Cold, rainy days

     Generally speaking, the past few weeks since my trip to the Sahara have been pretty bland.

     Get up in the morning.  Go to class. Use the internet.  Go to class again.  Hang out at the ALIF Villa.  Go home to the family's house.  Eat dinner.  Do homework.  Go to bed.  Repeat.

     Our second six-week block of classes just started last week.  The last block ended really well and I've made pretty big strides with the Arabic, but not nearly as much as I'd like to know.  That's what this six-weeks is for.  During the break between the two, I studied quite a bit and have gotten off to a pretty good start.  One of our teachers last quarter is teaching us once again, and he was somewhat impressed with how much I'd practiced in the five-day break.  

     Even so, the weather has gotten cold and rainy here, so going to the medina can be a wet, miserable experience.  I've been staying in Ville Nouvelle, trying to find out where I can buy packs of regular athletic socks, since I seem to have a less than sufficient number of them, considering how long it can take to do laundry.  From most of the stores in Ville Nouvelle, one would think people only wore dress socks, but there is a rumor that regular socks can be found in the medina.  

     This routine is accentuated by some of the broader difficulties a couple of us are having.  We're trying to apply for residency cards (required for anyone staying longer than 90 days), and there are quite a few administrative obstacles to overcome.  We also have a lot of classwork, and between that, the weather, and some peoples' living arrangements (not mine), it can be difficult to break out and feel like you're really experiencing Moroccan culture.  

     I have a hunch, though, that a hint of the boredom I'm feeling with Moroccan culture is not so much because I'm not experiencing it, but more because I'm getting used to experiencing it.  Meals will occasionally catch me off guard, but fewer and fewer things seem foreign, and really only a complicated Moroccan dialect of Arabic stands between me and really getting to know this place for sure.  And that is just going to take time and patience.