Ifrane

Life in my home here in Morocco has picked up considerably again. After the hustle and bustle of the wedding, things really quieted down as it was just basically me and my host mother living in quite a big house (good for Arabic practice though). Now though there are two new exchange students living here, Immanuel and Josha (not sure if that is how it is actually spelled). Immanuel English and Italian, she actually lived in Bologna for the first eight years of her life! So naturally we had quite a bit to talk about. She just finished up university at Oxford and is now planning to spend a year studying Arabic (both here in Morocco and Syria). The Dutch fellow, Josha, studies Arabic on and off more as a hobby and is currently still in university. Surprisingly he had absolutely no interest in the world cup final despite the fact that his country was in it! Hard for a crazy sports fan like me to comprehend...I guess some people just do not like sports (weird!).

This past weekend I spent a lot of time with my host family, which was fitting as it was my last weekend here in Morocco. On Saturday one of my host mother's sons, Salah came home for the weekend (he lives and works as an accountant in Casablanca). My host mother, Salah, my host sister and her new husband, Immanuel, and I all went to a pool on that afternoon (Josha was gone traveling). Let me tell you after weeks on end of basically 100 degree weather a pools is basically heaven sent! It was an amazing way to relax. Later that evening then we all drove to a town called Ifrane which is around an hour from Fez and in the Mountains. Ifrane is very different from the rest of Morocco and often called a little Switzerland because it is much more western in style and is of course in the mountains. Ifrane was lovely and the temperature there was probably 20 degrees cooler then Fez, which again was just what the doctor ordered. In Ifrane we spend most our time hanging out in a park by a mountain stream (where you could ride horses and donkeys...see pictures below), and then in a cafe having some tea.

The park in Ifrane

Me on my trusty Moroccan Steed!

Fatima and her Husband

Me with my Moroccan host family

The rest of the weekend was spent preparing for my exam on Monday (which went just fine), and then watching the world cup final on Sunday night in a typical Moroccan Cafe, which is always quite the experience! To top things off in just one day I will be in Spain and will be celebrating with the victorious Spaniards in person!