Saturday, January 8, 2011

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!   :)

Happy New Year from George Washington Academy!



One of my students had requested a candy cane from the US for Christmas. I asked Jim and Jenny to bring them from NY City. My class was SO excited to see that they had actually brought them from New York City! ( I was actually excited to see that all 24 were in perfect shape when they arrived! Not one was broken!)

This is Yasmine enjoying her candy cane!



My 2nd grade class at GWA with candy canes from America!

(back left to front)

Ali, Yassine, Yahia, Lilia, Ayat, Lila, me, Sara T, Sophia, Fahd

Sarah F, Nour, Ghita, Mehdi, Yasmine, Sara S, Sara Z

Amine L, Zach, Salahaddine, Mariama, Adam, Amine S, Omar, Lean

.....and the "silly shot"! (Every year my classes know I take one "good shot" and then one "silly shot"! :) They love it!





Have you ever seen so many colors used on Santa?? What can I say....it's Morocco! ;)

I can't remember if I shared some photos of my apt over the holidays!     


The stockings were hung...but no chimney this year!

This was my first Christmas card. It was made by one of my students....Yasmine. She is just a darling little girl.



The inside of the card Yasmine made for me. (I especially LOVE the drawing....with her eyes looking up at me!) :)



New Years Eve in Casa





We went out for dinner on New Years Eve. We needed a break from Moroccan food, so we chose Asian Gardens in Casablanca!

The food was wonderful and the evening was loads of fun!We had finished our meal and visiting for quite a while when a waitress came up and asked if we wanted any more to drink. We said no thank you and she proceeded to tell us the owner is American and wanted to offer us a drink....
Well, then Lynn realized the owner is one of her student's parents and he is Moroccan. He came over then and chatted with us. He offered more to eat or drink several times. Finally he offered jasmine tea and Lynn said that would be great. They brought four jasmine teas, two plates of sliced fruit and a chocolate dessert to share. SO KIND!
Happy New Year to everyone back home!

Then we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and they were just starting to take the sad little Christmas tree down! :)

Driving in Casa with Eric...






One of the mornings that Eric was still here we woke after a nice rain the evening before to see the local cows enjoying the green grass in the "park" across the street.
Growing up on the farm with cows and pigs I'm always surprised how these animals stay close by their shepherd and don't take off  in opposite directions!
Another look across the street. The cafe/pastry place on the left and the "park - green area" on the right.

Later that day Eric and I were driving through Casa. Eric did most of the driving while he was here and I enjoyed the break. (He enjoyed the crazy driving in Casa!! ) :)
I asked him to drive up my favorite street so I could show him and so I could take a couple of photos. I have named this street "Cow Street" (I'm not even sure what the real name is....
It's the most bizarre street...one sees cows, horses, chickens, donkeys in the median and everything from motorcycles, people, horse and buggie.......on the street you are trying to drive on! :)


Two guys just chatting in the median while the horse waits patiently! :)
This spot always catches my eye on the way home from Casa. On any given day there will be 12 - 15 clothes lines full of clothes hanging to dry. I always wonder how clean they can be given the dirt from the street and cars going by...

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Having fun with Eric...shopping, Sunny Beach and the Grand Mosque!

Inside and outside photos of the Grand Mosque.....









Jim, do remember this view? When you and Jenny were with me it was high tide and there were guys out there body surfing. I thought they were going to run right into the wall. Well, this is how it looked when I went with Eric. Low tide....rocks showing and looked very different.


The size of the Grand Mosque is very impressive!

Eric and I trying out the water temperature.

Yea....a little bit chilly at first! :)

Whoops.....out a little too far...!

Two cute little old men in the Medina in their djellabas.

More photos of the Grand Mosque - third largest in the world.



Stopped at a pottery place near my home to do a little shopping.

Eric thought the weather here in Casa was very similar to San Francisco.



Playing in the ocean with my son....what a great vacation!

We went to the Medina in Casa.

The end of another fun day with my family here! Loved it!!