Pre-promise: This will not be a white girl blog in which i state “omg the bathrooms here are so small! I’m drunk right now!” I know you’re tired of reading those, and so am I. this will be a photo blog mainly, with some honest thoughts of what I learn about Islam, Arabic, and Moroccan culture while abroad for the next three months.

Firstly, the program I’m in is Arabic and Journalism classes, and half way through the semester we start an independent project we complete for the last month and a half. This is a great opportunity for me to focus solely on journalism abroad. The first half of the program, I will be staying in a homestay, and the second half, wherever I choose to report I will live, and receive a stipend from my program to do so.

I’m not foreign to travel, as seen in my past blog posts, but I am foreign to living abroad. I haven’t ever been away from Kole for more than two weeks, and I think not seeing my best friend every day will be the most challenging. Another thing I’m leaving behind is Fools Magazine, which I started last semester. Since I’m a control freak, it was so hard to let go of that. I am ready to let go, though. I want to become more patient, and a better writer on this trip.

Here’s a helpful travel tip: This is a backpack I got at Active Endeavors in Iowa city the other day. I already have my camera bag on my back, so this I packed in case I just want a smaller backpack for random stuff. I will keep you updated on how it works. 

Also, a picture of my dad and I at the airport. I will miss him, and my mother, dearly.