In Morocco!

So, after all my build-up, I'm finally here! It's been a long day, 2 days, technically, but they've run together with the time changes.

So, this morning at 11 am I left my house (after a frantic search for my cellphone), got in the car, and drove to the aiport. I checked in, and my bag was pretty much dead on weigh-wise. But then I walked away from the counter and realized I didn't have any boarding passes. So I had to go back and get those from him. I got through security...and then my sister called me to tell me I had left my sweatshirt outside with her. So then she had to send it through security for me. The rest of my time in Durham was uneventful. I talked to Tara a little (lions! haha) and highlighted stuff in my guidebook. Then I saw a little girl getting ready to fly by herself to Boston, and her mom and sisters were at the gate saying bye to her. When I asked if it was the first time she had flown alone, her mom said no, but that it was still hard for her to let her little girl go. I told her I knew, that I'm almost 20 and it's hard for my mom to let me go. :) My mom went kinda camera crazy at the airport, so here are some of those pictures. Just a couple, and maybe more on Facebook later, and I'll stick a link on here.

The plane to Boston was tiny- it was only 13 rows, and my backpack didn't even fit in the overhead bin. Even though I usually sleep on planes, this one was cramped enough that I didn't really, just dozed a little. Mostly I read this book my Mom got me, "Dreams of Trespass" by Fatima Mernissi, who grew up in a harem in Fez, Morocco. But not the kind of harem you're thinking about, where a man, usually a prince or king or sultan, has hundreds of wives. Instead, Mernissi classifies it as a "domestic harem," which is basically extended family living together. Her father only had one wife, but her father's brothers, their wives, and all their children lived together in a house. Mernissi says that what classified this as a harem was the restrictions on women- not allowed to leave the house very often, not supposed to listen to the radio, etc etc. I'm about a third of the way through, but so far it's really interesting. I think the guy in the seat next to me thought I was kinda weird because I was sitting with my stuffed coyote on my lap the whole time.

After about an hour an a half, I landed in Boston. The plane was too small to go up to the gate at such a big airport, so we walked out onto the tarmac and then inside the terminal. And then Matt came to see me! We spent a little over an hour together, getting food outside the international terminal in Boston and just talking, and then I stood in the ridiculously long security line until they called all passengers to Paris to walk down the faster side since the plane was supposedly about to board. But then it didn't board for at least 20 minutes, but I was glad to be at the gate anyway.

When I finally boarded, it was a very nice plane. I was on the second level. We had individual movie screens, and I watched Coraline. I missed the beginning, but I thought it was pretty good. Then I listened to some music, dozing in and out. They fed us dinner- chicken with green curry and rice, a breadstick, water, cheese, tapioca pudding, and a brownie that I didn't eat because it had bananas in it, and I don't like bananas in things. I dozed in and out for the rest of the flight, just listening to music. At 5:00 am Paris time, what my body thought it was midnight, I got breakfast (yogurt, a chocolate chip roll, and OJ) and watched the sun come up over the clouds. It was really pretty.

When I got to Paris, I had to go to a different gate for my last flight. The security line was really, really long, and so I asked one of the employees if I had to stand in it- at this point it was 6:45 and my flight was supposed to board starting at 7:05 and leave at 7:35. Again I got to cut the line. It was really hot, and really cramped, and took a while even so, so by the time I got to the other side it was 7:05. But I didn't have to take off my shoes, so that saved a little time. Then I ran to the gate, and they were boarding. I found it, and got in line behind this guy. I hoped he spoke English and asked him if he knew if they were boarding everyone or not. He did speak English, but he had no idea. So we decided to stand in line and hope for the best. The line was kinda long, so we started talking. Turns out he was also coming to Morocco to study Arabic, but in Marrakesh instead of Rabat. He was a UCLA basketball player (Jess, I thought of you...) When we finally gave them our boarding passes, we walked down what I thought was the jetway, and then at the end down some stairs...and there was a bus. We were a little confused, but we got on it. We ended up sitting there for quite some time, just talking about school and Arabic. The bus pulled away around 7:30 and drove around the tarmaac to another terminal and finally to our plane which was sitting out in the middle of the tarmac. I'm not sure exactly what time we actually left, probably close to 8 or maybe even later. I was sitting next to a really nice Canadian couple who helped me put my backpack in the overhead bin because I was too short (the lady actually said, "Here, let me help you, I'm 5"9'. My life is sad.) I dozed in and out on this flight too, and read some. I woke up when they brought breakfast- croissant, roll, cheese, and OJ. I didn't feel that great- had a headache and felt hot because the airvent didn't really reach me. I was hungry, though, so I started eating, but it didnt' help much. I'm not sure if the lunch I ate in Boston or the dinner or breakfast on the plane to Paris were bad, because my stomach decided to empty itself. I did feel better after that...and the couple I was sitting next to was really nice about offering me napkins and calling the flight attendant to take my tray away and bring me some water. For a while after that I just curled up with Dug, my coyote, and my iPod, and dozed in and out. I woke up when we were flying over Morocco, and looked out at the buidings and landscape.

When we landed in Casablanca, I took my time getting off the plane, and then out into the airport. I stood in line for a while at Immigration, only to learn that I needed a stamp on the information card I had filled out on the plane. I'd walked right by the guys that were supposed to stamp. But it wasn't just me...they just weren't telling people that they needed to get stamps in their passport. So I went back and got it, and then stood in line again, and finally got out. The guy I met on the plane told me that you had to have your boarding pass from your flight into Casblanca, that if you didn't still have it they could make you pay for another ticket- luckily I had mine. Then, right after they stamped my passport, I had to get it checked by security before I could get downstairs. The long time it had taken me to get down to the baggage claim meant that my bag was ready for me when I got there. And it hadn't been lost! Quite a feat, considering I took 3 flights and had last seen it about 20 hours ago...kudos to Delta and Air France for that. I went out into the arrivals area, and it was a little disconcerting to feel out of place because most of the women were wearing headscarves and long, long-sleeved robes. I wasn't dressed scantily at all in a blue t-shirt and long linen pants, but it was just a little bit of a shock to be surrounded by people that were so covered up. Even a lot of the men were wearing the traditional Moroccan robe and hat. When I got into the arrival area, my lifelong goal was finally reached: someone was standing there waiting for me with an official sign with my name on it. I was so happy! I went and changed a little money and then got in the taxi to Rabat.

My taxi driver was very nice- I don't remember his name now, but he told me. And he also told me his mother's name is Aisha. He works with the Center, driving people back and forth to the airport. He spoke English fairly well. I felt bad because I kept falling asleep because I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep, and, let's face it, I tend to fall asleep on long car rides anyway. He seemed surprised at first that I was tired, but when he found out that I had been on airplaces for about 11 hours, he seemed to understand a bit more. What I did see of the area between Casablanca and Rabat struck me as very very similar to Curacao- same brownish vegetative ground cover with some trees and what looked like oleander and bouganvillia bushes to add color. The bases of some trees were even painted white- I used to know why they did this, but I forgot. I think it has to do with stopping goats and sheep from eating the bark, but I could be making that up completely. I saw a lot of goats and sheep, too, and a lot of people walking around. When we got to the Center, I checked in, paid, and then got in another taxi to my apartment. I guess because it's the weekend they couldn't get the key to my double room, so I'm staying in a single tonight and maybe another couple nights. But they also couldn't get the internet access code, so right now I'm back in the Center using the wireless there, and then hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get on the internet in my room at night, which would be when I would probably talk to anyone because of the time difference.

The apartments I'm staying in, more like dorms, really, are gorgeous. They're a bunch of buildings clustered around a nice gardeny area. I didn't get pictures of the outside, yet, but here's a picture of the inside. Right now I'm in a single with a private bath, but then I guess I'll be moved to a double with a private bath. I guess I'll meet my roommate when that happens. When I got there, I took a shower, changed, and then caught a taxi back to the Center so I could get on the internet. It was an adventure, because he didn't really know where the street was- we stopped to ask several times- and we couldn't communicate all that well. But I'm here now, and I need to figure out how to get some food and also the address of my dorm so I can get back there eventually. And then tomorrow I have a placement test and some other stuff to take care of, and then I start class!

Wow, this was long. But it's pretty much the last 24 hours of my life, very eventful. And now I'm on my own in terms of food and to do what I want until 7:45 tomorrow morning when the bus comes. I think I'll probably sleep pretty well tonight, considering I didn't really sleep last night.

I love you all! :)