Goals for the new semester!

When I posted my goals for last semester, I was having a bit of a rough patch in my study abroad experience. Coming here has changed my perception of the world and fueled an immense amount of personal growth. However, those changes did not come easily. Many of my goals last semester were about simply adapting and adjusting myself to this completely new environment.

Now it is a new semester, and time to clear out those old goals to make way for new ones. A few of them are goals I didn't accomplish last semester, and some of them are a bit more personal than last semesters'. Here are the ones that are relevant to this blog:

- Ride a camel! Seems simple, but I feel that leaving this country without having been camel-trekking in the desert would be a fail on my part.

-Learn to cook a Tajine. I have several people who have requested a traditional Moroccan cooking experience when I get back. I cannot disappoint.

-Take a piano lesson or learn to play guitar. I'm headed to the guitar club meeting this week!

- Study Arabic at least 6 hours every week. Although I scraped a "B" last semester, I know with more disciplined practice I will be that much closer to communicating confidently with others in the language. 


-Volunteer at least 10 hours per month. Something I really missed last semester was volunteering, and I feel since I have had the opportunity to travel to this beautiful country, I need to give something back to the people who live here. There is a school organization that will help me with this.   

-Take advantage of the pool! If I'm going to try another triathlon this summer, I need to swim while I have this big, beautiful pool to practice in. I plan on swimming twice a week.

-Make arrangements for going home. This includes getting summer housing, applying for an RA position at RMC, and getting financial aid. On other levels, I need to prepare myself to re-intergrate to a culture I have been away from for almost ten months. I need to prepare myself for the reverse culture shock that will come from living where everything is available whenever you want it.