5 day sojourn to Morocco

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Hi there, I've been fairly unsuccesful thus far in posting any entries, so my apologies for that.

Yesterday, Lucas & I travelled from Malaga to Rabat, Morocco, where my good friend and workmate Karen lives with her husband Adil and 2 kids ages 3 & 4. We arrived into the Casablanca airport, and much to my dismay, I did not bring Karen's home address or phone number with me. This is now required to pass through customs & border control, due to the concerns with swine flu. Thank goodness I speak French! It came in handy and a very nice Moroccan customs officer escorted me & Lucas out to the exit to find my friends, and get the info. So far, everyone has been so nice! They are also a very child friendly country, and complete strangers leap to help out whenever a child falls down or is in distress.

Rabat is a very modern city and according to Karen, the only place to live as a foreigner in this country. Last night after dinner, we walked down to an outdoor mall with lots of restaurants and cafes, and it felt very much like being in Europe. In fact, it's a very small world indeed, as a woman came up to Karen & Adil and said, don't I know you guys from Dallas? Sure enough, Mona was a friend of theirs from when they lived in Dallas, and she just moved to Morocco. It's wild! Anyway, we had ice cream and enjoyed a beautiful evening outside. Since it's pretty hot during the day - around 90, lots of people come out in the evenings to enjoy the cooler air and company among friends.

The trifecta of languages for me has been challenging and interesting. I'm having a tough time keeping track of what language to use for the right audience - Spanish with Lucas, English with my friends, French with the locals. I'm sure this is good for me and tapping into some part of my brain that's gotten a bit rusty. I'm enjoying the challenge and it's really fun to use my French again.

I just had my first cooking lesson. Karen taught me to make a Moroccan tagine. Dave & his parents will be my guinea pigs when I get home - willingly I'm sure. Gotta run to eat this yummy dish! More later with photos when we return to Spain on Sunday.

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Comments

[Mom]

congratulations
After I had the wed com placed on my computer, I can't use internet. Glad the languages are coming back to you. I am at the Senior site to get your blog. Keep up the good work. Kiss Lucas for me and John. Much love.

[KarlaKramer]

tried to call
hi mom, i just tried to call you, but you may still be at the senior center. we're home from a day spent in casablanca. my friend has vonage so it's free to call the u.s. i'll try to call back before we go to dinner or afterwards. we're 6 hours ahead. sorry the webcam made your internet not work. i wonder if those are unrelated? love to you and john.

[Halley]

Comment on 5 day sojourn to Morocco
Karla- This sounds so cool! By the way, I'm not sure that that audience would be a good one to test food on... they'd all eat anythign!!!!

[Shirlee]

reporting in
MY COMPUTER IS UP AND RUNNING NOW. AFTER A 5 HOUR CLEANUP JOB BY MY COMPUTER FRIEND. wAINTING FOR NEWS. wE MISS YOU.

[Kristin]

Tagine
Come to KC....I'll be your guinea pig!!! Yummy.

[Aunt Marilyn]

Hmmmmmm....
I read your Dad's comment about 'not wishing your life away'. He heard that from Texas Grandma, as I did, many a time. Glad your are having fun and a neat experience. Just enjoyed 2 1/2 days with Stan - trying to cool off in this horrible heat. Enjoyed Aspen and the old stompin' grounds of our ancestoral uncles. Stan is a great host/chef. Amy would not recognize the place with the growth in the last 15 years +. In a couple of weeks, we'll be off to Central Europe. Enjoy your visit and I'll look forward to your blog. Love ya!