Day 1 (kind of sorta) - Trains, trains, and automobiles.

Although technically my second day in Morocco, I think that lying around in pajamas trying to get your internet to work hardly merits a blog entry.

And by that I mean, of course I meant to write one, I just couldn't get the internet to work! *Ahem*

It is worth mentioning, however, the absolute chaos that preceded my trip so far. For those of you unfamiliar with Vancouver Island's geography, it is an island (go figure). As such, you need to take a ferry off of the island to get to Vancouver airport. The ferry ride was probably single-handedly the most stressful 1.5 hours I've yet encountered. You might be asking yourself Why is that, Mairin? What could possibly be aggravating about a simple boat float through the Pacific?

Imagine this scenario and you might understand: on the boat, you realize that your last flight, the one that takes you from Casablanca to Fes where you are meeting the rest of the research team, is impossible to catch. Due to a scheduling mishap, there was a profound struggle on the ferry to figure out an alternative plan, all using the mobile internet provided by my dad's phone.

No problem, right? Get a hotel and take the train the next day. What's the problem with that?

The problem is this, dear readers. Hotels require confirmation that you can pay any unseen fees. This requires a credit card. This in turn requires that you have your credit card on you. You can see how it might be a problem if, say, you didn't have your wallet. Cut to Vancouver airport. Why is Mairin's wallet not in her backpack? Or in her pocket? Or in the car?

Why? Because it is sitting on the floor of the pub that she ate at the previous night. Hurrah hurrah for birthday dinners! Luckily, my mum is the best, and let her borrow her Visa card for the hotel. Double that luck - my boyfriend is also the best, and managed to track down and collect my wallet and is sending it to the mail. Thank goodness for social nets!

So then plane. And layover. And plane. And layover. And plane. BLAM CASABLANCA! Simple 22 hour manoeuvre, no problem.

Stay the night in a hotel, lovely jubbly, no problems.

Then trains. And I only missed one stop! 6 hours and one stop passed is no problem. Casablanca --> Fez complete. There I met up with the research team (Liz, Paddy, and Jamie), ate some ice cream, went shopping at the supermarket, then off to Azrou.

First impressions: cold. There is snow on the ground (does Morocco know that it is, in fact, located in Africa?). Although the apartment is cold, the landlady and her husband are super warm and friendly. Hadija (this name may be amended in the future - I am not sure if this is correct) speaks a bunch of English, but her French is great. She's also trying hard to both fatten me up and teach me Moroccan Arabic, although given my brain's current state of nearly oatmeal, I'm not sure if her second plan will succeed.

Now to bed for me - have to get up in 7.5 hours for my first field day! Woot woot!!