Ground Hog Days

We walked into the dining room this morning and Jim said, “Groundhog day.”  You know the movie, right?  Bill Murray, Punxsutawney Phil:  same day over and over and over and over?  Our days have a “Groundhog Day” quality:

7:15 a.m.  Breakfast in the hotel dining room. The only variations are the type of eggs (scrambled or hard boiled) and the company (French, Spanish, Italian, Asian; or this morning, the first English-speaking tour group, from Great Britain we think).  Otherwise, the same assortment of breads/pastries, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, juice, and coffee.  It’s not thrilling, but it is filling and since we tend to eat the same bowl of bran flakes for weeks on end at home anyway, is okay.

7:45 a.m. Finished with breakfast, we take a few minutes to go outside on the big deck and admire the view of the old city in the distance.

We also check to see who is getting a carwash.

8:30 a.m.  Back in our room to brush our teeth and look over our homework one last time, we open the door to the maid who wants our dirty towels.

8:45 a.m. We pack up, take the elevator downstairs, wave (saHleemu!) to the porter, exit the cool building into the heat of the day, greet the guys “guarding” the entryway (sbaH lkeer!), cross the street and walk around the corner to school, where we greet that guy “guarding” the entry.

9:00 a.m.  Either Mohamed or Fatima begins our first two-hour class.  They switch, so today was Fatima first; tomorrow will be Mohamed first. We started Unit 3 today (whoa) and are learning how to order in a coffee shop.  More about this tomorrow.

11:00 a.m. After a 10 minute break, the other teacher begins our second two-hour class.  He or she will pretty much go over the same subject, except with a twist.  Mohammed is extremely good with grammar and word meanings; but also culture.  He takes time to explain Moroccan cultural stuff, such as how men visit with men in coffee shops and women visit with women in their houses.  Fatima tries very hard to limit her English speaking in class — unless we don’t get something and then she’ll tell us.  She makes us dialogue with each other.  “Kim, ask Jim for his telephone number”. Kim:  “Jim, what’s your telephone number?”  Jim:  “la, la, la!”  (No, no, no!)

1:00 p.m. Done with class for the day, we pack up and stroll out of the cool classrooms, past the college kids who mostly ignore us, into the heat again, to find lunch.  Lunch is always in the same place — down the hill, across the street (we jaywalk because there is no alternative), and either into McD’s parking lot, or a bit farther on to the mall.

2:00 p.m. We are finished eating, grab anything we need for dinner at Carrefour, and do the walk in reverse.  Our room has been made-up, and the AC is on.  Ahhhh.  Relief.

2:30 – 6:00 Nap.  Study.  Check email, messages.  Study more.  Watch CNN.  We’ve added a new element to our evening to break up the study time and get some fresh air:  walking through the garden.

7:30 p.m.  Work on the blog post, study some more, discuss our homework.  “What is ‘marHababek’?”  “I have absolutely no clue.”

9:00 p.m.  Bedtime.  Nighty night from Fes.