i guess this is what normal is

I haven't felt entirely compelled to update my blog in a few days. I have been doing fun things, seeing new places and thoroughly enjoying myself, no doubt, but nothing has stood out as something to write about. Is this a result of my life here seeming normal now? On the brink of heading back home, I feel like I belong here.

DETOUR, read about a weekend trip:

Last weekend I went to a small village in the Middle Atlas Mountains called Bensmim. It is is, for all intents and purposes, the most untouched place that I have visited so far. So why was I relatively passionless and almost irritated that I had signed up to go to Bensmim? What I realized is that I think I have surpassed the enchantment of meeting people from such far corners of the world. I would spend two nights with this family, why did I need to attempt to speak my Darija? explain that I am not invested in learning it because Morocco is the only country IN THE WORLD that speaks it? get to know more people who would tie me closer to Morocco? I went into the weekend with a terrible attitude and I am not proud of that. But I took a deep breath of clean, cold, country air, and I told myself it was unfair to not invest my time in the family who so kindly offered to house me for the weekend.

update: Reading back over what I wrote yesterday I feel like a huge brat. Yes, it is still enchanting to meet people from such distant places. How many other times in my life am I going to have an experience such as this? I think what I meant to say is that I was not excited for an awkward experience staying with a family with no shared language, for just two days. I still feel extremely blessed for the experience I am able to have and I hope that I don't forget how lucky I am again.

As far as Darija goes...It is probably the easiest language I have ever tried to learn. But as I have taken eight years of French and I am learning Modern Standard Arabic (little to no overlap with Arabic Darija), I don't invest as much time into learning it as I should.

Bensmim

The whole weekend was cold and wet which didn't help my sour mood, but it did add to the hilarity that myself and Brennan, my friend who stayed with me in Bensmim, found in every situation. I'm not kidding, I laughed more in these two days than I have my entire time in Morocco. It was one of those things where you're not supposed to laugh, but you do. And you try to stop but that makes it worse, and when you start crying and snorting and lose control of your muscles, it just doesn't matter because the moment is so funny.

So you see why Bensmim was funny, yes?

We visited a women's cooperative where they make herbal medicine, textiles and honey for a small profit to help other women. It was a tiny association but had somehow infiltrated the Marjane (Morocco's Walmart) market. The women said they need the cooperative as an outlet to be with other women, to talk about their husbands and kids and to find support in friendships. I thought about my godmother, Carol, a lot while I was here because she is such an amazing person. I thought she would find such power and courage in these women and I wished she could have been there with me. Instead, I got her some things that the women made that I thought she would appreciate.

We took a three hour hike through the mountains and if I learned one thing, it is that I like hiking a lot more when I'm not dressing myself for a weekend with suggested temperatures in the 70s. It was cold, I'd say about 40 degrees for the whole hike and I was wearing running capris and a North Face fleece...But the views were incredible and I always love a different type of work out. But I was not upset when the vans came and found us and I could sit on my hands for the four hour drive back to Rabat. 

can you feel the chill? 

Now my life recap:

I have been spending as much time doing as much as possible. I've been going to more cafes, talking to more Moroccans, sitting in parks and loving my family. Salma gets annoyingly cuter by the day and sometimes I just can't handle it. It is so distracting. I was attempting to write a term paper about how legal injustices against women exist even after Moudawana (Moroccan family law and personal status code) reforms of 2004, but there she is all the time, talking to me, waving at me, giggling at me and I have to play with her. 

Abdellah and Naima gave me a djellaba as a gift and I am so excited to have it. I don't think I will ever wear it out in Morocco because it might (no, it will definitely) draw so much attention, but it will, without a doubt, become my most worn cozy item in the States. There's a tradition of eating couscous/"seksou" on Fridays in Morocco. My family doesn't do it every Friday, Abdellah says its too heavy, but Naima said she would teach me how to make it, so that is how I spent my Friday afternoon. 

adopted the veil to cook.
Naima says my hair falls out everywhere because I
change my shampoos so frequently? 

djellabah // hooded night gown // old school snuggie

I stayed in Rabat this weekend and spent a lot of time at a friend's apartment. We went out Friday night, to a club called BoM and then back to a Moroccan man's mansion after he insisted we stop by, "Come my house, come my house...". We intended to be there for five minutes or so but didn't get home until the sun was rising at 7:30. It will go down as one of the weirdest nights I've ever had. This man was, by all intents and purposes, actually crazy. nuts. psycho. out of his mind, and out of this world. But he had an amazing house. 

We made peach and brie tacos for Cinco de Mayo and they were really good. I finished a term paper and now only have one more left. I am trying to get all of my studying out of the way before the Mawazine music festival starts on the 18th. Its five days of free concerts put on by the King. Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz are two of the Americans who will be performing. One of my professors has a theory that the festival falls at this time of the year because students are taking finals and the government doesn't want them to do well, therefore, keeping the country mildly educated. Who knows...I think its because it's before summer vacation when the families who have the money to pay for tickets leave to vacation in Spain and Portugal. 

Tomorrow night I am cooking dinner for my family. They asked me to cook what we cooked for Cinco de Mayo but I'd rather cook something more American...any suggestions? I am going to the supermarche with Naima tomorrow.

This weekend will be a good one! I am finally heading up to the north to see the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.