The beginning of a relationship.....

In Morocco a single lady of my age living alone is a sad and lonely life. Other Moroccans feel sorry for her having to live alone...
Sooooo.....since Marcia moved back to the US my landlord and his wife have "taken me under their wing" of sorts!  :) (Even though I keep telling them that I am fine and not really lonely at all! ) :)

When Jim and Jenny were here my landlord (Mohammad - from Morocco and speaks Arabic, some French and a little English) and his wife (Evana - Swiss - speaks Arabic, French and English pretty well) invited us over for Moroccan mint tea, cookies and nuts. Mohammad had just returned from a 40 day journey to Mecca and was sharing photos and stories of his trip. Evana was telling Jenny and I that they have been married for 34 years.

Last week they invited me to their home (right across the street from my apt.) for lunch. Mohammad had made couscous for us. We had a lovely meal and a good visit. That's when Evana told me that Mohammad had suggested she invite me for a meal because I must be lonely living all alone....   :) They introduced me to their two dogs, three cats and pet turtle.

Today Evana invited me to join her on a trip to her favorite place....an animal shelter!

This was the first animal we met today. We had stopped to buy 50# of carrots, some bags of biscuits for the animals and two sodas for the workers.

These little guys loved the carrots...a spotted bunny and a mommy guinea pig and her babies.

This is Evana feeding the donkeys carrots.

I have seen a lot of cats in Morocco and these cats are definitely the lucky ones....their home was great....part sun, part shade, part areas to climb, part areas with blankets for resting and sleeping....clean and roomy!

Ok....I titled this blog:" The beginning of a relationship..." I hope none of you thought that meant a new man in my life. (NOT in Morocco!) At the start of the day, I thought the new relationship would be this friendship that seems to be growing between Evana and myself. But, then I met Spike! Spike was brought to the animal shelter just yesterday. He was found wandering the streets. Evana was SURE I should take Spike home with me. (How did she even know I loved golden retrievers??) :)  I tried to joke by saying I wasn't sure my landlord would approve, but she didn't laugh. (Probably she didn't get that it was a joke.) Evana was sure Spike would be good company for me to walk with on the beach. I really did love this dog right away...he is so soft and clean and sweet and cuddly...But, what am I thinking....I don't even know what I am doing in 6 months. What would I do with a dog??? But....now I am home and looking at his photo and thinking....hmmm....he would be good company....??? :) We'll see....

The grounds at the shelter were spotless. On the top right of this photo you can see a small horse arena. Evana said some days they have handicapped children come ride the horses. She asked if I would like to join her in helping out. I think that would be awesome. It reminded me of a similar project in Steamboat at the Humble Ranch.

There were three little ponds on the property. They had the smallest little frogs in them that I have ever seen!

One last look at the horses and we were on our way home.

And on the way home.....craziness again....we pulled in to a gas station and looked straight ahead. Evana smiles and says," Oh, look...a store!" In front of us a car has the trunk up, every door open and clothes for sale in, on and hanging everywhere from the car!  I see something funny/crazy/bizarre like this every day in Morocco!   :)