allo, rabat

I have been in Rabat for exactly a week now, although I feel somewhat bewildered as I write that; it feels like I have been here for much, much longer. I haven't been scant on the posting for lack of things to say, that's for sure, but for lack of constant internet access. To be honest, I wasn't so keen on this city when I first arrived, having heard so many negative things about it from excitement-seeking friends, but now that I have seen more of Rabat, I'm getting to love it.

As I write this, I'm sitting on the living room floor of my friend's apartment in Hay al-Fath (which, as one Moroccan friend aptly noted, "That's not really Rabat!"), just a 20 minute bus ride outside the city center, listening to evening call to prayer in the background of the nightly futbol game going on in the cement pitch next to the apartment building. Since Austan just moved here, we spent much of the past week figuring out how to get back and forth from the place - I can now say with confidence that I'm a master of the bus system to and from Hay al-Fath. At 4dh each way (a little more than 50 cents), the bus ride beats a taxi (32dh!) full stop. The bus is much more fun than the taxi, too. And not so crowded. Although the seats must have been installed by someone with very short thighs, since its sometimes a squeeze to sit down and often my knees get banged up in the process.

It took me all week to find a cafe here with wireless internet (which makes getting work done + the job search much easier!), which was an occasion that I rejoiced heartily with a steamy cafe creme and the New York Times online. The cafe is in the Agdal neighborhood, called Bert's (in case anyone reading this ever needs wireless in Rabat!), and has really delicious coffee drinks and pretty decent paninis (although it's a little steep - but in exchange for sitting around for way longer than any coffee shop in the states would tolerate, I don't mind). Although it's a little disconcerting sitting next to 13-year-old boys smoking cigarettes like chimneys. Well, I guess that's not unique to cafes with wireless..

On Thursday I leave for Turkey, to spend much of the month of August in Istanbul. When I booked my flight, I was certain that I had my fill of Morocco, that I was ready to move on. Now, having a place to come back to every day, a bit more of a schedule, and interesting people to hang out with, I'm not so sure. I'll be ready to move on to Istanbul when the time comes (Istanbul cok ozliyorum, canim!) - I think I'll always be down for a jaunt to Istanbul - but there's definitely much more to see in this incredibly diverse country! And I certainly don't have Moroccan Arabic down pat. Not even a little bit. In fact, over the past five weeks I think my French might have improved more than my Moroccan darrija has...