The Countdown Has Begun

1 day. . .

Tomorrow one of the Arabic teachers is getting married.  It will be my first Moroccan wedding, and I'm excited and nervous.  I went to a Kaftan store with my friend Lauren the other day and we tried on multiple Kaftans--this is the traditional Moroccan dress for fabulous fancy parties like weddings or Sboas (baby naming ceremonies).  We picked one, put some money down, and will go back to pick them up tomorrow, the day of the wedding in the afternoon.  Then, we'll go to the wedding place around 8-9pm. They don't really perform a ceremony (that I know of), but there will be dancing, eating, coffee, tea, and LOUD music until. . . 2 or 4 in the morning???!!!!  Pictures will definitely be following shortly!

8 days. . .

Until the desert!  We're almost through with the 2nd week of 4th quarter--we're just cooking right along (literally and figuratively as I've been cooking with Amy for the past 4 weeks or so). Every day I look at my calendar and think "Oh my gosh! How am I going to get through everything I need to with my students?  Oh well.  Guess we just won't get to it."  And then I feel lazy because I feel like I have senior-itis and I'm ready to check out.  My countdowns probably don't help. . .

Anyway, this will be my first in-country vacation.  The first weekend of break I'm taking a MUCH NEEDED break. I'm not going anywhere. . . and although I'd like to say I'm not doing anything, I'm going to try to finish the rest of planning for the last 6 weeks of school.

During the actual week of spring break, I'm heading south.  First stop will be Marrakesh with Marcy where I'm hoping to do a bit of shopping--always a plus!  The last part of the week, we'll be making our second stop at the edge of the Sahara Desert.  Then, as part of a birthday trip for one of the Amicitia teachers, we're heading into the desert for a few nights, a few camel rides, a few delicious meals, and a few outings of sand boarding!  Should be a blast!

23 days . . .

In approximately 3 weeks, I'm going to make an attempt at traveling alone in Morocco.  A friend from Memphis just moved to Tetouan, a smallish town about 6 hours north of Fes.  She's teaching at an American Language Center, and she just arrived at the beginning of April.  Because of her first week of teaching followed by our spring break, I won't be able to head up that way right away; however, I'm super excited to go and help her set up her apartment and maybe spread some of my sweet Arabic language knowledge her way!

XX days. . .

I'm possibly trying to keep the date my arrival to the States a secret for various reasons. . . but I'm happy to announce that we're into double digits.  Plane tickets have been purchased and various in-state travel plans have been made.  I've never been more excited for a trip (including Christmas in Paris and spring break #1 in Italy).  I've been reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" with my Honors class the past 2 weeks, and there's a reference to an event the protagonist has been looking forward to for five years that may not exactly meet with the expectations and illusions he created in his head.  UNLIKE, Jay Gatsby, I'm pretty sure that this summer is going to ROCK!  I can't wait to visit some of my best friends through Ohio and Tennessee, spend time with my awesome family members, have some catch-up and much needed time with my brother later in the summer, and generally spend quiet evenings eating good food, drinking sweet tea, talking, and watching movies with my parents (with the latter two not occurring simultaneously, if dad has anything to say about it).  Also, the cooking I've been doing will hopefully transfer to the States as well, and I can't wait to try out various Moroccan dishes for mom, dad, family, and friends.  I've already planned to fill my time with driving in a country where local traffic laws are regularly followed, daily trips to Dee & Gee's for ice cream (and Jerry's for snow cones in Memphis!), piano/singing dates with mom, "helping" dad at the office (which may or may not involve me sitting in his office staring at him while he works), catching up on reading the "classics" as well as working on future lesson plans, and generally being lazy & basking in the sunshine, as I enjoy my time with my parents.  Being overseas has definitely taught me how much I value my family and my time with them.

* * *

Well, those are the 3 big events that will be happening in my life soon.  The month of May should fly by as every weekend we have a big event at Amicitia--a talent show, prom, debate tournaments, science fair, and elementary and high school plays.

I'm hoping to write a blog soon about what I've learned (or haven't) and how I've grown (or haven't) this year.  I can tell that my outlook on life has definitely brightened now that the weather is warming up again, and even though I've had a rough week learning that many of my friends won't be returning next year, the fact that the end of the tunnel (at least this year's tunnel) is visible--or semi-approaching quickly--helps brighten my life and has made me much more optimistic this month.

As ever, warfare issues are ever-present, but God has been gracious and is constantly giving me reminders of his faithfulness, and so many of my friends here have been generous with their time, listening to my heartache, and their wisdom, giving me great Godly advice.  I'm so blessed to be here with people I trust and cherish.

* * *

Much love to you all.  TwHeshtik bezeff, walikin ghrunshufik qareb! (I miss you a lot, but I will see you soon)

Running Around Like a Chicken with Its Head Cut Off

I'd like to start this blog with a story:
I've currently taken up cooking - something that will be discussed later - and decided that I wanted to try my hand at making Chicken Tortilla Soup, having been giving the recipe from a friend who made it last week.  The soup calls for a whole chicken, bone and all, to be boiled in water to help make the broth.  Then, you pull the chicken apart, discard the bones, and put the meat back in the broth will lots of vegetables and cilantro. Sounds super easy, right?  Well, I went to the local grocery store, and of course, there were NO whole chickens!  (Because nothing in Morocco ever happens the way you want it to)  I quickly called Amy to find out where the next closest place was to buy a chicken.  Apparently, across the street was a. . . chicken shop. Perfect!  You know you don't live in American anymore when you walk into a Moroccan chicken shop.  This place smelled like chicken and had a bunch of live chickens hanging out eating seed waiting to be picked for dinner.  I told the owner I wanted 2 kilos of chicken, so he walked over to the coop, pulled one out and set it on the scale.  I think this chicken knew what was coming--he didn't go into the back quietly.  As I listened for the sound of the chicken to be silenced, I noticed a bucket of chicken feet next to the back sink.  This place was legit!  Pretty soon, the guy came back with a headless, footless, featherless chicken, plopped it in a bag, and handed it to me.  B'saHa--to your health.  I wanted to immediately call dad (because I thought he would think it was cool), but calling America is expensive--and usually impossible--so I called Amy for a 2nd time.  She showered me with plaudits (and mentioned that one of the few Moroccan hurdles I have left to jump is the squatty potty).  I was feeling uber confident by the time I walked into my apartment.  Washed my hands, emptied the sink, stuck the bag of chicken in it, and opened it up.  Ewwwwwwwwww.  What was I thinking????  This thing still had it's neck on it! And when I pulled it out of the bag, blood poured out of it down the drain.  Grossssssssssssssssss!  And there were still organs inside this chicken--this poor chicken that was alive only a half hour ago.  I made a THIRD call to Amy for guidance on how to prepare this thing to go into the pot of water, receiving lots of assurance that I could just cut off the rest of the neck, pull out the liver and heart, rinse the thing off, and it'd taste great after it was cooked.  And guess what!  It did! I'm proud to say that Morocco didn't beat me in this round (it wasn't a difficult round to win), and that I feel much more accomplished and hardcore after the "chicken experience."

So now to update you as to my whereabouts and activities from the past 1.5 months:
I honestly can't even remember what I did in February.  We celebrated my two roommates' birthdays with a trip to the local Asian restaurant Kai Tai and a surprise birthday for one of them who was turning 30.  I don't remember much else, but I know that we ate, and we at A LOT.  We had cookies, and cakes, and candy, and cakes, and ice cream, and cakes, and sweets, and cakes.  I think I gained at least 5 kilos--hence the current attempt to cut down/eliminate sugar from my diet. The weekend after all the birthday celebrations, Collete, Kirsten, and I traveled to Casablanca to visit their old roommate Katie.  We visited the Hassan II mosque--the largest outside of Saudi Arabia--and gawked, oohed, and ahhed over the size of the structure and the beautiful tile.  Then, we went to the newly opened Morocco Mall.  It was fun to be there, but I left with a lonely, empty feeling, as the mall was that much closer to feeling like I was back in America with its food court, Starbucks, American Eagle, and Gap.  As lovely as the day was, it was nice to get back to Fes and feel like I was back to reality rather than once again wishing my time away; also, the traffic was much lighter and nicer when we got back to Fes.  Taxi rides in Casa are crazy!

March began with spring break #1! Humdullah!  I had tackled Paris for Christmas, so this time in was off to Italy!  My friend Marcy and I flew from Casablanca to Milan, then from Milan to Rome, then we took the train from Rome to Florence, rode the train from Florence back to Milan, and finally flew back to Casablanca.  It was beautiful.

Rome:
After having been to Rome, I definitely want to read up on more of the history of the city.  I feel like I knew about the famous places like the Colosseum or the Pantheon, and I have heard of and read the Shakespeare play about Julius Caesar, but my little store of knowledge wasn't enough for this trip.  There is so much history there! It was incredible to see these structures that were built in 72 A.D. and are half standing, still standing, or completely demolished.  As we walked across the Forum, it was mind blowing to think that Julius Caesar and Cassius and Brutus had walked across some of these same stones.  Trevi Fountain was huge and beautiful, the Spanish Steps were huge and beautiful, the Vatican including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel were huge and beautiful--it was all incredible.  The marble and stone everywhere--I was at a loss for words thinking about all the wonderfully skilled artists who helped make these monuments and buildings. 

Florence:
Florence and the Tuscan area were definitely my favorite of the trip.  The Duomo (or church) in Florence was really neat, covered with lots of colors of marble.  We were able to make it to the Accedemia museum to see Michelangelo's sculpture David.  Amazing!!! Our first day (out of two) in Florence, we were able to climb a hill outside of the city that overlooked the city and surrounding area at sunset.  Although it was chilly, it was incredible (as the entire trip was).  The last day in Florence, we decided to take a bus tour into the countryside.  The trip took us 12 hours, and we visited Sienna--home of the oldest bank in the world, an organic farm and winery for lunch, San Gimignano--home of World Famous Gelato, and Pisa--home of the leaning tower (so cool!).  It was well worth it with beautiful views, delicious food, and a chance to see the leaning tower of Pisa! 

Now:
We are finishing up our final week of 3rd quarter this week.  We have a short 3-day weekend (I'm headed to southern France for a few days at the beach) for Easter, and then hit the books again for 9 weeks.  I'm heading into novel season, working on Frankenstein, Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, and The Odyssey (Senior-Freshmen) with lots of planning, grading, reading, and discussion.  I'm excited, but know that life will be busy & exhausting in these last 2 months.  I'm also learning to cook a few Moroccan meals to share with friends and family back home, and will be heading to the desert at the end of April.  Stay tuned!

Prayer requests:
1) Grace that as we get closer to the end of the year that I don't try to pile a ridiculous amount of work on my students or continually get down on myself for not going through everything I think we should have gotten through
2) Travel mercies to and from France and to and from Marrakesh/desert area
3) That I'd begin to hear God's voice and earnestly seek Him daily
4) As year one draws to a close, that I would hear clearly from the Lord what plans He has for me after year 2 of teaching--whether that be Morocco, elsewhere in the world, or back to North America


Much love to you all!