It's been exactly one week since 60+ students and I moved into Hotel Darna, but I swear to you it feels like it's been one month.  With a few exceptions, the majority of every day has had some sort of activity planned to prepare us for our semester in Rabat, both in terms of academics and culture. In other words, orientation for American college students in Morocco meant learning to bargain, navigating through the streets of Rabat and taking a crash course in Arabic. It also meant a brief potty training lesson, as many homes that students would be staying in might not be equipped with the western style toilet they are accustomed to.

If my head full of blond hair wasn't enough to instantly identify me as a foreigner here, my inability to bargain would be the next tell tale sign. I'm terrible at it, but it's a skill I will need for as long as I live in the medina as a college student on a budget. For this reason exactly, Badrdine Boulaid, our program assistant, introduced us to the bargaining exercise. He gave each student 20 MDh (the equivalent of about $2), and sent us into the medina in search of something we could negotiate the price of. It didn't matter if we came back with anything, so long as we gave bargaining a shot. He provided a few necessary phrases in Arabic (how much is it, this is too expensive, lower, etc.) and emphasized the fact that we must become actors when we shop. In other words, if it meant faking tears to earn a little sympathy; it meant faking tears. That last tip might have been a joke, but with Badrdine, you can't really ever be sure.