P is for Marrakech

Pretty lights, pottery, prices, paintings, pants, poulet, pretty scarves, plants, Poms, people, people watching, pizza, parks, perfume, perfect weather, palm trees, panoramic views, petite room, and many other things can describe our spur-of-the-moment trip to Marrakech!

Once again, our travel plans fell through. Poor Megan (roommate/Band director) has Bronchitis and was out for the week! She didn't want to overdue it by traveling and Cherith (other roommate) and I understood. But we didn't want to waste another long weekend either. So Cherith and I took an early train to Marrakech on Friday just for the night. We didn't really start planning the trip until we were on the train! But the trip was great! Here's the breakdown...

Prices. Everything is negotiable in Morocco. To be honest, this can get exhausting! And, we get ripped off a lot. We are learning what the fair prices are but we don't always get that price. Especially with taxis! We got Super ripped off on our first taxi ride, but we had pretty good luck, with taxis and other things, after that!

Pretty Lights! One of the biggest tourist attractions in Marrakech (and all of Morocco) is the Djemaa el Fna. It's a large open market in the center the medina with tons of cart vendors and it looks Beautiful at night!!! We spent pretty much all of our time there exploring the hundreds of shops and enjoying the sights and people.

Petite room. The first hotel we went to tried to rip us off- again, every price is negotiated. We went to another hotel and found just what we needed, for half the price! It was maybe a third of the size of my college dorm room and we had to share a community bathroom. But we hardly spent any time there anyways! The nicest thing- DARK curtains! We planned to sleep in, which is usually about 8:00 because of the mass amount of sun pouring into our house. But the dark curtains blocked so much light it was almost 9:00 before we woke up. Perfect. 

Perfume. We ventured into the never ending world of shops and were pulled into a little spice shop. The cute little old man working was very kind and spoke pretty good English. He showed us a lot of Berber make-up and cosmetics. He allowed us to sample many of the different soaps and perfumes including jasmine, amber, and others I don't remember! Needless to say, we smelled great!

Pottery and Paintings. We have been attempting to decorate our apartment for some time now. We found some cool paintings and searched for quite a while to find the right plates to hang on the wall! The crafts, especially plates and pots, are gorgeous and very decorative here. We bargained hard for the plates and were very happy!

Pants and Pretty scarves. Cherith has been searching for a certain type of Moroccan pants and finally found a pair (or several) she loved. She was Determined to get a great deal and I thought she was going to bring the poor kid to tears before the deal ended! She got Two pair of pants for less than half of his original price! That was our win of the weekend! We also saw tons of beautiful scarves, another common item. We could get better deals in Casa for essentially the same thing so we just looked at the scarves.

Poms, Pizza, Poulet (chicken). We ate dinner and later had some tea at rooftop cafes where we could overlook the square. We stayed on the roof until it was dark and all the lights came on! I wish my picture-taking skills were better because it was truly amazing!

People and People watching! By far, one of my most favorite things to do! The rooftop views worked best for this largely because we got hassled a lot when we were in the midst of everything. There were storytellers, musicians, monkeys, henna, and so much more. The other tourists were also fun to watch! We were hoping that we didn't look as ridiculous as they did, but I'm sure we probably did!

Palm trees, Plants, and Panoramic views. Before dinner we walked around the Koutoubia Mosque. It is right near the Djemaa and had a gorgeous garden around it. We ventured through there enjoying the sights and snapping some photos. On Saturday, we went the Jardin Majorelle. A large garden with plants from all over the world. It felt a jungle at some points!

Marrakech was the perfect destination to break up another (and our last) long weekend! Now we can start planning our next adventure....

Action Packed!

We kicked off yet another three-day weekend with a trip to the IMAX! They only show the movie in English on Thursday nights, so it's usually packed with people from our school! The current movie is Skyfall- the 007 movie! The perfect way to start a great weekend!

Friday, really wasn't very action packed, but it was productive! I got all kinds of work done in my classroom and for the class I am taking. We watched a movie and then moved out to the patio to watch the storm roll  in over the ocean! I am usually terrified when a storm is coming, but they're not potentially dangerous like storms at home, so I can relax and enjoy the beautiful light show! 

Saturday, we went grocery shopping. In three hours, we managed to hit four stores and finally have food in the cupboards again! That may not sound 'action-packed' but if you've ever witnessed the driving here, you know how intense it is! After unpacking the goods, we took off for the CIRCUS! 

I don't think I have been to the circus since I was seven...? So, it was time to go again!

I'm not sure if we were allowed to take photos or not, that information was given in French! We did manage this one before the show; and look who joined in...

One picture I wish I had...goose herding (geese herding?)!!! You know you're in for a good show when it starts with a man on a huge black horse chasing four geese around a tiny circle!


I didn't really think about or remember all the things that take place in a circus, but many of them fall into the death-defying or 'you could get seriously injured doing that' category...Sister, you have successfully brainwashed me and I can say without a doubt you would not have enjoyed it!

The tight-rope walkers performance was quite possibly the scariest thing I've seen in a very long time. No net and of course one slipped/fell. A few times. He caught himself on the wire and climbed back on so he never got hurt but we could see him clearly struggling on the platform. Even the other circus performers looked scared!

The circus was pretty cool and included all the things that make you gasp, smile, and squirm in your seat! Giant snakes, fire-breathing, crocodile wrestling, crazy strong people, sea lions, mini-horses (one had a monkey strapped to his back. We never figured out why), zebras, "super bikers," pantomime clowns, feisty tigers, and so much more! One of the tigers was pretty chubby and we didn't think he would make it through the hoop but he did it! Once.

After the circus we toured around the carnival next door and of course bought Cotton Candy!!  What is a trip to the circus without cotton candy?!

Sunday, was nice and calm. Sleeping in, church, work in the classroom, and calling home! Gotta prepare for another tough (short) week ;)

Parents

When I was student teaching we had to submit weekly reflections. Part of that reflection included describing the week in one word. My word of choice for this week: parents.

I was gone last Friday to turn in my papers at the police station. That was the first time my students ever had a sub, and sadly, I think it ruined them! They were doing so great, especially with all the time off we've had. But Monday and Tuesday were not good days. I saw those same old behaviors...until I pointed out that Wednesday was parent teacher conference day and I would be talking to each and every parent about how their child behaves. Things were a little bit better after that, for about 5 minutes!

Wednesday was another day off for the students, but for the teachers it was a day full of parents! I was nervous going into the day all day. There is no way to know how a conference will go or what will happen. Fortunately, I do have good students- even though they don't always show it! I was able to brag about how great each kid is and what progress I've seen. Even with my more troublesome students their parents were not surprised and very understanding. We were able to discuss the behaviors or difficulties and what could be done to modify or help them.

The other nerve-wracking part was the language barrier. My French is embarrassingly awful and really not helpful at this point. And Arabic...yea.  Each teacher was assigned a translator to help, but mine was sick and didn't come to school. I had another one "on-call" but, thankfully, most of my parents were okay with English. I felt that all the conferences went well, but I do wonder if some things were lost in translation.

On a sidenote: I also walked away from conferences with total shoe envy! The women here have gorgeous shoes!!! Boots, to be more specific!

Wednesday night, we had to wait until 9:30 to find out if we would have school the next day. Islamic holidays are determined by a lunar calendar. So the date can be predicted, but not known for sure until right before! We were scheduled to have Thursday off in honor of the holiday, but since the holiday was moved to Friday we had school on Thursday and now have a three-day weekend! I guess the anticipation of waiting for the decree was something like checking to see if school is canceled for a snow day!

A few of my students were absent on Thursday. For the first time in quite a while I had to count heads when we went places because I couldn't believe how small my class looked; I thought for sure someone (or a few) got left behind! The highlight though was receiving a package from MY Parents!!! These packages have just been chilling at the post office for one or two Months. I never got a notice about them, and even if I had, picking them up is a challenge because the post office is on the other side of town and closes shortly after school lets out. I passed the tracking info on in hopes the mail courier could get them for me. And He Did!!! It was full of all the essentials: warm mittens, fuzzy socks, yummy food seasonings, a fantastic candle, books for my kiddos, laminated leaves (that they will totally love!), and of course some shoes! essentials.  ;)

So my lesson of the week, parents are pretty great. No matter what language they speak or how far away they are! Love you Mom and Dad!  

The Lazy Weekend

Four-day weekend #2 was originally going to be another get away. First it was Spain, then London, then Marrakesh, and it turned out to be nothing but a lazy (and awesome) weekend at home! Marrakesh almost happened until my poor travel buddy got the flu and instead spent her weekend in bed and regaining health.

We had time off for a huge conference being held in Portugal that a lot of the staff was headed too. I don't think the school could operate with that many staff members gone, so we had the weekend off!

It started with a PD/half day on Wednesday (Halloween). There was a Halloween party at another staff members apartment so I to figure out what to wear! I ended up stealing the idea from my sick roommate and went as blackmail...I wore all black and pinned a postage stamp to my back...get it?
Jasmine was Ginger Spice along with her other spice girls/posse. John was a Ceiling Fan (thus the "go ceiling" poster)...were so punny! 


My favorite and the best costumes went to Chris and Carolyn. Chris was a Sidi Ali (Aquafina) bottle and Carolyn was a Tajine...traditional Moroccan dish, kind of like a stew. Clever, cute, and cultural!

On Thursday, I went with Chris and Carolyn on a little Casablanca adventure. We were searching for the black electronics market. We searched for as long as we could and then of course, on our way back to the apartments we found it! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to look around, but now we know where it is!

We got back to campus just as another group was heading out to the Haboose. Its the best-known market in Casa, where you can find all the cultural souvenirs and what not! Note the jewelry, plates, lanterns, lamps, and thousand other things packed into a tiny room! I bought some earrings...they're cute! We found all kinds of interesting and crazy things there.


The most intriguing were the animal hides. Like the lime green pelts and the tiger stripped fox. It was pretty interesting. I also saw a cow hide rug complete with tail. But honestly, how could a bear rug ever compare to a camel rug, complete with hump.



Friday, three of us went on a day trip to El Jadida. We got on the wrong train- easy to do when Nothing is marked! But we still made it! We explored the old Portuguese fort and the cisterns there.  Saturday and Sunday was spent mostly working in my classroom- getting things cleaned up and organized! We have recently gotten hooked on the television show Downton Abbey...it's a British show that follows a wealthy family and their house help in the early 1900s. We watched an entire season (and maybe a little extra) over one weekend. What are lazy weekends for right!?

Time Out

We had one and half days of school this week. It was nice to only have 1.5 days of school, but it did make planning a little challenging! We really couldn't do anything we normally do because we had four days off again! I didn't want to introduce anything new because we had four days off again! So we took a time out!

I wanted to review some of the procedures and have them practice following directions...because they are terrible at listening to and following directions! I made up some games and found some good following direction activities for us to do. They loved the game! Of course, they failed the first time because no one paid attention or listened. This was one time I was actually glad they failed! We talked about why and what they needed to improve and do to make it work. The next attempt...they failed again- I was hoping they would get it, but nope, same fail. On the third try though they finally did it! And they were so proud! We played a few more times and they have already asked to play again!

The coloring activities were not really a success at all. My hope was they could read and follow the directions and do the work ALL on their OWN- instead of asking Miss Feldpausch what to do and what that word is and what to do and what to do....it's a problem in the classroom. Unfortunately, my adorable kiddos are not English speakers and I forget this sometimes. The color sheet included too many words they didn't know (like canoe, and luggage, and purse). Not complex or crazy words but words you probably wouldn't know in a second-language. I had to a lot of explaining to do for the assignment I thought would be easy. I am a little overwhelmed by the whole ESL thing. It's hard to figure out and I never really know what will trip them up.

We still serve lunch on half days and our lunch time is at 10:45...more like brunch really. So I basically only had a quarter day on Wednesday. It was Halloween but most of the Moroccan kids don't celebrate Halloween. Silly me thinking I could get away with not doing Halloween activities that day. They freaked out! I think they really just wanted candy. I printed off some Halloween crosswords quick and we did a little Halloween Spelling Bee (they Love spelling contests!). Of course, I had to explain a lot of the Halloween things- what is a werewolf, a 'silly' costume would be a clown, a witch's pet is a black cat...all the little things kids just know and pick up in the states. Not so here. They loved the activities though and since some were going to library at odd times throughout the morning it worked out to not have a real assignment. We did take a little math quiz- just to have something to show for the day! And then it was lunch, slightly longer recess, pack up, and head out! They got to go home. I had Professional Development for the rest of the afternoon.

It was odd to have such a short week, but it was a perfect 'time out' from our normal routine to address some things and have extra fun! 

Ifrane

Going to Ifrane for the Eid celebration was wonderful! We didn't experience the holiday; except through the testimonies of others and some interesting sights on the way up. But, it was a wonderful escape to a little town that felt nothing like Casablanca!

 There were a lot of great parts to the weekend! Besides getting to know the other people on the trip, my favorite thing was the foliage. I finally saw fall! It was beautiful!!! I honestly felt like I was in a postcard.

 There was a river that ran through the town and King's palace grounds.

The leaves were gorgeous! Yellows, reds, oranges! I loved it!!! Way better than shrubs and palm trees! 

The King's Ifrane palace was up on one of the hill/mountains. We could see it from the balcony of our hotel room. It looked like something out of a fairy tale! Unfortunately, he wasn't home. 

 There were a lot of great things about the weekend, sadly the weather was not one of those things. It was very rainy and quite chilly. It didn't ruin the weekend though. We braved the rain and got soaked while exploring. I kind of enjoyed the cooler weather...it felt more like home!

Due to the weather, we spent most of the time inside. [Or we are just using that as an excuse!] We got a few TV stations in our hotel room, most of them in different languages. Our favorite was the Bollywood station because...well, it was Bollywood! Thankfully, since it was in various languages it included Arabic subtitles...those were helpful. We were able to catch a few English chick flicks throughout the weekend. One afternoon was spent reading (and sleeping!) wrapped up the biggest warmest blankets ever! We wanted to steal them, but it wouldn't have fit in my backpack...it was huge!

 We weren't able to celebrate the Eid with any families but when Cherith and I were exploring around the market we stumbled upon these....
I think it was a leg bone.
And the other is part of the jaw.
Most people eat sheep during the Eid, but these were awfully large. Either way we found these bones chilling in the middle of a park downtown. Crazy.

 One day, we did have beautiful weather and traveled to a town over near the high atlas mountains. The mountains look like they come up from no where, they were snow covered, and beautiful! We visited a monastery and were able to hear stories from a monk who used to live in Algeria before his brothers were all killed in an uprising. We didn't have a lot of time to explore, but what we did see was beautiful. 

Ifrane has a rather famous landmark. The lion. We actually had to wait in a line to take this picture! People (largely tourist groups) come from all over the place to take their picture with the lion. Deborah (our 'tour guide' for the weekend and Ifane 'native') told us people will have tons of pictures- "this is me as a baby, as a high schooler, with my grandma... with the lion." So Cherith and I decided it was a necessary photo to take.
This is Cherith and I on our bike ride...with the lion!

*We weren't planning on taking a photo so please don't judge our fantastic appearance!

Other great highlights from the trip included the amazing food we ate- our hosts were fantastic chefs! We went to a Fancy hotel (Michifen) for drinks, we had a tour of the University in town that was founded by the Saudi king and former king of Maroc, we spent lots of time cuddled up in blankets watching Bollywood, we went to a home church with some of the university profs, and we went bowling! I was the best bowler there...which is saying a lot if you know my bowling abilities!

It was an amazing weekend! We all came back feeling rested and ready for our grueling 1 and half day week!