I don't know if anyone still reads this blog anymore, hell I forget about it and I feel like all of the exciting stuff has come and gone, but I'm going to update it anyway.
So less than two weeks from today I will be flying home to America. I can't believe my semester abroad is almost done. I honestly don't know where it all went; I feel like I just stepped off plane from France and into Rabat, confused and jetlagged, a little unsure about everything in this strange country, afraid to eat the food, and not knowing a word of Darija.
And now I've tried so many new foods that it takes a lot to phase me. I've experienced being sick more times in the past 3 months than since I started college two and a half years ago. I lived with a family that on a good day, I can have a successful 5 minute max conversation in French with, and who thinks it's weird that I want to shower every day. Sometimes I feel like a completely different person because I have lived a completely different lifestyle for three and almost a half months. Being surrounded by a Muslim community has taught me that people are people, and that doesn't change wherever you go in the world. I feel like I can confidently travel anywhere now...well except maybe other less developed parts of Africa.
I just hope I don't forget what it was like, leaving behind the comforts of a first world country, and being entirely pushed out of my comfort zone for a few months.
I don't want to forget the way I felt on Eid, when I witnessed my host family slaughter two sheep for a sacrifice, and how that was the first time I truly felt culture shock and honestly didn't know what to say when my host mom asked me what I thought of the holiday.
I don't want to forget that first lunch with my host family in Fes with my roommate, where nobody said a word during the entire meal, I wanted to just burst out crying because it was all so weird and foreign to me, and I probably ate about 5 bites of food and then said I was full, just because I was so scared of getting sick from food that I had never heard of in my life.
I don't want to forget my day of learning Darija and having absolutely no idea what was going on, and feeling stupider than I ever have in my entire life.
I don't want to forget the first time I bartered successfully in the old medina, and got a 400 dirham rug for 300 dirhams.
I don't want to forget how me and my friends became friends with some hanut owners and how they always laugh at our attempts to speak Amazight and count from 1 to 5. Sometimes 1 to 10, for my friend. I don't quite have that down yet.
But then I think about America, about being able to eat soooo much food, driving my car, seeing my friends and family, and living a truly free life, and I get beyond ecstatic.
I think about how much I've changed this semester, how many places I've visited, how many different people I've met, and you know, I think it's time to go back to America.
So less than two weeks from today I will be flying home to America. I can't believe my semester abroad is almost done. I honestly don't know where it all went; I feel like I just stepped off plane from France and into Rabat, confused and jetlagged, a little unsure about everything in this strange country, afraid to eat the food, and not knowing a word of Darija.
And now I've tried so many new foods that it takes a lot to phase me. I've experienced being sick more times in the past 3 months than since I started college two and a half years ago. I lived with a family that on a good day, I can have a successful 5 minute max conversation in French with, and who thinks it's weird that I want to shower every day. Sometimes I feel like a completely different person because I have lived a completely different lifestyle for three and almost a half months. Being surrounded by a Muslim community has taught me that people are people, and that doesn't change wherever you go in the world. I feel like I can confidently travel anywhere now...well except maybe other less developed parts of Africa.
I just hope I don't forget what it was like, leaving behind the comforts of a first world country, and being entirely pushed out of my comfort zone for a few months.
I don't want to forget the way I felt on Eid, when I witnessed my host family slaughter two sheep for a sacrifice, and how that was the first time I truly felt culture shock and honestly didn't know what to say when my host mom asked me what I thought of the holiday.
I don't want to forget that first lunch with my host family in Fes with my roommate, where nobody said a word during the entire meal, I wanted to just burst out crying because it was all so weird and foreign to me, and I probably ate about 5 bites of food and then said I was full, just because I was so scared of getting sick from food that I had never heard of in my life.
I don't want to forget my day of learning Darija and having absolutely no idea what was going on, and feeling stupider than I ever have in my entire life.
I don't want to forget the first time I bartered successfully in the old medina, and got a 400 dirham rug for 300 dirhams.
I don't want to forget how me and my friends became friends with some hanut owners and how they always laugh at our attempts to speak Amazight and count from 1 to 5. Sometimes 1 to 10, for my friend. I don't quite have that down yet.
But then I think about America, about being able to eat soooo much food, driving my car, seeing my friends and family, and living a truly free life, and I get beyond ecstatic.
I think about how much I've changed this semester, how many places I've visited, how many different people I've met, and you know, I think it's time to go back to America.
very well put. I read every post and always come away with the sense that you've truly appreciated the opportunity you've been given and have taken in as much as you possibly could. I think all of us are ready for you to come home so that we can enjoy the experiences you've had and listen to the ideas that they've created inside of you. Keep safe these last few days and we'll see you soon. sorry I didn't post this 4 hours and three minutes later.
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