Sunset

Living at the beach gives us a chance to get some awesome photos. Just thought I would share a few. So these are all photos taken just a few short steps from our home in DarBouazza Morocco. It is hard to believe the big city of Casablanca is just a 15 min drive away.

Local Market

Well Moe took Adam and I out to a small town about 30 min away. It was market day and the town was alive with activity. We parked along the busy street and paid a couple of young boys to keep an eye on the car. Walking up to the market there were crowds of people and trucks piled so high with hay they looked like they would tip over. We walked close behind Moe as we made our way through the crowd to the vendors. The first part of the market made me want to turn around and leave as there were people selling old trashy furniture that looked like it needed to be burned and not used. The one man was selling bread that was piled on a dirty tarp and green with mold. I was told it was to feed to the cows. We walked through the muddy paths seeing stall after stall of items for sale. People looked at us like we did not belong. I am sure it did not help with me snapping photos left and right. After snapping one photo of 2 men sitting among the nuts and dries fruit another man yelled out hey to the one guy what did you do wrong you know that photo is for the paper.
We picked up a few things but mostly enjoyed seeing all the colorful people and stuff.The last part of the market we walked though was the meat section. They had all parts of the animals available to purchase. Even the cow feet neatly crossed on scraps of cardboard in the mud. Yuck! Yes the meat was fresh and the chickens could be purchased live or they would kill it on the spot for you.
This market is so large you could walk all day and not see every thing but the thing i dislike is how they tend to charge us more when they see I am American. One example is when Moe asked the price on a flashlight and they told him 30DH but the man next to him told us they had just told him 20DH for the same item. Yes we walked away and picked one up from another vendor.

Christmas in Dar Bouazza

It was good to be together as a family once again for Christmas. We came with just our suite cases so no room for decorations how ever we did find a few things at the local shops. I could not bring my self to pay over $100 for a tree brought in from Spain that had to be the worst examples of Christmas trees I have ever seen. SO it was off to the local garden shops in search of a potted plant. Moe was a goods sport and took us to quite a few shops before we found just the thing we needed. So a Charlie Brown tree was what we got. I love the hand made clay pose in Morocco so we stopped and picked one up. I was happy . Less than $20 and we were set i got a potted plant to enjoy all year to boot. Adam worked hard making signs for the wall and fire place saying Merry Christmas and added paper snow flakes.Noura and Adam made gold and silver origami birds to decorate the tree just like i did when i was Noura's age in Japan. In Mareef (the local shopping area) we found a small party shop with the greenery and stockings to decorate the fire place. A few of the Moroccan cut glass teacups with tea lights and we were set. The weather was warm and so no fire on Christmas but we tossed a few candles in the fire place to give us the feeling of Christmas.
A few days before Christmas we were invited to a cookie exchange with the expat ladies in our area. We had warm cider and snacks and enjoyed sharing Christmas memories. We came home with plates of cookies to share. Of course the best part was being with others.
On Christmas we had presents in the morning and enjoyed the company of Laura and her family for dinner. We decided on Mexican food. We found out about 2 little Hispanics nuns who sell corn chips so we had some with our home made tortillas. Yes we are learning to cook lots of things we took for granite in the States. It has been fun and a good bonding experience for the kids and I.
As youcan see in the one phote Moe decided he would light things up and was lighting sparkelers in the Christmes tree. The kids loved it but as you can guess he got in trouble with me. Oh well kids will be kids I just hope he does not burn down the house.

Sheep Day

Well living in Morocco allows us the chance to celebrate both the American and Moroccan holidays So the Saturday after Thanks Giving we had our first Eid Al Adha (sheep day). On this day each man who is married is expected to purchase a sheep and have it killed to show his faith. So a few days before the holiday Moe came home with 2 sheep. One was for our family and one for his brother as he is in an apartment and does not have a place to keep it. The kids were excited and wanted to take the sheep for a walk. That was not a option though as they were sure to run away. Oh and we would have been the talk of the town. At night you could hear the sheep calling to the others around the neighbourhood.
On the big day Noura was in tears not wanting the sheep to be killed. We told her how the sheep would be food and it was the Muslim tradition. WE would not watch the slodder but it still bothered her. So as we drove to Nana Rocco's house for lunch Moe picked up the phone and told then to pardon our sheep and to give it to his uncle. The tradition done not say he must kill it so the fact that he got it and gave it was good enough. We all enjoyed a yummy lunch of lemon chicken and stayed in the apartment while the others went to the roof top for the sacrifice of the other sheep.
The drive into Casablanca was interesting with bond fires on the street corners where young men would cook the sheep head for a small payment of a few duhams. You could see streams of bloody water in places and the corners were lined with the heads and the horns in piles as well as the pelts. The Moroccans were having fun and even the youngest children were not bothered by seeing the sheep being killed. I had to pass on that as I was too much for me.

Thanks Giving 2009

OK so I have been bad about keeping up. But after doing the online school with the kids all day the last thing i want to do is get on the computer. Hope all our family and friends had a wonderful Holiday season.

Well our first Thanks Giving in Morocco was an experience to remember. We got our turkey just a few miles up the road. They have then all lined up and you just pick the one you want and they kill it rigth there. I guess you can't get fresher than that. But i must say finishing up the gutting it was an experience. Thanks to Moe he did most of it. Not quite a butter ball but it was tasty.

Adam was happy with his BIG slice of pumpkin for his pumpkin pie.

The little expat community got together that night for a bond fire and songe down on the beach. It was nice to be among other Americans and we all enjoyed the frendship. This little beach town we are in has a great group of expats making it feel more like home.

Moe and Adam cleaning the fresh bird.