Tour Guide

We had a winter break scheduled for the last week of February, but mine got a little longer and a whole better when my friends came! Their week here went (way too) fast! We still managed to fit in plenty of exploring, picture-taking, and laughing! It was a little nerve-wrecking to play tour guide and I was quite nervous before they arrived. Kim and Brian are amazing though and they were instantly willing to take Morocco as it came! I actually really enjoyed sharing my life with them and showing them some of the fun places Morocco has to offer.
 Here's a quick break down of the week:

Wednesday: Pick them up from the airport. Walk the beach and see a beautiful Casa sunset over the Atlantic. 

Thursday: Tour Hassan II Mosque. Explore Rabat's ruins, memorials, Kasbah, ocean views, gardens, and medina. They also got to try some famous Moroccan Mint Tea (shame on me for not getting it to them sooner!). 

Friday: Off to school! They got to meet the little ones (my plan to not tell the kids about my friends totally worked! They were shy and perfectly behaved all day! I should have surprise visitors more often.) I think Kim's favorite part of the day may have been the school lunch... we get some delicious, fancy lunches! My favorite part of the day was putting Kim to work ;) She read them a story, helped them with their various activities, and corrected a ton of papers for me!! Thanks again, Roomie! After a long day at school, we ventured to Rick's Cafe for a fancy dinner. 

Saturday: The real fun began when we took off for Fes! Its quite a train ride, but they got to see a lot of the Moroccan countryside. Once we got to the Medina we were whisked off to the souk (open market) to buy ingredients for dinner. Back at the riad (hotel), we were able to watch and help prepare a traditional Moroccan tagine. It was a beef, pea, and artichoke tagine. The first thing we had to do was cut up an artichoke. The cook made it look incredibly easy but its shocking how little you get from such a large vegetable. We had a little competition to see who could cut the best artichoke. Jasmine totally won and Kim and Brian were successful also! I failed (unsurprisingly.) More mint tea and a few hours later our stomachs were more than ready for some food!! Jasmine and I introduced Kim and Brian to the real way to eat a tagine and they dove right in! 

Sunday: Breakfast on the rooftop in the sun taking in the view of Fes and surrounding hills. We booked a tour guide to show us around Fes (because that place is a maze and he would know all the 'good' spots). He was fantastic!! He spent all day with us, and almost missed his train because of us! We saw all the major crafts and trades in Morocco. And learned a lot of history. Jasmine, Kim, and Brian even tried a camel burger! Yum Yum. Kim and Brian were loving it... I knew they were Fes people! We went up to the panoramic view and ended the day with some ice cream in the Jewish quarter. 

Monday: Breakfast and then an early train back to Casa. Then it was time for some souvenir shopping! We went to the Habouse and Brian even tried his hand at bargaining for the 'good price.' Then Jasmine and I treated Kim to a real Moroccan luxury... the hammam! You can ask her for details on that ;) 

Tuesday: a SUPER early taxi ride out to the airport where good-byes were shared. Another teacher was on their flight to Paris, which ended up being a blessing since there were some ticketing issues. She was able to help Kim and Brian out and got them safely to Paris! I was sad to see them go, but the other thing I learned from our great time together was that Kim and I will always be friends! No matter the miles, no matter the time spent apart, we are Roomies forever!! 

Mysterious Me

I have never taken a sick day. And the few times I've had to do residency things in town during school hours, I have managed to fit it into plan times or while other activities are occurring. Basically, my students don't really know what its like to have a substitute there in place of me.

But that changed recently. Kim and Brian were coming to visit all the way from America!! I couldn't take off Friday due to a school policy, so instead I was going to be gone on a Thursday. I wanted to prep the kids (which means bribe them to behave well for our lovely subs!) but I didn't want to tell them about my friends coming because I knew that would make for a crazy Friday. So instead, I told the kids I would be gone on Thursday, but I let them guess what I would be doing.

Our Wednesday writing topic was "Miss Feldpausch's Grand Adventure" and each student wrote about what I would be doing on my day off. They have some very interesting ideas about what I do in my free time:

"I think Miss F is going to America to buy us more Laffy Taffies" (This was a common thread seen throughout the writings)
"Maybe she will also bring us donuts... maybe she will visit her grandma... maybe she will kill a shark with an AK-47" (...maybe not.)
"She wanted to go to Michigan, but didn't have a car. So she found a dolphin and asked him. 'Of course' said the dolphin..."
"I think she is going to Antarctica to play with penguins. Then she will see a killer whale and ride to the arctic to see a polar bear."
"Last she went on a roller coaster. When she got to the top she saw a plane going to Morocco. So she grabbed onto it. Then dropped money to her grandma so she could pay."

I was also mauled by monkeys, stranded in a jungle, swallowed by a whale (don't worry I had a flashlight), attacked by an angry gingerbread man, and written into another Star Wars movie... but my character was just a floating head. He even drew a picture of it.

These may just be the best stories they write all year!!