Back to School

Having spent ten days enjoying Morocco, I have arrived in the country’s capital, Rabat, for four weeks of French lessons. Since homework (especially grammar) is not the most exciting topic, I will have to dig deep to entertain you until my course finishes on April 15. Luckily, I have never been particular gifted with languishes, so my struggles with French could potentially be very entertaining. So far I am doing fairly well – at least in the classroom. My ability to do anything outside, on the streets of Rabat is quite another story.

While here, I will be lodging with a local Moroccan family of three; Houcai, Aicha and their three-year-old son, Riad, who has way more energy than should be allowed for any living organism. They speak French and Arabic only, so give me a couple of weeks to learn enough of the languish to actually get to know them. Then I will be happy to introduce them more thoroughly. As for daily life in Rabat, I am mostly spending my time studying and getting to know the city.

‘Studying’ actually means spending time with the relevant books – unlike my university time where most of my days were spent doing everything else than actual studying. Getting to know the city is still mostly a matter of wandering aimlessly between different familiar points. So far the most satisfying finds have been the national library and a bookshop selling English-languish books. I am still looking for a café I can use as my daily hang-out spot. Otherwise, Rabat has a relatively modern feel to it, so I do not think life here will be much different than any expatriate’s life in any southern European city.

The weekends will still be spent exploring Morocco, so the blog’s travel focus will not be abandoned altogether. I especially look forward to visiting Casablanca. Not because of the iconic 1942-film of the same name, but exactly because real world Casablanca is nothing like the film (which was not filmed in Morocco anyway). One of the most famous romantic locations on the screen, the modern city is Morocco’s financial and industrial capital. The largest city in the country, it is a modern and a rather bleak place. Therefore, is it almost always placed near the top of various lists of the world’s ‘most disappointing travel destinations’ (often together with Las Vegas and Hollywood). That is exactly why I am looking forward to it; my expectations are so low that Casablanca can almost only be a positive surprise.

With those words, I will have to get back to my past-tense adjectives and to fail the pronunciations of fairly basic French words.