Party Animals

I really think I enjoyed getting ready for Zetta's party more than the party itself. The party was a lot of fun, but I liked the planning & crafting & decorating & baking more.

There is no sort of party supply store around, so I had to improvise with what I had/could find. The theme of the party was wild animals, so I put together a bunch of toilet paper binoculars for the kids to go on a safari with. I printed off pictures of wild animals and covered them up with paper except for a little square. The kids went around and looked through their binoculars and guessed what the animals were. I bought a pack of animal figurines to give out as prizes. It was a big hit, the giraffe was the first to go, the poor rhino never got picked.

I had planned on making a Lion face cake, but I should have known that even a simple cake was aiming too high. My neighbor Fatima has a nice oven, so Zetta and I went over with our cake mix and baked in her kitchen. The cupcakes turned out great, but the cake was another story. The first half didn't come out of the pan very well, and the top half cracked when I put it on top because I didn't let it cool enough. I ended up frosting and decorating it for our bible study instead. Matthew made a banana cream pie for the party in place of the cake.

Decorating was fun. We put up green streamers to make it look like a jungle, and we put up balloons in every place imaginable. I made a sign for the front door and hung balloons there too.

The party was here and gone before I knew it. Lots of our Moroccan friends and neighbors showed up, it ended up getting really crowded in our living room. I was too busy running around to really enjoy the party and take it all in. I'm just starting to realize that Zetta is already a year old, it's hard to believe she's 1 already. But it's hard to remember when she wasn't around, she's really brought so much joy and excitement into my life.

I haven't had the motivation to take the decorations down yet, I think I need to enjoy them just a little bit longer!

more from the wedding

Here are a couple of fun video's from the wedding

wedding weekend

By far the best part of the summer was the wedding we went to. We had been to a Moroccan wedding before, but it was completely different this time. Our friends really went out of their way to make us feel like we were an important part of the whole weekend, and I really did feel like I was a part of the family. Nezha, the grooms sister took me dress shopping the week before and helped me pick out a beautiful dress. I wanted to fit in with the rest of the woman so I picked out a Morocco an style kaftan (a lacy robe was included but Nezha said it looked better without it, and I agreed) During the week Matthew helped me pick a pair of shoes out from the souk(they were pointed toes and two inch heels) the were only $2.

The following Sunday there was a henna party. It's similar to a rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding. But the whole extended family (+friends in this case) were there, and it lasted from 3pm-1am. When we arrived Alicia the bride was getting henna designs on her hands and feet. The sisters were dancing and sweating up a storm to some Moroccan music. It was 95 degrees inside and miserably humid. Zetta quickly got stimulation overload and Matthew took her back to the hotel for a quick afternoon nap. Tea and coffee and cookies abounded even though it was way too hot to have anything sweet or hot. We didn't have dinner until midnight, and there was a lack of space so the family invited us downstairs to have our food with them in their living room. We quickly left because it was way past Zetta's bedtime- surprisingly she wasn't exhausted.

Monday morning Zetta and I had breakfast at the hotel while Matthew went on an adventure in the Medina. The waiter and chef had fun playing with Zetta and taking their pictures with her while I ate. After breakfast Zetta and I went over to the El Yacoubi's to see what they were up to. They were all singing in the living room while making orange juice and peach juice for the wedding. We both decided to take a nap when we got back to the hotel. Matthew returned around 2 and we ventured out for lunch. Matthew became Mr. Taxi driver for all the family around 5, so I got dolled up in the hotel while Zetta took another nap. I don't think I've worn that much makeup and used that much hairspray since prom. I knew all the Moroccans would be all plastered up and I didn't want to look like a plain Jane.

We arrived at the reception and the party was already in full swing. I joined in the dancing while Matthew found us seats. The reception was a blast, it was great to see the family having so much fun. We didn't realize that dinner wasn't going to be served, so we ended up just eating cookies and other sweat treats all night. I think we must have gone into a temporary diabetic coma because when we got back around 12:30 our heads hit the pillow right away.

It was nice to spend a couple of days away from Ifrane, it starts to crash in on you living in such a small village. It was good to catch up on time we've missed with them.

Human Machine

I've recently been separated from an important machine, one that I rely on weekly to do a highly important job...the one that does the laundry for me. The university is closed for the rest of the summer, which means the washing machine is locked away.

Regina Spektor's new album has been on repeat all summer and this song, Machine, is fitting:


So I have been the human washing machine for the past month and will continue to be for the month of August. I learned from a neighbor that the easiest way to do it is by standing in the tub and stomping and swishing the clothes with your feet. So that's been my method. I usually imagine myself as Lucy. She did an episode in Italy and learned how to crush grapes with her feet. It usually makes the experience enjoyable when I imagine myself this way.

Bird of prey..flying high

Matthew and I had a unexpected guest join us today. We didn't realize he was here until late afternoon, and by then he had been waiting for quite some time. I have to admit I was a bit surprised and frightened because he came in unannounced. Meet Mr. Barbary Falcon:

He came down the chimney sometime today and we were both terrified that it was a bat. Matthew insisted I get help, so I got the watchman to come over and take a look. He very casually put on our oven mitt and scooped the poor little guy out of the fire place. I'm sure he was relieved to make it back outside alive. We think it might have been a baby that fell out of his nest on top of the roof, although he did fly away pretty fast.

Another interesting day in Morocco. On a side note, I suggest this recipe Moroccan Chicken and Lentils (change the amount of servings unless you want 12!). It's not a Moroccan recipe in the least, but it was really good none the less.

Getting away

I've been meaning to write about our trip up north all week, but surprisingly I've been relatively busy and haven't had the chance.

In short, it was a much needed getaway. Ifrane is a wonderful city to live in, but it can start to cave in on you after a while.

Seeing the Rif mountains for the first time was amazing. They are quite a dramatic sight for someone who's lived in NW Ohio most of her life. Our hotel in Tetuan had a breathtaking view of the mountains. Both nights we stayed there Matthew and I sat out on our 5th floor balcony after Zetta went to sleep and just stared at them and the life going on down bellow.

Getting to see Mike was really great, definitely the highlight of the whole trip. Of course the time flew by way too fast and he was gone before we knew it, but nonetheless it was so nice to be with family. It's what we miss most here and it's what keeps us from really truly feeling at home. He made us feel loved and missed, and we're both really grateful that he made the trip (we know it wasn't all for us but it really meant a lot)



We made a short stop at the beach on our way back home and Zetta got to "swim" for the first time in the hotel's pool in her baby float. She also took a quick little dip in the ocean with me that she seemed to enjoy. The place we stayed, La Felouque, is amazing because it's right on the beach in a fairly secluded area, and the rooms have patios that open up right to the ocean. In the morning you wake up to the sound of the ocean waves and the sun streams through the yellow curtains sooo beautifully---and then to top it off they include breakfast in their open air restaurant that faces the ocean. It's Heavenly. I really couldn't think of anything better. Not to mention it's costs less than $50 a night for all this dreaminess.



Well it's back to Ifrane for now. Today we're going to have couscous at one of my students' house for lunch, it should be interesting.

ABC is not as simple as DO RE MI

I've started teaching English at the women's center in Ifrane and it's really a dream come true for me. I've been needing purpose and relationships, but I just hadn't found that until now. I teach twice a week for an hour at a time. The women's center is a place where women can learn how to use the computer, how to sew, how to bake, how to make/paint ceramics, and how to read/write/speak French, Arabic, and now English.


The girls that I teach range from 10 years old to their mid-twenties and they all come from a small small village 10 minutes outside of Ifrane called Tarmilat. They are from some of the poorest families in this region of Morocco. All of these girls had to stop going to school so they could work in and around their homes. Most of them have only have up to a 1st grade level of education. They are hardly able to read or write in their own language of Arabic, so this makes teaching them another language really challenging. But now that we've had three classes I'm starting to figure out how they learn best and I think we're making pretty good progress. We've gone through basic greetings, the alphabet, numbers, and pronouns so far.

Teaching this class has really meant so much to me already. I'm so so surprised at how my outlook on life can change with just a little bit of purpose outside of the house. I'm looking forward to getting to know each of the girls better and building a trust and friendship with them through time. I'm also hoping I'll have the chance to improve my Arabic in the process.

A Bug and Bugs, Part 2

Today has been a total blur for me. I've pretty much either been in bed or in the bathroom. I caught something last night (probably food poisoning) and it haunted me all night and all day. Soooo miserable. Matthew was a saint and took care of Zetta and me all day, I would have been lost without him. He went on a special run for chocolate pudding- it was the only thing that sounded good. And he even read a couple chapters of his new book to me while I rested.

The other bugs that have been a major nuisance to me are the creepy crawly kind. The ants have stopped invading our kitchen. I made sure the sugar and honey are tucked away beyond sight. But the spiders, earwigs, and mosquito's are in full swing. I like to have the windows open during the day when the sun is out, and I think the bugs are taking advantage of it.

A few days ago a yellow/orange spider followed me on my towel to the shower. It crawled off and scurried into hiding while I screamed bloody murder. Matthew came to find it and kill it, but he gave up after a few minutes. I whined for a while about having to get it myself, but I found it hiding behind a shampoo bottle after I got in. I'm glad I was able to just spray it down the drain, I really hate having to smash spiders, the crunch is what gets me.

Now I'm off to get the blood thirsty suckers. It's a never ending hunt, we're both convinced they are super mosquito's- faster, stronger, and bigger.

Swallow

The 2nd painting in the series "Free as a Bird" is entitled Swallow.

The Souk

The Souk (translated as Marketplace) is a mix between a farmers market, a community yard sale, and a state fair. It runs during the weekends on the outskirts of Ifrane. The three of us went to see what we could find today after lunch. The first thing we found was some Heinz BBQ sauce, it was a major score. The guy we got it from gets imports from Spain without paying the import tax, so we got a good price for it. Pretty much everything in Morocco is bargainable, in fact if you don't bargain you're probably paying 2x the regular price.



This picture is an overhead view of the veggie/fruit/spices section of the Souk.





The second thing we got was a bunch of cilantro from this sweet guy. It only cost about 12 cents.

We also bought some red and yellow bell peppers, a yellow melon which hasn't been identified yet, and some bib lettuce.

The Souk has some really random stuff, including piles of random shoes (who knows if there are matches?!) seen below. I was able to find myself a really cute skirt and summery shirt out of a pile of random clothes. I don't usually look because it's just a big mess, but Matthew was patiently looking at toys with Zetta so I was able to take my time.

One last picture of the spices. Pretty much anything you need you can find in this madness. The guy even has uncommon things like dried pomegranate (used for dying things red) and argon oil which is made in the south of morocco.

We're in need of a new coffee pot and a small kitchen table, but nobody was willing to budge on their prices- so we'll be back next week to see if we can get lucky again.

Dinner is served

Zetta is growing bigger by the minute, and this makes her one hungry baby. She is now eating 3 generous meals a day to satisfy her ever growing body. She's been introduced to green beans, peas, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, apples, bananas, oatmeal, and rice. Frozen veggies and jarred baby food are nowhere to be found in Morocco, so this means her food takes a bit of time to prepare. Produce here does not come pre-washed by any means, it's pulled out of the dirt and put into wooden crates and sold as is. So my first step is to rinse the food, and sometimes take out the little rocks mixed in! Then I peel/shell/chop whatever I'm making.

Then it goes into the pressure cooker for 15 minutes or so until its soft enough to put in the food processor. We usually make 2 or 3 different veggies at the same time and blend them all together.After it's all blended up I pour it into ice cube trays to freeze over night.

After it's frozen I stick them in a handy freezer bag to pull out whenever it's time for Zetta to eat. We have a special mini cooking pot for Zetta's food (its just the right size). We blend together the veggies with a little bit of oatmeal and a little bit of brown rice. Since the baby cereal here is practically pure sugar we make our own out of whole oats and brown rice. Our coffee mill works great to grind them up to a fine powder. The last thing we add before it's ready is a little bit of infants powdered vitamins. I usually repeat this process every 1 to 1 1/2 weeks. It's a lot of work, but its satisfying to know that she's eating well and we're giving her the best food that we can.

As free as a bird

I've been putting this off for far too long, but now I think it's time. For my debut post, I think I'll share with you the painting I finished today and some thoughts about it.


I've been itching to be creative, but I've been stuck in a funk. I'm glad this has passed because I feel so much better after I've created something from within me. I've always had a fascination with birds, so the subject of the painting came naturally. When I was younger I was interested in the things my Dad liked, and he had a pocket sized field guide on the birds of the U.S. that I loved to study. Ever since my obsession with that little book, birds have been magical to me. I think this is just no.1 in a series that I'll be doing. This one is called: Goldfinch