It has been a little less than two weeks since we have arrived in Marrakech, and have all been making the adjustment. After a disastrous journey over with airline blunders and misinformation, it is a relief to finally be settled. I am living with a wonderful host family in the neighborhood of m’hamid, with two boys (Ali, 12, and Omar, 14) and my host parents. I have never had brothers, so living with two new ones has been both crazy and wonderful.
We have been frontloading a course in darija, Moroccan Arabic, and attending lectures on modern Morocco, covering topics such as politics, religion, and music in the country. Darija is HARD. Although we have all taken Arabic in the past, making the adjustment to darija has been challenging and sometimes frustrating. I am both lucky and unlucky because my host family speaks excellent English, making it easy for me to communicate, but hard for me to immerse myself.
I wish that I had been prepared for how COLD it is here. It ranges from about 38-42 degrees in the morning and around 37 in the evening. While the afternoons are very warm, walking to the bus every morning at 7:45 am has been a challenge, especially because I did not pack properly. However, the overly packed bus keeps me warm as I snuggle up to complete strangers!
While still adjusting to life in Marrakech, I feel relatively settled and am excited for the next several weeks!