We had our first Arabic class this morning... ummmmmm..... it's so friggin overwhelming. But, I listened and payed attention so I got a50% on my first test. Having never encountered the language on a formal basis before, I was pretty darn impressed with myself. I can actually read most of the words and pronounce them in Arabic, but I have no idea what the heck they mean. hahahahahahah. But, I can read it and I can write my name, Joey's name and the word "chicken," so that's fun. We were supposed to have like 40 pages of homework tonight, but they didnt have our books today, so we got outof it. FYI... we are cramming a whole year of intense languageinstruction into 20 days, so I hope I can at least read in Arabic before I come home.
Tonight... research in the library, although I feel like the more helpful research will be done off-campus on our visits to the cities.
This weekend we will be going to Meknes and Volubilis (a Roman-Style Moroccan city), that were built thousands of years ago when Morocco was a part of the Roman Empire. Back then the kingdom of Morocco inclulded most of Northwestern Africa: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Lybia and Moroccan (Western) Sahara. Studying the history of this place is really interesting. It has been touched by most other countries in this hemisphere because of its position between Europe and Africa, and it is soooo diverse. The architecture is beautiful and as soon as I get my stupid camera in my stupid bag I will take pictures and upload them. For now, back to research. Ma'assalaam.
Lesson of the day: Earplugs would have been a great thing to pack in a room full of teachers while learning Arabic. They all want to teach!!! ...yikes.
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