I’m getting a lot more comfortable at home. I’m feeling really good about my family and we have had some pretty decent conversations considering we don’t speak the same language. Last night I helped my host brother with his German homework which was funny. If there is one thing that will make you better at a language it is translating it into another language you don’t know very well. Despite my rough, rough Arabic that no one actually speaks though, I have been really inspired by the progress I have already made with the language and by seeing how well other students are doing who have been here longer. Last night I went with a fellow student who has been here since September to a belly dancing class. I was really impressed at how well she can understand and speak Derrija (the local dialect). Unfortunately, both of our belly dancing abilities were not quite as refined as our language skills. Let me tell you there is nothing that can make you feel less attractive than awkwardly rocking your hips while a beautiful Moroccan woman sways seductively in front of you. I also have been able to go running, which has been a great way to see more of the city, and has made me feel happy and at home. The cat calling is actually minimal when I run, too, which I’ve found nice. People really don’t run outside here, so I think instead of thinking “ooo… white woman” when I run by men think, “umm… white freak.” The other day I had a really nice interaction with a man on the street on my way to school. We exchanged “good mornings” and because I was pretty close to ALIF, he asked me if I was a student there. I replied that I was and we had a short conversation in which he told me my Arabic was moomtez! (excellent) which probably made my life. My conversations with my host family, like I said, have gotten a lot better too. The other day we were talking about how my host mom was busy in the kitchen and she said, “you’ll be busy in the kitchen someday too” and I said, “no, I’ll be busy in my office!” and she said, “but, it’s like how I made you a sandwich for lunch the other day, you will make your husband a sandwhich?” and I said “my husband can make his own sandwich!!” Conversations here revolve a lot around marriage and the future children I will have (in shah allah) and food. But as long as I can understand the conversation, I like it. I also love falling asleep to Moroccan rain and the Quran being sung on the TV. I am definitely starting to feel like ena mgrhbeeya (I am Moroccan).