Thank You for Smoking
so it's monday night. i haven't posted since last sunday and have much to say.
sunday we went to the old medina. eleanor, emily, kirk, sean, josh, and corinne. we sped through, and for what reason i still don't know. the medina is and incredible experience. there are people dressed in everything from traditional moroccan jalabas, to the new louis vuitton lines. some butchers even have camel heads hanging to show that they have fresh camel meat.
sean and josh bought jalabas and the owner of the shop dressed me in a traditional berber robe so we could take pictures. he then took us across the street up some random stairs into this little inner carpet market -- awesome, and then up to the roof to see the medina from within and above.
i don't quite remember too many details up until this weekend. probably went to turkish delight that night.
monday and tuesday class, with not much significance, at least that i can remember now.
tuesday night we went to bed at about two maybe three in the morning, only to wake up at four to go to one of the sacred music festival's performances. the show started at 4:45 am! "Bartabas and his Horse" which was pretty much this guy doing tricks with his horse for an hour to some guys playing some Sufi music as the sun rose over the old medina. it was incredibly calming and a great way to start a day. we had breakfast there, and came home to nap for an hour and go to class.
that night night we had a bb-q which according to our professor was a "frat party" the only reason she noticed we were out there was because the side door was open and she could see us, and the only reason she was really mad was because her "HUGE" bottle of olive oil, she was furious and walked in mumbling "f-ers" and "assholes." oh and by the way, she's like this sixty year old lady, who's pretty much bipolar, ridiculously nice in the daytime, and a major bitch by night. anyways, we just ate whatever meats people brought, drank a little, and hung out outside at the table talking, and playing some cards until about 2.
thursday we had a meeting during lunch regarding our having "frat parties" with the director of the school because our professor wanted us to hear the rules again from him so that we might listen. she even went as far to say as that we shouldn't have time to have a party on wednesday night because we should have to do hw in the meantime.
thursday class as usual, and then went to this really interesting talk about popular arabic music from this really flamboyant moroccan guy, talking about nancy ajram. fun stuff, the videos were pretty cool.
friday we had a tour of the old medina by some other professor dr. ian. it was great. he really explained a lot about the defense, and the organization of the shops. similar shops are in the same areas to make transportation simpler because cars cannot access anything within the walls, the streets are too narrow. we also got a chance to see a traditional moroccan home inside the medina, it was great, it's three stories, and goes straight up, very narrow. since our tour started at like seven the sun had set by the time we were finishing up, and got to see the medina at night which was magnificent. probably one of my favorite experiences yet. we had this little boy show us the way out because the streets can get really complicated, and the medina at night is not the safest place to be. afterwards, we hung out around here probably, watched a movie, studied, and talked crap as usual.
saturday we had class! it was ridiculous!!!! i even called my mom at lunchtime, and she was sleeping, I was like, aren't you getting ready for work, it's 730?! but she reminded me that it was saturday, a fact that slipped out of my mind about 20 times that day. that afternoon we went to hamburger hill and then to this INCREDIBLE Darga concert, this great arabic band. it was a free concert, and being able to see moroccans at a concert was wonderful. most of the women weren't dancing, mostly just clapping. we saw some guys snorting some wierd brown stuff that i cannot remember the name of. it looked a lot like cinnamon, kept in what looked like an eye drop container, and apparently is used in developing countries in gun powder. those guys were really high, and dancing all crazy. i absolutely loved the concert even though i only understood about 5 words the entire time.
later that night we got eleanor to come to the jenin palace with us to the club there. so deuntay, eleanor, samir, byron, zach, philip, and i made our way over there. it was yet another extremely interesting experiences. zach didn't stop dancing the entire time. deuntay danced his heart out, and met some moroccan guys. samir met a girl, and danced a little with some moroccan prostitutes. the shady thing is that most of the women in there are either moroccan prostitutes or tourists. oh, and one of the prostitutes had someone who worked there to tell me to stop taking pictures, i was so pissed! but didn't let it get me down. we all had fun that night and i'll definitely be going back.
we got home at 3:30, i did laundry and didn't go to sleep until 5 because of it. we woke up at 10 to go to Sefrou, we accidently left Samir here, and to think it was his idea to go at all! i still feel so bad about that. anyways, brian, phil, eleanor, dan, corinne and i took a grand taxi to sefrou where they were having a cherry festival and have an ongoing carnival. we walked up the mountain to some campground where we found the owner, and he showed us this crazy cave that he plans on buidling a nightclub in. then we found out the pool had no water and we'd have to come in two weeks! so we made our way to some cascades and hung out there for a little while. it was a tiny little creek that just so happens to go over this cliff, it was really nice though, and i dipped my feet in. there were a good amount of people were there, and we assumed it was because of the cherry festival, or that it was on a sunday.
we walked down the mountain into the city and had the BEST kefta sandwhich!!!! it was absolutely wonderful. then we walked through the old medina and i bought some cherries. it was really cool to see another pretty aged city -- wider streets too.
we got home to realize we had ditched samir and then went to dinner at shwarma king.
monday -- class as usual, and tuesday the same. however, on tuesday we got invited to a moroccan wedding! our teacher invited us, and we have a feeling it's his daughter's wedding! we're all so psyched, going out and buying our jalabas and stuff.
tuesday night jason decided to finally open the watermelon. a few days ago, he made a whole in the side and added a bottle of vodka. so we started eating it, and as we went through it could taste the vodka stronger and stronger... it was really fun. we went to turkish delight for dinner, saw a huge group of other alif students there, and then came back here and watched loads of youtube videos in jason and samir's room for a few hours. we finished the watermelon, and jason, eleanor, and i were talking on the porch until about 1. we decided to check out the roof at night and were dumbfounded by the beautiful night sky. bed by 230!
today class, took a two hour nap at lunch, and then had me some man shack with jason and eleanor, greatness i tell you! afternoon class, and THEN we had a cooking class with layla which was great! we all learned and helped her make the tagines and sat down outside in the garden to eat.... absolutely delicious and had splendid company. afterwards we the cherries i bought in sefou and watched "thank you for smoking." we all loved it yet again. went to the roof with jason and emily to study a little and they ended up getting up on the very top. now i'm left very sleepy and am glad that i have finally caught up with this extensive story telling. i just really needed to finish this before this weekend because i have a feeling i'm going to want to have a really detailed account of our trip to the sahara. sorry for all the length of this entry to whoever has actually read this massive thing, but i wanted to keep my journal in here since i forgot my actual one. and now i leave you with a fun comment from last night that jason made.
Jason's opinion of Jack Daniels:
jack does not like company, he's a lonesome man. he doesn't like competitors.
meaning: sean do not drink an entire bottle of wine, and then take shots of jd, you will get sick again.
sunday we went to the old medina. eleanor, emily, kirk, sean, josh, and corinne. we sped through, and for what reason i still don't know. the medina is and incredible experience. there are people dressed in everything from traditional moroccan jalabas, to the new louis vuitton lines. some butchers even have camel heads hanging to show that they have fresh camel meat.
sean and josh bought jalabas and the owner of the shop dressed me in a traditional berber robe so we could take pictures. he then took us across the street up some random stairs into this little inner carpet market -- awesome, and then up to the roof to see the medina from within and above.
i don't quite remember too many details up until this weekend. probably went to turkish delight that night.
monday and tuesday class, with not much significance, at least that i can remember now.
tuesday night we went to bed at about two maybe three in the morning, only to wake up at four to go to one of the sacred music festival's performances. the show started at 4:45 am! "Bartabas and his Horse" which was pretty much this guy doing tricks with his horse for an hour to some guys playing some Sufi music as the sun rose over the old medina. it was incredibly calming and a great way to start a day. we had breakfast there, and came home to nap for an hour and go to class.
that night night we had a bb-q which according to our professor was a "frat party" the only reason she noticed we were out there was because the side door was open and she could see us, and the only reason she was really mad was because her "HUGE" bottle of olive oil, she was furious and walked in mumbling "f-ers" and "assholes." oh and by the way, she's like this sixty year old lady, who's pretty much bipolar, ridiculously nice in the daytime, and a major bitch by night. anyways, we just ate whatever meats people brought, drank a little, and hung out outside at the table talking, and playing some cards until about 2.
thursday we had a meeting during lunch regarding our having "frat parties" with the director of the school because our professor wanted us to hear the rules again from him so that we might listen. she even went as far to say as that we shouldn't have time to have a party on wednesday night because we should have to do hw in the meantime.
thursday class as usual, and then went to this really interesting talk about popular arabic music from this really flamboyant moroccan guy, talking about nancy ajram. fun stuff, the videos were pretty cool.
friday we had a tour of the old medina by some other professor dr. ian. it was great. he really explained a lot about the defense, and the organization of the shops. similar shops are in the same areas to make transportation simpler because cars cannot access anything within the walls, the streets are too narrow. we also got a chance to see a traditional moroccan home inside the medina, it was great, it's three stories, and goes straight up, very narrow. since our tour started at like seven the sun had set by the time we were finishing up, and got to see the medina at night which was magnificent. probably one of my favorite experiences yet. we had this little boy show us the way out because the streets can get really complicated, and the medina at night is not the safest place to be. afterwards, we hung out around here probably, watched a movie, studied, and talked crap as usual.
saturday we had class! it was ridiculous!!!! i even called my mom at lunchtime, and she was sleeping, I was like, aren't you getting ready for work, it's 730?! but she reminded me that it was saturday, a fact that slipped out of my mind about 20 times that day. that afternoon we went to hamburger hill and then to this INCREDIBLE Darga concert, this great arabic band. it was a free concert, and being able to see moroccans at a concert was wonderful. most of the women weren't dancing, mostly just clapping. we saw some guys snorting some wierd brown stuff that i cannot remember the name of. it looked a lot like cinnamon, kept in what looked like an eye drop container, and apparently is used in developing countries in gun powder. those guys were really high, and dancing all crazy. i absolutely loved the concert even though i only understood about 5 words the entire time.
later that night we got eleanor to come to the jenin palace with us to the club there. so deuntay, eleanor, samir, byron, zach, philip, and i made our way over there. it was yet another extremely interesting experiences. zach didn't stop dancing the entire time. deuntay danced his heart out, and met some moroccan guys. samir met a girl, and danced a little with some moroccan prostitutes. the shady thing is that most of the women in there are either moroccan prostitutes or tourists. oh, and one of the prostitutes had someone who worked there to tell me to stop taking pictures, i was so pissed! but didn't let it get me down. we all had fun that night and i'll definitely be going back.
we got home at 3:30, i did laundry and didn't go to sleep until 5 because of it. we woke up at 10 to go to Sefrou, we accidently left Samir here, and to think it was his idea to go at all! i still feel so bad about that. anyways, brian, phil, eleanor, dan, corinne and i took a grand taxi to sefrou where they were having a cherry festival and have an ongoing carnival. we walked up the mountain to some campground where we found the owner, and he showed us this crazy cave that he plans on buidling a nightclub in. then we found out the pool had no water and we'd have to come in two weeks! so we made our way to some cascades and hung out there for a little while. it was a tiny little creek that just so happens to go over this cliff, it was really nice though, and i dipped my feet in. there were a good amount of people were there, and we assumed it was because of the cherry festival, or that it was on a sunday.
we walked down the mountain into the city and had the BEST kefta sandwhich!!!! it was absolutely wonderful. then we walked through the old medina and i bought some cherries. it was really cool to see another pretty aged city -- wider streets too.
we got home to realize we had ditched samir and then went to dinner at shwarma king.
monday -- class as usual, and tuesday the same. however, on tuesday we got invited to a moroccan wedding! our teacher invited us, and we have a feeling it's his daughter's wedding! we're all so psyched, going out and buying our jalabas and stuff.
tuesday night jason decided to finally open the watermelon. a few days ago, he made a whole in the side and added a bottle of vodka. so we started eating it, and as we went through it could taste the vodka stronger and stronger... it was really fun. we went to turkish delight for dinner, saw a huge group of other alif students there, and then came back here and watched loads of youtube videos in jason and samir's room for a few hours. we finished the watermelon, and jason, eleanor, and i were talking on the porch until about 1. we decided to check out the roof at night and were dumbfounded by the beautiful night sky. bed by 230!
today class, took a two hour nap at lunch, and then had me some man shack with jason and eleanor, greatness i tell you! afternoon class, and THEN we had a cooking class with layla which was great! we all learned and helped her make the tagines and sat down outside in the garden to eat.... absolutely delicious and had splendid company. afterwards we the cherries i bought in sefou and watched "thank you for smoking." we all loved it yet again. went to the roof with jason and emily to study a little and they ended up getting up on the very top. now i'm left very sleepy and am glad that i have finally caught up with this extensive story telling. i just really needed to finish this before this weekend because i have a feeling i'm going to want to have a really detailed account of our trip to the sahara. sorry for all the length of this entry to whoever has actually read this massive thing, but i wanted to keep my journal in here since i forgot my actual one. and now i leave you with a fun comment from last night that jason made.
Jason's opinion of Jack Daniels:
jack does not like company, he's a lonesome man. he doesn't like competitors.
meaning: sean do not drink an entire bottle of wine, and then take shots of jd, you will get sick again.