So today was the first meal (except breakfast) where we didn’t have fries! Oh be joyful, I might only leave 3 stone heavier than when I arrived! One of my classmates commented this morning, on sampling yet another cup of famous Moroccan mint tea, or “shay”, “how is diabetes not an issue here?!” Yesterday we made traditional shay at cooking club, and I genuinely think the amount of sugar in it would be enough to dissolve 3-inch steel. Nevertheless, at least it perks us up a bit for class!
Speaking of paying attention in class, in the lunch queue we asked one of the girls in Advanced 2 (speaking to her was quite a feat in itself!) had been talking about in her lessons that day. She told us that they had been discussing the Moroccan economy during Ramadan and government implementation of boundaries to prevent speculation on food prices, as calmly as if she’s been discussing the weather. Feeling quite sheepish, we had to tell her that we actually had been discussing the weather in our class, which, by the way, is currently colder than in Brighton with cloud cover all day, except in the evenings, when you shouldn’t be out of the house. Gutted.
Anyway, onto the exciting events on the other side of the school walls… (gosh I sound like I’m in a Narnia story!)
So we get picked up to go to the school in the mornings, but after school at six we get taxis home. Sounds extravagant right? Except when you find out that the whole ride back costs less that £1GBP… only in Morocco! Anyway, like with many countries, the taxi drivers need nothing but a drivers’ license to be qualified, so even the ride home provides a great cross-section of ordinary Moroccans. And obviously, every driver has his individual, uh, style. And unfortunately for Charlotte and Alice, this afternoon’s driver’s style was the fast-and-furious-lad-on-phone type. Brilliant. I think they’ve blanked much of the experience from their minds, except that their friendship has deepened by facing death together. And they will never be able to listen to ‘It Wasn’t Me’ by Shaggy without flinching ever again…
I won’t lie, if you’re trying to attract attention in Rabat, dye your hair blonde. You’ll get responses from open staring to offers of a life partner who, dressed in his imitation Ralph Lauren polo shirt, will call you a princess and persuade you that he is not like other Moroccan men because he asks Google what to wear and that that alone qualifies him as a suitable husband. Alice has experienced both of these extremes. Yes, really.
Speaking of meeting lifetime lovers in Morocco… At the weekend a few of us are going to visit Casablanca! Mainly just to see the mosque and the harbours, but maybe I’ll be the Ingrid Bergman to my long-awaited Humphrey Bogart this weekend. I’ll let you know.

Hannah

About Aimee Hannah Mccallum

I am a final year BA International Relations student at Sussex University, and I'm also studying the Arabic Language Elective Pathway. Alongside this, I am acting as a Student Language Ambassador, in hopes of convincing the world that a language is a beautiful thing :)