Yesterday, we had our first "bridging the gap" activity. Not as many people showed up as we were hoping, but it actually turned out pretty well. We had everyone write down questions they wanted to know about our cultures and then we each took turns picking questions out of a bag and answering them. One question I got was whether or not Americans were against the war in Iraq. People here don't realize that people in the US are generally against the war, and that has a strong effect on what people in other countries, especially Muslim countries, think about America. People put some fun questions, as well. For example, teach us a dance from your country, or sing your national anthem. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the activity, but we definitely need to do more promotion so more people will come to them in the future.

Later, there was a big party at an AISECers house. I realize now what everyone was saying about the gap between the rich and the poor in Morocco. I have heard that everyone here is either really poor or really rich, and there isn't much in between. The house we were at was huge and beautiful, and would have easily cost 5 million dollars in Chicago. The party was fun; everyone was dancing and I got to know a few new people. Ahmed agreed to only speak french with me from now on to help me get better while I'm here, and also said he would give me some arabic lessons.

This morning, around 10 am, I woke up to someone pounding on the door and repeatedly ringing the doorbell. I answered the door, and it was a man looking for Olga. I let him in, but then realized Olga wasn't here, and then he sat down and asked to use my computer to check his email. He didn't really speak english, so I couldn't understand him well at first. We then started speaking in french and I realized it was the man from Cote d'Ivoire who Olga had told me about. Apparently, he pretended to be in AISEC so he could have a place to stay and then he kept making Olga pay for things for him. She eventually figured out he wasn't in AISEC and she kicked him out of the house. He kept talking to me about AISEC and asked me to give him my adress so he could come stay with me in the US. He asked me if I was married and asked me to give him a written invitation to come to the US. I didn't know how to deal with him, but eventually he finally left.