Wish I spoke darija

I found something

This afternoon for the first time I spoke darija to the librarie owner, instead of ordering my things in the usual French. And I got juj tambr, two stamps. But later I realized I needed a bigger envelope than the one I had, so I went back to the same man.

Ive been there before andI always buy stamps from this usually grumpy person. And we were able to accomplish the transaction. But tonite I learned he never knew how to speak French. He appeared to, and gave me all the things I needed. But tonite since I spoke exclusively in darija the first two times tonite, this man opened up in a different way. And he knew I was sending something to Europe or to the US because I requested international stamps, so he began asking me in darija about Chicago and a person he knew there. Then it seems like he was talking about the person coming here to do his thesis, to Saffron, and his eyes lit up. Then at the end of 5 or 7 minutes like this, me trying hard to get his meaning, then he pointed up at the sky. He repeated the mans name a few times... Lawrence Larry...? And pointed at the sky again.

So I guess the moral of the story is that the personality I get from people when Im speaking French to them, whether they speak it or not, isnt the same thing Id get if I can communicate to them in Darija.

At the gym earlier one of the machines cables was caught and a Moroccan youth came around to hold the weights while i readjusted the cable. He gave me instructions for 1 minute in darija, and I think he would have immediately switched to French if he knew how to speak it. But the fact that it was darija the whole time, about this important thing, told me differently.

So, stuff like this means I shouldnt ride on the laurels of my years studying French but should get more active and focused with my darija (and my berber later)