tuesday.

Today was the first real day of class and we already had homework due. Yesterday we wanted to go to Azrou to shop, but it was too late and we would not be albe to get back by seven thirty for the Welcome Dinner. (which, by the way, if you like moroccan food- was splendid. honestly, I think Moroccan food is okay. I haven't jumped on the "Everything is WONDERFUL" food bandwagon yet.) Anyway, we walked downtown to Ifrane to the Marshe instead, which was fun. But today six of us, including Abdilla, a Moroccan student went over to Azrou. It was really fun. Three guys, three girls and the taxi driver shoved into the taxi on the 20~ish minute trip.

Before we really left, the driver stopped to get petrol, took the key out of the car without turning the car off, got out and began putting gasoline inside of the car. That was the most scared I've been since being in Morocco. I was sure that the car was going to EXPLODE! not only because he was fueling the car while it was running, but also because there were FIRE EXTENIGUISHERS right next to the pumps. wtf?

On the way down, we stopped at a roadside stop where there were a few shops, a couple of monkeys and a splendid view. Yeah, you read that right. Monkeys. I saw monkeys. Not only that, one climbed in the taxi while we were out and then almost attacked me. Everyone seemed to go crazy-go-buy-stuff in Azrou. Everyone but me. However, I am pleased to announce that I now have Moroccan music! Actually, I think I bought Berber music. It's pretty good you guys. And Abdella said he'd give us Moroccan Pop. So, I'm pretty happy right now.

We know 13 of the 28 arabic letters... at least, i think i do. I have 3/4 of my first name. however, nun will probably be the second to last letter we cover.

I went running this morning. The first time out in Morocco, and on the track here at the university. I'm not quite sure if I was going the right direction. I mean, I thought I was going the "standard" direction, but then these two old guys were going the other way. But no one said anything, so whatever. I think I'll go tomorrow as well. and increase the milage.

My professors are really super nice. I wish that I could stop yawning through class, because I'm not bored at all, just sleepy I suppose. and five hours is a LONG time. even when they give us a "coffee break" Today I had Peach Juice. The first time I had the orange juice, I was blown away. Fresh squeezed oranges-- even if they weren't it might as well have been. and Moroccan oranges at that. which are 500 times better than american oranges.

moroccan cat

moroccan cat
Originally uploaded by danaisanevilchip.

for my roommate: roommate amelia should be pleased to find out that the first picture i took in morocco was of a kitten outside my french doors in my room

tours

Yesterday was an orientation day, we had one on rules for AUI and Ifrane and Morocco. general Do's and Don't's ya know. important but tedius stuff. Then the second was about Health and Safety. Yay for bidet? yeah... or something.

But we also had a tour of campus and Ifrane. I don't think I would trust myself to get the the marshe by myself, but it was good to walk around the town -- kinda. it would have been much better if I had had more appropriate shoes. and maybe a pocket for money. and pocket money. But campus is beautiful. I'll prove it with pictures sometime. and Ifrane is quaint.

and now it's time for a "forest walk"

on morocco time.

it's six thirty am here and i just had the strangest dream. must be a product of sleeping 12 hours and completely missing nighttime for a couple of days. I mean, it was night yesterday, but I didn't see it at all.

So, the trip. I left home at 5:30 am to get to the St. Louis Airport for my flight at 12:17. My first time flying, at that. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous and didn't eat much. We got to the airport and all checked in and it was fine. So Mom & I are wandering the airport looking for food, and apparently it's "the great american bagel company" or "burger king" the former is closer and so we do that. But I don't really like bagels, so I still don't eat much.

And then going through checking my carry-on. So, I try to follow what everyone around me is doing, but my computer is burried at the bottom of my bag (hey, my parents haven't flown in years -- YEARS! and they don't know this stuff. So it takes me forever, but I think I'm able to let all the fast people go by me. So, St. Louis to Chicago. Small plane, everything in English-only and a Window seat. It's beautiful.

Chicago to Paris, Charles De Gaulle. I was way early for the check in, since I think our flight was (gasp!) early! Terminal 3 (where I landed) was freaking HUGE. But I'm like "where the hell do I go for Air France?" Which I nicely asked to someone and safely took the shuttle train to terminal 5. At which point I thouht "This is so frikin cool! I wish someone were with me, so i could tell them, but then it wouldn't be as cool because I wouldn't be doing this ALONE!" Anyway, I got to terminal 5 and had to wait for the Air France people to get there to check in. Met a cute guy going to Paris in line. We talked for a while. Checked in, got some Euros because I knew once I got there I'd need to move from Charles De Gaulle to Orly and I'd need some money for that. Ate my last American meal -- McDonnald's Chicken nuggets were really good. Fries kinda sucked. After I went through the baggage checking thing, I wasted time by walking around the place -- a couple duty-free shops is about it.

Waiting around in the lounge for the flight, there were lots of French people. A Tunisian woman with four kids (her and the oldest girl in Hijab -- I got to talk to her!) A Russian woman, or at least she spoke russian sat across from me and I was oh-so-tempted to say "zdravstvwijt'e, vwi iz Moskvwi?" but alas, I did not. But as she was sitting there, a very-russian couple came and sat next to her and talked, but the left and I didn't see them again, so maybe they were on the St. Petersburg flight. then there was a woman behind me, who from hearing her talk to another lady, was from Serbia. And I wanted to ask her what she was knitting , but again, I did not. silly dana.

And... THE FLIGHT! Huge airplane, Aisle seat. Got pissed at the guy in the window seat because he almost immediatly closed the window! urr. what's the point in window if you don't look out the window? stupid boy. the flight was rather uneventful. they fed us dinner and breakfast and we landed at like 2 or 3 am Chicago time. 9 France time. then I waited and waited and flipped and flipped about getting to Orly on time. Waiting for luggage sucks. Waiting for luggage, when your flight is already late and you have no idea how long getting accross Paris will take, Sucks. I'm assuming I didn't do anything wrong with customs (but then again, I didn't do anything with them).

At this point, I'm IN PARIS. And Needing to go to Orly. And I'm really, really glad I overpaid for those Euros in the states. Apparently the Air France bus to Orly is right outside the doors. Or rather, the stop for it is. And so I sit there for like 45 minutes (yeah every 15 min or half hour, HA! But The bus did show up, and I rode through Paris, which is a Beautiful city, on the whole. As we were flying over, it was amazing. I've never seen that many buildings that close together.

And Orly. It's no wonder US flights don't fly into Orly. Because it's kinda lacking on the security. The flight from Paris to Morocco was from Orly to Fez. I was so exhasted on this flight. They fed us, but I ate like 3 bites and cried. oh yeah. nothing was in english on it. Everything was in Arabic first, then French.

Then I got to the airport and i'm like "where is the person picking me up?!?!" staring around disorientedly. Finally a girl was like "are you dana?" Oh sweet joy of relief. and then waiting aorund for another hour or an hour and a half. by this time, it's 2:30pm which (i think) is 9:30am in St. Loius. I'm so out of it, my arms are begining to hurt from carrying around luggage, and I'm so relieved to be done with my part of the traveling.

Traveling from Fez to Ifrane takes another hour, of which I sleep through most. Again, I feel Kinda bad, because I do want to see the country. I'll see it later. Arrived, got my room, upacked took a (very, very cold) shower and went to sleep by 6:30. and got up by then too. And I think I should go try to find some kind of food now.

~out!

morocco

oh. holy. crap. i'm in morocco. and i've been awake for WAY over 24 hours. well, you know... the cheating kind of "awake" unmoving napping awake, which might, but probably doesn't suck more than regular awake.
anyway, i'm out.

"You should be all set."

yeah, buddy i should be. Big bag's packed. Carry on's waiting for the computer and last minute stuff. I leave the house in probably 14 hours. plane leaves in 22 or so. 7 hours to get to st. louis. plenty of time, plenty of time. time to totally chill in the airport.

check, check, check! TRAVELER'S CHECK! ha-ha-ha!

(now, to not think about the fact that i'm freaking my parents out)

*when it rains, i don't mind being lonely, i cry right along with the sky*

I love that it rained today, the day before I leave. So refreshing.

two days.

(but it's kinda one)

"I can weep like the wind that crashed down on my tears."

So, so much shopping today. And it kinda sucked but most of it was totally necessary. Because you can't not shower for two months.

uh. Morocco's still there, and it's hot.

today i learned...

Today I learned that:
1) America's going down the pooper and not even the Evangelicals are doing enough to save it.
b) You won't know if your loved ones aren't in heaven (aka :are in hell) because that would be a cause of suffering and there is no suffering in heaven.
and
iii) Non-Christians can be good people, but if you watch them close enough, they're going to slip up somewhere. Maybe their big mistake is that they have a beer in the evening with their wife. This means that they need Jesus right now because they obviously can't cope with life and are using alcohol as a substitute Jesus.

Oh, and about Morocco: I'm really looking forward to living in a country where wearing the same clothes for a couple of days in a row is socially acceptable. Really looking forward to that.

As an aside: how many days can you wear the same pair of pants (jean-type) I totally say three to four, but my mom's trying to tell me two. and that's bullshit. I can see if four is excessive, but three is totally acceptable. There are some exceptions if it's really hot or rainy/salty but as a general rule, how many days can you wear the same pair of pants?

three days

Sunday.

sunday sunday sunday. I don't have everything packed, but I have things lined up. looks like I'm taking a hella-old and rather small checked suitcase and then a carry-on that's only a few "inches" smaller. I'm getting really excited. I'll leave home at around 5 am on Wednesday morning.

On a completely unrelated note, I've been playing too much snood.

I think church filled my head with too much talk of heaven and hell. Typical evangelical stuff, although I never really considered Nazarenes to be "evangelical" even though they most definitely are. Nice little Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. Good ol' John Wesley. At least he makes more sense than John Calvin, I suppose. Sure entire sanctification is weird, but at least he's not predestining people to hell.

Uh. this doesn't have much to do with Morocco. I think I explained my Moroccan fears before.

Pertaining to morocco, though. Do you know how hard it is to explain why you want to go to Morocco, an Islamic country, to learn Arabic, to all of your older (like at least 60+ years) church friends. One guy asked me "So, you gonna be a missionary?" -- he isn't one of my old people.

I think that's enough for now.

four days.

Went looking for a cell phone today. That really didn't go over very well. Whatever. I guess I don't care again today. I think there are some things I need to get over this summer. I don't want to and therefore don't think I will. But, in the words of Bob,

everyting gonna be alright

I really don't know what to expect of my Moroccan roommate. I mentioned before I hope she's not a smoker. But I have no idea what to expect. And it makes me wonder what she expects of an american roommate. I hope I'm not a dissapointment, because I doubt I can be construed as a "typical american" I mean, I'm not too worried about us getting along, because I can stand anything for two months, right? But is she expecting a stupid American that knows no arabic? (because I got that down) Or will she expect a hardcore liberal or conservative? (ha.ha.ha.) or a drunk? (and we all know how much of a drunk i am)

I wonder how much of a practicing Muslim she will be? At all? strict? All Hijab-ified? How much enlish will we speak? Maybe that's what bothers me most. I'm on an english speaking campus, but how much English will I be expected/allowed/want to speak? I think that was part of my problems with Russian. I got so frustrated because (a. i didn't really care that much, but) I didn't have anyone to practice and speak with, except the people in my class. And honestly, I didn't like them much.

I hope that I am not a dissapointment. Because although I love my music, moodyness and americanism, I suppose not everyone does.

ev'ry ting gon be a'right.

running running and running running...

Three miles, BABAY! well, if you want to be technical about what i actually ran... no. i don't want to be. Three miles! (and my ass is feeling it.)

Morocco: I'm compiling a list of things I know I need to take. I'm planning on laying it all out tonight to see what will fit where and if i need to buy a bag. And trying to find a cell phone that I can use in Morocco. And money. I need to figure this money thing out. I'm so bad with money. And not procrastinating.

If they don't eat cheese in Morocco, I might die. I suppose that's all.

five days.

And sleeping in later. In the interest of counting down, I thought I'd share a song I hated in High School, but it counts down. Or maybe up. Yeah. Anyway:

It's been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to one side and said I'm angry
Five days since you laughed at me saying
Get that together, come back and see me
Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you
Yesterday you'd forgien me
But it'll still be two days till I say I'm sorry
~Barenaked Ladies.

I suppose that's all.

six days.

So, officially under a week to go. I've started this nasty habit of going to bed at about eleven pm and getting up early in the morning. like nine or so and it kinda sucks. I don't have anything to do here except unpack and run. And I haven't been running recently. Nor have I been unpacking. Maybe because unpacking leads to packing again and I really don't want to do that. I'm procrastinating again.

Mainly, I suck. For a plethora of reasons. Most of them being "man, i suck" We'll see what tomorrow holds.

I want to completely skip the weekend. because weekends suck more than me. no. That's not possible. Weekends make me suck more. Yeah. I really don't want to hang out with my parents.

I watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events a few days ago. I wasn't really impressed. Actually, it kinda sucked. Maybe I'll watch it again tomorrow and see if I still agree.

I'm sick of Morocco. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

one week

and when she's pressed she will undress and then she's boxing clever.

what exactly does "boxing clever" mean? WTF, mate?

Yes, I have seven days until I leave and they're having problems with my deposit. WTF, mate? I'm frustrated with Montana State University. I suppose I'll call them tomorrow. I'm so super-frustrated.

I've lost all my patience. I can barely sit through a television show. I can barely finish a page of a book. I'm proud of myself because I emptied three boxes. But they were small and I didn't go running today. And I thought I was going to die after dinner. Seriously. Thought. I'd. Die.

I need a credit card. How the hell do you go about getting one when you actually want it? I mean, all semester, all over campus "Fill out an application for a credit card!" and I'm like "Back off, bitch."

Morocco is still there. I assume. I'm going anyway, even if it's not.

more

Do you know how difficult it is to find clothes that I'm deeming "islamic-country-appropriate" like long sleeves and stuff? When it's nearing summer time? yeah. kinda difficult. especially when you're not tiny.

In Morocco news: I'm nervous about my roommate. Smoking is allowed in the rooms. I really hope my roommate isn't a smoker.

In television news: a local ky3 news anchor was on this national live television bloopers show. Way to represent, Tony Beason!

Morocco is still there. and running sucked today.

eight days

When it rains, I don’t mind being lonely, I cry right along with the sky
When it rains, I don’t pretend to be happy, I don’t even have to try
When it rains, Some people get down, They’re sporting a frown, so I fit right in
Yeah, the sun may brighten your day but if I had my way, I’d take the rain
~ Eli Young Band

I spent the afternoon in Springfield. Everything I said about my patience, I take back when it comes to driving. Well, maybe the trip out was just practice because the way back was better. I bought a lot of clothes. Or I spent a lot of money on clothes. But I figure that it's been a couple of years since I've really bought new clothes. I mean, I'm at college, so I gather new tshirts, but it's not the same as buying new clothes. Really I need shoes as well though. I gave up after I finally found some shirts that I was pleased with. Four bottoms (and a pj pants) and three tops. And from Barnes & Noble, an history of Europe and Anna Karenina for the flight also, I want to know more about Europe and I've wanted to read Anna Karenina since last summer or so. All the good students of Russian do it. Even though I never was one of those, I feel like I should.

Morocco's still there, I think. *checks the internet* yeah. Morocco's still there.

nine days

(hardcore running) I'm on my way to Jock-hood. I just need to tie my shoes to my backpack. Alex, you'd best watch your back becasue although I suck at it now, when we get back, "imma kick yer ass." because I am that good. No doubt. (Mile Count for the summer : 4)

Dad & I are going to go look at cars today, and although I was hopefull to get to Springfield for some luggage and all that jazz, maybe I should actually start unpacking from Truman first. ewww.

I guess I don't have anything else exciting to say about Morocco. It's there.

even still.

We sang Hark, the Herald Angels Sing tonight at church. It was touching. I love my old people.

deleting this blog since 2001

Morocco. I'm studying abroad in Morocco this summer. I leave in ten (10) days! I'm kinda scared shitless. My parents are trying to be supportive but doing a really sucky job of it. I need to unpack from school and then repack for the flight. This summer will be consumed with Arabic and I'm so excited about that! I'm going to an Islamic country!

~~

As far as religion goes, today is rather important to me. Two years ago today, I decided that I wasn't Christian. Or, maybe more accurately, that what I believed about God through my personal experiences was not what my religion told me I should believe or feel or think. I never really saw this split as permanant. I always assumed, and still do, that I will return to the Church. Sometimes, though, I wonder if maybe it was all a mistake. But I don't know which choice was a mistake.

I never have told my parents. My mom is scared for my soul, I think. I couldn't possilby be interested in Arabic because it's beautiful and useful. I wonder if I'd be better off Atheist or Muslim in her eyes. I suppose it doesn't matter because I'm neither and she doesn't know. Maybe if I had the balls to tell her, I would have had the balls to tell other people things I've kept in for too long.