March = 2 new adventures

A giant fish tank in the middle of the mall…with a shark! 

1st day of March

The weather is rainy and cold, similar as it would be in NY believe it or not. (Well maybe not this past winter.)  I actually have a very bad cough for a over week now….no doctor….gonna try to ride this one out. Even though the weather is generally warmer here, germs are still germs. Must have picked up something from the kids. On top of that, I needed to break out my inhaler and am very unhappy about that. I'm still in sorta denial I have asthma (just developed a few years ago) but when you can't breathe…..well it's kinda hard to ignore. :( 

Taking a day trip to Casablanca. First time taking the train here…it’s a direct ride costing about $15 US dollars and is about 3 hours. The trains are not luxury but they get you from point A to point B. The Marrakech train station on the other hand is quite nice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrakesh_railway_station

A highlight to traveling to Casa (written for short) is shopping at the Morocco Mall. It is the second largest shopping center in all of Africa. Typically I am not a "mall" person. But when you don't have access to one….and the nearest one is 3 hours away….you seem to get excited and remember what it's like to shop! 

http://www.moroccomall.net/home

For 25 Dirhams you can take a ride inside the elevator and look out….and so we did.

Watched and listened (to Spanish music) the dancing fountains. Pretty cool

Again, wish I could load the video.

Colorful moment on the ride…..

This looked to me like a Very small village literally on the beach. I went to investigate. But of course! :)

Casablanca is the largest city of Morocco. It is located in western Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the largest city in the Maghreb, and one of the largest and most important cities in Africa, both economically and demographically. ( thanks Wikipedia) 

Me on the other side of the Atlantic…surrounded by trash…lol

Me & Youssef

I was asked if I wanted to go to a soccer game. Helllzzz yeah! I have never been to a professional game. I general don't like watching sports on TV, but watching it live it 10x better!

Lots of cheering going on! I even learned a cheer in Arabic! 

Borrowed a flag for the pic :)

Headmaster kicking off the games with opening ceremonies and all the refs

Soccer Game at School! 

So last week we got a memo that there would be 3 soccer games taking place at the school. Teams from all around Morocco came to play ASM, our school. Both boys and girls had games and we were allowed to bring the students out to watch the games. Vendors were set up and it actually was pretty cool.
As I mentioned before….soccer is pretty serious here.

Elementary students cheer on the teams! 

Kinda funny….the school I worked for in NY is also called the warriors.



A new place opened up near the medina called Cafe Clock….very chill place.
Its more of a cultural, artsy, dining experience. It also offers yoga and cooking classes as well.
On Thursday nights they have story telling in both Arabic and English. I will be attending that soon!
I went on a Sunday afternoon and watched the sun go down while listening to Gnawa music.

http://cafeclock.com/2013/11/now-open/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRUXaYbeM8I

I tried to play these…I suck.

Gnawa music is characterized by instrumentation. The large heavy iron castanets known as qraqab (orkrakebs large iron castanets; Ar. قراقب) and a three -string lute known commonly as a hajhuj (or gimbri) are central to Gnawa music.^[1] The rhythms of the Gnawa, like their instrumentations are distinctive.  (thanks again Wiki) 

Hanging out at Cafe Clock….for sunset, live music, french fries and chocolate almond milkshakes!

We watched the artist create this on the wall.

Sunsets in Marrakech are simply Marvelous!

On our walk back we bought some wood for a painting project we want to do.
This kind man asked what our names were and started to do calligraphy in Arabic….as a gift for us!

Notice the bamboo pen….love all the paint on his fingers too. 

After we left the wood guy who wrote our names, we stumbled upon wedding celebrations in the streets! Again, can't load video :(

These cones are used to carry gifts for the bride and groom. What kind of gifts, I am not exactly sure. The wedding was not actually taking place in the streets but rather part of the celebration. What I loved the most was everybody dancing, clapping, and smiling. The music and singing were just so lively.

This kind of stuff just does not happen in the states. Not where I'm from anyway.

March was a little tough health wise. I'm looking forward for more "spring" in my step now that spring has arrived here in Marrakech. The weather is getting warmer slowly and there is still many things I want to do.
I'm still struggling greatly with the language, and actually know more Arabic words than French at this point! I never would have believed that one. I started my online lessons in French and really need to get over how I sound. I'm never going to get better if I don't try. I know this….obviously…but just feel so silly, and dumb about making mistakes.

I realized just now how this has come full circle. My father's ex-wife was from Colombia. For the longest time…like years, she wasn't speaking in English. I kept asking my dad why. "She's never going to get better if she doesn't try"…"I mean she's living in this country for goodness sake!"….

My dad told me she said she's afraid of making mistakes and how she sounds.

Eating my words!