ONE love.

I received my electricity bill two nights ago (no, seriously, the Assistant to the Regional Manager of my landlord came over at 10:30p, shouting up to me through the open kitchen window*), and this morning I ventured over to the cyber where I pay homage to O.N.E., the national office of electricity, each month.

Yes, I did just say that I pay my electricity bill at a cyber café. That's not even the weirdest part of this story.

The bill I was given was for 10.96 MAD, which sounded relatively correct; no one was living in the apartment for the month of June. This morning, however, I noticed that there was a negative sign in front of the amount.

Actually, since the bill is in Frenchabic, the amount looked like this: 10.96-

There was also a message with the word crédit in the middle, which made me even more suspicious. So, when my turn came (a little old man wacked my leg with an olive branch to signal that he was letting me go ahead of him), I asked what that was all about.

Oh, that's a credit, the man behind the counter assured me. We'll apply it next month.
Um, okay, I replied. Well, while I'm here, I'd like to change the bill into my name. I'm new to the apartment.
The man behind the counter looks at the name and laughs. He remembers the old volunteer, and realizes that I look nothing like her. Oh, don't worry about the name. Maybe we'll change it later, or maybe we won't change it at all! Really, it's not a problem.

So I walked out of the office without doing... anything. Hmm.


*I don't want to whine and complain about life here, because it's amazing, but the windows are open because it's hot. Like, hovering around 43°C/110°F all day, every day. With no air conditioning (I get that question a lot). And as the pipes leading to my tap are positioned to receive direct sunlight all day long... I get hot water during the day.

But, c'est mon vie. I still love Morocco. I'm just, uh, sweating excessively while I'm typing this. No biggie.



Addendum to post:

CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK

Introduction:
My brother, who had been wwoofing in Spain, surprised me with a visit early this week, and is here with me for the typing of this post. As I was finishing this up, he leans over the divider between our computers and this week's Conversation of the Week ensues.

Conversation:
Brother: By the way, if you have any pull in this place, do you think you could suggest some better music?
Me: (pauses for a moment, to take in the beauty of the Qur'anic recitations being played over the loud speakers at my favorite cyber café) You want me to ask them to turn the Holy Qur'an off? Do you know where you are? I can't do that!
Brother: I mean, uh... (awkward pause)
Me: Okay, fine, what do you suggest that I recommend?
Brother: You know, some fun Berber music or something.

Next time, brother. Next time.