Missed the Boat, but Had a Party on the Raft

My computer is working again, hamdul-li'lah!

Our in-service days at this pink school were great. Got lots of good information, and everyone was really cooperative. Very little will be ready for the first day of school, but it will insha'allah be ready for next month-ish. I can get classroom plants, and maybe a nifty lizard or big bug.

Tonight was a meeting with the ex-pat church. I chose some songs to play on the guitar, and Candace and Suzanne and I were all going to leave straight from the school and head down to the medina together in a cab. When we left the school, Abdul, the high school science teacher, came with us; we thus had too many for a taxi seghera. The cab drivers flip out if you try for more than 3.

Candace and Suzanne headed out to the Acima to get foods, and Abdul and I walked down to a hanout, figuring we'd all meet up at the church-group. I gave our taxi driver the name of the parking lot nearby, and walked through the tunnels and narrow streets along the path I remembered... from my one trek there... I got us close, and Abdul got us closer by asking some men on the street where the Americans lived. We didn't realize how close. They rang the doorbell, but no one answered. We assumed it couldn't be the house, and stood at the nearest building waiting for someone we knew to walk by (the streets are only a few feet wide. We'd see anyone else coming for the meeting).

After 20 minutes of Abdul chatting with local video gamers, we realized no one else was coming. We sat on a step to nibble our Hanout food, and chatted with some more people. Two teenage boys stopped to talk with us, and after enough conversation on the step, invited us to their house for F'tour time.

The house was many more twists through the Medina - Abdul said the medina was built to confuse invaders and soldiers - through some streets I couldn't fit through with my guitar next to me, and up many steep crumbling stairs. The living room was small and lined with froshes, and two young women, probably also teens, were watching the special Ramadan programming on a small TV. We spent the evening talking and sharing F'tour food. One of the girls was working on an amazing knotted creation that would eventually be tied so tightly as to be almost a fabric that would make an ornate red and gold pillowcase. All the craftspeople are so talented! Zachariah used my guitar and played some Arabic songs, and sang in French. He also knew part of an American girl-pop song, which got laughs from his dad.

He walked/taxied us both back, dropping me off at my apartment first, and I went in to tell Candace and Suzanne I was alive. As it turned out, we were at the house! The meeting was not at the house! We were supposed to meet at some cool scenic ruins, somewhere near this hill. Candace and Suzanne said they were beautiful, and it was fun meeting outside, but the local beggar children harassed them the entire time. They said they'll take me back later.