Morocco Day Deux
Breakfast at Cafe Le Paix w Dave. Omlette fromage cafe au lait du pain and little bowl of soup which I think might be grits or hominy? Le jus orange sans sucre. They add four cubes of sugar to your orange juice.
La=no in Arabic

Later on, I was nervous about the evening in terms of should I walk around? Where can I go for dinner? Is it ok as a woman to be walking around? How late is too late? Anyway I left the apt and got a coffee at the joint on the corner just to use the wifi. Then I departed and turned down the street and ended up at The Skipper restaurant. I guess it's a seafood place lol

The server was very nice of course and suggested la salade nicoise which ended up being huge so I have leftovers tonight. He spoke English and readily wanted to continue in English. We chatted a bit about my stay and he offered me his number if I need help with anything. Apparently Moroccans want to offer you their number and help you. It's their nature whether you're a man or woman.

Call to prayer 5h

Words today
L'Abonnement (masc) = subscription, when you want a phone "plan"

Morocco Day Trois
A lot Accomplished today!
Mostafa fixed the shower head and the stove situation.

Purchased stuff like slippers and food and staples for kitchen like butter and eggs and olive oil. Some items are totally cheap like a two liter bottle of water which was $0.35. In the USA that bottle would have been easily $2 or $3 or more?
Yet a bath towel at the store was $14. Go figure.

Made friends with a girl at Acima, Sokayda, who wants to learn English and will teach me Arabe.

Met nice ladies at Carrefour pharmacie too. Louba and Nadja.

Walked to beach and went through the parc which is awesome. Love that area right near the préfecture.

Met guy at beach who bought me mint tea and offered to give me free surfing lessons. Hmmm? He spoke English and I was able to ask him a few questions like are the seats with the parasol/umbrella free to use on the beach? Oui. I asked BC as I sat on the beach, a man approached me saying something about the parasol so maybe he detected I was a tourist and wanted money? I felt safe and fine all day but self conscious as I stick out as the only American, white woman at all. I see women with the head scarves and long robes and I see Arabe women in jeans and regular tops. But no white girls like me or British or even French.

Made dinner at home and my phone rang! It was Sokayda so we spoke in French a few mins and plan to meet on Monday.

"In a pinch" as they say...I moved the fabric shower curtain to the rod in the bedroom to cover my window for a little privacy and so I can keep the window open for air but subsequently got the floor all wet during my lukewarm trickling hot water shower. Lol. Tomorrow need shower curtain.

Words today
Ravir, je suis ravie = To delight, I am delighted

Salam alaycham = hello/greeting
Shukraan = thank you

Morocco Day Quatre
Ceremony at ALC
Very nice presentation. Met lovely people. Very gracious. All of them gave me their number and offered to help if I need anything in the country. Offered to take me traveling. Offered to host me and show me around. Very proud of their kid who speaks English. Can understand my French.

Spoke French for a long time with lots of people today young and old mixed with English. Met woman who offers French language lessons. Apparently the school offers both English and French so I'm in luck and will take lessons.

Took petit taxi to the mall where there's a big store like Wal Mart. Spent entirely too much time here but needed housewares like French press, can opener, shower curtain etc. and yoga mat which I got at Decathlon same sporting store as in Montpellier. All told $125, probably a steal compared to the USA.
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Quick shower and need to crash as we're going early to Rabat for a training. Gotta catch train at 7h55 and am meeting Michael, new American teacher guy at about 7h20.
I have coffee here and yogurt and an egg then onto the gare. He speaks pretty good French and even Arabic and just a nice well traveled open guy.

I need to exercise!

Call to prayer 13h26
Call to prayer 20h40

Morocco Jour Cinq
Took an early morning train to Rabat. Super easy to get on ad figure out. The one way ticket was 28MAD which is $2.80. The ride was about 30 mins.

Rabat is the capital so on a Sunday morning was pretty quiet. We walked to the training center and grabbed a quick coffee beforehand.

Today I really felt like I was in Morocco despite having New York style pizza for lunch lol

Met about a dozen more fellow teachers who are all stationed around the country. We did some ice breaker games and get to know you. Met Emma from Portland, ME, Syracuse Uni grad. All of the teachers were either from the USA, Australia or New Zealand it was a long day but we covered a lot of ground about customs, safety, expectations, traveling etc. I now how an entire network of people I can connect with when traveling around the country. Emma just finished a two year Peace Corps stint.

Later a few of us traveled around Rabat with the three Moroccan buddies, native Moroccans who speak fluent English who are helping us acclimate. Rabat was amazing as we walked through the medina where the vendors are selling shoes, clothes, everything. Then we ended up at this beautiful overlook for the sunset where we had mint tea and almond pastries-quintessential Moroccan. A bunch of them decided to stay for a jazz concert and I wanted to head back so they got me to the train station and I navigated myself back to Mohammedia.

I supposed I was a little nervous but it was totally fine and I sat next to a nice man who spoke French to me the entire ride. In fact, he wanted to practice his English and all I had was my novel, Ruth Ozeki's "A Tale for the Time Being." So I opened up to a random page and he read aloud in English and then together we translated. It was so much fun and I realized how well I can translate (actually it's interpret as translate is written and interpret is spoke word).

Then I read aloud in French from my copy of Le Matin I had in my bag and he wade equally impressed with my French pronunciation. Moroccans find English kind of easy since many words have French origins. Still it's not too common to meet people on the street or in the stores who speak English. Even some folks ball at French and speak only Arabic. See pic above.

Call to prayer 19h55

What brings me to Morocco?

Since the time I was a high school student in the 1980s, I've had the dream of traveling to French speaking countries around the world, particularly in Africa: Morocco, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and also to other places like Haiti, Vietnam and of course Quebec.

I love the French language and am fascinated by our ability to think, read, speak, and understand bilingually.
http://www.pinkpangea.com/2014/11/quit-day-job-finally-pursued-dream-speaking-french/>

So in 2014, I earned an ESL (teaching English as a Second Language) degree -- effectively my passport around the world. It gives me the opportunity not only to travel but also to live in a country and experience it as a local rather than only as a tourist.

When you are planted in a city for an extended stay (9 mos-1yr) and visit the same cafe, shop at the same stores and get to know the shopkeepers, you get the deeper experience.

To boot, I get paid to learn a new culture, customs and language. In fact, the ESL school here offers courses in French language.

As a side note, my advice to young people going to college is to consider complementing your studies by looking into earning an ESL degree.

I took my course through The Language House in Montpellier, France (so I actually have a TEFL degree, Teaching English as a Foreign Language). It was an intensive 4-week course, which met Mon-Fri, 9-5p with two weeks of grammar review and testing then two weeks of lesson planning and student teaching in small groups and one/one.

You are observed by your instructor and then your peers. It's intense but within one month you have completed 120 hours and are finished with certificate in hand. It's also advisable, if you can, to take a supplemental Business English course which qualifies you to teach business English to managers, CEOs, and professionals.

This is nice because under this type of work, you can command higher fees so if you gravitate toward teaching adults over children, as I do, then it can be a good career move. The course I zoom was about US $1,500 and I paid a separate housing fee of $500 to do a homestay with a French speaker for the month.

Of course I needed to cover my airfare to France and allot money for food and personal items. Doing the homestay was more affordable and gave me the opportunity to practice French while having a nice cozy home base to live and relax and study. You don't have much free time during the month while taking the TEFL course because it's quite intense with assignments, homework and studying but the payoff is great once you are done.

Read about my travels in Montpellier, France: http://www.jenniferkarchmer.com/montpellier-france.html>

Take for example the different writing phases. If you are in what is known as the "messy draft" (the very beginnings of writing your novel where you are trying out language, character development and just getting the story on the page), it doesn't make sense to hire an editor because much of the manuscript may change and it's OK to be making mistakes at this phase. 

Later, when you've moved into your "method draft," (when the story has taken shape and you need guidance), you will want to hire the right person to offer suggestions on story arc, scene development, tension buildup and overall organization. 

I teamed with Laura Kemp, an artist and writer, who graciously offered her Poulsbo, WA home and studio, Gamble Creek Farm & Studio for our setting. Gamble Creek has a spacious indoor workspace where we held instruction, lovely grounds for lunchtime and writer reflection (and birdwatching!), and a private and relaxing area for an editor to hold one/one consults with writers for individualized manuscript feedback sessions.

Please contact me if you'd like me to design a special workshop or session for your writer's group, conference, school or event. ​Also, contact Laura Kemp at Gamble Creek Farm & Studio as she continues to host creative workshops in Poulsbo, WA in writing, art, drawing, and photography.

Photo gallery (below) of The Writer's Retreat: Ask the Editor held in Poulsbo, WA, August 20-21, 2016.

So if you missed the inaugural writer's intensive, not to worry. I plan to hold more of these workshops in the future. Meantime, I am very accessible via social media and around the Internet so please see the links below and LIKE and Share and read some of my work. 

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