Bloc 18 No 108

About a month in, and I'm living in Denise's apartment. It's been fun, but eventually I'm due to get my own place. As I've learned, it's standard for an American English teacher abroad to get a pretty sweet setup. I'll have no bills here save for groceries and entertaining myself. That's good, as I'm not making as much as is standard. If i opt to stay on through the next school year, my salary would double at least. Good way of saving some money. Not exactly the 401K dad was hoping for. We'll see.

Our (Denise's) place is right around the corner from the school. We're the second floor of a building with 3 apartments. There's a rooftop terrace. Not glamourous... but nice for drying our clothes on the line and sitting in the sun for a bit. The apartment itself has 3 bedrooms. Denise's, mine, and a bonus room... It has a half wall, but as you can see Denise had Hassan rig up a curtain, and it has worked well as a third bedroom for frequent visitors. The living room is a good size, and the bathroom is ok. The toilet is in a seperate closet sized nook, and the kitchen is big enough for 3 people to stand in if no one wants to move.

There we have a shot of the living-room-length couch and table where we eat, Denise checking the shower water, Lahcen as "kung-fu dishwasher," and my room. Note the lovely silk scarves I purchased at the souk to serve as a headboard (cheap!) as well as my red cow print blanket. My boss had that one picked out and purchased for me before I arrived. Staggeringly... beautiful? I think not. But it's really really soft.

Moulay Said has this place rented, but he has purchased a different building with 2 apartments. One up, one down. When the lawyers get through the paperwork on that transaction, we'll get to go and look inside. Now, who knows when that will be, as Moroccans don't worry about the word hurry (unless they've rented a car, see my previous post). The new place is just around the corner from where we are now, and just as close to the school. If we like it, Denise will have one apartment, and I'll get the other. Like TV's popular sitcom, "Friends." Only not across from each other. And not in NewYork. And there aren't 6 of us. Well, Denise, Lachen, myself, and Hassan are pretty standard. Abdellah is over frequently. Said comes now and again... so I suppose that counts. Only... two of them don't speak English.

So, which 'friend' am I?

Pics around the house are HERE.