If you want to do something, read the criminal law first to make sure it isn't illegal

            I’m happy to say that things are looking up from now. I feel much better (something I partially attest to having reintroduced corn to my diet – how American!), and class is becoming less nerve-wracking. I’m also starting to get better at the whole Moroccan time thing. Nothing of much interest to report, so just a few observations, quirky events, and the like:

            There is very little corn here. Even in the soda, the high fructose corn syrup is – just sugar. We did find some corn nuts at the campus store, but I never realized until now how ubiquitous corn is in America, as well as how unique it is to America. No one else obsesses over it the way we do.

            While I was sitting in the library one fine late morning, a class let out next to me. The students streamed out in twos and threes, followed by their professor. He was carrying a stack of books, and he wore a KU hat. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t act on this, because it’s whatever in the States, besides which I’m not really a sports person. But I am in Africa now. So I thought, “What the hell?” As he started down the steps, I called out softly after him, “Rock chalk!”

            He stopped in his tracks, half turned, and incredulously said, “Jayhawk.” Then he explained that this was the third time in his entire career at the university that he’d heard KU’s slogan. We bonded over the Midwest, and it was awesome.

            To expound on the whole library thing, the library here is beautiful. The Mohammed VI Library is just behind the campus mosque, and on the outside looks much like the rest of campus – red shingle roofs, windows designed to keep the buildings cool. On the inside, there are stacks of books that you can weave through, and on the second floor the ceiling is beautiful to look at. I’ll have to take pictures sometime. It can’t take the place of Ames in my heart, but it’s definitely a cool library.

            My Legal Environment of Business class is the class where I am the only international student. This is interesting because before class, everyone is speaking in not English, so I don’t really have anyone to talk to or even eavesdrop on. There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s just a different feeling to have no idea what anyone is saying.

            Once the class gets started, it proves to be very interesting. The mixture of topics is fascinating to me, and we move from defining plaintiff to explaining where Islamic law applies and where the civil law system applies. And how the civil law system is composed of articles, unlike the common law system which operates off of precedents.

            So that’s all I have for today; after the weekend there may be more fotos depending on what we end up doing!