6/14 "What's Crackilackin?"

Today we only had morning classes, so as to spend more time around the town. Afterwards I found my way back, as well as to the houses of Liz, Modoloo (who lives in the same block of housing complexes as I) and Kristen. It’ll take some getting used too, but by the end of the stay here I think I will have this Medina down.

After lunch I went to the beach with Hamsa. It was a last minute thing, and we were joining his friend Yness, so I didn’t have time to put on sunscreen. Four hours later my shoulders reminded me of the mistake. At the beach we alternated between playing pickup soccer games, juggling, swimming, and diving off the rocks into the Atlantic. The water isn’t as salty as the Gulf of Mexico, and we had a lot of fun playing in between dives, though the barefeet on the firm, new, fully pumped soccer ball ripped up my right foot.

After the beach, I ran home real quick to grab some sunscreen before going to my first surfing lesson. I met up with Sam, Whitney, Julia, and Katrina, and a French business lady here Kristell, who were also in my group. The instructors spoke English which helped out a lot, and Shafi surprised us with phrases like “I’m just Joshing you,” and “What’s Crackilackin’.” Because the waves were relatively flat here, the instructors surprised us with a trip down to “Hawaii.” We packed up our boards and traveled down to a beach a little southwest of the town. First we stretched and did a little ‘chariots of fire’ run down the beach side to warm up. It was well needed. The instructors then explained about the two lines that run down the surfboard, which serve as the balancing lines used throughout the entire process. For the next hour and a half we covered how to catch a wave and get up. The rest of the day was spent walking up to where the waves were breaking, and catching and riding them in. Wash out, rinse, repeat. The first couple times weren’t that successful, but eventually we all got it.

We made good friends with our surfing instructor, Shafi, who told us where we could get a cake for Naomi's birthday. After we all went home to change, we went out to Agdal, to meet up with the party that had already started without us. Katrina’s host brother drove Sam, Katrina, the instructor, and myself, down to Agdal, where we met up with Josh, Mat, Liz, Kristen, and Naomi. Our instructor knew one that was free, so we got them and took them over to Privelège. We had a great time, finally getting some "bizza" (there's no 'p' sound in the language) for dinner. The place had a DJ, and eventually a drummer came out to freestyle to it. We couldn’t sit with the beat, so we all got up and danced. Before leaving the club, I showed the locals the crip’ walk which apparently earned me the label of 'good dancer.' Our instructor knew everyone there, and he said the owner is like a brother to him. This just reinforces my rule from New Orleans – To find the best hangouts, hangout with the locals. Getting a local to show us around will probably be the best part of this trip.

We split at 1:30, and I finally laid my sunburnt self to bed.