2007-01-03

Happy New Year! / あけましておめでとう!

Location: Meknes, Morocco
Status: pretty good, trying not to be lazy

Can't read Japanese? Scroll Down for English.

お久しぶりです。ごめんなさい、モロッコに来てから全然書かなくて・・・ とにかくもう2007年になっちゃって書いたほうがいいね。いろんな事がたくさんあったから。

去年の10月10日にモロッコに来た。11日にアパートを見つけて、仕事も始まった。それからはほとんど毎日仕事だった。休みがちょっとしかなかったんだ。でも週には24時間ぐらいだけ働いているからそんなに大変じゃないけど、休みなしの毎日は難しいね。でも今は冬休みだよ! p(^_^)q

とにかく・・・

俺は今American Language Centerという英会話で働いている。生徒たちは面白くて結構がんばっているからこの仕事は結構楽しいね。ほとんどの生徒は高校生だからいい仕事だね(その年の人々に教えるのは一番楽しい)。授業中は英語だけ。

モロッコにいる生活は・・・面白い・・・ まぁ、食べ物はおいしくて、面白い場所が結構あるけど、何か・・・ この国は汚い。本当に。どこへ行ってもゴミがたくさんある・・・公園でも田舎でもどこでも。それは本当に残念ですよ。こういう事がなかったら、ここは本当にきれいな国だろう。そしてモロッコ人は何か・・・ 優しい人がいるけど・・・ 何かわがままみたいな怠け者もたくさんいるみたい。

とにかく、モロッコが嫌いじゃないけど、あまり好きじゃないね。

そういえば、一つの超悪いことがあった。ある日、俺が仕事中の時に、誰かが俺の家に入って6万円ぐらいを盗んだ。それはちょっと俺のせいだったけど・・・ 俺が初めて入った時にかぎを変えなくて、そしてお金はちょっと見つけやすい所に置いてた。俺は本当にバカだね。でももう二度とそういう事が起こらないね。絶対。

とにかく、このメクネズで撮った写真を見てね

そうだ!今は冬休みって言ったね。俺はスペインへ行ってきた。グラナダという都会へ行ったんだ。すごくきれいだった。そしてその町は面白いgraffiti artがたくさんあるんだ。写真をたくさん撮った(見てね)。とにかくそこに住んでいる友達と一緒にカウントダウンをして、朝まで踊ってた。すごく楽しかったなー。

とにかく、あけましておめでとうございますよ。

俺はもっと書こうとするね、これから。ではでは!

Well, it is a new year, and I have been here for nearly 3 months, so I guess it would be a good idea to post about it. A lot has happened.

I arrived on October 10, found a place to live on October 11, and also started my job on October 11. Since then, with the exception of a few national holidays and one teacher's conference in Tanger, I worked every day from then to December 20. However, the hours are not long. I'm only working about 24 hours a week. Still, having to worry about going into work everyday with no breaks can burn you out a little.

Now I am on vacation, and have been since the 20th.

I am working at the American Language Center here in Meknes, teaching English. It is actually pretty enjoyable, because the students learn quickly, want to learn, and have a pretty good overall English level. Also, most of the students are young: high school and university age, which are my favorite age groups to teach. Teaching consists 3 hours per class per week, and I had 8 classes in the fall session, which just ended.

Life in Morocco is...interesting. There are things I like and things I don't really like. The food is delicious and there are a lot of interesting places to go. However, from what I have seen, it is a fairly dirty country. There is a lot of garbage an litter around making what should be very beautiful places kind of ugly. It is sad, because otherwise this would be an incredibly gorgeous country. The people are generally friendly, though sometimes a bit noisy.

Anyway, I've pretty much gotten used to life here. I have no trouble getting food and most of the things I need. I can't really speak either of the two commonly spoken languages (French and Moroccan Arabic), but I am working on my French, and it is almost passable enough for everyday situations...I just can't really converse.

I have only had one particularly bad thing happen to me here, which stemmed from my own stupidity, but I have managed to deal with rather well. When I arrived and got my own apartment, I didn't even think to change the locks after I moved in, and so in mid-November, someone who had a key to my apartment (it might have even been the landlord for all I know) walked in while I was out, managed to find my money stash (which, again by my own stupidity, wasn't hidden particularly well), and stole the 6000 dirhams that I'd managed to save to that point. Luckily, cash was all they took, so I still have my camera and all of my other gear. I've since changed the locks, and I carry my savings in a security wallet strapped to the inside of my leg. It's not the best solution, but it will have to do until I can get a bank account.

Anyway, like I said, blame my own stupidity for that one. Well, I'm the type to only get burned once, so that won't ever happen again.

Check out some pictures I have taken around Meknes (Picasa Web Gallery).

Like I said, I have mainly been working, but now I am on vacation. I just went up to Spain for New Year's. I had to go because I can only be in Morocco for three months at a time without a carte de sejour (basically a visa to stay in the country), and things have been slow with my paperwork to apply for one. Still, it was nice to go up to Spain. I went to visit a friend in Granada, and got to see Andalucia for the first time. It is an incredibly beautiful area of Spain, and Granada was a very cool city.

Check out some pictures I took (Picasa web gallery).

Anyway, I'll try to be more up-to-date, but I wanted to let the few of you who are following this thing know that I am still alive. Happy New Year!

6 件のコメント:

Karu Chie さんのコメント...

Hi Alex. Happy new year !

I and my girlfriend moved to SAITAMA prefecture last month.We will marry
this February or March in the SAMUI ISLAMD in Thailand.

If you have a free time,please come our weddinng ceremony.

Karu Chie さんのコメント...

Hi Alex. Happy new year !

I and my girlfriend moved to SAITAMA prefecture last month.We will marry
this February or March in the SAMUI ISLAMD in Thailand.

If you have a free time,please come our weddinng ceremony.

匿名 さんのコメント...

Hi Alex!Happy New Year!
oh It's my first time to write here.

How's it going?I'm pretty good:)

I'm trying to get the lisence and practice the guitar and the bass everyday.

I read it and felt that I wanna take a voyage to around the world someday too;)

There's past a long time.
Don't you forget the promise that you will come back to see us at graduation ceremony?:)

We are graduate soon so I hope you to come back until that day if you can!


Take care.

匿名 さんのコメント...

oh oh oh

I forgot to say it..

Pictures are really beautiful!:)

minori@joys さんのコメント...

アレックス!
あけましておめでとう!
すごくいい写真だね~!!

nathan さんのコメント...

Happy New Year lil bro!

Glad to hear you're gettin on ok in Morocco. Bummer about your stolen cash -- can happen to the most cautious of us...

No doubt this year you'll have a few more adventures to add to your blog, looking forward to the read.

Catch you soon
np