Ala qimmat al-"W"

Ash khubaarik?

This is one of the first phrases we learned in Darija (colloquial Moroccan Arabic) class today. It means "What's your news?" or "How are you doing?" And of course, here I'm reporting my news so it seems appropriate.

The title of this blog means "At the top of the W" because one of our program directors gave a (super dull and unhelpful) lecture about how culture shock looks like a "W" over time. You start our feeling great, even more perky than usual, fascinated with the new culture. Then things go downhill until you get depressed and homesick and experience culture shock. Then things get better and in the end you realize how excited you are to be returning home so you shoot back up the W. Then when you get home you experience reverse culture shock so you get the second part of the "W" ARE YOU BORED YET? Me too.

Still, if we're using the W model, I'm still at the top of the first peak. The inevitable bouts of diarrhea and possibly vomiting have not arrived (more on that later) and I have reached the bittersweet conclusion that YES, I can be understood when I speak Arabic and NO, I cannot understand 60% of what you are saying, good aseedee (sir) but I get the gist. It doesn't help that whenever the locals see me they want to speak only French, even when I only speak Arabic and EVEN, I discovered, when I say "I don't speak French, please speak in Arabic" over and over again. Three of us had a twenty minute conversation with a man who was attempting to give us directions, and every time we thought we finally understood what he was saying, he switched almost imperceptibly to French.

I've already said Meknes is beautiful and the people are ridiculously polite and generous. That's all I'm going to say about that and I hope the photos say the rest.

Diarrhea. Yes, if you study abroad in any African country, your program will explicitly tell you DO NOT DRINK TAP WATER. DO NOT EAT RAW VEGETABLES. DO NOT PET THE KITTIES. They are adorable little bags of ravaging disease. Still, your first meal at the hotel will consist of raw vegetables with a side of tap water. It's a trap!

Still, this means that, up until half an hour ago, my diet consisted mostly of bread, meat, and whatever airplane food is made out of. I'm taking vitamins, but this eventually seemed unhealthy, so today I ate some of the less-harmful looking vegetables.

Hello Typhoid.