Volleyball Weekend

This weekend was our school's first volleyball tournament! We have just started putting together a sports program, so being involved in this was very exciting for our students! The tournament was all day Friday and Saturday. Sarah and I had originally planned on going for the Saturday games but when we found out there were Friday afternoon games, we found people to cover our classes and set out for Rabat...
Our train was supposed to leave at 2:03. So when a train pulled up at 2:02 and the sign said Fes (Rabat is on the way to Fes), we assumed it was our train and got on. About ten minutes into the ride, the conductor came around to check our tickets and told us we were on the wrong train...we were heading south! SO we got off at the next stop which happened to be the VERY small town of Bouskoura. We waited and waited for another train to come through and finally after an hour and ten minutes one arrived. By the time we got back into Casa we realized there was no way we were going to make it to the games.
Not wanting to go back to our apartment, we decided to play Casablanca tourist. We walked from the train station to La Scala (a restaurant) and ordered banana juice and mint tea...took pictures with the canons...and tried to forget how stupid we felt. We continued walking toward the mosque...taking random pictures with trees, flowers, archways, etc. We arrived at the mosque around sunset and stayed there for a couple hours talking, taking funny pictures, eating cookies that were meant for the players...trying to figure out what we wanted to do next. We called our friend Simo and he came and picked us up and we went out to dinner at TGI Fridays. Yeah for cheese broccoli soup, boneless wings, and real salad! And that concluded our lovely day in "Rabat".
On Saturday we actually made it to Rabat. The kids played well for only having had about 10 practices total and no prior sports experience. Both our girls team and our boys team finished last (4th) but they did not lose by much. We were quite proud!

Winner Man :D

At the end of our church service today, the pastor called the praise team up to close out the service with a song...their choice...Winner Man! Now imagine these words being sung by sub-Saharan Africans to a reggae beat..."Jesus is the winner man, the winner man, the winner man. Jesus is the winner man, the winner man all the time. Winner man, winner man , winner man, winner man, winner man, winner man, winner man, winner man. Jesus is the winner man, the winner man all the time." In case you can't imagine it, what you actually hear is..."Jesus is the weener man, the weener man, the weener man. Jesus is the weener man, the weener man all the time. Weener man, weener man, ...." You get the picture :) When the praise team had finished, our paster got up and said, "For all the Americans who were confused during this last song, no we were not just singing about Oscar Meyer!"

To stay or not to stay...

...that is the question! Every day I change my mind. Yes...no...yes...no...yes...no...ahhhhhhh!!!!! So if anyone is wondering what's new in my life, thinking about that questions pretty much consumes my non-teaching moments :)
On a happy note though...my dance class is going amazingly!!! I finished my ballet unit a week and a half ago, and have now moved on to jazz. The girls are loving it! I usually have stretching and conditioning days on Fridays, but last Friday the girls begged me to dance :) They are enthusiastic and motivated and are practicing...I am really seeing positive changes in them. It has proven to be my favorite class and a great way to start the day!

Life Updates...

After talking with my grandma, I realized it had been a very long time since my last post! So here's the synopsis of my last few weeks...

-Started tutoring 3 students
-Had sushi, thai, and indian food
-Back-to-School Barbeque
-Watched 3 movies in a row
-Finished LOST season 6...anyone figured that show out yet?
-Started a book club with teachers at school
-Found out I can buy bacon here!
-Saw my first movie in Megarama (movie theatre)...a bit bloody but in English :)
-Had tea with friends
-Busted 7 students for cheating
-Finished my Ballet unit and began a Jazz unit
-My dance room is now equipt with a ballet bar and mirrors...and it was done before the class ended...I wasn't sure that was going to happen ;)
-Booked tickets to Belgium for our week-long November break (also to visit Amsterdam...my motherland!)

True Story

8th grade Pre-Algebra class...Lesson: Algebraic Expressions and Equations
Question: How many days are there in 4 weeks?
Students: ?????
Me: Well let's think about this. How many days are there in one week?
Student 1: Five
Student 2: Eight
Student 3: Ten
Me: (Jaw has now dropped to the floor and my head is on my desk) Seriously? Okay, let's count... (my hands go up in the air and we count)...Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday...How many fingers am I holding up?
Students: Seven
Me: Thank you!

Mediterranean + Mountains = Cabo Negro, Morocco

This past weekend I went to Cabo Negro with Amber (new teacher) and Ruth (friend from another school). Sarah decided to climb the highest mountain in Morocco instead...don't understand why :D Cabo Negro is in the north of Morocco, just east of Tangier. We stayed at a student's family's vacation apartment...swimming pool, real grass, mountains, beach...can't ask for any better!
Being that it was a holiday weekend (end of Ramadan), most people were with family. After waking up at 4:30am and riding on a bus for 7 1/2 hours, we then began our adventure trying to find something open where we could buy at least milk. Instead we found and old man who gave us roses and offered us milk from his house. We declined but thanked him...not wanting to become his next three wives ;) Then we found a taxi driver who offered to drive us to McDonald's! (Apparently it was one of the only things open...and in a different city) The remainder of the evening consisted of trying to watch a movie in French, reading, and a nice 10pm bedtime.
Day 2 - I slept in all the way to 7am! (haha) We made our way to the beach to enjoy the sun and sand. Later in the afternoon it started to become overcast, so we returned to the apartment, made a yummy dinner, and read for most of the evening. I love vacations where you can read, sleep, read, sleep, repeat!
Day 3 - Cleaning...taxi to bus station...tour Tetouan...long trek home.

I'd say the weekend was just what the doctor ordered!

Week 1...Complete :)

One week down! I can't believe how fast this first week went. In some ways it feels like I never left. My days are going by much faster this year due to an extra class (Dance/Fitness!) AP Calculus will keep me on my toes but I'm excited for what this year will hold. It's Ramadan for one more week and then things can get back to normal. The kids are tired from too few hours of sleep and the heat makes things even worse (especially without water!)

Monday is "Moroccan Dress Day"...kind of like wearing a bathrobe to school :)
Friday...no school!
Weekend plans...Paris...Spain...Portugal...London...where should we go?!!