A taste of "home"

This week is my 5 month mark in Morocco- 7 more months to go. For the first time since I have been here I did something unthinkable. I had 30 minutes between meetings and I hadn't eaten lunch. I had accepted the harsh reality that I wasn't going to get lunch because in Morocco even the fastest restaurants take at least an hour. And then I saw them..the golden arches. I don't eat McDonalds in the US, but I had no choice so I joined the 100s of well-dressed upper-class Moroccans enjoying a little bite of America. I can't say that the food was particularly worth the $4 that I spent on it, but I guess its the experience of "being in America" while you are still in Morocco that everyone spends the money on.

As for my experience, I ordered McDonalds in Arabic for the first time in my life. And of course, the cashier responded in English because people here somehow can't quite get it in to their head that I ACTUALLY speak Moroccan Arabic :) Well, I guess I can't blame her too much...my guess is that most American's that eat at McDonalds while they are in Morocco don't speak Arabic :P