Hi! I've arrived and all is well. :)

The hotel is very nice. I have a room on the first floor with a balcony that overlooks the street. There is a television, mirror, air conditioner (though we're not quite sure how to control it) and a bathroom. The shower and sink have hot and cold water but at varied and unpredictable times, but that really is the only inconvenient part of our stay and I have been getting along very nicely. I have a roommate, Jen, who is the girl that I took the car from the airport in Fez to the hotel here. She is 29 and teaches Middle Eastern Politics at a school is South Carolina, and is studying the same level that I am at Alif.

The ride to the hotel with the driver was the smoothest part of traveling here. He was there with big signs as soon as we got off the plane and got our luggage, it was a quick drive. We paid together 200 dirhams for the ride, which we probably could have gotten a better price on but I was just relieved to finally be at the hotel so I didn't stress over it.

I exchanged the money pretty easily at the airport. I just transfered all of the money that had been in my pouch so I have quite a lot of dirhams on me, but in different places. So I believe I had $400 and now I have 2,900 dirhams.

Everything in the suitcase is perfectly fine and dry. I'm thankful to have those water bottles because I really do despise mineral water and I will save them throughout my trip. Mineral water is grossssssss. Well, it's not that bad but I am very particular with the tastes of water, and it has a very chalky taste - which isn't refreshing, which is what I'm used to in the US. God bless US water.

Speaking of water, the water in Fez is fine - it's the surrounding areas of Morocco that are questionable. Most of the students here are drinking the local water and I did today too and I am perfectly fine.

I did call you on the phone card and it worked fine, and I think that I have a lot of minutes left on it actually because he sold me one that was 100 dirhams which is around 15 dollars, and when I bought the 15 dollar phone card in Europe, I had quite enough phone time on there. It should probably last me the whole trip. There are special phone booths around that take the card, there is one right in front of our hotel - which makes using it convenient but only if necessary... so I should have that for a while.

Haha I am working hard to give you a lot of details because you know I can be quite lazy. I guess I will forward this to Laura too speaking of the many despisees of short emails.

Today was my first full day in Fez. First of all, both me and Jen slept in until around 11 AM. We got coffee and pastries (yum! the coffee was soooooooo good! the pastry was very sugary and honey sweet, reminded me of baklava). Then we ventured to try to find a tour guide from the tourist center to take us to the Medina. We were hustled by a few fake tour guides and realized that the tourist center was closed and didn't open again until 3. So after having done a little exploring from the hotel, we came back and relaxed in the hotel downstairs in the cool air. Then we decided at 3 to go to Alif since Jen, who isn't with Rutgers, needed to pick up some things from Alif and pay her bill. Me, her, and another student Brad who is graduating from De Paul University in Chicago went to Alif. While Brad went to use their computers, me and Jen wandered into the Alif Residence and talked to the students there who have been here for three weeks from Session 1. Then we got a bite to eat at this other cafe and finally! some food that I could eat! I got a cheese panini there with a Moroccan milkshake which was completely delicious. It was served with bananas and avocados. All the meals here are quite luxurious and cheap. For that lunch I paid 50 dirhams, which is the equivalent of $7 dollars in the states for probably some of the best food I've ever had, at least the best panini and milkshake I've ever had. I'm finding the city completely hospitable and wonderful. I feel very safe and comfortable here, moreso than I did when I first arrived in DC. Perhaps it is because I am older and have been more places, but I feel great here.

Oh and by the way, out of the 9 kids that are here, 4 of them are Jewish, and all of us had requested Jewish families and none of us got them. It's so funny how many Jewish kids from New Jersey get caught up in Middle East culture. Justin went to a Hebrew High School and keeps kosher. He's trying to keep kosher but I don't really think that's going to happen here for him. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start eating meat. Besides the cafe near alif where I had the panini, there didn't seem to be that much for me to eat, especially at the restaurant we went to last night. I had bread and olives and soup which they gave me for free since it was the end of the day, which was vegetable soup but probably had chicken stock in it. Depending on whether they give me a family that can accommodate my dietary needs, will I finally decide what I will do about my "pescetarian lifestyle".

After eating today, we came back here to the hotel to relax a bit, and then I came on and read your email. Hope this gives you a good idea of what is going on and how I'm doing. I really love all the people that I have met and everybody seems very down to earth and social and smart and I can really learn a lot from this place and these other people who are interested in the same things as me.

So I know you will be happy, well overjoyed to read this whole thing so give me a message when you read it about how thrilled and relaxed and not nervous you are about me being here. Haha. I love you!

Danielle