Happy first day of Advent.

here in morocco we like to stick to the four main food groups

bread
potatoes
pasta
and
sugar

ya dig?

sharing.

I wish I could tell you what's been going on in my mind lately.
I mean, that's essentially what this space if for, right?
A medium in which we share things that could not otherwise be shared (you know...because I'm in a different country)

However, I'm afraid if I tried it would just end up being a mish-mash of half-thought-out questions, fragment sentences, starts, stops, and stutters.

I have a page in my journal of key words to use when people ask (which, the inevitably will) "What was Morocco like?" after I return.
I'm not sure these words do these past three months justice, but I think they may allow for greater explanation if time allows and the person listening has the patience.

At times I've found my mind completely wandering, and completely disconnected from the place I am in at that moment.
But I must force myself to stop, remember where I am, and throw myself back into this life that has become familiar and yet is still so foreign.
I am celebrating new holidays and trying to remember old ones.
The fall season comes here as in any other place, but it seems to be missing something.
maybe it's the smell of cookies, maybe it's the oak leaves.
I don't know.

I went to a café with some girls at Dar Taliba today.
We shared a conversation in four different languages.
We learned how to say "to share" in 3 of them.
I could say something cool and profound about that, but I'll let you make up your own.

that's all for now.

except for this:
I'm not expecting anything fantastic to come from this research paper I'm attempting to write (or...will attempt to write). So...you shouldn't either.

i will remember you well, impasse doura
your green diamond walls always led me home.

i made brownies for my family.
yay.
i like to think it was a success.

updates

hi. i'm alive. i promise.

here's what's up:
1. just spent a fantastic weekend with courtney pate and andy wade
2. spent last night in marrakesh in a hostel with an australian and a bulgarian.
3. took a four hour bus ride today to Ourzazat. the hollywood of morocco. i'm staying at a place called Dar Taliba for the next few days to do my research! yay.
(dar taliba: a boarding house type place in the city for girls from surrounding villages who want to finish school, super cool, right?)
4. i officially have less than one month left until I return back to the states. crazy!! 2 and a half weeks left in Morocco, and 10 days in germany/belgium/france. craziness.

pictures and other stuff to come.

peace.

hello, my name is cassandra

My name is Cassandra. The Arabic equivalent is Hadija. She was one of (I repeat, one of...)the prophet Mohamed's wives.

I live off of peanut butter and cafe au lait's.

I wash my clothes in a pink bucket in the bathroom.

The only place I feel like I fit in in this country is the hammam.

Yesterday was Eid el-Kebir
We gave thanks to God as we remembered when God spared Ibrahim's son Ishmael from being sacrificed by providing Ibrahim with a ram.
therefore, we (my host family and I) slaughtered two rams, in our house, in the hallway. and then ate some liver. and a lot of kefta.

on saturday, this song will be true. but only the first line of it:

i'm all about the USPS

today i received some mail. REAL mail. like, from the post office.

it was the best feeling ever.

and watching the sort-of-unfriendly post office woman open my package and look through it in front of me was almost as good as opening it myself.

thank you friends, and brother and sister susan.

i took my arabic final today. i can now say that i have attempted to learn two languages in my life and am proficient in neither of them. that's accomplishment.
therefore, this is my plan:

when school is over, my degrees are earned, and my loans paid off, i will take off.
for a year. somewhere. live on a farm. learn a language. experience more of the world.
because the world is big, and there is too much empty space in this average-sized brain of mine.

This morning as I was walking to class (late...eating my breakfast as i walked...typical) I was greeted with a number of "bonjours" and "sbaah-lkheers". It was quite nice, and in my head I thought "cool, Morocco...be nice to me during the last week of my home stay...right before i leave you forever"

and then i realized this was one of the only days that i didn't have my headphones on as i walked to class in an attempt to avoid cat calls and awkward conversations. way to go, cass...next time let's not block out the world that just wants to tell you good morning.

next subject:
last weekend my dear friend courtney pate came to visit for the weekend.
such a breath of fresh air. so nice to have someone familiar in my life (even if it was only like...2 days)
i failed at taking pictures this weekend, and she wrote about all the things that feel normal to me and that i probably forgot to tell you about, so...

go read this:
courtneypateisawesome

lastly:
next week i start my 3 week long research adventure
so far it looks as if i will be visiting a few different villages and figuring out what food they grow, what they sell in the markets, what they eat at home and how those are different and what that means for the people living in these villages.

i realize that's really vague. (that's because i don't really know what i'm doing yet...also typical)

it should be exciting. and it should stretch me. 3 weeks of independent research... independent aka by myself.
scared.scared.scaredy.scared.

until next time...beslaama.

downstairs neighbor

upstairs neighbor

a few things.

courtney pate comes in 3 days. iamsoexcitedicouldvomittearsofjoy. - that's not my phrase...it's hers.
i now have 20 years of life.

i forgot to show you this:


and this is morocco: