One week and it starts all over again. The redeye flight. The overstuffed suitcases. The confusion. The excitement. Of course it won’t all be the same. I will be in new city, with a new family, at a new school. But the preparations – physical and emotional – are similar. I am once again off to Target with a shopping list in hand (this time modified to include travel tissues and cliffbars after various Moroccan experiences). And my anticipation of both the delightful and the dreadful is abounding. Marseille is inherently less intimidating than Rabat, but knowing exactly what can go wrong spawns a different kind of anxiety.
Luckily, I have had plenty of time to prepare. My one-month break between semesters has been ideal. It has lasted just long enough for me to recuperate, relax, and re-invigorate. By now, I am itching to be off exploring again. My “intermission” has been strange of course. After four months in Morocco things seem a little off, even though I am back in the “familiar.” Coins seem much too small – dirhams are just slightly larger. Toilets flush with handles on the side, not with buttons on top. And clementines don’t taste nearly as good. But ohh the showers. The showers are heavenly.
The croissants, however, are calling. I can’t wait to explore Marseille and the Provence region – to eat fresh goat cheese and bouillabaisse, to see the countryside by train, to make new French friends. And I’m eager to continue with my French and Arabic (I already feel sadly out of practice). I hope my already signed and submitted language contract declaring that I will only speak French for the entirety of my program will ensure an improvement in my language skills. Finally, I am already looking forward to my one-week program visit to Fes – yes, that’s right I’m going back to Morocco! I’m so glad my French program incorporates a little of le Maghreb.
So until my next post, a bientot!
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