Out and Around the City

There are a lot of keyhole arch doorways that are opulent like this. The large wooden doors are cedar and ancient as are all the gold painted portions. All the colored patterns are tiny pieces of tile; the same mosaic over and over again with precision. This happens to be one of maybe a hundred (give or take) back 'doors' into the royal palace. Notice the guard houses - we had to take the picture when the guards were elsewhere...





'La Gare' (the train station) is a main destination for most tourists that come to Fes. It is new, has a fancy cafe and feels 'safe' to someone who is just getting used to a new culture. It is open 24 hours a day and doesn't feel 'dicy', even in the middle of the night. Trains are the one thing in Morocco that run more or less on time. There is a petit taxi stand right in front and unless it is in the middle of rush hour, there are plenty of taxis to go around. If there is a huge crowd of train travelers vying for a seat, just go back inside and have a coffee until the rush dies down.

Ain Chef Park! It is pronounced 'I ns cough' and I can never get it right! This is a beautiful, fairly undeveloped tract of land about 2 miles south of Fes. There is a jogging path around the perimeter and lots of little trails running here and there. We took the children there for 'F' week and looked at the 'forest' and 'flowers' and had lots of 'fun'. The only problem is that you pretty much have to have a man to go with you or it is considered 'not safe'. I am grateful for Naveen (man that he is!) and loan him out on a regular basis to other needy females!!!

This fountain is in the center of the New City where we live. If you went straight toward the hill in the background (Mt. Zolla), you would reach the Medina after a good 35 minute walk. We live about three blocks to the right of this picture. It is called the 'Globe Fountian' because the large black ball on the top of the pedestal is a free moving etched-world globe composed of black marble. The water pressure bubbles it up and it rotates. Being that I am OC sometimes, I can't look at for very long because the rotations aren't regular and it gives me a stomach ache. I want to climb up and give it a quick spin so that ALL sides have equal access to the water...

Cheesy sign... When you are walking down the street, you are usually greeted (especially if you are female) with 'Welcome to Morocco' from miscellaneous well wishers (usually men). Yesterday, as myself, Rachel, and Dottie were walking in the Medina, a man leaped to his feet where he had been visiting with friends and said, 'Hello, please look.' He proceeded to count (in English) each one of us (one, two, three) and then point to himself and his friends (one, two three). Usually it is best to ignore these hopeful encounters but this time we just had to laugh!

Just Us!

Ok - these loaded backwards... So the pictures are chronologically in reverse...

ME!! My hair was falling out by the handful so I decided to give it a decent burial. I have always been jealous of the fact that my beautiful auburn-haired mother and sisters could grow their hair down to their waists so I gave it a try. Hmmm... It looked like an aging horse tail in need of a good grooming. I spent an enjoyable evening with the family of our school secretary whose sister is trying to start her own beauty business. First she chopped quite a bit and then rolled, affixed and sprayed. Next we ate tons of food and watched 'Arabs' Got Talent' for 2 hours. Kesh, there's a little Tunisian boy who might just beat your best Michael Jackson impression - just saying... Finally, everything was brushed out and I felt like a combination of a glamor (drag?) queen and Shirley Temple. (Nuka - if you look closely, you will see the earrings you brought me from Costa Rica and the perfectly matching shirt is a Christmas present from Karuna.)



This is the elevator outside of our apartment. We have a supper club - sort of - and the girls often come over or we go to their homes to eat, watch movies or play Nerts. Naveen is the replacement little brother and everybody appreciates his quick wit and quirky humor. Except for the time he got stuck in rhyming everything he or somebody else said. 'That's enough rhyming now and I mean it!!! Anybody want a peanut....?'



Christmas at the Welch's in Germany!!! They made us feel like real family - which we are - sort of. Ravi had a ready turban and we brought him a real fez from Fes. Naveen and Ravi are masters of the phony Indian accent. Actually, I guess that you can't call it 'phony' because they ARE both 1/2 Indian. Maybe it is genetic...




Before Christmas, the week before Thanksgiving, a group of us went to Seville, Spain and hung out for 5 days. We found a park (huge - across the river from the bullring) in which to play.... SOCCER!
These are cork trees - for reals! I checked around for corks but could only find acorns. Maybe the season for gathering corks was past.






Sunset on the beach at Cadiz. We drove down from Seville and spent the day playing on the beach and eating McDonalds'. Some of us (not me) even played in the ocean. It was about as warm as the Pacific is in March. In other words, not very.
For those of you history buffs, this is where all the explorers set sail from. Technically, the King and Queen were in Seville upriver but this is the harbor from which the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria began their journey.


Naveen and Stephen... Sometimes opposites attract, but at other times, birds of a feather... These guys are great examples of fine feathered friends! Stephen and Christy Whaley are new this year to the school and arrived in Fes about a month before we did. Stephen is the tech guy and Christy is the HR person. We spend a lot of time with them - they live right up the street and around the corner. Stephen and Naveen play a lot of (mind-numbing) online games together.

A few school pictures...

Amicitia American School is situated in a residential home in the new part of the city of Fes so it is quite modern - flush toilets and a swimming pool... =) The swimming pool is actually in use during the summer when school is not in session but is right in the middle of the playground so it was drained when the students arrived. I have been wracking my brain to come up with some sort of use for it for my little guys - so many possibilities, none of them acceptable... We have two men (well three - one is on night duty) that are our 'guardians'. They are in constant demand to do all sorts of jobs/errands during the school day. I wanted to post a picture of them but was too shy to ask them to be on my blog because I don't know the culture well enough to know if this would be offensive. They teach p.e., manage recess, run to the store, keep hysterical parents outside the gate, repair broken things and come get the children when their parents arrive at the end of the day. This little girl in the window is waiting, just waiting. She looks so much like Karuna that it is uncanny but I haven't yet gotten permission from the parents to show off their children (my students) on a public blog so I can't post any actual classroom photos.


These three lovely ladies are the women I work with every day. We have become friends and two of them are in a cooking club with me. We meet the first of every month. So far, the fare has been Moroccan but it looks like in December, the ladies want to try out an American dish - any suggestions? I thought fudge and caramel corn would be a good introduction to American cooking!

Each week, we work on a letter of the alphabet and this was 'D' week. Naveen came over from the high school (located in an adjoining residence) and helped out with some DRUMMING while the children DANCED. He stuck around for DONUTS and DRESS UP.

Just a few more...

This is a beautiful gorge with natural springs about 3 1/2 hours south/southwest of Fes. In the summer, it is quite the happening quasi-vacation place but we were the only ones there on this day, except for the locals who ran the little shops. Subterranean water rushes out from the bottom of the hills on either side of the gorge and little huts with cement floors and thatched roofs are built straddling the springs. You walk down steep steps and onto gorgeous carpets scattered around with pillows. Dinner and mint tea are brought to you as you recline. These little boys were some of the locals whom I think live there year round.

This is the view from our front window - facing north. If you looked straight down, you would see the petite taxi stand.

More pictures from our 1st week...

This is our 'salon' or living room, taken from the door of the apartment. Most salons have 'froshs' (beautifully covered, backless couches w/ cushions) all along the walls.






Taken from the window seen in the previous picture. These are the 'petite' taxis that zip around the city proper. They are all red in Fes and I've heard that each city has its own particular color for their petite taxis. It is against the law (and is enforced) to have more than 4 people including the driver in the taxi at one time. They are pretty cheap and have a meter that is accurate. School is about a 25 minute walk; a taxi ride costs 5 dirhams (9 dirhams to 1 US dollar). I try not to think 'oh - that's only about 50 cents' because I get paid a whole lot less here but most people can afford occasional taxi rides. There are buses too but I haven't been brave enough to try one of those. Everybody shoves and pushes and some (more gutsy than I'll ever be!) hang on to the outside. There don't seem to be any rules attached to bus riding nor any clear direction as to where the bus is going...

Pictures from our 1st week in Morocco

This was the view from our balcony (one of three) at 6 am 0n the first morning of arrival in Fes. I shed a few tears 0f happiness and then went back to bed.

ARRIVAL...

We are here!!! And yes! camel(s) have been sighted but not ridden - yet. Since we arrived during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, things are not like they are during the rest of the year so we probably should wait for good descriptions of regular life but, RAMADAN....

Morocco is HOT during this time of year. During Ramadan, people fast during the daylight hours and this includes not drinking - anything- even water. One can hide a bottle of water in a bag and take occasional nips on the sly but one does not want to be offensive in the first week of arrival. Possibly a (certain but remaining nameless)new arrival may become seriously dehydrated and has to stop the bus to be sick on the side of the road BUT never drink in public during Ramadan ...

Since people are fasting all day, the nights are crazy and very fun. The fast is broken by f'tour (breakfast) when the imam sings out the official announcement in the evening. The time changes each night because it depends on the phases of the moon. When we arrived, f'tour started at a little after 7 and has been a little earlier each day. Everybody races (literally) home to be sitting at the table and taking the first bite (a date - there are piles of them at the markets) with everybody else in the city as the imam calls. The hour when everybody is supposed to be home and eating dinner is the most dangerous time to be out on the streets - think 2 am in Compton, California....
The eating routine (and therefore the staying up routine) follows a 'normal' day with tea time somewhere around 9 and 'lunch' at midnight. 'Dinner' is at 3:30 in the morning when the imam calls for the last time and all the shops roll down their metal doors at the same time. THEN the general public goes to bed. Most people sleep in but alot don't because they have jobs that require interface with the West so they get up and have to be to work at 9 or 10 in the morning. Believe it or not, most Moroccan schools have regular hours during Ramadan.

A few nights ago was the 'night of power'. Ideally, an individual can pray all night and garner the same merit as if he had prayed for 1000 months. I'm sure some do this but practically, people dress up (especially young children) in outfits tailored specially for the occasion and walk the main street with their famlies, taking pictures. It is very festive with vendors selling balloons and snacks. All the restraunts are open and you can take a ride in fancy horse-drawn carts.

Pictures will be arriving soon. =)





There is soooo much to explain and share - come visit!!!!!