"This is too Much Party!"
Ok, first off, imagine the title of this post being exclamed in a heavy (and annoyed/frustrated) German accent, repeated several times, followed by "we have a concert tuesday, party wednesday, Dutch party thursday, and bye-bye party friday! This is too much party!" If you've never met an upset German speaking English, this might not have the same resonance, but for the members of the Real World: Rabat, it's become golden.
This aforementioned statement, made by a rather perturbed German, who doesn't like this degree of craziness and lack of order, was in response to this week's busy social calendar. Several things, such as the Rabat Music Festival, and the fact that many of us are heading out within a week and half has created no dearth of social engagements.
Last night, for example, was the Dutch party, resplendent with Dutch and French flags (if the Dutch can't tell the difference when they buy them, how am I supposed to?) and a nice heavy dish of carrots, meat, potatoes, and milk, all mashed together. Served for twenty people, the whole meal went over well, and paved the way for a Dutch dessert, aka tea, chocolate, and small tea biscuits.
The highlight of the night came with the serving of the tea. For those of you that don't know, Moroccans love sweet beverages, from their hot milk with a drop of coffee and 3 sugar cubes, to their ridiculously sweet Mint Tea, they know how to up the sugar quotient. Imagine their surprise at being served weak Dutch black tea with no sugar. After a few nasty faces made by the Moroccans, I sat down next to them, watching them gingerly sip the tea with faces askew, or nibble gingerly at the biscuits, turning them over in their hands as they did so. One or two were enterprising enough to actually dip the biscuits in the weak tea.
Realizing this was an exploitable situation, I sat down next to a few of my Moroccan buddies and informed them that this was actually "Dutch Chocolate Tea," and that you had to add some of the provided little dutch chocolates to the liquid. After doing it myself, most of the others warily did the same, pausing for a few seconds with the chocolate bar dangling over the tea, much to the confusion of the Dutch girls, who had just returned from the kitchen. After adding in the Dutch chocolate, a few of them cautiously sipped the surprisingly decent tea. Proclaiming it not quite ready for consumption, they brought out the sugar jar, with each person adding spoonfulls of granulated sugar to their respective small mugs. At this point, Ryan, Gabe, and I were laughing so hard that the jig was clearly up, but we ended up getting a few thank-you's from the attending Moroccans, who now happily sipped their noticeably sweeter Dutch Chocolate Tea.
PS - I know that I've already mentioned in my "Candy Shop" entry about the lack of diversity in music, but I'd like to note that I have now heard Celina Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," followed by THREE repeats of Akon's "Mr. Lonely," thankfully sung along to by the tone-deaf Moroccan internet cafe operator. I want to put a power drill in my ears.
This aforementioned statement, made by a rather perturbed German, who doesn't like this degree of craziness and lack of order, was in response to this week's busy social calendar. Several things, such as the Rabat Music Festival, and the fact that many of us are heading out within a week and half has created no dearth of social engagements.
Last night, for example, was the Dutch party, resplendent with Dutch and French flags (if the Dutch can't tell the difference when they buy them, how am I supposed to?) and a nice heavy dish of carrots, meat, potatoes, and milk, all mashed together. Served for twenty people, the whole meal went over well, and paved the way for a Dutch dessert, aka tea, chocolate, and small tea biscuits.
The highlight of the night came with the serving of the tea. For those of you that don't know, Moroccans love sweet beverages, from their hot milk with a drop of coffee and 3 sugar cubes, to their ridiculously sweet Mint Tea, they know how to up the sugar quotient. Imagine their surprise at being served weak Dutch black tea with no sugar. After a few nasty faces made by the Moroccans, I sat down next to them, watching them gingerly sip the tea with faces askew, or nibble gingerly at the biscuits, turning them over in their hands as they did so. One or two were enterprising enough to actually dip the biscuits in the weak tea.
Realizing this was an exploitable situation, I sat down next to a few of my Moroccan buddies and informed them that this was actually "Dutch Chocolate Tea," and that you had to add some of the provided little dutch chocolates to the liquid. After doing it myself, most of the others warily did the same, pausing for a few seconds with the chocolate bar dangling over the tea, much to the confusion of the Dutch girls, who had just returned from the kitchen. After adding in the Dutch chocolate, a few of them cautiously sipped the surprisingly decent tea. Proclaiming it not quite ready for consumption, they brought out the sugar jar, with each person adding spoonfulls of granulated sugar to their respective small mugs. At this point, Ryan, Gabe, and I were laughing so hard that the jig was clearly up, but we ended up getting a few thank-you's from the attending Moroccans, who now happily sipped their noticeably sweeter Dutch Chocolate Tea.
PS - I know that I've already mentioned in my "Candy Shop" entry about the lack of diversity in music, but I'd like to note that I have now heard Celina Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," followed by THREE repeats of Akon's "Mr. Lonely," thankfully sung along to by the tone-deaf Moroccan internet cafe operator. I want to put a power drill in my ears.
posted by Isaac at 3:54 AM
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