Waiting for the washer

A glimpse of the terrace where you can order tea and watch the boats on the river, Oudaya.

I am essentially confined to the house for the afternoon, as the washer will be delivered between 1 and 3, and the installation man will come at six if I can't figure out how the hoses go myself. I probably won't be able to figure it out, since we don't have a real laundry room with convenient outlets and I will probably have to take apart a sink.

This is okay, I don't mind being confined; I need to study. We walked to the washer store this morning to make all the final preparations and pay for it (2800 dirhams, but between the four of us, a price well worth paying, plus we should be able to sell it afterwards for a reasonable price), so I feel like I have done some exercise for the day.

I already feel like this blog will be more mundane than my previous one, since city life in Rabat is so similar to southern Europe, at least comparatively.

I can already feel my Darija (Moroccan Arabic) getting better, and I feel that if I sit down with a textbook for 3-4 hours, I will be able to construct more complicated sentences. At least present and past tense seem fairly straightforward. Some people in the Oudaya are starting to recognize us as well, and the old man from the Souss region who owns a "little bit of everything" store near our house waved and greeted me as we walked by: a very good sign.

After delivery and before installation this afternoon, I want to check out the Oudaya museum. It costs a little over a dollar for admission, but I'm interested to learn about my new neighborhood. Maybe I'll find out some interesting information to post. If I have time, I may also take my netbook to the little tea area that overlooks the river, dotted with blue fishing boats. I love having a wireless modem that uses cell phone coverage: it's slow, but the mobility certainly has advantages.

It's actually nice taking the class that I am online as well: it gives me something to do, and really makes me feel like I'm moving forward. I fear that once work starts, it may get challenging to make everything work in my schedule, but with the flexibility of distance education, I'm sure that it will work out, even if it is a little stressful. The reading I did last night made me feel like I was in less of an environmental science class and more in public health, which was a relief.

Last night, I met some PCVs that I had actually never met before, who were in Rabat for regular medical exams, and we splurged on pizza and juice. Fun time; I love that there will always be people coming up to Rabat for one reason or another.

Until next time, lla y awn!

Update: The washer made it, and I think I can figure out installation, as long as I go buy a part (that I don't know what the word is in English: hose adapter? Faucet adapter? "The thing that connects the washer hose to the sink?"), so tea and studying plans have been changed to "wandering the medina in search of a hardware store who can understand my pointing frantically to the user manual!" Such is life, I suppose. Another "great" mundane adventure. :) While I'm at it, I may also look for a hook and cement to help hang a sturdy clothesline.

Update two: And... I've given up until the man who is supposed to install it comes. After all, that's his job. Nobody had the adapter I wanted and they all told me to get a new faucet, so I bought that and a wrench but don't want to mess with plumbing in an old house on my own. So now, I have the wrench and new faucet (robini, from French "robinet") waiting with the washing machine. I did, at least, remove the expander bolts that come in the machine to help with transport.