Two and half months later...

Hello long lost blog friends! It certainly has been a while since I have posted here – and much has happened in that time.
November started off to somewhat of a slow start as I had no school for a week! One student in my class had a confirmed case of the swine flu, so the Ministry of Health declared my class to be closed of a week. This was much of a welcomed break as I had been feeling pretty lousy myself (maybe I, too, had the virus?). However by the end of the week I was feeling better and a fellow teacher and friend (who was also quarantined for the week) took a quick road trip to a mountain town built by the French – which is definitely evident in the chalet-style architecture. A highlight here was experiencing cooler fall weather with changing leaves.
A house in Ifrane

That same weekend I also had the privilege of being a small group leader at a retreat for youth living in various parts of the country. I was encouraged through getting to know my group of awesome senior girls, and hearing some of their stories. ☺
My group of senior girls.

Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving, that is ;)) and Aid el Kebir break started off with one great big party. Our school had just been awarded with accreditation for ten years – no stipulations, so we celebrated! Afternoon classes were canceled, and for lunch staff and school families feasted in our traditional outfits in the transformed multi-use room. What a neat time it was to celebrate all the had happened at the school since its opening.
A table of friends at the accreditation lunch

Thanksgiving was next. My friend Kate was get a hold of a turkey, and so together with a mix of language tutors, their families, and our friends we dined on Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie (I made some more!), and apple pie.
Friends at Thanksgiving.


Some of my students working on their Thanksgiving turkeys.



After thanksgiving came the Muslim holiday Aid el Kebir. This is the major holiday here, and definitely a new cultural experience for me. It is celebrated to remember both Ibrahim’s obedience to God in his willingness to sacrifice his own son, and God’s provision of a ram so that he would not have to sacrifice his son. To celebrate every family sacrifices at least one sheep and feasting on it for several days – eyeballs and brains are the delicacy. Days leading up to this sheep were sold everywhere and taken home in trucks, car-trunks, and even mopeds. On the day I was staying a friend’s place in the city, and I was looked out onto a neighboring balcony I figured the sheep had just been slaughtered. The blood-covered patio, with a skinned sheep hanging over its head led me to this conclusion. About an hour later I looked out on the front street to see men and boys carrying the sheep heads to be grilled on the communal, make-shift bbq’s. Remember brains are the specialty. ;) Although I definitely found this holiday to be quite grotesque, I appreciated the watching community through obersving neighbors, families, and friends coming together to roast and/or eat the sheep. I was also very touched by the hospitality as I was invited to woman’s house (even though she didn’t know me at all) for the meal. Fortunately the meal was a simple tajine with “regular” sheep meat – no brains or eyeballs! ;)
The group of us enjoying our dinner of sheep and prune tajine.


The last two weeks of school in December flew by the students knew a two-week break was soon upon them. I found it interesting to learn that many of my students do celebrate Christmas in some form. I think it mostly meant that they got a Christmas tree and received gifts from their parents. I was so excited, though somewhat surprised, to see that we, too, could buy Christmas trees (fake ones, of course) here as well as a few decorations.
Lindsay by our Christmas tree.

A few days after school got out, I excitedly boarded a plane bound for PARIS! I was thrilled with the idea of experiencing a Parisian Christmas with all its lights, Christmas markets, patisseries, decorations, etc. And, I was even more thrilled that I would be spending that time with Mom, Dad, and David. We spent about a week there, and what a blessing it was to be together for Christmas.
Starbucks was a MUST while in Paris. Oh how I had missed it. ;)











What's that behind me??














So excited to eat a Bûche de Noël - right from the patisserie. :)










And if a week together in Paris wasn’t enough, how about some time back in my new homeland? For nearly a week we toured around here. Of course we went to the medina and practiced some barterning, toured the grade mosque, went grocery shopping, and Dad was brave enough to develop his driving skills throughout the interweaving, occasional donkey, sheep, or cow crossing, and car honking traffic. He did very well. We also took a trip to a nearby city, about a three hour drive. It’s a beautiful and interesting city, situated right by the mountains.
Square in Marrakesh at night





Mom (without much of a choice...) got a henna tatoo. :)













Snake charmers at the square. This was the best picture we got (Thanks, David!) without being hassled into paying for it.


It was tough to say goodbye (tougher than I expected!) to say goodbye on New Year’s Eve. What a blessing it was to have them here. I can’t express how incredibly thankful I am to have you Mom, Dad, and David. I love you guys so much.
Right before saying goodbye.

That left me with a few days to prepare to get back into school. It was great to see everyone back, to get back into routine, and to see my students again. Though management was a bit of a challenge as the kids were not used to routine and work, it was great to be working with them again.

And there you have it… a two and a half month update. Sorry for the delay. I plan to update more regularly that I did for the past few months as I really value keeping in touch with all of you.

Happy New Year! Bonne Année!
(Aam Saiid) سعيد عام