Kindeys in my couscous

Moroccan food and flaws:

The food here is very tasty, if you like everything white and with oil. All white bread, a majority of the time with sugar. The big meals are lunch and dinner where white bread is used to scoop oil and meat hunk out of giant center plate. I have a courtesy, "you are the weirdo we are hosting" napkin but otherwise we eat with our hands. On Fridays the big treat is couscous. which was delicious at lunch today. The meals can be a little awkward because we eat in a room with a TV so the kids just kind of eat and watch the Hindi soaps I don't understand in drreja(Moroccan arabic) so to make conversation and for my language skills, I have begun to name all the foods on the family plate (table). Today, I pointed out what looked like an olive and said "zeitoon" (I know the word for olive because zeitoon and zeit zeitoon (olive oil) are at EVERY MEAL) and my host mom looked very confused. noo she said and then said something else in arabic. That's when I knew. "meat?" I asked? and she nodded. then I pointed to my stomach. "from here meat" yep. that's right, there were lamb kidneys in my couscous. Now, as my real American sister puts it, I am a recovering vegetarian, and I have been fine eating meat here, and I also want to try everything, experience the culture, blah blah. but the veggie in me does not want kidneys, does not want to see chickens throats slit in the market, and definitely does not want to see whole lamb heads bloody and on display for sale. la aheb (i dont like)
the other problem with food right now, is that there is so freaking much of it. My mother has made it very very clear that she is personally responsible for my putting on minimum of 200 pounds before I leave Morocco. I swear to you, this is only a slight exaggeration. EVERY meal it is non stop "kuhlee, kuhlee" eat eat! which is very nice but when i have food in front of me, in my hand and in my mouth there is not much more I can do! It started off as nice but now I just feel bad- I get a lot of frowns from my mom. overall, I think she is just very protective of me and thinks of me as younger than I am. The fact that I am short an dlittle, and also a girl I do not think help this situation. My prime example of this (which my fellow UMN students think is hilarious) is that I was washed. Yes, that's right, because Moroccan women scrub their young children, I asked how to use the shower, and my host mom showed me, then proceeded to strip me down and wash me. Luckily, I am not super modest, so I didn't feel violated at all, but this morning I had to be very stern that I would wash myself. I said "I am big, I wash alone" and she said "no, you are small" But I insisted, so we're making headway, but still, I would like a little more independence.
Another thing I have been noticing here is the gender differences. Women are not respected, not really seen in public, and overall just kind of in the woodwork of society. I have stories but I'll have to tell them later. My classmate is waiting for me to walk home together. Triwizard cup tournament maze has be solved, I can now find my way to my house and I WILL be walking home from school by myself.

Tomorrow is Muhammad's birthday and the other UMN kids and I will be exploring the medina.