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.