Thursday & Friday

There are a few things I've failed to mention in previous posts.  On Wednesday night, Erin, Alex and I decided to take a walk down to the Marjane, which is kind of like a WalMart on steroids.  It was a huge, crazy, busy shopping center where the price checker guys wore Rollerblades and a Zamboni moved through the crowds to mop the floors.  It was hilarious! 

Also, have I mentioned the driving here?  It is really insane.  SCARY insane, not funny insane.  There are lane lines painted on the streets, but I have no idea why they waste the paint because not a single car pays attention to them.  A street that's intended to have one lane of cars in each direction is "easily" made into a four-lane road by the crazy drivers here.  And god forbid you try to put on a seat belt in a taxi - the driver actually gets offended and takes it off of you!  One thing I do like, however, is that everyone is very liberal with their car horns.  That always gives me a chuckle.
 
Yesterday (Thursday) we were scheduled with the PhD student(s) again.  Turns out there are actually 2 students, the guy Hamid who we met on Monday, and a woman who joined us for the first time yesterday.  I haven't quite figured out her name, but she was awesome!  We chatted at the University for a little while, then the students took us to the new Moroccan National Library to show us around.  It's a beautiful facility (apparently the largest in Africa), very modern and well equipped.  We had to cut our tour a bit short so we weren't able to see the entire thing, but it was a nice little side trip.

In the afternoon we had a Moroccan cooking lesson!  Khadija taught us how to use a tagine to make a traditional Moroccan dish.  I don't think I've mentioned the food here yet - it's awesome!  Lots of fresh vegetables, some sort of soup and yummy bread accompany every meal.  The staff at the home base are wonderful, especially the cooks!

Last night I hung out at the house because I wasn't feeling really great.  Unfortunately, I woke up early this morning because I had to throw up, which is really awesome when you're on the top bunk of a bunk-bed.  I'm glad I made it to the bathroom, but I had to stay home from placement this morning because my stomach would not settle down.  :-(  Bummer.  I've been resting this morning and am feeling a little better now.  I hope my illness passes quickly, because we are heading out for a weekend excursion this afternoon!  A trip to the Sahara Desert to ride on camels and play in sand dunes.  :-)