Terrible Week

A man shoved me out of his way as I was walking to the center the other day. It was an especially forceful shove and it spanned for 180 degrees (whereas the typical shove lasts for maybe 90 degrees of movement). He called me 'bitch' in darija as he passed by. I did nothing other than be in his proximity as he passed by. A man nearby got out of his truck to tell the guy to chill out, so while I appreciated his gesture, the mean nature of this other man tainted my day significantly.

People didn't respond to my requests about going to Alabama in August, so I bought a ticket to Houston. Expedia charged me twice, and I just had a hell of a time calling them, keeping a connection, and sorting it out to get a refund and not credit. It did work out, finally, but now I will not be in Alabama again until December.

I got back my Arabic mid term yesterday (92.5/100). It is by no means bad, but as I got an A in both previous semesters, I will be damned if I get an A- while abroad. We have a quiz today, and I intend on doing perfectly.

Three meals have been eaten in absolute silence in the past two days at my house. It seems that we only talk during meals whenever Mohammed is there, and for whatever reason lately he is only around every other day.

On the good side though, yesterday commenced our weekly informational lectures that will last until the end of the semester. Yesterday 'Abd al-Aziz, one of the Arabic professors and a 6'5" gentleman, presented on the Msid Quranic school. We all sat on the floor reciting Quranic verses after him and wrote on tablets with reed pens and were hit with a stick whenever we messed up our recitations.