So Much For a Day Off...

My favorite thing about being here is the unceasing, and genuine hospitality of the Moroccan people. If you reciprocate with warmth (stop laughing, I've somehow managed to turn on the charm), it pays dividends, since there are so many amazing people here. Take for example what's just happened within the last few days... Today for example, before walking into class, I mentioned to one of the guys who works at reseau, Badre, that I hadn't been getting much sleep lately (partly due to Drama in the Real World: Rabat house - although nothing directly involving me, thankfully). Before the end of the day, everybody at the office had asked me how I was doing, etc, if I needed a break or whatnot.
One of my students also walked in today after my last class got out at 4pm, with a friend, who had a very firm grip when I shook her hand. Turns out that the reason why was that this girl's friend did Henna - a type of impermanent tattoo. So, got some free Henna on my arm, a very masculine and understated, ahem, floral design (at least it's not pink...).
Friday I'm going to go to a local sports club to play tennis with one of the VPs of the Reseau Maillage Organization, a great guy named Youssef. After that, got a hot date ;)
Saturday, I'm going fishing with a bunch of the guys from one of my classes. On a sidenote, squeamishness definitely has a shelf life in Morocco, I've become a lot more accustomed to fish/really gross animal carcasses hanging out of boucheries.
Oh, and this is the part that I still get a huge kick out of. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but two of my students are world-class thai boxers who live in Akkari. The bigger one, Ahmed, is this muscular and lean mass of a guy who's the Moroccan kickbxing champion. The other, and slightly smaller one, Anouar, is the world champion in his weight class. Next weekend, I'm invited to Casablanca for a gala to celebrate him... won't miss it for the world...