I got given presents today. I wasn’t expecting it at all, which made it much harder to do the right thing and insist on paying, or refuse. I got a bracelet, which is cute and wasn’t expensive so I didn’t resist, and then a necklace, which until the last second I though I was trying on for someone else. Then suddenly we were out the shop and I was informed it was another present. They are lovely though.

Today I am in Rabat. Due to having class at 8 and then travelling after lunch, it was all I could manage to squeeze a shower in, let alone a round of Jillian.

Now she hates me. I can feel her eyes burning into my soul.

Even though, since I purposefully did 2 sets yesterday, I won’t actually be behind until tomorrow. And since I am typing this, I have my laptop, and can therefore do it tomorrow morning should I so choose. I doubt I will though. I will be having too much fun sleeping properly.

Night guys x

Oh England. Today I’m homesick for you.

I had an alright morning, and a lovely lunch with some friends, which I went and did quite spontaneously. But come 3pm, I was leaving to come home, and it was on the taxi journey that I realised something.

I’m homesick.
These are the main things and people I miss.

– My family
– The Boy
– Being spontaneous
– Going out with my friends
– Cooking for myself
– Central heating
– Hugs
– All my friends
– Being comfortable with walking in the dark
– Choosing what to do with my own time
– BBC iplayer
– Normal dinnertimes
– Proper desks
– Carpet
– Driving
– Being cooked pizza for dinner
– Always having someone around

Don’t get me wrong, I love it here, and I have a wonderful host family. But everyone misses their home comforts sometime, and today is my day.

Yesterday I walked home in the dark for the first time since I’ve been here.

I didn’t plan to, it was light when school finished at 6. Somewhere, something in my brain clicked to thinking ‘Oh no, dark does not follow light. It is light and always shall be’
That part of my brain lies. It got dark almost as soon as I’d got myself onto the nice empty road which I walk up. During the day it’s full of cars, but at night it miraculously goes dead. I had to content myself with singing ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ in the hopes it would put any potential muggers off the mad woman. I was relieved to get onto the well-lit Boulevard.

Also, I become a fine piece of woman at night. Maybe it’s because the men can no longer see my hideous face, but I get much more bother, walking the exact same route that I walk daily, wearing the exact same thing. It’s bizarre. But then that’s Morocco for you.

I have once again been given ridiculous amounts of homework, in a vain attempt to catch up to where we need to be. So I will leave you with this comment.

I awoke at 7.05 this morning, which is a little late. But I knew that I had a whole heap of washing up to do, so I got right on, dressed and washed quickly, and then on to the dishes.

Unfortunately I was a little more leisurely than I expected, and so I rushed to get out of the house for 7.35.

Let me give you some backstory. All last term, I did the washing up after dinner each night, so if I woke up at 7 I  could have a nice chilled waking up, and make it out to get my taxi by 7.30. This term, since we started with exams, I tried to get early nights, which lead to the washing in the morning habit. Since I also have changed so I don’t shower in the mornings, this has been fine, but for the last few days, I’ve had a different problem.

Taxis.

Yesterday I waited almost half an hour for one, and then it wouldn’t take me all the way to school. So today I got out of the house with plenty of time to spare. And instantly found a taxi, right outside my door, who actually beeped me. And then was lovely, and nice and took me right to school and charged me less than usual.

So now I am sitting alone at school, since I’ve made it here ridiculously early.

Have a nice Tuesday

Been meaning to write this all day.

So today we cleaned my friends flat ready for the return of her flatmates. I hadn’t realised it was quite the state it was. Although it only took us about an hour, there were 4 of us on it, and it’s not exactly a big flat. I cleaned the bathroom, and I was scrubbing the bath for easily 20 minutes. Tide-marks are lovely. I was pleased with the end result.

In re-payment, we went for ridiculo-hotchocolate at La Villa. It is called Chocolat Chaud Fondue, which basically equates to melted chocolate in a mug. It’s so thick we normally have to eat it with a spoon. I had a ‘Verrine Citronelle’ as well, which is a tiny glass of lemon mousse. It was good.

Then I came home, which was a welcome change from hanging out at the flat, as I’ve been doing all weekend.  It’s always nice to get back to your own space again.

Who among you gets caught in the guilt trap? I know I do.

Confused?

Well, let me explain…

In the kindest way possible, Madame Halima can’t drive.

Ok, that’s a little harsh. But she tends to not use her higher gears, and her steering wheel in the same way that a three year old might use a plastic one. It’s all a little haphazard.

In some ways I feel that I am being mean to judge someone else’s driving, because although I’m not a bad driver, it did take me a while to pass my driving test. And even now, 2 years on, I’m still a little scared on the road. so much of driving is the confidence to know that you’re doing it right, and I just don’t have that. I’m lucky that The Boy is such a good driver, so I don’t need to worry about it.

In other news, it’s still very cold here.

And, I went to try on my Caftan. It’s only in the very first stages, and will take until the end of the month to fully finish, but I have some photos so you can tell me what you think. It cost a pretty penny, but I think it’s beautiful, and it’s very soft to wear.

I’d love to show you a photo, but unfortunately I am not being allowed to upload. Something about a server error. Silly old technology.