So today I went on my first run here at my site. There's a dirt road that heads out from
my backyard that accesses the Sibe Chekar (the protected area I'll be working with). Its
a bit of a steep slog to the top but once you're there it seems that you can run as far as
you like. Up near the top of the ridge there's a spring so I asked a young goat herder
who was tending his flock nearby if the water was good to drink. He said it was and
then we engaged in a conversation that involved using Darija (Moroccan Arabic), a little
Spanish, some English, and a few words in French for good measure. Of course it also
included a healthy amount of dramatic arm motions and gestures. It was great! Talk
about a cross-cultural exchange!

So I really need to stop saying yes to things that I don't understand. This has proven to
be a consistent problem as its happened in travels in the past. Because of this
tendency to agree to things when I have no idea what I'm agreeing to, I oftentimes find
myself with food that I don't want, places that I don't want to be at, or in awkward
situations that i don't want to be in. Yesterday I accidentally said yes when somebody
asked me if I was my host sisters husband. Needless to say that it caused some
embarrassment. Mostly for her I think.

Speaking of awkward situations, the other day I was walking back to my host
families house from Jerada (a fairly pleasant 4km stroll) when a car pulled over in front
of me and a man I didn.t recognize began yelling “Mustapha, Mustapha” and gesturing
me towards the car. I should note that I have taken the Moroccan name Mustapha as
my own because its easier for people here to pronounce and I like it because it sounds
like Mufasa. Unfortunately, it also happens to be a fairly common name here probably
2nd only among males to Mohammed. I think it may be required that every Moroccan
family have at least one son named Mohammed? Anyway.........now a situation like this
may be alarming in the US but here it.s fairly common. I was hot and tired of walking so
I began jogging towards the car excited about the lift. The fact that I didn't recognize
the fellow didn.t cause much concern as I've met a whole lot of new people here who I
didn.t recognize later on. So while jogging along the roadside it wasn.t until another
man passed me who was also on his way to the car. That.s when it dawned on me that
his name was probably also Mustapha and thats who the man in the car was offering
the ride to. Oh? So I gave the man a shrug as he ran by and continued my walk home
while giggling to myself. I wonder what he would have done if I'd just climbed into the
car?