Celebration

It feels like the entire city of Rabat is celebrating our successful completion of one year. Summer is an exciting time here. For a week in May there was the Mawazine Music Festival, where artists from around the world came to play on 9 different stages around Rabat. Most of it was free, except the big Whitney Houston finale, which we skipped. There was a stage on the riverfront just outside our neighborhood, so we checked out some Spanish, Cuban, and American bands. We had a sweet view of the closing fireworks display from our rooftop.

More recently, there was a Jazz Festival at Chellah (the Roman ruins), and this was truly one of the best concerts I've ever seen. They bring in top-notch European jazz bands, and at the end, they are joined by a traditional Moroccan band, and the result is a great example of synergy - an awesome fusion that you can't buy in any store. Everyone was on their feet dancing, under the stars in a beautiful garden...one of my favorite nights in Rabat. I went to several other shows, which only cost about $1, so that's about the best value for your money that you can get. (Maybe it makes up for all the times I've been ripped off in the medina).

Another exciting development is that I finally made it to a salsa club, which was almost exactly like the salsa scene in San Diego. The main difference was that the men are more exclusive here - if they don't know you, they won't dance with you. I would not have danced at all if I had not run into a student of mine there, and she literally had to beg this guy (who is a high-school student) to dance with me once. After that, I mainly sat and watched, but oh, was I treated to a wonderful show: there was a girl there who I am pretty sure is the best salsa dancer I have ever seen. She was just perfect: musical, sensual, and truly artistic. I decided to talk to her, hoping to god she would not say she was an accountant. Luckily, it turns out she used to be a professional dancer in Paris. She wasn't interested in giving salsa lessons, but I will definitely study her moves when I return to the salsa scene next fall.

The whirlwind begins tomorrow: I meet Bill in Casablanca, we spend a few days in Essaouira, a beach town in the south, then a quick night in Rabat, then a few days in Madrid, and finally I arrive stateside on June 30!! I can't wait to be back in the land of the free. I'll be a bridesmaid in Jill's wedding in Montana (wearing my new dress made by a tailor here in Rabat), and then I settle in San Diego for July, hopefully teaching at the school where I got my TEFL last summer. I will likely spend August in LA and September visiting family in Texas and Virginia. Meanwhile, I have 50+ exams that need to be graded by tomorrow morning, and bags to be packed...and instead I am blogging! The things I do for you people. ;-)