You have beautiful eyes....

So a lot has changed since I was in Fes last time but one thing is definitely the same. Guys in the street are still as obnoxious as ever. I don't think I will ever complain about guys in the US honking and stuff again. I forgot how annoying it was to live in the old medina. I am followed nearly everyday by random Moroccan men who call things at me. Sometimes in English but not always. They don't just do it to foreigners though. Local women deal with the same thing everyday. It kind of sucks and makes walking home alone less than thrilling. I do have a roommate now though so at least I won't be wandering the streets of the old medina by myself anymore.

This past weekend I went to a little town about twenty minutes outside of Fes called Sefrou. It was founded by Jews who fled from Spain and is named after them. In it's heyday they say that the streets of the mellah (the name for Jewish quarters) were so0 crowded that they had to light the streets even during the day. Today it is deserted for the most part. Mainly Berbers live there now as most Jews have left Morocco completely. There was a cute little cascade just west of the town were EVERYONE went to escape the heat. The pool around the cascade was extremely shallow but little boys still jumped from this balcony which was about two stories up. I think the best was the teenager who thought it would be a good idea to belly flop off the balcony. He didn't move too quickly after that.

My host family is amazing. Although they think I am malnourished and discuss this every meal. Anyone who knows me knows I eat plenty so think about how much Moroccans eat. Surprisingly there are few overweight Moroccans. Though they don't desire to be skinny like Americans. I'd say a size 8 here is considered normal and anything less is too small. All I hear from the family is 'kooli kooli'. Which means eat eat. Kind of like if I was living with my own Moroccan grandmother.

Yesterday I made my first trip to MacDonalds. It is the largest one in Africa. I'm not exactly sure if that is a huge feat because I don't know how many there are in Africa. the price for food is ridiculously expensive because it is priced the same as in America. We normally don't go there but it is one of the few places in the city with air conditioning so we went to escape the heat which is getting almost unbearable. :(

-Jescie