The Return of the Cockroach, Jellaba, and Mint Tea

Yes, that is correct. The cockroach came back! If you remember, I found a cockroach in my clothes last week while about to take a shower. Yesterday, while about to get into the shower, I see Mr. Cockroach, lying inside the bathtub, wounded. I did feel bad for him, but I was also screaming on the inside. So I may have kindly, sadly, drowned it....but then I was just too miserable and freaked out to do anything else, so I called Mama Hyatt and she laughed as she grabbed a tissue and just crumbled it up. Then I started to take my shower, but halfway through, I see baby cockroach in the bathtub!! No fun. I left that one alone though, and he scurried away. It was not a pleasant experience. Sad and confused.


In happier news, the other day, my family had me try on a jellaba! It is a Moroccan dress (usually there is a headpiece, but I didn't try that one on). This one they had me try on is for a Moroccan wedding. So if I were to ever have a Moroccan wedding, this is what I would wear!

Moroccan wedding dress

I'm looking a little pregnant here though, because the belt that goes around my waist was too big for me. Also, I recently learned that in Morocco, there is no such thing as boyfriends! It's either friends, fiancé, or husband. No boyfriends! (Sidestory: This makes sense now! The other day, a creepy guy was following me and asking for my number, and I just kept saying no, but he kept on insisting. After about 3 blocks of following, I tell him I have a boyfriend already, but he says it didn't matter to him, and that he just wanted us to be friends. No worries though! He finally left, and said "tu es une fille méchante!" ("You are a mean girl") Now I understand!)


Also a big Moroccan tradition is mint tea! Mint tea is delicious, and is usually drank daily during tea time. My family hasn't had tea time these past two weeks, but we do have it for breakfast every morning. They use fresh leaves from the garden to make the tea, and it is usually served on a silver platter, in little glasses. I will definitely be buying a set of teapot and cups to bring home to my family!

Typical Moroccan breakfast: bread, pancake-type things, cheese, mint tea, and more bread. 

Moroccan mint tea

Also, I now have an internet key! Which means I will have internet while I'm home, which means skype time with family and friends! My skype is awang4829, add me so we can talk!

How a Cockroach Got into my Clothes

I don't really know how it happened. I was just getting ready to shower. I have to first take out all the things that are inside the bath-tub (empty buckets, old bags, rag towels). I did that, and then I proceed to take off my capris pants. But then I feel something - I thought maybe it was a loose string dangling on my legs? I look down, and you can imagine my absolute horror when there, on my left thigh, was a cockroach the size of my fist. (okay - that's probably an exaggeration, it was more like two fingers. but it really did look ginormous when I first saw it). I go into silent panic mode as I scream silently and flap around wildly. The bathroom in our house is also very small so I looked like I was going mad within a constrained bubble. It finally fell off me and scampered away into a dark hole. I proceeded to take my shower within 2 minutes, and run back to my room. Also in that time,  I lost the two hair ties that was on my wrist!! Now I really really don't know how that happened. I refuse to believe that they both fell off while I was having my panic attack, because they're pretty tight around my wrist....
Anyway, I was very very scared and sad. I also sprayed bug spray all over me when I went to bed. Sadface.

In other news, I'm doing well! Work is going pretty well. It's not too demanding, but I'm kept busy. In the mornings, I work at the Thaqafat association on mostly archives and data entry. In the afternoons, I go over to the Laalou annex and work with a lovely lady called Bouchra, and we do more proof-reading, data entry, and other computer work.

I also got two Morocco guide-books from the library and have been reading those. This weekend, my sisters and I are going to go ride camels hopefully, and visit Chellah and The Royal Palace. After that, I think I'll have visited all of Rabat? Then maybe one weekend, I'll be able to visit Fez or Marrakech! After work today, I'm going to visit the souqs on Rue Souika on Rue des Consuls. Will post pictures soon!