02-16-2008

                                                                                                                         Me in a Phoenix mall. Arizona

Driving through Arizona was a great relief. I could at last reach my final destination. I did not expect the city to be like that. Because my American partner told me that Arizona was a desert, I imagined the area as sand. I think I am starting to fall in love with the place although I have been her only for two days. The large streets give the city the sense of openness that I treasure so much. Besides, the weather is just fabulous even if it rains a bit. My very short stay in Washington was not as pleasant as far as weather is concerned. Here, people are wearing summer clothes, I am wearing boots.

The area where Georgeanna lives is an exclusive one, a rich neighborhood most apparently. It is very calm and you hardly meet anyone, just what I appreciate and the house is great. When Georgeanna was in Morocco, she liked my house very much and said that it has a lot of taste; I could say the same thing about hers. She and her family have been to many places in the world, and collected so many beautiful pieces of furniture that give the house all its historical references.  From the pictures, the small and big objects hung on the walls, the smell of a long, diverse and rich life emanates and spreads throughout making one  feel almost an awe vis- à- vis the entire spot.

When I was introduced to my room, we fell in love on the spot. Georgeanna knew my taste for beauty and cleanness. So she fixed everything for my arrival. I thought I was the cleanest and neatest woman, but I guess Gigi (that is her nickname) was also so much concerned about her house. I noticed though, that Andy, her husband, is very much in charge of the house too.

   My bed

I had the opportunity during these two days to eat twice outside. The first time in a small place that  serve nice and inexpensive things, and the second time in a big mall. I can say from both experiences that no wonder Americans put on weight easily. They eat a lot. The pieces of pizzas that we were served are far bigger than whole pizzas in Morocco, and the mugs of sodas are giant. Besides you can have as much soda as you want without paying  the extras. Isn’t that unbelievable?

I went also to a movie theater with Gigi and Andy, I do not even remember the name as I was so tired and slept more than half of the time. But I liked the other half even if I enjoyed more the half time of sleep. Up to now I am still not used to the time differences  and my biological clock is still set on Greenwich. I sleep very late and wake up at three in the morning. I hope I can fix this as soon as possible before starting work.

The mall we went to was just gorgeous: very big, very nice, very expensive and very to my taste. I do not remember being in a mall as large as this one. The malls I went to in Europe are much smaller. Gigi told me that most of the shops there are very expensive brands; I could see that myself: Prada, Chanel, Rolex… but I like extravagance although I can hardly afford it. Nevertheless, some of the things are even less expensive than in my country such as some nice watches, blankets and frames; I will surely go back there to buy some of the things I liked.

 The mall

I am also experiencing other kinds of foods. But so far, my favorite is Japanese Sushi. I even played the role to the end and used chops to pick it, put it in soya sauce and drive it to my mouth, with some accidents of course. Jasmine tea is also something that I liked. I sometimes buy it in Morocco, but here the taste is different because the whole atmosphere was Asian.