Ahhhh sweet freedom! After another six hours today, the last two being of grammar, it’s so nice to just sit and chill, even if all the early mornings are making me fall asleep in my Pinterest. But today has been great for many reasons.
Probably the most significant of these is that it’s Friday! Over here, their Friday is like our Sunday, where people go to prayers and have the day off and eat special food. Yes, their equivalent of a Sunday roast is couscous. We had it in the school today, and oh my goodness, it was a thing of delight. Billy and James are living with a host family too, and if this couscous was anything to go by, they will be loving their food coma tonight. It was so different being out tonight as well – everyone was out enjoying themselves, so watching Morocco go by was even more enjoyable than usual, as we partook in the holiday spirit and another helping of Fanta and fries. But really, it was gorgeous.

Lessons today were lovely as well. It’s so great to be able to have a giggle with my classmates – it really takes the pressure off and makes us comfortable to try as hard as we can. Today we were talking about our hobbies. In the heat of the moment, I could only remember that I liked to read. So I said that. So far, so good. But then I confirmed that that was my only hobby. I could have talked about the fact that I sing and play piano and guitar, or that I can draw or make jewellery or do embroidery. But no. As far as the world is concerned, I just read. How accomplished of me.
On the other hand, there’s an older man in our class called Ken who is Japanese, and he’s such a sweetheart. He loves to push himself to answer the question exactly the same as if it had been asked in English, with the same detail and everything. And quite often this results in some hilarious blunders (like him accidentally calling our young female teacher ‘delicious’). Today, he told us that one of his hobbies was having a pet. All fine and good. Except that we discovered later that this meant he had bought a chamaeleon in Morocco ten years ago and had called it Fatma. She didn’t really last that long, but she must have been special to still have a place in Ken’s hobby list. RIP Fatma.

Speaking of dead things brings me to the World Cup. Oh England… But at least I get to regale you with a mighty fine account. So, in a flash of splendid patriotism, we decided to try and watch the game last night. After flicking through most of the 600 channels on our TV, we decided it was a case of ask someone or give up. Being in our stubbornly patriotic mood, we decided to storm the nearest cafe and demand to know how to watch the game or we would just die. By that, I mean that Alice suggested that she go down and ask, and got a response about as enthuisiastic as striking a match in a rainstorm. However, she managed to stir us enough to work out how to say “which channel for the English football?” in French and Arabic, which Alice then took to the men in the fake Subway (really just a cafe). Somewhere between these two languages, hand gestures, and a detailed study of different kinds of remote controls, she came back with a list. It turns out that all this did was provide a story, because we had none of the channels on the list. So our patriotism couldn’t even be rewarded with a glimpse of the England players attaining a fierce victory to storm through to the finals and win the World Cup. Wait, what?

Anyway, moving on to better things, it’s the weekend!! What with Charlotte and Rebecca in the Sahara until Sunday night, we had to do some thinking about what to do. But on the schedule is time to just be in Morocco. Not in a school in Morocco, but actually in Morocco. So we’re buzzing for a visit to the old souq – yes, the whole crowded, spicy, loud and colourful experience – and a trip to the beach, as well as Casablanca and just some general down time. Bring it on! Can’t wait to tell you all more about the country and less about verbal nouns. Be excited for the news!

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 :)