A London we will go

So I had a whole post ready to go waiting just for pictures and then…Garren stole the pictures and posted about the same thing.

Suffice to say fajitas with homemade tortillas, amazing. Next Garren’s going to find a way to make corn tortillas for chips. If you cared to know the same night he made curry I made carrot cupcakes. Cream Cheese frosting worked ok. I think I need more cheese to stiffen it up, or stiffer butter, but next I want to try to recreate my pumpkin cupcakes. I don’t think I’ll have luck finding canned pumpkin but I’ve got my eye out for an actual pumpkin.

The news today is that we have bought tickets to London over Christmas. My boss finally approved my vacation and while the rates have gone up since we first started talking about it, Garren and I have two months to save and we’ve been able to save quite a bit here in Morocco so far, so it’s not the end of the world. We’re going to be in the UK for about 10 days. We’re hoping to go up to Scotland for a few days to do some whisky tasting. It was a trip that came up even before we left for Morocco and Michele was at one time just trying to get Garren to go from California on a trip anywhere and thought Scotland would be the one to entice him the most.

Garren’s doing some research to find out the best way for us to get up to Scotland, how to get around and where to stay. After that we’ll return to London to stay with family friends over the holiday. Garren and I are really excited to have a “real” xmas. He hasn’t not worked over xmas in years and our xmas since we met have not been stellar so it will be nice to relax with good company and enjoy some cold holiday appropriate weather.

Speaking of appropriate weather, last year when we went to Chicago for our annual December trip we swore we would go somewhere tropical and warm the next December. The time before we were in New York. Now we’re planning on leaving warm Morocco for cold and rainy Scotland and England. We’re not very bright sometimes.

If anyone has any suggestions about what we should do or see in Scotland or England, let us know. We’re all ears.

Really?!

A few weeks ago, I was offered hash twice, on the same day, by the same man (Garren believes), at different times of the day.

It's not a strange occurrence. Locals seem to think it's the only reason tourists come to Morocco. Not me. I mean really do I look like the smoking type? I mean seriously. Little me with her hair up in a pony tail her glasses on because she was too lazy to put in her contacts and being sick on top of it? I look like the type that will risk time in a Morocco prison for some Kif?

I was shocked both times it happened mostly because this man looked so clean cut. Why this should shock me I don't know. I think it's because usually when we're offered Kif (and it does happen quite a bit) it's by a young guy in jeans and a T-shirt. This time it was a middle aged man in a djellaba and yellow slippers. Very bizarre. I mean really you walk by the type of person who usually is trying to ignore your existence (at least that is the impression I get being a woman here a lot) and out of the blue they mumble, "Smoke" at you. It requires a double take. At least for me. I was stunned for a second or two before I told Garren what the man had said. His reaction? "The guy in the yellow slippers?!" And you think after I stared dumbfounded for a while the first time he wouldn't have bothered to try a 2nd time. Or at least maybe he would have tried to pass by Garren instead. This all happened near where the "hop on, hop off" tour bus stops.

Since then Garren has found out that the guy hangs out and wlks around this intersection a lot. He even had an encounter more than just where "smoke" was mumbled, but I'll let him relay that story if he wants. In the meantime, while walking around Marrakech I will continue to ignore any comments sent my way.

Giggle

If Garren and I hadn't already had the fantabulous wedding that we did and I had a bigger budget to have a band, I would have hired, World Peace Leaders. I have mentioned them before. They are a band that at least used to play in Santa Barbara. They do all sorts of cover songs and their front man is just the most entertaining thing ever.

Garren and I were randomly thinking of them the other day and so I did a search of them on the internet and found the youtube video below of them performing at someone's wedding. They made me giggle and laugh all over again. Thank you World Peace Leaders for cheering me up again all the way in Marrakech. I hope your still out there playing together somewhere.

Cats of Marrakech #1

I miss my cats. I miss the weight of Willoughby on my chest while he stretches his paws at me to pet him. I miss Maggie's playfulness in the morning and her meows for pets. I miss their greetings of happiness when I get home in the evening. Obviously they want food but they're still happy to see me.

There are tons of cats here in Marrakech. The truth is they break my heart. They have no homes, they fend for themselves and they only want to be loved. I wish I had the time and know how to start an animal shelter for all the dogs and cats in this city. I am sorely tempted to adopt one, but if I adopt one I won't want to leave it here and 1. trying to get it home and 2. trying to then integrate a new cat with Maggie and Willoughby when I return when they will probably already be pissed at me....not so much fun.

So instead I placate myself by petting the cats in my neighborhood and naming them. And maybe giving them a bit of food if I happen to have it. I will soon be the neighborhood cat lady.

On my first Cats of Marrakech post I give you daisy. The cutest calico I ever did see.

It looks like a Lime

Garren and I made stir fry the other night. The recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart called for limes. So at the store Garren and I found two limes (small round green looking citrus things) had them weighed and ticketed and threw them in our cart along with all our other groceries.

This is not a strange occurrence as Garren regularly buys limes for our G&Ts. Last night as we were preparing said stir fry Garren cut open the lime to reveal, an orange.

Maybe it's just a strangely colored lime? Nope smells like orange. We cut open the 2nd one to reveal the same thing. We substituted lemon instead. The lemon thankfully was lemony when we cut it open.

Just another thing to prepare for in Morocco. Sometimes the limes are not limes. And always always wash your veggies and fruits. It's amazing how dirty food really is when you don't have American Grocery Marketers making them look all shiny and clean. Who knew they did that?

This is hard, but.....

This whole transition from SF to Marrakech has been hard, both personally and professionally. It's draining me both emotionally and physically and now I'm sick too.

I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my easy job back home. I miss familiar venues, restaurants and areas. I miss feeling comfortable about where I am and what I'm doing. I miss not feeling like an idiot when I talk or not understanding something simply because I'm not familiar with the word.

But with all the crappy things there are some good things too.

1. Garren and I will not starve. Bread is available for 2 MAD or $0.25
2. There is a French Chocolate store down the street for when I really need a pick me up
3. Massages are relatively cheap 350 MAD opr $45 for one hour or (This gets me out of my wifely duties of providing back massages - sometimes!)
4. Internet is cheap and stable enough to stay in touch
5. Taxis are cheap - when you can get them to turn on the meter
6. The weather is nice. Since it being super hot when we got here it's cooled down to be more like Santa Barbara weather. We're diggin' it.
7. Garren and I are planning a trip to the coast one of these days. There's a hippie surf camp just north Agadir of which looks fun and relaxing.
8. We're hoping to do another trip up to London sometime soon to get some much needed time in an English speaking country

So instead of focusing on the bad things, in the future I will be trying to focus on the good things, or the absurd or the just plain weird. I hope you all look forward to hearing about some of them.

Still Here

I know that some of you have been wondering where I've been.

Well I'm still in Morocco and still alive. The truth is I'm just exhausted. I sit all day at my desk trying to get anything done, feeling like I get nothing done, cursing the lack of internet and computer (still on our personal laptop) and by the time I get home all I want to do is cuddle with my husband, turn my brain off and watch TV.

I'm happy to report that re-runs (for me anyways) of The OC and The Biggest Loser are on nightly as well as many random movies. Top that off with our ability to watch streamed videos of almost anything we want, and Ashley on Top Chef, I'm pretty much set on the entertainment front.

So basically things are going. Slowly. Mostly at this point I'm just frustrated. There is a general lack of direction and as with any opening there are a million changes. My main problem at the moment is that I'm expected to create a training plan/matrix and all SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for my department as well begin to hire my staff and prep myself for setting up both an online and local system. It's all pretty standard, really, but having never done it on my own before, I don't have enough hands let alone enough brain space to even attempt to accomplish it right now.

I'm going to take this weekend to have a stable internet connection and try to get myself organized. I'm hoping my wonderful husband can help me. When things get to big for me I get overwhelmed. And I find I avoid everything. I'm hoping if I can nail things down a bit more, get an actual plan in place that maybe things will be more manageable. Right now I'm all over the place. Even this post is all over the place.

Have a computer and files at work would be a freaking help. But that would involve other people being organized or things being easy in Morocco. Yea uh-huh. So another thing to do this weekend, buy some work supplies!

So I apologize for the partly depressing nature of this post, but it is what it is. I think once things start running more smoothly at work and we get a workable opening date, I have better more exciting things to talk about.

On the home front we may have our stuff in the next few weeks. It's supposed to arrive in Casablanca around the 24th and we're making a trip up to Casablanca next week to get a document from the American Embassy which states that we are living in Morocco. (The amount of paperwork needed is never ending and everything has to be done in person) We're talking about taking the train so hopefully a more upbeat and exciting post will be forthcoming.

Nuala out!