Things That Like to be Baked in an Oven

Pastries, Pastilla, Pottery.

Would you have guessed correctly if this were a game of "$100,000 Pyramid"? The past week has been filled with each of those things, and so much more! We have been busy bustling around Rabat learning as much as possible about the area and the organizations we frequent. Taking the bus to and from the university during the day, scrambling our way to the Embassy in the afternoons to complete administrative tasks, and navigating the hunt for an apartment in the evenings.

While we are still piecing together the puzzle of our life in Rabat, we have been super pleased with how easily the pieces are coming together. I know it's only been 2 1/2 weeks since we've moved to Morocco, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop! We were one of the last few Olmsted couples to leave the US, and we had heard lots of stories about waiting months for housing, issues with finances, the difficulties associated with education in a foreign country, and the list goes on. From the beginning, we have been determined to keep a positive mindset about each of the challenges we might face in Morocco, and I think it has been a real game-changer for us. Perhaps all the "insha'Allah"'s we said over the past year helped us out a bit.

About half of Jeff's classes have started, with the remainder of his classes starting at the beginning of October. He is taking courses in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and North African Studies, as well as Political Science. The university has been more than gracious to allow me to audit any classes that interest me while Jeff studies there. I've decided to focus on languages, so we are both enrolled in Advanced Arabic, Moroccan Arabic (Darija), and a French class. To help our French move a little faster, we are also looking into taking some evening language classes at one of the French language institutes in town. While Jeff is in class, I will be volunteering as an English tutor for other international students attending the university. This should keep us sufficiently busy during the week, but will still leave us with plenty of free time as the weekend approaches.

As for housing, we gave ourselves until October 1 to find a place to live and elected to rent a temporary apartment for the first few weeks here. This allowed us to unpack our bags, spread out a bit, and have access to a full kitchen. Kevin and Phillip appreciated having their own bedrooms and a balcony :) We will share the full story another time, but a random decision brought us to the BEST rental agency and we've since secured a fantastic apartment that we will move into. This process also led us to a chance encounter with a Kuwaiti Sheikh, who invited us into his "summer apartment" (it's REALLY hot in Kuwait in the summer), and insisted on sharing coffee and dates over some conversation in Arabic about our studies. It also led to us becoming fast friends with our agent, who hosted the most wonderful dinner party for us (in one of the rarest apartments in all of Rabat). We spent the evening with his wife, cousin, and a few close friends, dining on traditional Moroccan dishes (prepared by his sister-in-law, a caterer), chatting away in Arabic (and a little English), and enjoying the new friendships that were forming. We honestly could not have asked for a more generous and welcoming group of friends to start off with in Rabat!

Did I mention how I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop?!?

Despite a whirlwind of a week, we still managed to have a relaxing weekend exploring different parts of town. Per the recommendation of our friend Omar (the security guard of our building) we ventured out to the Oulja craft complex to get lost among the handmade pottery and furniture that clutter the streets. While we failed to find the brunch spot he has been telling us to visit, we managed to grab a quiet lunch in a cafe (for a whopping $7.70), and we left with LOTS of ideas! We plan to bring back lots of dishes, furniture, and rugs to furnish our home when we return to the States. As for food, the search for Harcha and Baghrir for brunch will continue this week...stay tuned.

Bsslama!