Thursday, February 21, 2008

Look both ways when crossing the street

No new pics today. Went and signed up for Arabic language classes. In Morocco they speak a dialect of Arabic called Darija. It's a mixture of Berber, French, and Spanish. Actually lots of French mixed in. For other Arabic speakers, say in Egypt, Darija is almost intelligible. But Darija speakers can understand Arabic, so its a one-way street so to speak. After signing up for classes I went to the supermaker La Belle Vie. It looks like any American grocery store. The products are all either French or Arab. I bought my usual soy milk, cereal, Orangina etc. But downstairs is an entire liquor world. I was the only female down there, other than the checkers. It was mobbed with men just getting off of work. There was every type of liquor imaginable, so much for this being a Muslim country. I luckily found my favorite red wine, Coted du Rhone, which I am happily sipping on now, you know to calm my nerves. I had a near death experience where a motorbike ran into me. Luckily it was just a light tap and I am no worse for wear, just a slight tire print on my jeans. People drive absolutely insane here. They drive down the wrong way on a one-way street, and on two-way streets they routinely cross over into oncoming traffic. Its every man to himself, and that goes for pedestrians too. So yeah I'm enjoying a glass with some yummy patisseries that I picked up at this store. They make the best pastries here. So now I've found two places where my language skills are no impediment, the cafe (its pretty easy to say cafe au lait and croissant du chocolat) and the patisserie (where its acceptable to point at what you want.) C'est bon.

1 comment:

Steven said...

I'm visiting the site more and I was hoping for a post on my birthday but that day was missed.
Anyways I'll have to tell my dad about the all you can get liquor store.
When you return to NYC I'll have to introduce you to Rochdale Wine and Liquor