Update

There isn't too much to update you on... this week the homework has been piling on, and there are quite a few end-of-term assignments I'm trying to crank out. The Moroccan students pretty much all left campus today, since their semester ended, so for the next week it will just be Americans and participants from various conferences (and very empty!)

The last meeting of music club was yesterday, and we learned a new song, this one in darija, called علاش يا غزالي, or "Why, My Gazelle". Here's the link to the youtube video of it so you can get an idea of what we've been singing. (The video for Shemsu Lachia is not great, so I didn't post it.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYXCEfPqVo

Then, today, the school put on a mock Moroccan wedding with students from the ARANAS program. A traditional velvet tent was erected with an over-the-top silk and gold throne for the bride and groom inside, and plenty of tasty treats. The bride (or brides, actually, since there were two) was brought out sitting cross-legged in a golden sedan chair carried by four men in matching red suits. The groom stood in front and did a little dance. A band had been hired to blow the wedding horns and play the drums, and they danced around wildly while the couple were led in. On hand as well were a henna artist to decorate the wedding party, a special party planner in a rhinestoned Yves St Laurent djellaba, and miscellaneous women who were capable of making the wedding ululations. The actual ceremony consisted of a some dancing and a lot of sitting on the throne while people took pictures with the bride and groom (unfortunately, I didn't have my camera!) They were decked out in full traditional attire (but changed their dresses only once, not 6 or 7 times as is the usual practice), with golden crowns, decadent jewelry, and sparkly, colorful dresses with lots of jewels and sequins.