Some positive aspects of life

I figured it might be nice to share some of the more positive things about Rabat after spewing so much anger yesterday.

Last night, when we finally escaped the creeper in the medina, we made our way to La Comédie, a nice café in the newer/modern part of the city. It was my fourth time at that cafe. I didn't eat anything during our first visit, but was treated to lunch the second time I was there by my friend's parents, and the third time I went with a friend to get a delicious chocolate pastry. Our rendez-vous there last night was also to enjoy some evening pastries :) A beautifully decorated delicious looking piece of cake costs 15 dirhams. That's about $2 USD. After living like a penniless student in Paris, a suuuuuuuper expensive city, you cannot imagine how happy and willingly I spent my 15 dirhams. A beautifully decorated cake like the one I had last night probably would have cost 4 or 5 euros? which is about $6.. for an ity bity slice of cake! It was nice to sit in the cafe and chat away without feeling like the waiters/waitresses were trying to get rid of you. La Comédie must have been a pretty popular café though-- there were tons of Moroccans enjoying a nice pastry or chatting.

This morning, after not running for a few days, I made my way to the beach and ran a couple of miles. Even though I got occasional honks/flashing head lights and had to breathe in all the gas exhaust of the cars, it was nice to be able to look out into the coast with my headphones on. I stopped a few times during my run and walked out closer to the shore, lost in my thought watching the waves. Wave watching is definitely mesmerising.

After my run, I hung out with my friends and we decided to try a different café called Blue Berry. It was facing the river the divides Rabat from its sister city, Salé, and was situated next to a bunch of other cafés. What I especially liked about this café was that there weren't so many people there or in that general area. The people that were there looked more educated and less sketch and stared less at us. We sat outside, facing the river (which is actually not that beautiful, it's rather muddy/polluted looking). To our left laid an older part of Rabat, a beautiful sight from afar, especially as I enjoyed a fruit "cocktail" of green apple and citrus fruits and a banana nutella crepe :) We stayed at the café for quite a while. It took us a long time to decide what to get since the menu had a detailed collection of American foods we'd been craving for a while-- ravioli, spaghetti, sandwiches, salads, and delicious looking desserts and fruit drinks! I saw a pasta dish with smoked salmon and almost got it, but ended up deciding against it since I had eaten breakfast only half an hour before. Next time I am definitely getting some smoked salmon.. mmmm! I did get to eat some goat cheese with bread though which was really nice since I haven't eaten any cheese here yet. It was so relaxing at that café, I felt like I could actually think and not be disturbed. I plan on going back and bringing a book with me to read next time.

The cheapness of everything here definitely makes it a lot easier to enjoy life. A cab ride can cost as little as 7 dirhams-- almost $1 USD! I heard one of my friends say that a previous student who came to Morocco managed to spend only $250 dollars during her 3 and a half month stay in Morocco!

Ooh, and right before I came home, my friends and I decided to stop by a fruit juice store on the streets. I've gotten a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice numerous times at another store for 4 dirhams (about $0.50). At this other store though, I saw that kiwi juice was on the menu so I decided to order it. The woman taking my order picked up 2 or 3 kiwis from the box right next to me-- it was literally a fresh squeezed drink with all the seeds and occasional small chunks of kiwi for only 10 dirhams! I have been craving kiwi for quite a while now and definitely plan on enjoying fresh squeezed fruit juice with no added sugars as much as I can :)