souk

Ever since Toubkal, we've been hanging out with the guys pretty much all the time. Thursday, we all went down to the beach with the drums and frisbee and hung out for a few hours. We had wrestling matches in the sand (which Olga pretty much dominated) and then went swimming in our clothes because none of us had brought bathing suits. Afterwards, we went over to their house for dinner, cooked by Hicham, and we hung out there for the whole night. The next night, Hicham cooked again (couscous) and we played truth or dare, which is probably my least favorite game ever, but it was still pretty hilarious. It's good to feel like I have friends and a life here in Rabat. I seriously wish I could be here longer than just one more month.

This morning, Nouh (my friend/drum teacher) took Olga, Caitie, Gabriel, and me to a souk about an hour away by bus. He needed to buy horse skin for the head of a djembe that he made. I didn't realize that he would actually be buying raw skin, still with the hair and everything fresh off a horse. When we got there, there were hundreds of animal carcasses hanging up in the sheds, and piles of the skin all over the place. Men were dragging fresh, bloody skins across the ground and throwing them into the piles. It was impossible to avoid stepping in puddles of blood because it was everywhere. Definitely enough to keep me from eating red meat for a while. Despite how gross it was, I'm really glad I saw it. After that, we walked around the souk for a while and did some second hand shopping.