Dusty Days

Sand and dust being blown off the coast of Morocco

We had a crazy, windy, DUSTY day yesterday with just a few sprinkles of rain...enough to ensure all the dust stuck to the cars and windows.  Our Moroccan friends call it the desertification of Morocco...the Sahara trying to take over more land. Every desk and paper in the classroom had a slight dust film. Everyone's hair and hijabs were blowing like they were under a giant hairdryer. Dust was even in my eyelashes when I got home!  

Hello SPRING!

Here's to more light and sunshine for our northerner friends and family! Morocco is starting to heat up already. The other night felt like one of the three August nights in Seattle when you can walk around without a sweater at midnight!

Necessity is the Mother of...

... being motivated enough to seek out necessary ingredients and make homemade tortillas for TACOS!!

 Made with oil instead of lard, these tortillas turned out pretty tasty!

Cheddar isn't common, so when Carrefour has expensive, thick slices, you have to strike. This is as close to 'shredded' as I could get it.

Another absolute treat in Morocco is tons of local, delicious, affordable avocados! Aren't they gorgeous?

Ground chicken from the chicken ladies, sautéed up with cilantro and onion, a little hot sauce and TACO TOWN!

Essaouira

Finally got to make a weekend trip to Essaouira, a windy fishing-artist-town about three hours up the coast.  It is very windy and therefore a haven for windsurfers and kite boarders.  The sun and wind can really put a beat down on you, but the town is great for strolling and seafood eating!

Breakfast view from rooftop terrace...

Beach Camel

Streets of the Medina

I love the mosque on an abandoned island in the distance...

Arty items from the Riyad...

Snapshot of life in a fishing village...

One of our favorite meals so far: incredible roasted goat covered in delicate couscous and a cinnamon topping with a touch of powdered sugar in the middle. Sweet and Savory perfection yet again.

International Collaboration

Things are picking up speed in many realms here....we just wrapped up a great International Conference for Comparative Literature and hosted visiting education students from Georgia State in Atlanta.  The TEFL and ICT students met the group for some discussion and cultural exchange.

The January Whirlwind

January was packed with international travel. First R. went back to the US via London and New York...

R's own personal heaven...

Cherry blossoms in London...in January...yikes.

Mexican breakfast in Brooklyn is a great re-entry to the US atmosphere!

Some good friends and family time in Seattle to recharge the reserves.

Then it was back to Morocco and off to Amman, Jordan for the midyear conference which meant presentations and conference sessions for one person and tooling around Jordan and taking in the sites for the other!

The pictures below are a nice contrast between our experiences. I look like I'm teaching Jordinian teachers the Itsy Bitsy Spider song...and R. is floating in the Dead Sea with Mary Ann, the Fellow in Tangier's wife.  While we are in conferences, they are out on the town!

New Year's Eve (in March)

Over New Year's Eve we had another set of whirlwind travelers visiting: Jenny and Aleks. We got to ring in 2012 with them along the beach that was as bright as daylight due to all the stadium-grade lights they have along the boardwalk.  In the picture below is the last sparkles from a fireworks display.

Below Aleks tries to document the Moroccan child Chariots of Fire reenactment that took place. You can rent these horse chariots that are bicycles and they were holding the children back to let them all go at the same time. When they unleashed them, somewhat organized chaos ensued, so it wasn't too different than being on the streets with real cars. It was fun to watch the near-misses and mini-collisions.

Strolling the beach on another sunny day....sigh.

We wrapped up the far too short 'golden weekend'-esque visit with some Shwarma sandwiches and Australian open replays...where a major discussion surrounding Federer's left arm ensued. Agreed. 

We miss you Jenny and Aleks already!