#RecklessInRabat (Titled by Cassie)

One of the many faces of Cassie Odneal. She promises more.

Hello again! The last few days have been equally busy and exciting. Everything is so new and so amazing it's hard what to think about it half the time.

Breakfast is served at the hotel every morning, and it's the same everyday. Some type of cornbread, traditional Moroccan bread, hard boiled eggs, coffee, juice, and Moroccan mint tea (which is insanely good and generally served everywhere).

Monday consisted of four-ish lectures about general topics in Morocco such as safety, health, fears, and expectations. Mary Stucky, our program's academic director, put a lot of our minds at ease and answered a lot of questions in our first session.

J-Squad heading to the CCCL annex, also in the Medina.

Meals are generally served at the CCCL, and are very, very good. Usually beef or chicken, served with a couple different steamed vegetables, potatoes or pasta, Moroccan bread, rice, and a random piece of fruit. It's my understanding that the chefs at the CCCL live in the medina.

That night, the J-Squad (journalism squad) and some others from the other programs found a bar in the downtown area of Rabat that was doing karaoke. A group of 15 of us split into cabs (which only allow two or three people each), and did our best to find El Barrio Latino. Driving in Morocco is an experience in itself, essentially a free-for-all between cars and pedestrians, which explains abnormally high amounts of traffic fatalities and injuries each year.

Some locals were at the restaurant drinking and a few of the them had exceptional karaoke voices. I'm sure we were quite obnoxious, but we had a few drinks, everyone sang something, and we had a great time. It felt good to have successfully navigated the city for the first time, and survived.

Perched on the Atlantic

The next day started with an interesting (and slightly intimidating) informative lecture about the Arabic courses that we will start next week. The next few hours we had free, so the J-Squad took a nice walk down to the beaches. We all had our cameras and were looking like some hardcore American tourists. It was great. The view of the Atlantic is amazing. It's weird being on the other side of it. I really lucked out being in a study abroad program with all of these people. I have a feeling these are some life-long friends in the making.

After lunch, Badrdine AKA Badr AKA B-Dogg (our program assistant) gave us a presentation on bargaining, an important part of Moroccan culture and something that I'm quite terrible at. He taught us some Arabic phrases; "Hello! What's up?" (salam alaikum, la-bas) , "How much, please?" (besh-hel, afak), and "I'm a student" (ana talib) to name a few.

The souks are colorful, energetic,
aromatic, and a little intimidating.

Armed with 20 dirhams each (about $2.50), we set out to the expansive, bustling souks of the medina to try out our new skills. I bought an outfit for about 130 dirhams, which I bargained down from 180. Very comfortable, pretty excited. Other students managed to stay within the 20 dirhams, buying tea pots, wallets, necklaces, etc.

That night, we found our way to a few places in downtown Rabat again to hang out and have some beers. I find that I keep having this feeling of "I don't want to the be the annoying Americans that ruin things for the locals," which we might be at times. However, every interaction I've had with a Moroccan has been pleasant. They generally like Americans and welcome you graciously to the country, especially when you throw them a "Salam alaikum!" and a hefty tip.

Boats parked on the Bou Regreg, the river that divides
Rabat and its sister city, Salé.

Today started off with the Drop-Off, which is exactly what it sounds like. In groups of two or three, you are dropped off somewhere in Rabat and have two hours to find your way back. You are given 20 dirhams as a last resort to get a taxi (which are very, very, inexpensive). Working with Katherine McMillan, a CU Boulder senior, we found our way back in about 30 minutes. We both felt pretty accomplished.

Next, we had a bus tour of Rabat and Salé, the sister city. A lot of us had a difficult time keeping our eyes open, but it was an informative tour and it was great to see the different parts of the city. As I write, our welcoming dinner to the CCCL is beginning.

Tomorrow is a big day. We are beginning the day by learning all about the schedule and specifics of the journalism program. Then, we pack our bags, and its host family time. Everyone is a little nervous, but also more than psyched.

Stay tuned, more to come. If you have questions, ask, and I'll respond in a post. Much love.