Lessons in Arabic

Yeah so anyway the next day..Friday, I met Driss and Radouane in the morning and went with them and a friend to the nearby village of Ifrane to see the monkeys. I lov e monkeys. All I had to pay for was gas, and I got free lunch because apparently Driss had worked with the firefighters there before or something. Who cares........all I know is I was hungry and chicken and soda magically appeared. However it got there is irrelevant. Anyway we spent the day touristing, which is in fact a word no matter what Webster says, and got back to Azrou in time for tea with Radouane's family. They let me take a shower there, and seriously, this bathroom was incredible.........I mean,,, toilet paper, hot water, mirror, towel, .......so many toys I didn't know where to look or what to do!! There was even soap for washing my hands! I kind of wanted to dawdle and hang out by myself in the bathroom for a while, but that would have been a little weird. It was a fantastic shower though.

The house was soooo nice. His dad works in France so if you can imagine a French salary paying for the cost of living in Morocco....think chandeliers, wood and leather, the whole nine yards. I took pictures, dont worry. So we had tea there and then I cant even remember what we did in the evening LOL! I dunno........but I spent the night at Driss's house, which turned out to be a very unsketchy freebie as his brother, his brother's wife, and their baby all live there. I got dinner there and Driss somehow got the idea that we would be better off communicating in Arabic than in Spanish . Foolish. So foolish. But I learned some more words in Arabic and entertained him with my pathetic pronciation so it was fine.

Where am I? Oh yea, Saturday. So Friday I had gotten a text from Zoe saying that they were going to be in Azrou for the weekend. It was such an incredible coincidence that I decided that I had to stay until they got there on Saturday afternoon to say hi. Besides, I had free lodging, so it would have been stupid to leave. So we went and saw Zoe, Charlie, Sarah, and the new Japanese girl that I had not met before. Sometime before that I got lunch with Radouane and his mom kept speaking to me in Arabic. I don't know if she realized how little I was understanding because I just kept smiling and repeating the same two or three phrases. I imagine the conversation was something like this:

Mom: It is a pleasure to have you over. Welcome to our house.
Diane: Thank you so much.
Mom: Where are you from?
D: Thank you so much. I am a student.
M: Are you traveling alone?
D: Yes, Morocco is beautiful. Thank you.
M: When do you return home?
D: Yes, beautiful. Thank you. I am 23.
M: Will you remember everyone you met in Morocco?
D: Oh yes. Morocco. Yes. Beautiful.

The only time I actually answered her question was when she asked me if I was married because I had to learn the phrase "I'm married" to minimize harassment. Then she asked me if I was going to marry Radouane. I was like, ummmmmmmmmm....I should probably wait till I hav e known him 24 hours. I hear that works out better. Okay, okay I did not say that. I didn't know how to say that I am too young to get married so I said, "I am 23. I am 28, I am married." I think she understood.

Anyway, I got distracted. I left Azrou on Saturday evening for Meknes.