Casa and the Guys

I feel as though living in Morocco is a blast from my past: the main entry point into the country is Casablanca, which everybody calls Casa.  The apartment Aaron lived in when I first met him was called Casa de Guy.  It was filled with an ever-rotating cast of roommates, hangers-on (me included), and shady characters.  So, talking about "Casa" inevitably brings back some fond memories and a bit of a smirk.

What about "de Guy"?  Well, thanks to Marcus, we called everyone "Guy" or everything a "Guy."  For example, going to Souplantation was a "Soupie Guy."  Apparently, everyone here calls people and places "Guy" instead of the actual name of the place or the street it's on (with the exception of Fassi Food).  There's: 

Sandwich Guy - thus named because of the large, cheap sandwiches he sells;

Donut/Fancy Bread Guy - because he sells donuts and fancy cheese-onion nummy flat bread;

Cheese Guy - has a stand at the Central Market and sells the hard-to-find cheeses, American products like peanut butter, and let's not forget wine and beer!

Water Guy - has the best rates for bottled water and soda

Good B'sarra Guy - distinguishes our favorite b'sarra stall from the rest.

That's it for "guys" I can think of... maybe I'll remember more later.  It's funny, the streets here are named and pretty easy to get around on, but we decide to give crazy ass directions--rephrase that--pedestrian directions.  For example: Keep going until you hit djallaba guy, continue on when you hit the big parking lot and then walk across it to the sandwich guy and the Central Market is right past that.  

Went to Volubilis, drove through Moulay Idriss, and shopped at Meknes yesterday... but I'll save that post for when I have pictures.

Moroccan Street Food (xposted to 33eats)

We've been sampling Moroccan street food, usually our lunch fare after class.  No pics yet, but I'm working on it.  So far we've had b'sarra, which is a Fassi specialty (from Fes).  It's a white bean soup with olive oil and garlic and served with fresh, hardy bread.  It's about 6 Dh which is less than a dollar.  And includes wormwood tea - yes, the same stuff absinthe is made out of.  Addis is currently Aaron's favorite: it's a bowl of lentils with bread and tea and goes for 8 Dh ($1).  We've also tried their version of hummus, which is really just unmashed chickpeas that have been cooked with spices (served with bread and tea).  That's also 8 Dh.  The other day I splurged and ordered tajine.  Tajines are ceramic conical dishes that you bake meat, couscous, whatever in.  At restaurants (even side cafes), they usually just use a big pot and ladle it into a tajine for serving.  Tajines are really single or double serving and used at home.  Anyway, I had chicken tajine which was chicken so moist and seasoned... with carrots and potatoes cooked in the chicken juices.  Mmmmm.  The first day we went, a large group of us ate so they brought out free sides like Moroccan salad, fried eggplant, and an eggplant tomato mash-up.  I really wish that they brought that to us all the time.  It makes them look good to have a table of foreigners sitting in front of their stall, so they keep plying you with treats to get you to stay.  And I don't think we were charged for any of it other than the main dish, which usually comes out to a dollar.  I think the tajines are a whopping 13 Dh, but a nice change (especially because they have meat).  It's always fun trying to talk to the people their in a mix of Fusha, Dareeja, French, and English.  I think I might put my old pocket Minolta in my purse so that I can more surreptitiously take photos rather than using my big new Nikon SLR.

Our 2-Week Anniversary

Today marks Aaron and my second week out of the country.  So far we have moved into a room in the basement dungeon of the student villa, completed nearly two weeks of classes a piece, and sampled a generous amount of local delights.  

I feel as though I haven't been as proactive with getting to know Fes as I would like.  We live in the Ville Nouvelle, which is the newest, French-built part of the city.  Fes' medina is a World Heritage Site and is the largest pedestrian (i.e. no car) area in a city in the world.  And I have yet to go!  

Aaron went last weekend, but I was concerned about my asthma acting up because it has been SUPER cold.  I've been getting asthma attacks just walking outside, and I'm happy that I brought my inhaler although I should have probably brought a back-up.  Regardless, it has been ridiculously cold.  We had been warned of 60 degree weather - not a problem.  That's like the persistent San Diego winter that no one puts heat on for.  But this has been in the 30's with below freezing temperatures at night and snow in the mountains.  Brrrr.  As a result, I don't stray far from the villa or the school because I like to be able to dive under blankets when it gets unbearable.  As I am writing, the radiator is on next to me and is a welcome relief, especially since I had to take a cold shower today (and I even waited until 5 p.m. to guarantee hotness!).

School has been good.  I tried to jump into MSA 200, but (as I experienced at Palomar) the lessons taught in الكتاب are just too different from اهلا و سهلا .  At least with this one, we're really working on conversation skills, which is nice because the last time I took Arabic it was just memorizing vocab (such as animals, body parts, household things) and learning conjugation.  Important?  Yes.  But conversational?  No.  

Tomorrow is the first quiz and I have to learn some new vocab tonight that we never really used, like clock or paper.  Funny thing, the teachers here have no problem just cancelling class, moving it around, etc. to fit their needs.  Just a little bit different.

We've also all become addicted to Matt's game: Dutch Blitz.  And by all, I mean everyone.  People who live here, people who don't, anyone who's been in the villa.  There is almost always a game going on, and if there isn't, you can usually find 3 people who want to play.

We had a free couscous meal last Friday as a welcome gesture.  And last Sunday, we were all present save Leigh for Jacob's birthday, catered by his wife Anne.  And on that note, some pictures: