Just returned from Southern Excursion. It would be pretty much impossible to spell out each one of the zillions of things we did during the week, but here are some highlights:

1. The desert. We did the typically tourist thing and rode camels up the sand dunes, which was uncomfortable and so worth it. But the best part of our time in the Sahara was waking up at five a.m. to trek up the highest sand dune and watch the sun rise. It may have been the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done, but again, so worth it.

2. Driving through the High Atlas mountains. The fact that we were packed into an enormous tour bus made the tizis (mountain passes) terrifying, but it hardly mattered for the view.

3. Staying in a dorm in Ouarzazate. The organization that runs the dorm gives rural girls who don't get much education in their home villages the opportunity to live and learn in the city. We had dinner with the girls. One of them (age 18) had just gotten married and asked why we didn't have husbands yet. What can you really say in response to this?

4. Marrakesh, every bit as crazy and touristy as I anticipated. Monkey handlers, pushy vendors, snake charmers, all of it. The men here were particularly aggressive with their call-outs...they kept assuming we were English and shouting "fish and chips" when we walked by. You're supposed to just ignore this sort of thing, but sometimes it's difficult not to laugh.

On our second night in Marrakesh, our entire group went to a massive club just outside the city. This club did not close at 1:00, unlike the one in Casa.

5. Essaouira!! This is a city on the Southern Atlantic Coast that is ridiculously laid-back and friendly. We wound up staying an extra night because we just couldn't get enough of it. Time on the beach, shopping in the souks, and befriending a shopkeeper who sells Gnaoua (traditional Berber) music CDs and instruments. He gave us a personal concert.

So, in short, fabulous week. Now I'm back in Rabat and ready to spend a few weeks here. I think I'm going to stick around this weekend, explore some things I have not yet seen (Hassan II Tower, the Chellah, etc), and just hang with the family. Also, this Tuesday is the Prophet Mohammed's birthday, a big holiday for Muslims. My host mom is taking me to a festival in Sale, the city just north of Rabat.

Also, as of today, our time here in Morocco is one-third of the way over (five weeks down, ten to go). This weirds me out. I feel like I'm just getting started seeing and doing things here, learning about this culture and figuring out how to communicate in Arabic (in the most basic way possible, of course--but I can now read and write with the Arabic alphabet, which is progress!). It's not something you can do completely in three and a half months. It's not something you can do completely unless you live here in a more permanent way, I guess.