting nuts and chick peas, even meat hanging from hooks outside shops. I've seen some cow's feet and heads, which aren't so nice. There are tons of people yelling at you to buy their things and to come talk and drink tea. There's no street ettiquette, except don't look at something unless you expect to buy it. I'm getting to use a little of my arabic, which makes me really excited. I'll post pictures soon so you can get a better idea of what this crazy place looks like, but so far I love it.

b'salaama,
Julia