At school, I am taking Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Essentially, this is the formal, written Arabic, used in academia and newspapers. In every region, MSA, or fus-ha as it is called in Arabic, remains the same. However, in each region there is a dialect of spoken Arabic, called dareeja. Moroccan dareeja is the most difficult to understand and the most removed from MSA. So. In my homestay, I am taught dareeja. At school, I learn fus-ha. And when I go shopping, or to restaurants, I am addressed in French. The school, however, is great. There are many more Moroccan students studying English, but the students studying Arabic are an interesting mix. My class has five students. Khang, who is originally from Malaysia; Tove, from Colorado; Fraser, from London; and Jonathon, from Mississippi. We spend four hours a day, Monday through Friday in class. In our free time, we hang out in the ALIF garden, outside the school. Tove lives with four other students in an apartment across the street, which I believe will quickly become my home away from my home away from home. She lives with Cameron, from Connecticut; Austen, from California; Alex, from New Jersey; and Melissa, from Missouri. In the pictures, you can see Cameron adjusting the gas in what we call the “death room”: two people have been found dead in their apartment from carbon monoxide poisoning. So they keep the gas locked up in that room, and the windows open all the time. By the way, I gave Cameron a haircut, and it turned out fairly well. Only a tad bit longer on the right. I went on a school-sponsored tour of the Medina with my friends, which ended up being a fairly exciting event. I inadvertently watched a chicken being killed while walking past a poultry stall. It was a tad bit horrifying. Also horrifying was the camel head hanging on a hook. We went back to the same fabric shop, and tried out some of the scarves. I ended up getting one, but I highly doubt I will choose to wear it this way…although I think Tove and I really pull off those colors. We also saw a 54-bedroom riad, a huge house with a garden, that was for sale for 2 million euros. It was in such disrepair, however, that renovations were going to cost about 6 million euros. Still, considering the cost of housing in LA, maybe we could get together with 20-30 friends….We also ventured into the McDonald's, where Fraser was brave enough to try the McArabia. I think it was essentially a burger in a pita. There may have been some chicken. I find it amusing that the McDonald’s employees here wear shirts that say, “I’m lovin’ it.” You would think they would at least translate it into French. Last weekend, Jonathon, Khang, Fraser and I went to a small town south of Fes. We took a Grand-Taxi, which is essentially an old white Mercedes that will take you from city to city for a fairly cheap price. However, they fill the taxi with six passengers, and then drive like a bat out of hell to your destination. I actually feared for my life as the driver chose to pass three trucks and another car while going uphill around a corner. Not to mention I was crammed into the passenger seat with Khang. We decided to sit in the backseat after that, so as not to see what poor decisions the driver was making regarding our safety. And seriously, we payed 10 dirhams each for the trip – which is about $1.30. So I guess you get what you pay for.