Sundays are definitely the best day of the week. I get to sleep in and Mohamed doesn't work so we have all day to hang out and do fun things. This morning we headed out right after breakfast to catch a glimpse of the protest we'd heard would be happening.

Even though the Arab Spring hasn't quite made it to Morocco, there are protests every week and today Mohamed had a friend who was coming in to Rabat to participate. It's unusual for out-of-towners to come in, so we thought it might be big.

I wish I'd taken my camera, but sadly didn't in an effort to travel light. When we finally found the hubbub, it was no ordinary protest at all- it was an Amazigh (Berber) protest! The Amazigh are the native North African people that make up large parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. They have their own languages, culture, history, etc completely separate from that of the Arabs.

Only recently did Amazigh become one of the official languages of Morocco, and many people feel that there's a long way to go in Arab-Amazigh relations. Anyways, Mohamed is Amazigh, so it was really fun to see everyone (I estimate over 1000?) out with signs, wearing and waving all kinds of Amazighian flags in hopes of getting the attention of the Moroccan government.

The protesters had a few different issues, but the biggest ones that I noticed were requesting the release of two political prisoners and the demand for a diverse counsel to create a truly democratic constitution. We followed the parade for a while and then found a new pizza place for lunch. Yum!

When we got home in the early afternoon, I had a serious cake craving. I definitely have a cake problem, but I don't see myself solving it anytime soon. The internet wasn't working, so I couldn't try any of the recipe's I'd saved on Pinterest. Darn!

Instead, I decided to put a twist on my favorite yellow cake recipe- you know, spice it up! My first thought was a chocolate/vanilla marble cake. That sounded good, but adding a third flavor sounded like a real blast. Neapolitan it is!

My favorite yellow cake recipe comes from the Peace Corps Morocco cookbook. I wish I knew who was the mastermind behind it because it is truly amazing. So easy, so simple and the moistest cake I've ever encountered.

I started by simply making the yellow cake batter. First you cream the butter/oil with the sugar. I usually just use oil, but because I knew I'd be adding flavors I had to up the fat a bit. I had exactly the amount of oil I needed for the recipe, so I added a tablespoon of butter just for good measure.

Next, you sift together the dry ingredients. To save myself a dirty bowl, I sift directly into the oil/sugar mixture, then mix this together a little bit.

Last, the beaten eggs, milk and vanilla go in the bowl. Mix this together well. You could stop right here if you want a delicious yellow cake! I bake this all the time and we eat it without any frosting at all. Just don't over-bake (I think that's the key to any delicious cake!).

Since I was going Neapolitan, I had to divide and flavor. For the chocolate, I added a packet of 100% cocoa powder (about 1 tablespoon). For the strawberry, I added two tablespoons of strawberry jam along with some pink food coloring to get the pretty color that I wanted. (Note- I have absolutely no idea if jam is supposed to flavor a cake. Also, gel food coloring is AMAZING!)

Next I layered the flavors in my greased pan and used a toothpick to create a pretty swirl. I'm not going to lie, I sort of wanted to just dip a spoon in and go to town. I refrained, you should be proud.

After 20ish minutes in the oven, the cake was done. I could hardly wait the entire 15 minutes to let it cool! To keep myself busy, I made mint tea to go along with our afternoon snack. Yum! We definitely did some damage to this cake and I can't wait to try it on day two! I'm generally a huge fan of 2nd and 3rd day cakes- unbelievable how delicious they get with time.

Yellow Cake (from the Peace Corps Morocco cookbook)*2/3 c oil or butter (I use oil)1 1/4 c sugar1 t salt2 1/2 c flour2 1/2 tsp baking powder3 eggs, beaten1 c milk1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter/oil with sugar. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with remaining ingredients and butter/oil mixture. Spread into greased pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

*If you're going to add flavorings, increase the amount of butter or oil by 1-2 tablespoons.

Neapolitan flavorsChocolate- 1/3 of batter + 1 tbsp cocoa powderStrawberry- 1/3 of batter + 2 tbsp strawberry jam + pink food coloring

I layered each flavor twice and then used a toothpick to swirl. Happy Eating!

Speaking of protests, has anyone attended one recently in the States? I feel like there hasn't been a lot of news recently featuring the Occupy movement, etc. Are they still happening?

So before this looonnnggg break from school, I made myself a to-do list in an effort to keep myself busy and get some things done around the house that I've been putting off. With only two more days of vacation I do have to give myself a little pat on the back. Only three items unaccomplished out of more than 20!

Organizing a few messy areas in the kitchen was one of the items. A few shelves in the pantry and my cupboards under the sink have been irritating me since we moved in. Of course there are plenty of organizational options, even here in Morocco, most of them involving plastic. Plastic bins, plastic baskets, plastic shelves, plastic drawers are all moojood (readily available).

Because this is not a long-term situation, I'm starting to feel less inclined to spend money on things that aren't really necessary. It's because of this that I turned to boxes. They aren't pretty, but neither are plastic things, so I wasn't too bothered. Maybe one day I'll even cover them in paint or pretty paper or something.

For now, I'm happy to have a little bit of extra space and the ability for everything to have a place. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to take before pictures. Dang it! But here are some after shots of the classy remodel.

Under the sink. This was just a huge mass of plastic bags, bottles, tools and random cleaning products. I moved the tools and other random things to more appropriate location. The bags got sorted into large ones with handles and small ones with no handles. The small ones can now be pulled from that candy box and the large ones are tucked into a single bag. I have a habit of cleaning and keeping cans, bottles and other containers and now they all have a home in a large box. The tops are stored separately for easy access.

The top shelf of the pantry was insane. All of my baking supplies, spices, dressings and a ton of user's manuals scattered all over. After cleaning everything out, I found three separate bags of flour that I didn't know existed. I got rid of the manuals and now there's a place to store my dry goods. The new shelf creates more space and allows me to see everything clearly.

I also used a shelf in the bottom of the pantry where all of my random plastic bowls and things are stored. I cut the end off another box to make a place to store all of the lids.

It's not cute, but it does make me happy! Now to see how long I can maintain it. Does anyone out there have any go-to tricks for making the most of your space? If so, leave a comment and let me know!

A few days ago I had a cake craving. Unfortunately this is not an infrequent occurance (I LOVE cake), but I couldn't stop scanning Pinterest and baking blogs in hopes of finding something new and delicious to make.

At first, the strawberry goodies caught my eye and there were tons of options involving strawberry. Just as i was about to settle on some strawberry cupcakes, I found the Chai Cake. My obsession with chai started long ago, but it was only on Christmas Eve that I learned how to make it from scratch and I've been drinking it every day since. I LOVE chai! So of course, I had to make the chai cake.

This version of the recipe calls for chai from scratch, although chai tea bags can be substituted. I ended up changing the chai recipe a bit as their were a few (in my mind) key ingredients missing (cloves, black pepper pods). I spiced up her recipe a bit and made it in milk as directed.

After straining the chai, you mix 1/3 of it with the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. This mixture then gets set aside and you move on to the dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients are combined, you slowly add butter and the remaining chai milk. This is *supposed* to be beaten until light and fluffy. Unfortunately for me, this is the point where my hand mixer died. I originally discussed this hand mixer during the holiday cooking challenge.

Without the mixer my ability to beat was diminished, but my resolve to eat delicious chai cake was not! Luckily, most of the heavy work was done so I just finished a little mixing by hand and then slowly added the egg mixture to the batter. In the end, you have a lovely, thick, fragrant batter that you want to eat with a spoon.

The Whisk Kid made hers a five layer cake, but I do not have the resources for such an endeavor. I have exactly 3 cake pans to choose from and none of them ideal. So, I decided to make a double layer cake using my pie tin.

The pie tin adds some texture around the outside of the cake, but it's not so bad. Since I only have one tin, I made the first layer, washed the tin, then baked the second layer. By this time I was towards the end of the recipe and stumbled upon the part where you have to cool the cakes in the fridge for at least four hours.

WHAT!!??? Four hours? It was already seven o'clock! I was devastated that I wasn't going to be able to eat my cake that day, but I'd already put so much time an effort in that I didn't want to risk ruining it. Oh well, I guess I'll eat it tomorrow. Lesson learned- read the ENTIRE recipe before beginning.

Before disappointedly starting dinner, I made the AMAZING frosting. This ginger-honey cream is so good and really easy. Just cream cheese, butter, honey and ground ginger. I will definitely be using this cream recipe in the future and not just for the chai cake. With that I wrapped the cakes, put them in the fridge and tried to forget about it.

The next morning was so exciting! I practically sprinted to the kitchen and pulled out the beautiful cake layers. As I wasn't making a five layer cake, I halved the cream recipe. With that amount I had just enough cream to put a nice thick layer in the middle and then frost the top. Sadly, there wasn't enough for the sides, but I wasn't bothered. Kind of looks like a big sandwich cookie this way, right?

I cut myself and big slice and dug in. Was it worth the time, effort and hours of waiting?

HOLY COW, yes! This is one amazing cake. The cream is out of this world good and the cake itself is the perfect combination of dense, moist and bursting with flavor. The chai gives it a really yummy warmth that is difficult to describe. I highly recommend this cake and you can find the recipe from the Whisk Kid here: Chai Cake with Ginger-Honey Cream. If you'd like to use my recipe for the chai- I did it as follows:

Teresa's Chai for the Cake1 1/3 cup milk12 black tea bags15 cardamon pods, crushed1 tsp fennel6 whole cloves4 black pepper pods1/2 inch of ginger, peeled and grated

This makes a pretty potent chai which is great for this cake. When I make my chai tea for lattes I do it a bit differently:

Teresa's Chai LatteA small saucepan of water1 or 2 black tea bags6 cardamon pods, crusheda pinch of fennel3 whole cloves2 black pepper pods1/2 teaspoon of chopped ginger

I put all of this over medium heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Then remove from heat and strain. You can add sugar to taste and drink the chai just like this, or make it into a latte by filling a mug 1/3 with chai and the rest with hot milk. I put the extra chai in jars and keep them in the fridge. You can drink it all week!

What's your favorite cake? Post your answer in the comments- bonus points if you link a recipe for me to try!

Happy 2012!Starting 2012 off right with a weekend getaway

Mohamed and I started our year off with a semi-bang. I had some frequent flyer miles from American Airlines that had to be used or they would expire, so I was able to book two nights in a Marrakech hotel! The hotel, Le Caspian, was decent, but not thrilling.

View of Gueliz (Kech's new, trendier area) from our room

The room was tiny, but had a great balcony overlooking the city. The bathroom was functional, but extremely overcrowded. You couldn't open the door all the way because it smashed into a bidet. Now, I understand bidet's have their purpose, but is it really necessary to have a shower/bathtub, toilet, sink and bidet in approximately one square meter? I think not.

Also, I was excited because the hotel had a pool and was idiotic enough to think that maybe they heated it in the winter. Nope, it was completely drained. Oh well.

Awesome, fresh-squeezed orange juice for 50 cents

Over the weekend we visited some of the major sites- Jemaa el-Fnaa, The Marjorelle Gardens, Ben Youssef Medersa and the Museum of Marrakech, but we mostly walked around exploring the city, taking photos and eating yummy foods.

Mohamed in the Marjorelle Gardens. There was also an AMAZING exhibit in the museum about Morocco's Amazigh (Berber) heritage

Street scene from the souk

While the weekend was overall wonderful, our actual New Year's Eve would be considered by some to be a bit lacking. I guess it's time to just admit it- I'm an old, married lady. Don't worry, I don't think this is a bad thing.

In our excitement we didn't really plan well enough. On the 31st we woke up at 6:30 in order to get our things together and hop on the 7:45 train. After the four hour train ride, we walked to our hotel and then walked another 3ish kilometers to Jemaa el-Fnaa in search of lunch. After lunch we were tired, so we walked the 3 kilometers back to our hotel and relaxed there for a bit.

One of the bizillion beautiful shops in the market

In the early evening we again walked the 3 kilometers to Jemaa el-Fnaa this time to wonder around the souks (markets) and get more food. You may be seeing where I'm going here- after an early wakeup, exhausting train ride and multiple long walks- we were exhausted!

In addition, Mohamed doesn't drink, so paying lots of money to get into a bar wasn't exactly enticing. The "party" being hosted by our hotel was around $60 per person. Yikes! Needless to say, we made the 3 kilometer hike one last time and were in the hotel room by 9 pm.

Jemaa el-Fnaa at night aka 8pm

I still had planned to make it until midnight though. We just relaxed, read, watched some TV. By 11 pm, Mohamed was watching TV as I laid half asleep next to him. Despite the very upbeat celebration happening on TV, by 11:45 we were both unable to hold out any longer. Argh. With 15 minutes until the new year, we kissed and went to sleep.

Does part of me wish I would have been out having a wild time? Sure. Still another part of me would have settled for a mini-party of our own in the room. But in the end, I had a long, exhausting and fun day with my husband and have no regrets that we conked out a bit early. Plenty of years to make up for it, right?

I think 2012 is gonna be a good one!

So now here we are in 2012. I still have one week until work starts up again and I'm thinking about all of the things that are in store for us. For starters, we'll be having our wedding party in March and I have three international guests with tickets purchased! In the summer I'm hoping to return to Switzerland for fun and to save up some cash for our future move to the States. Lots of excitement indeed.

As for resolutions- I have none. Why make a resolution and then break it? As a general life goal though, I do hope that I can continue on a path that I've clumsily started over this long vacation-

1) Update the blog more frequently

2) Exercise more often, even if it's just a long walk

3) Cut back on sugar- this is by far the most difficult for me.

Speaking of sugar, I'm currently making a Chai Cake with Honey-Ginger Cream from Whisk Kid. I'll be posting tomorrow with the details.

photo by Whisk Kid

Greetings on the last day of the challenge! It's been a long, but very tiring 15 days. Thanks to everyone who's checked out my culinary adventure and left comments. Now on to the last meal- Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves.

the yummy ingredients

Soups are such an excellent dinner option over here. Traditionally lunch is the biggest meal in Morocco, so dinner doesn't have to be a big deal. Soups are warm, filling and delicious! For this soup, I started it as I usually do- in the morning. That's another thing I love about soups. I can start it as I'm making lunch and not be in a hurry in the evening.

I started by cooking the carrots and onion in butter. The recipe called for celery, but I don't have any over here and I don't really like it anyway. I upped the onion and carrot a bit to make up for the lost volume.

Once the carrots and onions were soft, I added the chicken stock (from cubes....sorry), pumpkin and whole cloves. This mixture simmered for about a half hour until the pumpkin was soft.

After the chunky soup cooled, I pureed it in two batches using my sweet blender (I love that thing). I ruined my first blender by not waiting until the soup cooled. Turns out heat cracks the plastic- oops! In the end I returned the soup to heat and added the honey and cream (creme fraiche!)

The creme fraiche is a bit runnier than the heavy cream they recommend, so I couldn't do a very nice decorative swirl, but it still looks pretty good I think.

The verdict: Great soup! The flavor from the cloves was subtle, but noticeable and the honey added a lovely sweet touch. I generally make my pumpkin/carrot soups with ginger, but this was a nice change of pace! If you like soups, by all means try this one. Mohamed agreed- a solidly yummy soup!

Check out the full recipe here: Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves from Epicurious

So now that the challenge is over, what's next on Teresa's Pieces? That's a great question. I learned a few things from this process- 1) It's fun to be a regular blogger and 2) It's awesome to try new food! So, while it won't be on a daily basis I hope to continue posting recipes from time to time. Maybe I'll even add a few of my own. So stay tuned!

See you all next year ;-)

The reviewers of this recipe claim that Martha's Mac and Cheese is hands down the best mac and cheese you can make. Well, of course I had to put it to the test!

Of course, substitutions had to be made. The selection of cheeses here in Morocco leaves a lot to be desired. No cheddar or any kind (ok, ONCE I found a cheddar, but it was not very good and I only saw it the one time). In place of cheddar I used Edam (red ball). It's the most common cheese here and it's not too bad. I also used parmesan in place of the gruyere as Mohamed didn't really like it. (We had it on day 8).

First you prepare the croutons that will go on top. Tear up some quality white bread- I used a baguette which didn't yield much once I removed the crust. Next time I'd double it because those croutons were good!

Then I melted some butter and tossed it with the bread. This gets set aside until just before baking.

The next step is the cheese sauce which is only slightly more complicated than the croutons. In one pan, you heat the milk. In another melt more butter. After the butter's melted, you add some flour and cook it up for about a minute.

When the butter/flour mixture is ready, you add the hot milk and continuously whisk the mixture until it thickens and starts to bubble.

Once the milk mixture has thickened, the fun begins! That's when you add most of the cheese as well as salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg. I even ground my own nutmeg for the first time. It's true, I've learned a lot over these 14 days ;-). When the cheese sauces is all mixed up, you set it aside and make your macaroni. Instructions say to cook the macaroni until it's *almost* done as it will cook further in the oven.

Assembly begins once the noodles are cooked. Combine the macaroni with the cheese sauce and then dump it all into the casserole dish. Mmmmmm cheesy goodness!

On the top, I added the rest of the two cheeses as well as those croutons that I made earlier. If (let's be real- When) I make this again, I'll double up those croutons because they were excellent.

Twenty minutes in the oven and it's done! My oven is not the greatest- notice 2/3rds of the croutons are darker than the others. It is piping hot when it comes out, so try to restrain yourself and give it 5 minutes to set before digging in. (Good luck, I didn't make it!)

For an appetizer I made steamed artichokes. I had these for the first time a few weeks ago and my friend Sarah's house and they are yummy! Dipped in a garlic butter sauce of course...

The verdict: hot, creamy, cheesy deliciousness! Even with my cheese substitutions this was so comforting and good. I can only imagine if I had cheddar! This was also a HUGE hit with the boys. Mohamed gave it a 10/10. If you remember, prior to today there was only one 8/10 given (day 2) so this was serious. Mohamed also had seconds which he hasn't done in quite some time. Even Mohamed's brother finished his bowl! Abdelmalik is a chronic leaver of food...

So it's true, Martha really does make the best Mac and Cheese. At least that's one mystery solved. Find the complete recipe here- Martha Stewart's Mac and Cheese.

Tomorrow is the last day of the challenge! (Booooo Hissssss) I know, it's sad, but I'm ready for a vacation from my vacation cooking challenge. The last recipe is a soup that I'm very excited about- also from Epicurious- Pumpkin Soup with Honey and Cloves. I can't believe it's day 15 and this is my first soup! Hope it's good. See you all tomorrow.

Wow, day 13! You've probably noticed that my posts have been a little bit lacking. I'm getting tired! 15 straight days of planning, shopping, cooking and documenting seems completely reasonable before you've started, but wow am I ready for a break!

But that's part of the challenge, I suppose. Plowing through and making it happen one dish at a time. I've now got a whole new appreciation for all of you usual food bloggers out there!

Anyways, to the dinner at hand. Even though I did a chicken and chickpea dish last week, I couldn't help but try this Chicken and Chickpea Stew recipe from SELF Magazine via Epicurious.

Coming from SELF magazine you know it's going to be healthy. Just look at those lovely ingredients! The only thing I didn't have was whole wheat couscous. You can buy it here, but my husband doesn't have it in his shop and I didn't feel like a trip to the grocery store.

The recipe also calls for boneless chicken breasts, but I decided to use some chicken that we had in the freezer. So, I cooked them in some olive oil for a few minutes on each side. Then I removed the chicken and added the onions, garlic and spices (sorry, no photo). These cooked for a while and then I added the chicken back in along with the rest of the ingredients.

Chickpeas, tomatoes and zucchini make this a very colorful dish! This is very close to the 7 vegetable couscous that we eat almost every week here in Morocco. This is just cooked for less time and is missing some of the veggies.

To my husbands dismay, I even cooked the couscous per the instructions in the recipe- instantly! Even though a most of the couscous here is instant, a majority of Moroccan ladies still slave over theirs for at least 3 hours every Friday.

Put the chicken and sauce on the couscous and you're done! Here I've served it the Moroccan way. In the recipe the couscous is eaten on the side. Whatever floats your boat I suppose.

The verdict: This was solidly good, but not fantastic. It got really excellent reviews on Epicurious, but I'm guessing it's because most of those people haven't had traditional Moroccan couscous ;-) Prepared this way it was easy, quick and healthy. What more can you ask for?

Tomorrow I'm 98% sure that I'll be making Martha Stewart's Macaroni and Cheese. There's no photo with this recipe, but I'm sure you all know what this stuff looks like. Reviews claim that this is the BEST MACARONI AND CHEESE EVER! We'll see if that's true.

Doesn't this one just sound fabulous? As soon as I saw the name I knew I had to make it. Quince is an odd fruit and something I'd never heard of before coming to Morocco. The first time I had it was in a tajine made by my first host mom. The tajine was simple- onions, beef, quince and an absolutely divine sauce. I couldn't get enough!

That said, quince isn't exactly an easy fruit to deal with. It's basically a bigger, lumpier, harder version of an apple. I tried to make a tajine with it once, but made the mistake of not cooking the quince first in water. It ended up being hard and not very tasty.

the ingredients- I doubled the quince and made extra sauce

For this lamb chop recipe, I started by simmering the sliced quince with some thyme in apple juice and sugar.

When the quince was nearly ready, I started work with the lamb chops. Simple enough, I just sprinkled with salt and pepper and cooked for around 3 minutes per side in some vegetable oil.

my first lamb chops!

When the quince is nice and soft, you separate them from the juice and set aside. I put the quince and the cooked lamb chops in the oven to keep warm while I made the pan sauce.

For the sauce, you boil the apple juice from the quince until it reduces. Then you remove the juice from the heat and add balsamic vinegar, butter, rosemary and oregano. I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I added a reduced amount of the dried version. Then before serving, I strained out the herbs.

A-MA-ZING

Finally, just put the dish together. We were eating it Moroccan style (on one plate with bread). I wish I'd taken some photos of it arranged nicely on individual plates. It would have looked so much nicer. Oh well, here it is!

The verdict- Holy Amazing. This is hands down my favorite dish so far on the challenge. Absolutely everything was perfect. The meat was tender, the quince was incredibly soft and sweet and the sauce was just insanely good. Mohamed liked it as well, but did comment that it was VERY sweet. It's true, this is a sweet dish. If sweetness isn't quite your thing, I'd recommend reducing the sugar by half or removing it all together. Also, with the original recipe each person would only have a few slices of the quince, so the sweetness would be better balanced by the lamb chops.

I highly recommend this dish! Find the entire recipe on Epicurious here: Lamb Chops with Poached Quince and Balsamic Pan Sauce.

For tomorrow, it's more chicken and chickpeas. A great combination, I can't wait to try this recipe for Chicken and Chickpea Stew.

photo by Kana Okada for Epicurious

Minus the tofu! Not that I wouldn't include it, but I don't think I've ever seen tofu in Morocco...a country of meat eaters.

I originally had a butternut squash lasagna recipe on tap for today. The recipe still sounds super delicious, but after reading the comments left by reviewers it just seemed like more work than I was ready to handle after the busy holiday weekend filled with cooking.

So, I've decided to go quick, easy and vegetarian for this evening. And this Tofu Aloo Gobi recipe from Epicurious has no reviews! So I had no idea what to expect.

Since I don't have any tofu, I'm increasing the amount of veggies in the recipe. I also don't have any dry mustard. The dish started as most good ones do, with garlic browning in olive oil.

Next the potatoes are added with some water. Then the cauliflower and the spices. Finally, tomatoes and peas! The recipe had this entire recipe cooking for a total of 20 minutes. I left mine to cook significantly longer than that as after the 20 minutes were up, the cauliflower was still raw!

At first taste, this was really quite bland. I added some more of the spices hoping to help it out, but there wasn't too much improvement. I also added additional water to help in the cooking process and to create a little bit of sauce.

The verdict: Unfortunately, this was really bland and completely un-exciting. Maybe the tofu and dry mustard is just too important to leave out, but it didn't have any of the thick, creaminess that usually makes curries so yummy. If you dig veggies, try it out! It wasn't bad, just nothing to write home about.

Tomorrow is day 12 and I hope to be back to my old self! Today's photo documentation was totally lacking and the recipe itself was boring. Boooo. I am really excited for tomorrow though. We'll be having Lamb Chops with Poached Quince and Balsamic Pan Sauce. This looks DELICIOUS and has wonderful reviews. And how exciting to be making my first lamb chops! See you then.

Photo by Brian Leatart for Epicurious

And Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is always such a wonderful, relaxing time. Everyone in jammies, sitting together and drinking some delicious hot drink. Thanks to the wonder of Skype I was able to see join in as my family in Michigan did just that. I even got to watch them open their presents! Almost as good as being there. Almost.

Mohamed and I had a nice morning as well. For breakfast I made an Egg and Potato Breakfast Scramble. I found this recipe via my new love- Pinterest. We also enjoyed steaming hot mugs of homemade Chai Latte. All this time in Morocco I've been going without- who knew I could have been making it all along! You just need cardamon pods, cloves, ginger and a black tea bag.

Christmas breakfast- scramble and chai!

After breakfast we leisurely opened our stockings from each other and each found some delightful treats.

When we were feeling about ready for lunch, we started the main recipe of the day. It's another one from Epicurious- Whole fish baked in sea salt. I ate a fish baked in sea salt when I was in Egypt, so I was particularly excited about this.

Our whole fish!

I apparently didn't communicate well with the fishmonger as we discovered in trying to work with the fish that it still had scales and a spine! Luckily, Mohamed is extremely helpful in this department. He got rid of the scales and even figured out how to remove the spine so that we'd have space to stuff the fish.

For the filling, you start by toasting coriander, black pepper and fennel seeds, then crushing them up. You also thinly slice a lemon a few leeks. Stuff all of this into the fish!

spices toasting

Lemons and leeks

Stuff it all in!

Mohamed even closed it with string. He's so good.

Then you prepare a mixture of egg whites, water and salt to coat the fish with. I think this is the part I screwed up (can't get through a dish without doing something wrong!). I used the amount of egg whites and water that they called for, but less salt. So, the mixture was too liquid-y. Anyway, you coat the fish in the salt on the baking tray.

coated with salt and ready to bake

We cooked it for longer than the recipe called for, but the salt didn't form the crush that it should have. I'm guessing due to too much liquid in the salt mixture. You're supposed to just break the crust and brush it off. We had to sort of scrape it and it still left too much salt on the fish. It tasted great on the inside though!

The verdict: This was yummy, but next time I'll reduce the amount of spices on the inside as it was a bit overpowering. I'll also be sure to get the ratio correct on the salt coating! Overall though, this was really easy and quick to make. And fish is something we don't eat enough of, so this is a pretty low hassle way to add more to our diet. It also made a memorable Christmas lunch.

If interested, find the recipe here: Whole fish baked in sea salt. Hope all of you have a great holiday.

On deck for tomorrow (five days to go!)- TBD. I had a recipe planned, but now it just seems like too much work. I'll be on the hunt for something great!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Last night I was too busy opening presents to post about our Christmas Eve dinner. Last night was also my first time carrying out a menu that contained four brand new recipes, so there was some craziness in the kitchen. For that reason, the photos of each dish are extremely lacking, but I'm hoping you'll cut me some slack- it is Christmas after all!

I was worried about getting everything done on time, so I made this swell chart!

I started with this awesome Christmas Tree Bread. Pretty standard rolls with a little dried rosemary and thyme added in. The dough was easy and making the tree was fun!

Christmas fail. I forgot that my oven was on the top only (left over from the french onion soup recipe) and I overcooked the rolls. So sad. The good news though, they were still pretty tasty as underneath that overcooked top was perfectly cooked yummyness! I would recommend this recipe and you could be creative with the shape!

Next I started on the Potato-Parmesan Pave. I wish I'd taken some photos of the process! It was really easy and sort of fun. You just thinly slice potatoes, soak them in heavy cream (I actually used creme fraiche) and then layer them in a casserole dish the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. These were DELICIOUS! Such an easy yet different potato dish to make. I would not recommend the creme fraiche as it did separate a little in the oven. It didn't affect the flavor, but I was a bit unappetizing to see.

With the potatoes in the oven, I began the English Peas with Mint. These took a total of 15 minutes to prep and cook and added a lovely dash of color to our plates. You saute a spring onion, then add the peas with some water and salt and pepper. A few minutes later, throw in some torn mint leaves. The flavor was very light and delicate. Next time I think I'll add more mint than the recipe calls for.

Finally, the piece de resistance- Steak au Poivre. I bought whole peppercorns in at the market and used a hammer to crush them up (classy, I know!). Then I used the end of a knife to finish off some stragglers. Note to self- buy a mortar and pestle (even though the pounding was pretty fun).

After the steaks rest for 20 minutes, you coat them with pepper, then sprinkle them with salt. The steaks then cook in oil and butter as you baste them with the juices. After the steaks are out, you make this awesome sauce using the leftover juices, stock (I didn't use the wine called for by the recipe), creme fraiche and mustard. Pour the sauce over before serving. This steak was so good! Less than 30 minutes and the flavor of both the steaks and the sauce was just so good.

The verdict: In the end, the entire meal was just great. Despite slightly burning the rolls, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas Eve meal. Because we ended up having an extra guest we ended up slicing up the steak. If only I'd take a photo pre-cutting! I think I'll make all of the recipes again at some point. Very solid holiday faire.

Steak au Poivre, Potato-Parmesan Pave, English Peas with Mint

And it's not Christmas Eve without dessert. Our selections included Chocolate Mint Sticks, mandarine oranges and peanut butter balls. We snacked as we opened our presents (Christmas Eve present opening is a tradition from my mom's side of the family. Christmas morning is for stockings and gifts from Santa!)

Mohamed patiently waiting to open his gifts. We were lucky enough to have two stockings- one for Christmas Eve and one for the morning.

Thanks to my friend Sarah (and her mom!) for my awesome Christmas tree shirt.

Nothing like the smell of caramelizing onions to warm the tummy. This recipe just looked so good that I could hardly stand to wait until day eight!

Today's been another big cooking day for me. First thing this morning I finished the peanut butter balls that I started last night. Peanut butter balls have been a Christmas staple at our house for as long as I remember.

Since I can't find paraffin wax here, the chocolate coating isn't quite as nice as the normal version, but hey, they're still darn good! And easy- the filling is just peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar. For the coating, chocolate and paraffin wax (or as in my case some milk to smooth out the chocolate).

I even found some adorable little holiday candy papers so I thought I'd throw them in. Yay!

After I finished up the PB balls, I started looking around to find something for lunch. I had a lot of spinach left after the T'fina Pkaila earlier in the week so I decided to make the Simple Summer Spinach recipe from Epicurious. After the spinach had wilted, I threw some leftover chickpeas in to warm up.

Just before eating I squeezed a lemon wedge into the mix and it was FANTASTIC! Such a quick, healthy and filling lunch. Chickpeas are excellent for health and I think we all know what a superfood spinach is. I think I'll be keeping ready-to-eat chickpeas in the fridge from now on.

Tomorrow being Christmas Eve, I wanted to finish up all of my treats so that I could focus on making a feast for dinner. So in the early evening I made Chocolate Mint Sticks. These are another one of my favorite holiday treats. Homemade brownies on the bottom, a layer of mint frosting and then a chocolate coating. So good. These were really quick and easy too. Thanks to my mom for sending me the recipe!

first you make the brownie

next, mint frosting!

finally, chocolate sauce for the top!

so good!

Finally, I started the onion soup. The recipe is enough for two, so I doubled it and caramelized an entire kilo of white onions. The smell of them cooking away with fresh thyme and bay leaves was to die for. Following some of the reviews on the recipe, I threw the 25-30 minutes out the window and cooked until the onions were a really dark, delicious amber color.

I wish this photo allowed the smell to come through. Ahhh.

The caramelization took at least an hour and a half. Worth it? I think so. I also didn't have any wine, so our soup is made entirely with beef stock (unfortunately not homemade- you can't have it all, right?). Once the stock is in there, you just have to simmer for around 30 minutes so that the flavors come together.

As the soup is simmering away, toast some bread. The recipe calls for ciabatta, but I used a plain old french baguette. Finally, ladle the soup into bowls, float some toast and cover with gruyere.

After a few minutes in the oven, EAT!The verdict: I thought it was delicious. who doesn't love oniony, cheesy, soupy goodness? Sadly, the answer is my husband. He didn't like it. I guess one out of 8 isn't bad, but I was so impressed with myself by the time I was finished! Too bad. Anyways, if you like French Onion Soup, I say try this recipe. If you don't, you won't like it.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!!! So exciting. Sad to be so far away from home, but looking forward to eating my peanut butter balls and mint sticks; opening presents and making a yummy feast for dinner.

On the menu: Steak au Poivre, Potato-Parmesan Pave and English Peas with Mint. All from Epicurious. Should be a fun morning at the market!

Oh Egyptian Ful. I ate these nearly every day for the month that I lived in Alexandria to take my EFL teaching course. It was cheap (I think around 25 cents for a sandwich) and really delicious. So, when I found the recipe on Epicurious I just had to make it.

This was both the simplest and longest recipe so far on the challenge. I bought dried fava beans (the brown ones- outer layer attached) at the market and had to soak them overnight. Then as the recipe suggested I started to cook the beans this morning. The recipe says it takes around 2.5 hours of simmering and they are not kidding.

ful simmering over an open fire

I simmered these things for what seemed like days and eventually starting mashing. The recipe is actually for the soup version, but I always preferred the sandwich with mashed beans. Once they were soft I added salt, cumin and crushed garlic to the pot. Then I cooked longer, then even longer, then longer again.

In the end, I had my beans almost as I remembered them. When you buy the sandwich in Egypt they come inside a pita bread with some cucumber and tomato salad and a white sauce (which I actually forgot about until just now...)

I served the beans with some chopped parsley and lemon wedges and due to overly warming the pitas, we ate them taco style. Yum!

The verdict: They came out great. Simple and yummy. One reason I like them so much is that they taste to me like refried beans. Mohamed agreed. Refried beans take me about 30 mins to make, so these are probably not worth the half day of simmering. I probably won't make them again for that reason, but it was fun to re-live my Egyptian lunches!

Tomorrow is another vegetarian dish from Epicurious- Onion soup with Loads of Thyme and Giant Gruyere Crostini. I guess I'm going to find out if my bowls are oven safe!

Photo by Caren Alpert for Epicurious

Be sure to check back tomorrow to see my peanut butter balls too! I made them today, but as they're not quite finished I'll document tomorrow. Yay!

Greetings on day six! It seems that everyday something goes wrong in the kitchen. This time, it was the fava beans that I bought to make the Egyptian Ful. I bought fresh ones and didn't think anything of it until I shelled one of them and found a beautiful green bean. Egyptian ful is brown! Turns out I needed dried fava beans with the outer shell still attached.

Oh well, it's vacation so I go with the flow! I switched days six and seven and made the Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo beans, Tomatoes and Paprika from Epicurious. This was a really quick and easy recipe. Also not very exotic so for all of those picky eaters out there ;-)

The ingredients minus the chicken

I started by making the spice mixture. The recipe calls for smoked paprika, but I didn't have any of that so I used a mixture of hot and sweet. The paprika plus garlic, cumin and oil. Some of the mixture gets added to some plain yogurt to make the sauce, some gets rubbed onto the chicken and the rest is mixed in with the chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and tomatoes.

a little cilantro makes the mixture very pretty!

Roast the chicken with the tomato mixture and top with cilantro and yogurt sauce. Bon Appetite!

The verdict- Mohamed and I were mixed on this one. He thought it was one of the best so far (tied with the Cod dish) while I wasn't super impressed. It was good. Definitely hearty and I could eat chickpeas all day long. I also really liked the yogurt sauce with the chicken. Generally though, it didn't seem all that flavorful. I'm convinced I did something wrong as the reviews for this recipe are all extremely positive. Maybe using the smoked paprika would have made a big difference? You should try it out for yourself!

Up for tomorrow is the Ful Medames. For real this time!

This Tunisian dish struck my fancy as soon as I laid my eyes on it. Individually I love all of the ingredients (meatballs, white beans, spinach), so together it must be magic! It did appear a little bit of a meat overload though and being that I feed only 3 people, I decided to make it without the ribs.

Meatball ingredients

You start with the meatballs. These were fairly similar to the ones I usually make, but without garlic and with cinnamon and an egg. I'm not very good at mincing, so my onion was probably a bit larger than the ideal.

Mixed, molded and ready to go

You brown the meatballs on all sides for a few minutes and then put them aside to start the soup. (This is when I got a much anticipated Skype phone call from my friend Rebecca! My happy distraction means you have fewer photos- sorry!) The soup starts as anything delicious does, with garlic and onion sizzling in olive oil. This is one of my favorite smells. Soooo good! At that point if you were adding the ribs, you'd do so.

As I was skipping the ribs, I just added the beef stock and the meatballs. This also made the dish much quicker to make- no need to let the ribs simmer for 60 minutes! After the meatballs are fully cooked, you add the spinach and white beans along with some salt and pepper as needed.

The verdict- Delicious. I absolutely loved the spinach, white bean, meatball combination. As one reviewer said, the meatballs are HEAVILY spiced. I can still taste the pepper on my tongue and I at 45 mins ago. If you're not into strong flavor, I'd cut the cumin and black pepper down by a third. Skipping the ribs was also a bonus as the rest of the recipe was quick! Perfect soup for a cold evening. Mohamed approved as well giving it a score of 7/10. The only recipe so far that's scored better was day two's Roasted Cod on Garlic Croutons!

If you'd like to try it out, find the recipe on Saveur here- T'fina Pkaila

For day six we're going Egyptian! I at Ful Medames almost everyday while I was doing my TEFL course in Alexandria. They're cheap and delicious! We'll be eating ours sandwich style in a pita topped with cucumber/tomato salad.

photo by CIA/Keith Ferris for Epicurious

Those of you following the challenge may be startled by the last-minute recipe change. Day four was supposed to be T'fina Pkaila and don't worry, it's not out. Do to circumstances outside of my control (ok, that's a lie) I was not able to get any spinach today. Spinach is readily available in Rabat, I just somehow picked the three places where it wasn't and then was too lazy to keep looking.

So instead, I'll be doing tomorrow's meal today. It's another one from Epicurious and this one came HIGHLY recommend by my colleague and friend Sarah who is doing her own challenge. This Fettuccine with Sausage, Sage and Crispy Garlic looks delicious. Check back later for how it all goes down.

Among other things. Wow, you guys are in for a treat! It's been a busy cooking day in our house. Sunday is Mohamed's day off and he thought he'd get in on the new recipe action. He's a great cook and of course I love to sit back and let him do his magic.

Today for lunch he made a ground fish tajine. Now that may not seem very appealing to some of you, but it's pretty common over here to grind fish just like you would beef or turkey. He brought 2 pounds of fresh sardines home from the market and ground them in our blender! A tajine is both a meal and the pot you cook it in. The pot is a thick bottomed clay dish with a cone shaped lid. It's pretty much the same as a dutch oven except you serve and eat out of it too!

Most tajines start with a base of onion, oil, garlic and spices, then you can do pretty much anything on top. Mohamed added a layer of carrots (my fave in tajine) and potato, then added the ground fish. On top of the fish he added red and green peppers, more carrots and garlic, tomatoes and sliced lemon. Sprinkle some fresh parsley and cilantro on top and let it cook! After about an hour, we ate it with bread. Yumm!

It was rainy today as well, so while Mohamed napped in the afternoon I thought I'd tackle Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream from Krissy's Creations. I've been looking forward to making these since I found them a few weeks ago.

Getting the batter together was pretty standard. I usually use oil when I bake, but the recipe called for butter (a lot of it) instead and I thought I'd give it a go. While I love the moistness the oil gives, the butter ended up giving a slight crunch around the edges that I liked. The buttermilk gave a lovely thickness to the batter- yum!

While the cupcakes baked, I tackled the Nutella Buttercream. This was a bit more time consuming because the hand mixer that I purchased (for $10, you get what you pay for!) had a hard time blending such thick ingredients. I kept having to stop, empty out the mixers and go again. The effort was worth it, this buttercream is delicious!

After the cupcakes cooled, Mohamed added the buttercream and I topped them with a sprinkling of grated dark chocolate.

The verdict- Nutella really does make this buttercream to-die-for. I was almost sick with all of my tasting. The cupcakes themselves were very good, but not knock your socks off delicious. I think next time I'd add more vanilla for a stronger flavor (or search for the vanilla bean paste that she recommends). I might also substitute some of the butter for oil to get the moistness that I like.

Whew! Now on to the main event. I neglected to read the recipe for the Roman Style Pizza until 8pm. This wouldn't be a problem except the dough needs to rise for 90 minutes. Oops! It's gonna be a late dinner. I kneaded the dough and set it aside before moving on to the tomatoes. Simple enough, you just put them on a baking sheet; add oil, salt and pepper; and pop them in the oven! 12 minutes later you have roasted cherry tomatoes.

Once the dough rose to double its size, I stretched half of it onto my baking sheet. Unfortunately I have no pizza stone, so ours isn't quite as authentic as I hoped. Oh well. Then the dough had to sit another 15 minutes before I added the toppings. *Note- this is the first place I went wrong! The recipe calls for you to put the pizza in the oven on top of a heated pizza stone. I don't have one, so I should have put the dough in the oven to cook for a few minutes pre-toppings. Live and learn...

(The crust was super yummy, but ended up soggy in the middle due to the lack of pizza stone)

Ready for toppings!

Adding the toppings was where my second mistake occurred. Maybe it was late, maybe I was tired from the cupcakes. Whatever it was, I wasn't thinking very critically. These tomatoes were too big and full of juice. When I do this again (and I will) I'll halve the tomatoes and dump the juice and seeds. These tomatoes with the soft center dough did not get us the crispy crust that we desired.

The end result- Sure looks good right? The crust around the edges was delicious. I also loved the parmesan/mozzarella combination. It was just those darn juicy tomatoes...

The verdict- Loved the crust, cheese and basil. Tomatoes were just too juicy, but I don't think that's the recipe's fault. Also, I should have realized that without the hot pizza stone the crust wasn't going to bake properly. Ugh. Mohamed agreed and ended up removing all of his tomatoes. I will make this again and next time I'll do it right! I may add a little caramelized onion too...

Find the complete recipe here: Roman Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes.

For day four we move to Saveur for a Tunisian dish- T'fina Pkaila (Beef rib and Meatball stew) Should be fun!

Photo by Todd Coleman for Saveur

Today started with a trip to the market. I was on the hunt for a few things in today's recipe- white fish, plum tomatoes and basil. Insanely enough, I managed to find everything pretty darn quickly. Love it when that happens.

Of course now that I'm home and getting ready to cook, I'm doubting my fish choice. I actually have no idea what kind of fish I ended up buying, I just got something that looked like the photo on this recipe.

I also had a bit of a disaster as I tried to make a side dish. Thinking the dish might be a little bit light, I thought I'd also make Blazing Beet Soup to serve on the side. After boiling the beets and removing the skin I cut them up into the blender and added some water to puree. A minute or so in, beet puree started squirting out of the blender- Ahhhh! I stopped it and as soon as I lifted the cup off of the blender, beet puree dumped all over the blender, counter, floor and me. It was horrifying and I stood there looking at it for at least 3 minutes before taking any action. Argh. So, no side this evening. Perhaps I'll try the soup again another day.

Day 1's recipe has been in my Epicurious recipe box for quite some time. It's gotten pretty cold, especially at night over the past month or so, and I absolutely love any kind of soups or stews. I also love pumpkin, so it seemed like the perfect combination.

Minus the caraway noodles. Cooking is all about modifications, right? I originally had no idea what caraway seeds were, but a good friend of mine found them at her local souk (market) and I took a whiff. I love licorice, but the thought of adding an anise type flavor to my noodles just didn't strike my fancy. So that's the first change. As the recipe is for eight servings, I'm also reducing it. Mohamed doesn't eat a lot of leftovers and I can only handle so much on my own.

The recipe calls for canned pumpkin- something I've never seen over here in Morocco. To solve this problem I used fresh pumpkin which I coated with butter, roasted, then put in the blender.

All of the ingredients ready to go

The first step is to coat the turkey in a spice mixture (mostly paprika- I used about half hot and half sweet) and cook for five minutes. After coating the onions and potatoes, you also add those to the pot and let fry for a few more minutes. I may have under estimated the size of the pot needed...

When the the turkey and veggies are preliminarily cooked, you add the chicken broth, garlic and additional spices. The stew simmers for an hour before you need to cook the noodles and serve. I haven't seen any egg noodles in Morocco, so I'm using some regular farfalle.

After the simmering, I thought the stew was a little thin, so I uncovered it and let it boil down a bit. Top the buttery noodles with the stew and bon appetit!

The verdict: Yummy! This was a great dish to have on a cold night. It's hearty, filling and flavorful. Using half hot/sweet paprika created quite a bit of heat. If you're not into that, I'd go a bit heavier on the sweet side. Also, when I make again I'd add more pumpkin as it got a little bit lost among the other ingredients. Mohamed liked it too, so that would be success on day one of the holiday recipe challenge. Yay!

Go here the complete recipe for Pumpkin-Turkey Ghoulash with caraway noodles. On deck for tomorrow is another Epicurious find- Roasted Cod on Large Garlic Croutons.

Photo by Con Poulos from Epicurious

The time has come! As I mentioned at the beginning of the month, tomorrow starts my 15 day recipe challenge. In honor of my LONG vacation (nearly 4 weeks!) I've decided to spice it up and try some new recipes.

Yesterday, two of my favorite fellow teachers came over for an intense planning session. We lunched, coffeed, caked and most importantly sifted through recipes to find the most promising. I've chosen 15 main dishes, a few sides and a few desserts.

You can't plan without charts!

The first shopping list- 7 days of new recipes (not including standard veggies and spices)

Tomorrow is day one and I'm making Pumpkin-Turkey Ghoulash from Epicurious. My hope is that each day I'll report back with photos and reviews on the day's dishes. Let the cooking begin!

Season's greetings! I guess since it's officially December I can say that. Although I must say that I've been in the holiday spirit for a few weeks now- our stocking (just one!) is hung and I've been listening to Christmas music while cooking since before Thanksgiving.

Last year's holiday fun

Anyway, the reason for this post is that I'm going to be doing something new (and hopefully exciting) this holiday season. I have almost 4 weeks of vacation this year and most of it will be spent at home, so I'm giving myself a challenge.

15 days of cooking at least one new recipe every day. That's right, 15 new recipes in 15 days and I plan to update you on my progress right here. The good, the bad, the photos, the reviews.

The fun starts Friday, December 15th with Pumpkin-Turkey "Ghoulash" with Caraway Noodles.

Greetings one and all! I was on such a blog posting roll over the summer and then my return to Morocco once again brings a big black hole where my posts should be. Ah well.

The last few months have been busy busy busy. We got married!

Surprises always come when you least expect them- we were counting on a few months of chasing paperwork and swimming around in bureaucracy, but in the end it only took a few weeks. Once I collected my 11 documents (2 from the states, 2 from Casablanca, the rest here) and Mohamed had his 4 (so unfair), we took our folder over the the family court where photocopies were made, papers were stamped and our folder changed hands a few too many times to call efficient. Then we had to take the folder to the police where we were interviewed by a detective. After a few days the police sent the folder back to the family court and after another hour of sitting, we were done!

With the final paperwork from the court we went to see our Adoul (Notary) who wrote our final contract. Two signatures later, we were official! We've done a few things to celebrate- post-signing breakfast, celebratory dinner and overnight at a fancy Riad. Looks like we'll be doing a real Moroccan wedding in March! Everyone's invited!

Since getting married, the most popular question for people to ask me is "How's it feel to be married?" or "has anything changed?" The answers to these questions are great! and No! Was something supposed to change? After signing a piece of paper was I supposed to feel something inside me change from a single woman to a married one?

The longer answer is this. We were really happy before we got married. We know each other well and had a positive, healthy relationship. We were committed and treated each other with love and respect. It seems to me like these are also the requirements of a marriage. From great to great, bliss to bliss! I couldn't possibly complain :-)

The one positive change that I can say I feel is this- it's so nice to be legit! Even though we've been living together since I arrived, there was always a possibility that someone would find out and cause a problem. We also couldn't stay in hotels without getting two rooms or bribing someone. Now that we're legal, the world is truly our oyster!

During my time in PC, I became very close with a number of families in the small town where I served. I consider them all to be my Moroccan families and am always welcomed back with open arms on visits.

One of my favorites is the Bouhou's. A family of four, Habiba is one of the most loving moms I know. She is her kids biggest fan and she is practically oozing with love and happiness anytime I see her. She taught me how to make many delicious Moroccan dishes and I secretly told her she is the best cook in town. Her husband Brahim is one of my favorites of the "husbands." He is kind, well-loved by his kids and wife and always makes an effort to chat with me whenever I visit. He treats me like a second daughter and I always feel so relaxed around him.

A few days ago I received a text message from Morocco telling me that Brahim passed away. I was in the middle of class here in Switzerland and I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I couldn't believe it- I'd just seen him in March and didn't know anything was wrong. I struggled to get through class without tears.

Having a husband die young (Brahim was in his upper 40's, I think) is a tragedy for anyone, anywhere in the world. In Morocco, however, it can be especially crippling. Habiba hasn't been educated past the elementary level and has spent the last 20 years taking care of her family. She currently has one daughter in university and a son who is 16. They live in a house paid for by her husband's job and just recently bought another one (using credit) for her daughter to live in while going to school.

Brahim was the sole provider for this family and now that he's gone, I'm so afraid for the family he's left behind. Will they be kicked out of their house? Will their daughter be forced to leave university and get married to support herself? How will they earn money to live? The type of security many people in the United States have in this type of situation just doesn't exist in the same way in Morocco.

Me and Habiba during my last visit

My heart aches for Habiba and her family. If it's the kind of thing you do, please keep them in your prayers.

For my weekend off this past week, I jumped on the school bus to Zurich. Zurich is Switzerland's business and banking capital and that's about all I knew of the city. In fact, the reason I hopped on the bus at all was because the weather forecast in Lugano was promising rain and cold.

Zurich turned out to be a really great city. Right up my alley if I must say. It's incredibly clean and filled with adorable boutiques, trendy restaurants and outdoor cafes. The streets downtown are cobblestone and narrowly fit through the historic buildings. I toured the city, saw an antiques market and walked through the Kunsthaus art museum.

The whole time I was thinking "I could live here." And I think I could, what wasn't to like? Then I started to think about all of the other cities in the world where I've visited and thought the same thing. In fact, I can hardly think of a city that I wouldn't want to live in. Is this because most cities have good qualities or because I'm really just not that picky when it comes to my location? Hopefully it's a combination of both although I think there's a bit of a "grass is always greener" mentality in there too. Maybe I think I'd be happy anywhere that I'm not currently. Who knows.

March to August- that must be some kind of new record of blog laziness. Perhaps I should just give in to the fact that I'm not cut out to be a blogger. Or perhaps I just try, try again.

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I'm not currently in Morocco! That's right, my search for summer employment brought me to the disgustingly picturesque city of Lugano, Switzerland. Actually, the school where I'm teaching ESL in a summer program is not even in the city of Lugano, but the tiny village of Montagnola about 15 minutes up the mountain. It is truly breathtaking up here and I'm not entirely sure how I secured work in such a fantastic place.The church I pass everyday on my way to school

Don't be fooled though, Switzerland, the land of cheese, chocolate, army knives and clocks, is not without pitfalls. The first of which is how insanely expensive everything is. Lugano is by far the most expensive place I've ever been and the fact that I'm becoming numb to the cost is quite concerning. I think you need an example. Let's start with McDonald's. In the states (and in Morocco) you can get a Big Mac value meal for around $5. Maybe that doesn't include a supersizing, but whatever. The same meal here in Switzerland goes for about $12. Twelve dollars for a McDonald's value meal!? Ok, it may be grass fed beef and not full of chemicals, but still. I can't even buy my own grandma a cheesy Switzerland magnet for less than $8. I don't even want to get in to the price I paid for a 90 minute massage. Let's just say I could probably eat for 6 months on it in Morocco.

A few of the buildings on campusThe second pitfall is rather Teresa specific. Being chuck full of quaint mountain villages makes for an alarming amount of car sickness while traveling. Ugh. My lovely Saturday and Sunday excursions are tainted with headaches and nausea unless I drug myself up. And drugged up is not the best way to enjoy the scenery which includes countless waterfalls cascading over the Alps. Has anyone had any luck with those weird bracelet things?

But enough about the negatives, Switzerland is quite possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I cannot take enough photographs of the view of Lake Lugano from Montagnola. I photograph it in sunny weather, hazy weather, cloudy weather, day time, night time, etc. I often feel it looks like a photoshopped in backdrop and not like a real thing that I'm seeing with my own eyes. The much photographed view

The job is also really wonderful. My teaching schedule is more than manageable with only 4, 45 minute periods per day. I'd like to thank AMIDEAST for acclimating me to three straight hours with teenagers at a time. Compared to that, this is a cake walk. Classes end at 2:30 and then two days per week I have to supervise an afternoon sports activity. Arts and Crafts and Swimming- life is tough! Evenings are free unless I want to attend an event or if I'm on dorm duty. Dorm duty is by far the lamest part of the job, but you put up with it for the wonderful weekend excursions! Every Saturday and Sunday I venture into Switzerland or northern Italy to see some new, beautiful place. So far I've been to Milan for sites and shopping, Ascona for beach time, whitewater rafting through the Alps, a beautiful Villa on Lake Como and Sirmione on Lake Garda. This weekend, to fair Verona!

Did I mention the Friday evening staff wine and cheese parties? It really is a dream way to spend a summer and earn good money. Unfortunately, Mohamed and I got engaged just before I left and I spend a good deal of time missing him and our life together in Morocco. On the upside, I think spending this time missing each other is in the end good for our relationship and will hopefully make us appreciate each other more when we're reunited. Only three weeks to go!

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy everything that Switzerland has to offer and take some incredible memories back to Morocco with me. Cheers to that!

Since it's been so long since I've posted, here's a recap of the last 5ish months:

March- I spent my spring break visiting friends and my second family in the south of Morocco where I was a volunteer. It had been two year since my last visit and it was long overdue. They've renovated the town, but most other things have remained the same. Still an incredible place where I feel welcomed and at home.

Me and host sister Senna

Me and good friend Habiba

April- Mohamed and I took a day trip to explore Casablanca and I ran an 8k with a lot of ladies! The run was spur of the moment and I ran with a fellow teacher. I did it in just under 60 minutes and won third place in the foreigner category. For not being in running shape, I was pretty pleased.

At the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

On the podium, collecting my prize!

May/June- We were lucky enough to have two sets of visitors in Rabat. Beth (PCV and former Epic co-worker) came up from the south on her way to the states and RPCV friends Brian and Sara stopped by during their spring break. Loved hosting and hope to have more visitors very soon!

Beth enjoying the sites

Mohamed and I also got involved in the expat softball league and Mohamed found he has a real knack for softball. I don't particularly like playing, but I was happy to step in to fill the female quota when needed. We didn't win the championship, but all in all great way to spend Sunday afternoons.

AMIDEAST Akbars at the championship tournament

And last but not least, the big engagement! Mohamed proposed in our favorite medina restaurant named for the town where we met. Awwww. It was very sweet and we can't wait to make it happen! Lots of planning to do and nothing set yet, but all in good time.

Celebratory dinner

Ciao for now!

For more pictures of my European adventure, check out these links:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100227212361522.2600786.12102478&l=98b9249bbf&type=1https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100288769485552.2604282.12102478&l=028cef87c7&type=1https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100297394910132.2608049.12102478&l=e53c80c98e&type=1

The last month has been great. Although Spring has yet to make her official appearance, the weather recently has been fairly mild and dry. Mohamed and I have been taking advantage of this by going on a few day trips out of the city. As Sunday is our only non-working day togther we like to alternate between cleaning/relaxing days and days being out and about.

A few weeks ago we made a four hour trek to visit some of my PC friends now working at a university in Ifrane. I was hoping to see some snow, but the gorgeious day we spent walking around the university campus and exploring a natural, water filled park wasn't so bad. Despite now living in Morocco for 6 months together, this was my first time seeing Brian and Sara and it was great to catch up, compare teaching notes and see how different our lives are. Ifrane is calm, clean and noise free. Compared to the hustle and bustle of where I live, it felt a little bit like paradise. There complaints of course are centered around having very little to do. The grass is always greener...

Me and Mohamed touring the campus

The beautiful "Source" water-filled wonderland

Brian and Sara

Aside from our weekend trips, I've also gotten well-adjusted to my work schedule and hit a pretty nice stride with my classes. This week is the last one of the trimester, so my routine will soon be interrupted once again. A new trimester and set of classes can be a bit unnerving as I'm afraid my chances of having classes as wonderful as my current ones are slim.

This month has also brought some exciting news for me on the summer job front. I've accepted an ESL teacher position at a summer camp in Switzerland! I'll be spending eight weeks in Lugano teaching and assisting with activities during the week, then chaperoning excursions throughout Switzerland and Northern Italy on the weekends. Not a bad deal! The time away is not exactly ideal, but there are few ways to earn decent money here in the summer and I couldn't pass up the salary along with an escape from the Moroccan heat.

Following the camp, I'll spend 4 days back in Morocco before coming back the U.S for a visit! Very excited to spend three weeks hanging out in Michigan, Wisconsin and Texas with friends and family. These means another Christmas away from home, but I figure a trip in the summer will be loads more fun.

The purchase of an oven has also drastically changed the state of affairs chez moi this month. The first day we brought it home I made a cake and our lives haven't been the same since! While I hope the baking bug makes an exit soon (my repertoire so far: yellow cake, marble cake, choc pudding cake, cupcakes with choc frosting, lemon cookies), the increase in dinner options has been fabulous. We've made baked fish, pizza, roasted chicken and can refresh old bread!

Finally, with the last month brought my 28th birthday. 27 still sounded young, but 28 is surely a whole new ballgame. The slippery slope to 30 has certainly started and has lit a bit of a fire you know where. The time for playing around is quickly coming to an end.

Heading back to my old PC site for my "spring break." Should be loads of fun. Posts to come!

Because it feels like four years! I am absolutely shocked at how quickly you adapt to a new place and time starts to warp as you forget what you were doing only a few months before. Or maybe that's just me? I've also done a really crappy job of keeping this blog updated. Also a big shocker.

I'm pretty sure I've turned into a Moroccan in these 4 short months...

From this moment on I pledge to post at least once per month, but to start off on the right foot, how about a high speed wrap up of the last three months? Ready.....Set.......Go!

November-My second month of teaching and I was really in the swing of things. My prep time was cut drastically and I started to really enjoy the whole process. My roommate and I continued to furnish the apartment and things were good on the home front. Weather started getting COLD and I almost bought a heater.

Yes, November brought the cold, but also visitors! Started with a visit from Cara and Michael who spent a few days in Rabat as Cara completed some grad school research. We even managed a short visit to the Peace Corps office, but unfortunately the place was very similar to a ghost town. After Cara and Michael headed inland, Rebecca and Ahmed came for a weekend during their first visit back since getting married in the states. The visit was too short and sweet, but we did venture out to some cool gardens north of Rabat.

Cara and I perfect the jumping shot at the PC office

Rebecca and Ahmed as we explored the Exotic Gardens

Eid lkbir (the big feast) brought 4 days off in the middle of the month. Being the biggest Islamic holiday, Mohamed made the trek to spend the holiday with his family. My roommate traveled as well, so I was all by my lonesome for 4 full days, two of which I did not leave the apartment. And joy of joys I got a horrible coughing, sniffling, sneezing illness so while the rest was good, I did not get to enjoy my time off. I also did not witness the slaughter of any sheep, although I did see a head roasting on an open fire from my balcony.

sheep head roasting over an open fire

December-Did not start out well. No need for detail, but at the beginning of this month we learned that my roommate's boyfriend is a sexist, abusive, horrible guy. We kicked him out and went about our business. Mid month, right before classes ended for vacation, my roommate and I hosted a fabulous holiday party at our apartment. Everyone had a great time, but the evening was tainted when the next morning we realized one of our guests stole my roommate's ipod. Ba humbug!

As soon as classes let out, I made a trip to Fes to visit my first host family. It was FREEZING, but it was great to see them as well as the tiny town where I learned to be a Youth Development volunteer. Another highlight was the amazing food made by my host mom. She really knows how to keep a guess from being hungry.

Me and former host family members in front of my first Youth Center

After returning from Fes, Mohamed, roommate and I had a very nice Christmas despite being far from home. Santa stopped by and made some good boys and girls very happy. Soon after Christmas brought my very good friend Kasey Marie for a visit! We celebrated New Year's Eve Moroccan club style before setting off on an epic tour of the country. Kasey and I visited five cities in 9 days. It was a whirlwind and the poor girl did not escape some tummy unhappiness, but we checked off her to do list and had a wonderful time.

Christmas dinnerPicture with monkey- CHECK!

January-Despite the happiness of Kasey's visit and the fun of our travels, January also started out a bit roughly as my roommate decided to take back the horrible boyfriend. This was my cue to get out of there and within 7 days I had started my second semester of classes, found a new apartment and moved out of the place that I shared for three months.

All's well that ends well though, because life is glorious in the new apartment. Thinking back I realize how foolish and unnecessary it was to have a roommate to begin with. I didn't really want one, I was just so anxious for a place that I dove headfirst into to a situation that was not ideal. I'm 27 years old and feel the days of roommates are officially over. My new place has one bedroom, 1.5 baths and two balconies. It's also closer to Mohamed's store and right across the street from a big supermarket. It feels more like my own and I couldn't be happier.

Classes are also really great this semester. I'm teaching 26 hours per week and have to prep for 6 different courses, but I'm not even phased any more. The whole thing just feels natural and I genuinely like many of my students. Even my 8:15 am class is a joy! Two of my students in their bug masks!

I also got the tortoise that I'd been wanting since arriving in Morocco. Teddy was purchased after the move and is slowly adapting to his new home. I'm still learning how to be a good tortoise owner as well- did you know that they hibernate?! I thought he was dying.....turns out he was just trying to hibernate for the winter.Teddy trying to escape from his bed. It's cold at night, so this is where he sleeps, then goes out for the day.

February-So far so good. Mohamed and I already took one day trip and are hoping to take more in the next few weeks. I've also started to think more about plans for the next 1-2 years and am very excited about the possibilities.

Day trip to the beach town of Bouznika, only 20 mins from Rabat by train

More to come!

In no way did my time between July 23rd and Sept 25 feel like reality. I was truly living it up. Drinking, eating, sleeping in, living in Egypt without an ounce of stress. It was as though I was floating through some perfect universe where my only reminder of reality was the fact that my intestines did not love Egyptian food.

Then I arrived in Morocco and BAM! Like a smack on the rear, life begins once again. After a delightful 6 hour flight, I arrived in Casablanca around 11 pm with my 60 kilos of luggage (I know it was 60 kilos because the lovely EgyptAir man made me put all of my checked and carryon baggage onto the scale at one time- thanks to him for letting me keep it all despite being way over the luggage allowance!). Mohamed was waiting for me at the airport (Yay!) and we were able to take the last train into Casa and hop in a taxi to stay with a friend for the night.

I was exhausted and landed to receive the great news of- I have no apartment and no place to go on Sunday. Super! Sunday we took the train up to the capital and sensing my irritation with the situation, Mohamed scrambled to find accommodations. For four days I stayed in a studio apartment where I killed at least three cockroaches on a daily basis. Now, I wouldn't call myself a girlie girl, but I do not do cockroaches and I could not wait to get out of there.

Back in Agdal

On a walk into the cityFirst time back in the Medina

I spent the four days searching for an apartment, meeting bosses and fellow teachers from school and trying to prepare for my first real teaching job while living out of a suitcase. Many of you know how well I do when not completely unpacked and living in a fully decorated place- it is not pretty! Needless to say I was feeling the stress and when my now roommate Michaela found a beautiful two bedroom, two bathroom place a minute's walk from work. We jumped all over it and moved in three days before the start of classes.

Shots of the new apartment- sparsely furnished

The day before I started teaching I met with my director and got my class schedule. We are guaranteed a minimum of 21 hours per week in our contract. When I was hired, I was told 22-23 hours was pretty typical. Apparently people are super excited about learning english this semester because I have a whopping 25 hours of teaching time. Now, those of you full timers are probably thinking that sounds pretty cushy and believe me, at first I thought the same thing. However, as a new teacher, I don't know what the heck I'm doing and I therefore have to spend loads of time preparing. For example, I spent 7 hours this past Monday (one of my days off) preparing for my 6 hours of classes on Tuesday. Ugh.

The good news is we're now into week two and it's already feeling easier. As with most things, I think the learning curve is just quite steep and you just have to work your rear end off to keep yourself from drowning the first week. And thankfully, I like it! I have a fairly varied class/age load which is nice.

I teach university students in Sale business English on Tuesday afternoons, then head back to AMIDEAST to teach adult beginners and then a TOEFL test preparation course. On Wednesdays I have two (two hour) sessions of 7-10 year olds and I get to do lots of games and coloring with them. Thursdays bring my beginner adults and TOEFL class again, then I have Friday off. Saturday is another long day with with another 2 classes of 7-10 year olds followed by a 3 hour TOEFL test prep session. Sundays are a bit like PC in that I teach teenagers on scholarship who couldn't normally afford classes. While this is a population I prefer to be with, having them for 4 hours is a bit much. Mondays are off.

So for right now, my life generally involves hanging out in my minimally furnished apartment (usually in bed) then heading off to work for preparation or classes. I haven't had much time for anything else and it's been raining cats and dogs for the last 4 days. On days off, I usually go spend some time with Mohamed in his store; otherwise, I don't see him until he closes up and we make a late dinner. For now, there's no other big news there. Just spending time and taking it easy.Mohamed with his niece Oumayma on a visit to his sister's house in Sale.

Life here has certainly begun.

Me on my balcony, last day in Alex

My five weeks in Egypt have come and gone far too quickly. As usual, it's not so much the place, but the people who've made this time so memorable. 15 people from all over the world, living in one apartment complex, learning to be English teachers and hoping to familiarize themselves with the people and culture of a pretty complex place. You can't help but become an insane little mini-family.

Two weeks ago a group of seven of us hopped on a bus and took the 12 hour ride to Sinai. We had a four day weekend due to the end of Ramadan and Eid, so we had to take advantage of the time and get away from Alexandria.

Our first stop was the little town of St. Katherine where the Mt. Sinai of Moses is supposedly located. Up to 1400 people per day hike to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise and in many cases pray. We left our hostel at 2 am and hiked through the night to make it in time for the sunrise. Night hiking is something I'd never done before and it was a pretty unique experience. No sound but our footsteps on the rocks and dirt and no light except from the stars and our small flashlights. The stars were absolutely incredible. The band of the Milky Way was very distinct across the sky and I saw two incredible shooting stars.

The hike was challenging towards the end, but we made it to the top in time to see the sun start peeking out over the barren, rocky mountains. On this particular day we shared the peak with around 700 other hikers and pilgrims. After the sunrise, we began the long hike down to St. Katherine's Monastery. Being so secluded and off the beaten path, St. Katherine's is said to be the oldest functioning Monastery that's never been attacked or harmed in any way.

Sunrise over Mt. Sinai

The hostel that we stayed at in St. Katherine's was great and we did our fair amount of lounging in their tented sitting areas, but after a few days in the heat of these desert mountains, we were ready to head for the sea.

Hostel in St. Katherine

Next stop, Dahab, a seaside tourist-infested wonderland of hotels, restaurants and bars. We found a cheap place right on the water and spent the majority of our time laying around in the cozy seating area of the hostel's restaurant. Laying, eating, drinking, smoking hookah- doesn't get much more relaxing.

Another highlight of our two days in Dahab was snorkeling in the Blue Hole. One of the most famous diving/snorkeling spots in the world, the Blue hole is a 127 meter deep hole just off the coast surrounded by the most incredible coral reefs and sea creatures. It was my first time snorkeling and I when I put my head under the water for the first time, I was in absolute awe of what lie just below the surface. If only I had an underwater camera!

The Blue Hole

Vacation over, back in Alexandria we started our official teaching practice. Each student taught five hours alone and two with a partner. Our schedule completely changed for teaching practice, so our beach days unfortunately came to an end. The students who come to our classes are all volunteers and classes lasted from 3:00-9:00 pm. Depending on our class time, we picked from three different departure and return times. With class prep, teaching and observing other teachers, we ended up at TEFL for at least 7 hours per day, often times more. While it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit, I did miss our daily evening swims.

Hanging out at TEFL

For me, the teaching practice was fairly stress free. I've had experience creating lesson plans and teaching all kinds of students and the whole thing just comes fairly easily to me. I guess I'm just fortunate to have found a career path that I both like and am good at! For many of my classmates, though, this was the first experience they had with any kind of teaching. There was stress, tears, 10 minute classes, blank stares, praising of nonsense and more. In the end though, everyone got through it and I think came out with more respect for all of the great teachers out there. There's no question that it's hard work!

Only 7 of our original 17 are staying in Alexandria for the optional 6 week teaching internship and intensive Arabic course. As all good things must come to an end, we spent the last 3 days saying goodbye and wishing people well as the headed off to their next adventure. It's really quite incredible how dependent you can become on others in such a short period of time.

Going away celebration

Thanks to James, Amanda, Zane, Laura, Laura, Danielle, Read, Simon, Jules, Oscar, J.P., Faizal, Mohammed and Sara for an incredible month! And a special shout out to security guard Hamidou who made me delicious tea.

Now it's Cairo until Saturday, then off to Morocco!

Friday was a big day for the TEFL Alex crew- trip to Cairo! It came as part of our tuition with the program and I'd been looking forward to it since I arrived two weeks ago (has it really onlybeen two weeks?!). We started the day by hopping on our mini bus at 7am. Despite the early rise, everyone was pumped for the day.

After an hour and a half of driving, we stopped at an Oasis for a quick break. Now, these types of Oases exist in Morocco as well- generally a few stores, restaurant, bathrooms, but this one was pretty wild. Besides the typical haunts, this place had a mini zoo and decrepit play land for kids. Of course, I had to play on some of the toys and that may have been the most dangerous thing I've done thus far in Egypt.

Ostriches at the roadside petting zoo

After another hour and a half, we arrived at our first stop- the pyramids of Giza! As we drove up, a friend next to me mentioned "huh, they don't really seem that big." I'm not going to lie, I kind of agreed. They didn't look all that impressive. Flash forward to me looking like a tiny little ant on the side of the Great Pyramid. Make no mistake people, these things are pretty awe-inspiring. One row of blocks was almost as tall as me and I'm not going to even try to guess how many rows make up the Great Pyramid.

The Great Pyramid at Giza

After taking some photos, we drove on to the 2nd pyramid and at that one I paid a little extra to go inside. I know, I got to go inside of a pyramid and you are extremely jealous. It was not at all what I imagined. The tunnels are tiny, definitely not designed for anyone with any sort of claustrophobia. We immediately had to crouch down and began walking down from the entrance into the pyramid. Little wooded boards were nailed to the floor every foot or so to keep you from sliding down. (Our suggestion for the tourism board- let's make it a slide!) After traveling down for quite some time, we were able to mostly stand and walked straight in before the tunnel curved up and we had to once again crouch and use the boards to keep moving upward. Once in the center we found a single room. Fairly small with high ceilings right in the heart of the pyramid. The only thing in the room at this time is the stone coffin of the king once locked inside. A bit eery, but pretty cool.

Me and friend James inside the second pyramid

Silly pics are a must!

After leaving the second pyramid, we stopped farther out for a panoramic view of all three pyramids in the area. Next stop, the Sphinx! Also very cool. Something I'd dreamed of seeing my entire life.

After leaving Giza, we headed to the Egyptian Museum. I think the best way to describe this Museum is crammed. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall stuff. All ancient, all cool, very little rhyme or reason to the layout, not nearly enough labels, lots of guesswork and wandering. It's almost as though Egypt has so much stuff that they can't possibly lay it all out in any sort of logical manner and have it all fit. Overall rating- mediocre.

After the museum was a fairly disappointing buffet lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. The only bright spot in this part of the trip was an extremely delicious alcoholic beverage that I payed 11 dollars for.

Finally, we made it to one of the biggest markets in Cairo. It was right before lftur and the place was hopping. Upon entering the market I decided to try to get by on only my Moroccan Arabic. It was fabulous! The shopkeepers looked at me with confused expressions and asked "are you from Tunis? are you algerian?" HA! But I did manage to get my point across and bargained fairly well for a few key items.

The men who I wowed with my Moroccan Arabic and who sold me my sweet scarf!

As we waited for the bus to pick us up on the street, this little kid came up with a handful of bracelets and asked if I wanted one. "2 for 5 pounds (a little less than a dollar)," he said. I thought about it, but frankly, the bracelets were ugly and why on earth would I need two? So I told him no thank you and hoped that would be the end of it. No such luck, of course. He kept bothering me and I kept declining his offer. He went away.

A few minutes later, he's back. More bargaining. This time, I tell him I'll pay 2 pounds (all the change I had) for one bracelet. Nope, he's not having it. I'm not budging either. Finally, he says, "fine! take this one for two pounds" and he proceeds to try and give me a much cheaper looking, uglier bracelet. No way kid. Give me the good one or get out of here! He leaves again in a huff. This same thing goes on for the next five minutes. He continues to come back to me and tries to get me to buy the ugly bracelet. Finally, on the fifth try he yells "fine! take the bracelet for two pounds!" So I take it and give him the money. He starts to leave, but turns around. "You English?" he asks. "Yes," I respond (I know, what a liar). He raises his arm to make his point and says "English VERY BAD!" and walks away in a huff.

Just doing my part to damage the reputation of the English people in Egypt. Hehe.

The souk getting ready to break the fast

Some beautiful girls who couldn't stop taking photos of our group

I don't think I've gone into a lot of detail about Ramadan in my posts, but hopefully most of you know by now that Ramadan is the fasting month in the Islamic calendar. For an entire month, from sun up to sun down, Muslims are to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity. The sacrifice a time of reflection and prayer as well as a chance to bring the faster closer to God.

When the sun sets, a call goes out from all of the mosques signaling that it is time to break the fast (lftur). I experienced three Ramadan's in Morocco, but never experienced anything like I have in Egypt at sundown.

Last thursday a group of us hung out downtown after class and just happened to be wandering the streets as people were preparing for the lftur. The city was all a buzz and smelled of meats roasting over the fire. During the walk, I stopped to buy a nightgown. Me and another person in our group chatted with them for a few minutes and they asked us to join them to break the fast. We didn't accept as our group had moved on, but that was just one of many invitations we received from complete strangers as we continued our walk.

An incredible thing about breaking the fast in Egypt is that after a day of fasting, no one is to go without breakfast. Tents, tables and chairs are set up in places all over the city and everyone can go and eat for free. Not only Muslims, but non-muslims, tourists, anyone at all is allowed to take part in the feast.

After leaving the clothing shop were were invited into one such free breakfast area. Unfortunately, they had run out of food, but they insisted that we return at an earlier time the next day to partake. One man, feeling bad that we'd not eaten, led us for 15 mins to the restaurant where we'd end up eating.

A few days later we went on another excursion to downtown Alex and were hopping into taxis to go home just as the call went out to break the fast. "Won't you break the fast?" I asked the taxi driver (Why else would he still be in his cab and driving me home?). He responded- Of course! During the 30 minute ride to our apartments I found out what he meant.

During lftur, men and children stand all over the streets with dates, juice and other foods which they throw into the passing cars as they drive by. People, after fasting all day, stand in the middle of the road (often in various precarious positions!) to throw bags of free food at complete strangers passing by.

It amazes me that there are people who spend their days creating tiny bags of food to hand to those still driving when they should be eating. To be shocked at the level of kindness- what a great feeling.

What a week!

I left Detroit on Friday the 20th of August on a plane to JFK. At JFK, I hopped over to EgyptAir for an 11 hour direct flight to Cairo. I was pumped and only nervous about one thing- finding my way, alone, from Cairo to Alexandria. As luck would have it, I sat on the plane next to a man who lives in New Jersey, but is originally from Alexandria and was on his way to visit family.

While a bit too chatty for my liking on the plane, this very kind man offered to let me follow him to Alexandria. At the airport, I bought my visa from a bank, grabbed my luggage and exchanged some money before catching the bus. The bus ride was long, but I was absolutely exhausted so it was a great opportunity to get a little sleep.

Once I got to the bus station in Alexandria, I was supposed to call the folks from TEFL to pick me up, but it was almost time for lftor (breakfast- it is Ramadan and everyone is fasting!). I did not have easy access to a phone and was also afraid that if I did call, I'd have to wait for a ride until after lftor so I decided to hop in a taxi and hope for the best.

About 30 minutes, 70 egyptian pounds and one stop for an english speaker later, I arrived at the TEFL accommodations. I was very pleasantly surprised by our apartments (pictures to come in a later post). I share a two bedroom place with Amanda from Botswana. Amanda has already completed her 4 week certificate course, but stuck around to do an internship and study Arabic. It's great to have a roomie who knows the ropes!

Amanda and meThe next day (Sunday- first day of the week), we had our first day of classes. The apartments are about 40 mins away from where we have class, so we all hop in some vans at 9 am. Classes begin at 10 and go until 4:30.

The school in Stanley, AlexandriaThe other students in the class are super cool. Mostly Americans, but we do have three people from England, one from Holland, one from Venezuela, one from Saudi Arabia and one Egyptian. 17 people total- you do the math. Classes are interesting and even challenging (grammar!). Aside from grammar, we're learning some Phonology (the study of sounds in a language), classroom management, lesson planning and more. To pass the course, I'll have to pass a phonology test, a grammar test, complete various assignments and do 6 hours of teaching practice.

We've gotten through one week so far and have already established a good routine. Morning classes are followed by a 10 minute walk to find a delicious and cheap lunch (falafel or fuul sandwiches for less than 20 cents), then afternoon classes, then a swim in the Mediterranean Sea when we get back to the apartments. Shower after the swim, dinner, then internet and bed. A few nights we've also gone out to a nearby bar where they serve two types of beer (Heineken and Egyptian Stella) and shots of Gin (sick!).

Swimming in the Sea at sunset.For more photos of the Mediterranean Sea, see my photo album on FB here:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2466003&id=12102478&l=5188b3fddd

Last night (our equivalent of Friday night) a group of us decided to stay downtown after class and try to take in some of the sights. We were dropped off at the Library of Alexandria. This is a pretty incredible building designed to look like the sun rising out of the sea. Around the outside, words are written in every known language on earth. Very impressive and we were pumped to go inside. Too bad it had closed early due to Ramadan- drat! More on that when I go back.

Library of Alexandria

From the library, we walked a few miles down the corniche (street along the water). It was a great walk with lots to see and photograph. As we got towards the end of the street, we took a turn inland and got to see the real heart of Alexandria. Small streets lined with markets and decorated with sparkles for Ramadan, people bustling all around us. It was almost time for the call to prayer (signaling time to break the fast) so food was cooking and everyone was getting excited to eat. Some guys where I bought a nighty for 15 pounds (less than 3 dollars) invited us to break the fast with them, but we continued on.

On the streets during lfturAfter a few other failed attempts to get food (one place was full, another out of food) we were led through some crazy streets and came out at a restaurant described by our guidebooks as having the best seafood in Alexandria. The books were not kidding- this food was absolutely incredible. You pay per kilo of fish and the price includes a variety of salads and water. We choose three huge sea bass (three kilos!) and they basically slice it open, season it and add red and hot peppers before throwing it on the grill. Absolutely the most delicious fish I've ever tasted.

For more pictures of downtown Alexandria, check out my FB photo album:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2466670&id=12102478&l=1963ccd7a1

That brings me to today or our equivalent of saturday. I slept in and have been taking it easy this morning, but am hoping to go into town this afternoon. More to come!

Return leased car- checkCancel insurance- checkCancel phone- check

Cancel netflix- checkSpend lots of money on pre-departure food, drinks and fun- check check check

T-1 day until I depart for Egypt and all that's left to do is pack. I find packing to be a daunting, yet exciting task. It's impossible to fit everything you want, so what a fabulous way to de-clutter and simplify. Last time I undertook it all I had was a list ofrecommended items and an intense fear that I would leave behind something extremely important.

This time, there is no fear. I know exactly what I want to take and I know exactly what I'll be able to buy in Morocco. It's a pretty great feeling!

I've spent the last few weeks in my hometown of Mason, MI for family time. Thanks to all those who participated in the various parties and dinners. It's been a great few weeks!

Dinner and drinks with Gloria and BrennaFamily barbeque and pool party

Baseball game with Dad, Sue, David and Arika

Off to Egypt tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Only 9 days left in Madison. It's quite sad, I really love this place. Things I'll miss:- the tiny door out to my back porch - corner patio at Genna's- Mango Mojito at the Icon- Jolly Bob's- beer drinking and lake watching at the Terrace - farmers markets on the square with spicy cheese bread - drinking wine on the grass around the capital for concerts on the square - biking to trader joe's and putting my groceries in my awesome basket- Hook's melt with greens and wine tastings at Barrique's on Monroe St - Babcock ice cream - Ian's pizza- Margaritas with the ladies at Pedro's - Awesome friendsI think the moral of that list is that Madison is great for eating and drinking. Especially eating and drinking outside- I've obviously forgotten about all of the great winter activities. Since my last day of work last Friday, I've been happily unemployed and trying to enjoy all of the above listed things as much as humanly possible before I go. It's been brilliant and I know that I'll go through some kind of withdrawal.

I only regret that in order to survive here over the last 2.5 years, I've had to spend the majority of my time working and traveling for work. Why is it that we Americans have such trouble finding a good life balance? So many people have to choose between being well-rested, but bored because they have no money to spend or full of stress, but unhappy because there's no time to do anything fun with their money.

That is going to be one of my goals for my time in Morocco- to find a happy life balance. I hope to develop routines that divide my time each day among the following: - Exercise (I just ordered some yoga/pilates videos to do in my apartment) - Study (for the GRE and the Foreign Service Exam, Arabic, French, Spanish) - Work (teaching English at AMIDEAST) - Relaxation (catching up on reading, movies, hanging at Mohamed's store, chats with loved ones)

I'm not so naive as to think I'll get to each thing each and every day, but a girl's got to have goals! In PC I wasted a lot of my time on satellite television and I wince when thinking about all that could have been accomplished in that time.

The apartment is almost packed. Pictures are off the walls, books off of shelves, stacks of boxes in every corner- proof that it's really drawing to a close. Everything gets moved into storage a week from Sunday and then I'm off for some family time in Michigan. I'll post again once I get there...

The End?

As the end of my service approached, I had to plan my next move. Mohamed and I didn't talk about my departure much, but there was an understanding that I was leaving and he was staying. Due to immigration and visa policies, there were only two options if I wanted to pursue the relationship. I could stay, or I could bring him back to the States on a fiance visa. With a fiance visa, we'd have to get married within three months of entering the states.

Mohamed's first time bowling, one of our last excursions

At 24 and pretty close to broke, I didn't feel in a position to get married and support someone else. I had no real experience and didn't know how long it was going to take to get a job. The thought of bringing Mohamed home with me was way too overwhelming to consider and frankly, I didn't want to get married! I also didn't want to stay. As much as I loved that country, I had been gone for two years and was excited to go home, see family and friends and try to make a new life.

So we spent a few last days together in the capital and said our goodbyes. It was possibly the hardest thing I've ever done, but at that time I knew it was the right move. I left.

Back in the states, I did my best to re-adapt. I got a job, found an apartment, dated. For the past two years I've lived a good life, but Mohamed was never far from my thoughts. I never quite new what to say when we'd talk on the phone and he'd say he missed me. I missed him too and I'd tell him that, but we'd just end up in the same spot during the next call.

Then, a few months ago I was at dinner with a friend here in Madison and we started talking about relationships. A comment she made during that dinner got me thinking about what I was doing with my life. Why had I left him? My original reasons no longer held true, so what was keeping me from going back?

The longer I thought about going back and pursuing our relationship, the more my mood lifted and the more it seemed like the right thing to do. So after a few months of pondering and running the potential scenarios through my mind, I called Mohamed and asked if he wanted me to come back. He did!

So, now I go back to see where things lead. I'm happy to report that things are working very much in my favor and as the pieces come together, I can't help but feel more and more strongly that I'm headed in the right direction. I haven't been this confident that i'm making the right move since I left two and half years ago!

As for the logistics, I leave from Detroit on August 20th for Alexandria, Egypt where I'll attend a certification program for Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). Then, with my certificate in hand, it's off to the capital where I begin working as an English teacher on September 27th. It's a pretty good gig and I look forward to enjoying the country on a bit more than my PC stipend. I'll even have breaks long enough to travel!

My home starting September 25

I hope to keep this blog a bit more active this second time around, so be sure to look for updates. I also really appreciate everyone's comments and encouragement, so be sure to keep them coming!

The Middle

Soon after the party, Mohamed went back to the capital (a 14 hour bus ride away) and I officially moved into my own apartment. Life on my own was great and having Mohamed made it even better. In an odd way, being long distance was the perfect scenario.

hanging out in the capital

With PC headquarters also in the capital, I had to go there for medical visits, training sessions and other random activities. These events were all opportunities for me to see Mohamed and when I was there he was my tour guide. We spent days walking the city. It was freeing to be in a place where I didn’t know anyone and didn’t have to worry about people seeing us together. We could hold hands and go to cafes. We visited all of the main attractions and explored all of the places tourists would never go. I had an insider view of the city and loved every second of it. Seeing the sights

When we weren’t out and about in the city, we were at Mohamed’s hanut (general store). When he was 11 years old, his family sent him to the capital in search of better opportunities. His uncles had a few stores and he moved in with them to learn the business. Soon after I met him, he opened a store on his own (he now has two!). His brother worked with him, but hours in the hanut business are long. He generally works from 7 am to 11 pm and is sometimes lucky enough to get a nap in the afternoon. When I was in town, I’d bring a book or my journal and occasionally reorganize snack cakes. The best part of life in the hanut was all of the delicious food that Mohamed would make for me. He’s an outstanding cook- even with just one pan and a tiny gas stove. I was spoiled.

Me in Mohamed's newest hanut

Since his family lived near my town, he also had a perfectly legitimate excuse to visit a few times per year. Being so sporadic, the sneaking around was minimal and we managed to be together without anyone in town finding out. I lived on the opposite side of town from my host family and the friends I hung out with, so there was never a chance of an unexpected visitor. I also lived in a building with three apartments, so as long as we didn’t go in or out of the building together, no one in town suspected a thing. It was almost as though the stars were perfectly aligned in our favor.

Mohamed hanging out with my host family

Hiking near my townBeing linked by my host family, I was even able to visit Mohamed’s village and meet his family on a few occasions. He has a great family. His mom, Khadija manages the household in the village while his dad works for a major tea producer in Casa- he spent most of his time away only returning for visits a few times per year. He also has three sisters- Fatima and Rkia (older) and Naima (younger). When I met them, all three were single living with their mother in the village, but two are now married and have small children. His two brothers are both younger and work with Mohamed in his stores.

Mohamed's youngest sister Naima at her wedding When we weren’t together, we spent our time texting. Sometimes 30 messages in a day, but they were significantly cheaper than making calls. A text based relationship seems odd, but even so he was able to help me with my language skills and it never seemed like he was very far away. Knowing he was there got me through many difficult times and I’m not sure that I would have survived the full two years without Mohamed.

Thanks for everyone’s patience—Part three will be out soon!

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I've decided to return to Morocco.

When you ask me why and I say "I'm going back for a boy," I'm guessing you'll have some questions. Who is this mysterious man who pulls me back to Africa? Why haven't you heard of him before? You might go back through my blogs and notice that he is conspicuously absent from the majority of my posts. You may even think that I've gone mad and made him up.

It is for those very reasons and to answer all of your questions that I've decided to go back in time and tell you our story from the beginning. Hopefully when I'm through you'll have a better understanding of why I've decided to go back and what the future may hold.

The Beginning

I met Mohamed in January of 2006. I had been in my Peace Corps site for just over a month and was still living with my host family. We were about to celebrate Eid (the big feast). Eid is the most important Muslim holiday. Each family is required to sacrifice an animal and people come home from all regions of Morocco and the world to be with their families.

A few days before Eid I returned to my host family's house to find a strange man in our kitchen. He was cutting up vegetables and my host sister Khadija was in the back holding a rabbit. The strange man proceeded to go outside and help my host sister slaughter the little grey animal. I'm sure my eyes were fairly wide at this point as I think that was the first time I ever witnessed a slaughter. The strange man was amused by my shock and chuckled before preparing the rabbit for his entry into the tajine.

"Mohamed's making us dinner!" my host sister exclaims. They continue to prepare the meal and I can tell that Mohamed and Khadija get along well, they were laughing and talking the whole time. I couldn't understand anything they were saying, but in time I found out that Mohamed is a distant cousin of the family who was returning to his village about 40 mins away from my town. Since the bus gets him in late, he generally stays with my host family for a night before getting in a van to his village.

It wasn't until the next morning when we were eating breakfast that I noticed how cute Mohamed was. But before I knew it, he was gone.

He wasn't gone for long. During his month long vacation from the capital he came back to my town and stayed with my host family on and off. I was still adjusting to life in Morocco and with my host family and it was winter, so I spent a lot of time sitting in the sun outside of their house reading, writing or watching people come and go. Mohamed would sit with me and we'd "talk-" well, as much as my language skills would allow after only 4 months in the country. He was really good about asking me questions, speaking slowly and helping me with my Arabic. Much more patient than anyone else in the family and I really appreciated his company.

It wasn't long before I started liking Mohamed and I could tell he liked me too. I was torn though- what to do! I was in this small community where I was to live and work for two years, pursuing a man could be truly scandalous! What would my host family think if they found out?

It was around this time that a few other PC volunteers came into town and one night I very sneakily went with them to the one place we could get alcohol- a big fancy hotel on a hill. I had two beers and they were quite successful at lowering my inhibitions. After enjoying ourselves at the bar, I headed back to my host family's around 10 pm. When I arrived, the house was full of music and people. They were having a party! Well, how convenient that a party was in full swing on the night when I had two beers and therefore joined directly into the fun.

After a while, Mohamed and another host sister (also named Khadija) snuck off to the back of the house. When the came back, Mohamed was dressed as a women in one of the traditional black wraps they all wore. The entire room bursts into laughter and Mohamed starts dancing with the girls. This was a rare opportunity. Generally, men and women don't do much dancing together, but in his disguise, he was in the girl club. We formed a circle and lightly joined hands. We danced for a bit and I made my first true move- I flipped my hand around and squeezed.

It was brief, but we both knew what it meant and I would consider that the start of our almost two year relationship while I was in Morocco.

To be continued....

Mohamed in his Emelheff (traditional black wrap).

Dancing with host sister Aicha (his 2nd cousin)

Our entertainment for the evening

today i had some errands to run. one of them involved picking up the ID cards of some women and making photocopies so we can officially start our "women's club" at the youth center. At the home of woman number two, something crazy happened. we chatted for a bit, then i got her card and made to leave.

she walked me to the door and it came up (it seems to be constantly coming up these days), that i have only 5 months left in this country. she told me how other volunteers have come and gone, and they are missed a little, but they are not like me. she said that she will miss me so much, and she doesn't know what she will do when i go. then her eyes filled up with tears. i kissed her and said how much i would miss her too, but inside my heart was breaking.

i've lived in this town for 19 months. these people are my family, they've taken me in, they've become a part of me and i only have 5 more months with them. at this point the time is going by so fast, that it's like i cant stop it, i can't catch up or get my bearings. yesterday i had 6 months to go, a week ago, i had 8 months. My excitement for the future makes it difficult to live in the moment and really take advantage of the little time i have left. I constantly think about the things to come. i can't even imagine what the day is going to be like that i leave this place, and i'm already dreading it.

on sunday i'm leaving and i wont be back for two months. a few meetings, a month of summer camp and a whole lot of leftover vacation time will keep me away, and while i'm excited for a fun summer, i'm also feeling sad.

the next 5 months are going to be jam packed with emotion. the time will continue to fly by, but i'm gonna do my best to focus on what's important right now. i'll never get these 5 months back, so they better be good.

According to this little blog here, i havent posted since March 6th. How does that happen? i mean march 6th was almost three months ago. You guys must think i'm really busy over here. And i'm happy to report that i actually have been.

Here are the highlights.

The first week of march i traveled 4 days up north to reach my Spring Language Camp. I was the coordinator of this camp and was in a very small way responsible for its success. We had only 4 volunteers, and 120 students. Needless to say it was not a good ratio and we were a bit overwhelmed. In the end, it was a good camp and the students had fun. Nothing too exciting to report about that.

Following camp, i circled around and traveled down the eastern edge of the country. On my way i was able to do a camel trek into the Sahara with some friends. Now i think most of you know how much i love water. fountains, lakes, waterfalls, oceans. you name it, i love it. So going into this desert trek i was excited, but not too much so. I mean how cool can a place be that has NO water?

I'm happy to report that the answer to that question is: EXTREMELY COOL. I really can't even describe how amazingly beautiful the desert is. it's a mesmerizing ocean of sand. And look i'm not even a good enough writer to make it sound half as wonderful as it is.

We started the trip with an hour and a half camel ride into the desert. We arrived on a day when there was a sand storm, so it as a bit crazy. We couldnt see very far, and our ears, eyes and mouths were filled with sand. When we reached our camp, we ran up the dunes despite the storm, and a few digital camera's suffered the sand's wrath. That night we laid out under the stars, and can i just say that there is no more incredible view of the night sky then in the desert. If only i was better versed in astrology....

The next morning we woke up at 5:30 AM to the most beautiful clear blue skies. All was calm and we ran up another dune to take in the sunset. Again unfortunatly words just cannot do it justice. It was one of the most incredible things i've ever experienced. We could see for miles, just rolling hills of sparkling sand. Yowza. Then we rode the camels back to town, and in a flash, it was all over. If anyone EVER has the opportunity to do this, you must not turn it down.

Once home, i had a few weeks of normal life with classes and lunch with friends and all that jazz. Then the madness started up all over again.

On May 5th i traveled 4 hours to the big city in order to pick up my first American visitors. After 20 months of being on my own, i was both excited and nervous. I mean will i be a good tour guide? will they like it here? So many questions ran through my mind as i waited at the airport. And then i saw them! My dad and sister walking over to the baggage claim. Hooray! they made it!

I can talk about my experience in this country, doing this job, until i'm blue in the face, but sadly, most people just dont get it. and it's not their fault. it's impossible to "get it" without actually seeing it. That was what i was most excited about. Actually showing my dad and sister where i live, the people i see, what i do. Even how it is to travel and just walk the streets.

After a night in the city, we traveled (very authentically) to my site. The next four days were spent hiking, eating at the homes of my favorite families, going to classes and just hanging out. They were lucky to come just before the current heat wave that is melting me at this very moment.

We then traveled around the southern half of the country and i think they were able to get a good taste of what this place has to offer. Aside from a small sick spell, the entire trip was a big success. It was very interesting for me to watch them take everything in. My dad was fascinated with which brands of automobiles are here. I mean, this is just not something i've spent very much time thinking about!After a week of traveling, my sister and I sent dad off to the airport, and headed south to spend some quality time at the beach.

We were total beach bums for three days and loved every minute of it. She was then able to spend 3 more days at my house before she too had to fly out.

The very day my sister left, i traveled 4 more hours in order to pick up a friend from college. My crazy vacation month was not over yet. Talat was here for only 6 days (not nearly long enough!) but she was also able to get a taste of this culture as well as a glimse into my life, and i really appreciate the effort it took for her to come.

So i guess this is a good time for a big thanks to all of my wonderful visitors. I really appreciate you all coming out!

So that brings me to now, where once again i am all alone in the sweltering heat. But it's a good alone. After a month of constant companionship, i'm happy to say that i am very much enjoying having my apartment back to normal, and just being a very lazy girl.

I have six months left here. I can hardly believe it and my mind is filled with thoughts of the next step. The next three months look like they will be some of my busiest yet, so i'm trying hard not to get ahead of myself.

And please dont ask me what i will do when i leave.

________________________________________

so i'm having some major technical difficulties over here, hence the lack of pictures. please check back later and there will be more!!

I've been here for 21 months now. there are times when i feel like i've learned all i could possibly learn, and nothing can really shock me anymore. and then i have a conversation that's like a slap in the face and i realize.....there's so much i dont know.

This conversation followed lunch at my friend mamass' house about a month ago.

Setup: We started talking about Islam, the Coran, and what exactly is in there about the infamous veil. Warning, this conversation is very paraphrased.

Me: Well, you know it doesnt actually say in the Coran "Women must wear a veil."

Mamass: Yes it does. And also we can't wear perfume out of the house.

Me: Um, ok. Why not?

Mamass: Because the men. If they see our hair or smell perfume they will WANT us. It is uncontrollable. Muslim men are not like American men.

Me: Yeah, i dont really get that. I mean, on the inside, all men are the same. So what is the big difference between Muslim men and all the others out there.

Mamass: Well, you know, Muslim men are cut. You know, down there (points to crotch region)

Me: (blank stare as i try to figure out what she is trying to say. could she really think that only Muslim men are circumcised??) Ummm.....well, actually you know that American men are also circumcised.

Mamass: No they aren't. Only Muslim men are circumcised.

Me: (more blank stare. is she really gonna argue with me on this?) Um, actually, yes they are. You know Abraham (she does), circumcision started way back then. It started with the Jews. Even way back them before there was Islam, men were circumcised.

Mamass: (look of confusion on her face) Really?? Everyone here says that only Muslim men are circumcised.

Me: I swear to god! Almost all American men are circumcised.

Mamass: ALL American men?

Me: Well, not ALL. I would say like 95 out of 100. (yes i pulled this statistic from no where, just go with it)

Mamass. Oh, thats like nothing. not like muslim men.

Me: (defeated) Ok.

well it's been a while since i've updated......to say the least. truth is, february was not the most exciting month i've had here and it was a bit of a slump month. but now it's march and by god, it's a new day!! and of course it doesnt hurt to start out a new month with a new year of life.

this is how i celebrated the joyous occasion. the birthday weekend started on friday with a trip out to the big, beach city near by. i ate pepperoni pizza at pizza hut. my mouth was watering for it the entire 4 hour journey, and by the time i ate it, well, i was in heaven!!

the rest of that day was spent bumming around town, walking along the beach and just generally enjoying myself. Then just as i was about to return to my hotel, i found the most beautiful shoes i've ever encountered. i'm talking love at first site people. i thought "what the hell! its my birthday!" so i bought them. picture below. and i got a really great deal at about 17 dollars.

the next day i traveled about an hour down the coast to a town where two of my friends live. when i arrived, two other girls were there, everyone ready for a party. we went on a beautiful walk before starting the festivities. we made mexican food, had some drinks, and topped it all off with the most delicious brownie with peanut butter frosting. thank god for mandy and her fabulous cooking skills.

then when we were feeling the drinks a bit, we headed up to the roof to watch the lunar eclipse. supposedly the best view was from africa, and it really was incredible. we layed on the roof for at least an hour watching the earths shadow completly cover the moon and turn it into a big red ball. it had extra meaning for me as it was all happening on the eve of my 24th birthday. and my last birthday on this continent. next year i will be in america, and everything will be different.

can you see the barely there red ball? yeah, its hard to photograph an eclipse.

we also fooled around on the roof a bit, doing drunken yoga poses and having 30 second ballet routine contests. it was a wonderful time.

when we got up on my actual birthday, we made strawberry pancakes and whipped cream, per my request. once again, delicious. then i made the long journey home. and it was a long journey as the 3 hour journey actually took about 6.

upon arrival i made myself a jumbalaya dinner with a mix sent by grams (thanks grams!) and watched some TV. you might think, "wow, what a nice birthday weekend!" but it's not over yet folks!

on monday the women who i hang with threw me a party. they have to be the best group of women a girl could find in this country. the dressed me up as a bride and we had a cake that i specially requested, other desserts, pop, candy and we danced it up.

if i were to marry a berber boy, this is what i would look like at my wedding. only thing missing is the henna! notice the 22 on the cake? ha. i wish! apparently they think i'm getting younger :)

then i got home just in time for the launch of a brand new english TV station on my satellite! and guess what was the first show???? LOST!!!!! i've been waiting 17 months for this day.

Happy Birthday to me, and that is no lie. and how about a few general life updates? ok, excellent 1- a few months ago one of my students won the YES scholorship. this means that he is going to spend the 2007-2008 school year in AMERICA! all i did was pass on the information, but this is not the kind of opportunity that generally make it to the the small villages. this is a HUGE opportunity for him and i am so proud. 2- i was given the job of coordinating one of the spring language camps that will happen over spring break. i'll be making sure everyone has what they need and being the liason between the americans and other staff. i'm generally not too excited about this, but whatever i'll make the best of what should be an interesting experience. 3- my dad and sis have purchased their plane tickets and are coming to visit! they will be my first visitors from the states and i am really excited. planning vacations is stressful, but so much fun and i look forward to showing them a fabulous time! 4- i want to wish good luck to my grandma who is having her knee replaced in april. i'll be thinking about you!! ok, i think that's all i've got. consider yourselves officially caught up with my life. hope all is well with everyone at home and i'll talk to you soon!

so as i've said before, i do this thing called "women's cafe" on saturday nights. who knew that this thing would prove to be a way for me to delve inside the brains of these women.

so a few weeks ago, things were happening as usual. dancing, eating, chit chat. you know, nothing too exciting.

then we all sit down for a little breather and two of the women go to the board and grab some chalk. they are giggling like little school girls and using their bodies to cover their artwork.

next thing i know, the room abrupts in hysterical laughter. i look at the board. "are you freaking kidding me?!" is the first thing that runs through my head.

without going into a lot of detail, lets just say that these middle aged, covered up, seemingly conservative berber women have just drawn and EXTREMELY obscene image on my chalkboard and are entirely pleased with themselves.

i laughed, but i was shocked. they then erase the first image and draw another one, this time featuring a man and some sort of dog/wolf creature. no, the man was not petting the dog.

if only i had a hidden camera and could have pictures as proof. everyday is an adventure.

Twas the night before l3id

and all through the city,

Thousands of sheep thought "oh what a pity!"

Their lives before had been so much fun,

but early tomorrow their hearts would be in a bun.

the people all shopped for new clothes and new shoes,

you must be very clean to avoid slaughter blues.

they made lots of cookies, and cakes and of treats,

we must have something to counteract all those meats!

with less than 12 hours, before the big feast

the children all dreamed of the passing of that big beast.

the beast who slept poorly cause he knew what was coming

no more would his life be of eating and sunning.

Happy Eid to all and to all a full stomach!

It's a work in progress people, i'm no poet! but i did have a very enjoyable feast this year. Unfortunatly it was on the same day as new year's eve, but that's life.

I'm happy to say that i stayed in my apartment until almost noon in order to avoid the action. i think one year is more than enough. When i got to my host family's house, they were finishing up the goat (two families, two animals!) and starting on the inerd kababs.

I ate them. yep, i ate kababs made of heart, lung, liver, fat and other various inerds. aren't you proud! not bad as long as you dont think about it too much. lots of spices and the bread really makes it all quite tasty!

i then put on my brand new Emelheff and went off for some visiting. I went to the homes of three different families and enjoyed lots of tea and cookies. it was so much better this year because i'm just so much more comfortable. i know people, i move around, it's great!

then i stayed the night at a friends house and we drank a little whiskey to bring in the new year. it wasnt the most fun i've ever had, but not too shabby.

This week is school vacation, so i'm taking it easy. doing a lot more visiting of families and socializing these days. it feels good. 11 months to go. the market before the feast was huge and bursting with people!!! here they are picking out the perfect animal to sacrifice. and of course stocking up on fruits and vegetables!!! this is how i buy my food every week. we have the market on tuesday and wednesday. spices!! i love how this looks, but it must be a pain to pack up everyday. this is the store of my tailor. he does great work! you can buy anything you can imagine at the market.

me and my host brother and some neighborhood kids on the day of the feast. dont they all look great in their brand new clothes!! and yes, i even bought that shirt for the big day :)

Well Merry Christmas!!!! yes, a little late. i spent christmas eve with a couple other volunteers at a friends house about 4 hours away!! there is very little christmas spirit here, but we managed to have a pretty good time. here are a few snapshots.

first project, decorations!!!! i made this little sign for our holiday archway.

Leslie made this fabulous nativity set out of clay and a box and some fabric scraps. so creative!! they arent in this picture, but the set was complete with three wise men bringing gifts to the baby jesus. awww.

Stockings!!! unfortunatly santa must have gotten lost, but at least i had this awesome stocking!

Next project, christmas cookies. we made a ton! this is leslie early in the process or rolling and cutting out.

this is lena, our hostess really getting into the flour.

and then we frost!!! so messy, so delicious.after hours of prep work, we finally made it to the christmas dinner. i was very impressed as lena made the most delicious chicken i've had in ages! mmm.

On christmas morning i traveled back to my town, and watched some christmas movies on my satellite dish. it was peaceful, relaxing, nice. this is the christmas tree sent by my sister, after i added the magic liquid (before picture is in a previous post). it really did grow!!! it's a christmas miracle!!

I recently managed to leave town for 12 whole days!!! thats right kiddies, i busted out and was able to see two of the places i've wanted to visit since i arrived here. and in the middle, i was checked out by the docs to commemerate being on the downhill slide of my time in country. clean bill of health! humdullah!!!

so some of you know about my obsession with fountains. well, this was my first trip to a real waterfall, and needless to say, i'm in love!!!!! so incredibly beautiful. i was in heaven and took at least 4 billion pictures!We arrived at the village, and i thought "where is this thing??" then you walk about a hundred yards and notice this big cliff. all the sudden you're standing right on top of them! crazy!

This is where the collide about halfway down.

and then you can walk all the way down to the bottom of the falls where the view is equally breathtaking!

truly a dream come true. me and a real live monkey, living out in the wild and sitting in the palm of my hand!

so the waterfall was pre medical visit. after, i went to one of the imperial cities! this is at the tomb of a famous old leader. love the doorways in this country!

just outside of this city, there is old roman city. all ruins and not completely excavated, this place was incredible. Here i am next to an old well.

once again i took a million pictures, but tried to choose some interesting ones. this is some sort of aquaduct or something.

this was the center of town where the government buildings and public square was. now some birds call it home.

They call this the "arc de triomphe." not quite the one in paris, but still pretty cool.

This is just off the main road of the town. these houses were of the weathly people and many also had shops and businesses attached. sweet!

this house is called "the house of columns." i claimed it as my own as it is so beautiful! lots of columns and a beautiful courtyard. i'll be moving in next month.

My store keeper says "welcome to teresa's update!!" He is my main food man, i just walk across the street! (yep, that is the toilet paper i was about to buy)

it's officially winter. i mean, it's been chilly for a while now, but now i'm just freezing my booty off. this morning i woke up, and for the first time, wasn't toasty warm under my four blankets. "this is odd" i thought as i felt a little chill. then i looked at my handy dandy clock thermometer. 47 degrees in my apartment. the snow is beautiful!

in fact, as i sit here typing this to you all, my hands are so cold that they can only move very sluggishly. tried typing with my fleece gloves, but that just makes it too bulky. The mountains around town are covered in snow. while this makes for extremely picturesque scenery, it makes me just about willing to give my left arm for a furnace. hmmm or maybe i could roll myself into one of these rugs?

so whats the big news these days. well, yesterday i got a new bike. it's a trek bike, and apparently cost over 500 dollars, so basically PC will kill me if anything happens to it. But wow, it's really zwine (beautiful). i went on my first ride this morning, but despite the daily running that i've been doing for the past 2 1/2 months i felt like i was going to die. my heart was racing, my legs were hurting. Really makes me realize how out of shape i still am. i participated in making couscous for the first time at the home of some new friends. mmm mmm good!

in other news, my theater club actually held a little performance on friday night. the actors were excited, and we had a crowd full of siblings and friends. despite not having much time for rehearsals, they pulled it off, and i consider this a large accomplishment. It proves that we actually can get something done, and i think we can only go up from here. our performers and the teachers who lead the whole thing

spectators!

On thursday i'm leaving town for a little work and a little play. i have to go up to the capital for my mid-term physical, and have added a few vacation days before and after to make a nice little vacation. i'm going to visit some friends in the mountains who live close to an incredible waterfall, and then to an old roman city all in ruins. these "snack carts" sell candy, nuts, seeds and lots of goodies and are located all over town! this is by far the best onei've seen in this country.

despite how great work has been the last few months, i am ready to get out for a bit. my location certainly makes me feel secluded and i'm getting a little stir crazy. The last night away will be christmas eve at a friends house, and then i will arrive back home on christmas day. maybe i'll make myself a little christmas feast. maybe my feast will include peas. do you see how many peas i shelled to get this tiny little bowl!!!! ridiculous!!! but they are just so much better fresh. i tell you, canned peas should not even be called peas. they dont taste the same at all!!!

I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and are fully in the holiday spirit. i love and miss you all! this is my santa. i bought it for about 1 dollar from that cart you saw earlier. sweet!I am one spoiled little girl. thanks family!this is my christmas tree. courtesy of my lovely sister. apparently it will grow when i add the magic water. i'll let you all know how it goes! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

-I would like to say a big thanks to my dad, sue and little david for sending me a new camera for christmas. all of the pictures on this page were taken with it, and dont they just look fabulous!!-

ok so i've been here for over 15 months now. ok, so i have LESS THAN 1 YEAR left. ok. yeah.

but that doesn't mean you have to stop corresponding with me!!!! i got to the internet today. i havent been here in two days. and guess what. 2 emails!!!!!! 2 emails in 2 days!!!! and one of them was from snapfish!!!!!!!!!!

come on people!!! i'm not feeling the love.

So i've started having "women's cafe" at my youth center. women come, we eat, we talk, we dance. and sometimes it gets pretty serious. The last one was especially exciting.

an exerpt:

woman 1: so how do people pray in america?

me: well, people do all kinds of things because we have all kinds of people and religions in america. (i can usually get away with an answer like this and avoid any other uncomfortable questions)

woman 2: well, how do YOU pray?

me: (SHIT! hesitation as i think about how to handle this. finally i think, what the hell!) well, i don't.

w1 & w2: (confused and frightened stares)

w1: teresa, do you know where you will go when you die if you dont pray?

me: (trying not to laugh) well yes. down there (pointing down)

w1: teresa, do you know what's down there!!!

me: (again with the holding in of laughter) yes, of course!

w1: you're not scared?

me: nope

w1: really?

me: yep

w1: well i'm scared for you!

me: really, you dont need to be scared for me, i'm not scared.

w3: (to the other women) you know, there are a lot of really bad people who pray, praying isnt everything. people kill and steal and pray.

me: (thank you woman 3!) do you know that my president prays?

women: yes

me: and where do you think he's going when he dies? (sorry president, i'm just trying to prove a point here)

women: (pointing down) he's going to hell!!!!

me: well see. he prays and you think he's going down there. i think that if i'm a good person and i do good things, something good will happen to me when i die.

woman 4: teresa, i think that you will go to heaven because you are good and you teach us.

me: thanks!

(end of conversation about religion.........thank god! ;) )

i'm so happy to say that the hell that was october is over, and i am happily swimming through november.

work is great. the past few weeks have been quite an adjustment as i've gone from working 4 hours per week, to working about 20 hours per week. things are really moving and i'm hopeful that good things will be happening.

so, in a nutshell. soccer! the girls team is actually entering the official boys club! this is pretty huge people. there is lots of paper work, and i have personally visited lots of parents in order to convince them that it is good that their girls are playing soccer. i have also started working with the leaders of the club to get money. we are going to write letters and prepare a budget to take with us as we visit community leaders and ask them to contribute. this should be happening in the next few weeks. if successful, the girls and boys teams will soon be playing with new jerseys, balls and all of that good stuff.

women's cafe. the women here dont really have a place to hang out and have a good time. so now every saturday night they bring cookies and drinks to the youth center. like our own little nightclub! we dance, we talk, we have a great time. i'm hoping to start bringing people to speak to the women about health and other important issues.

theater club. started out with a bang! 25 students came and by the end of day one had chosen to do a play on 'adolescence'. unfortunatly my counterpart had to leave for a week and we have now had to cancel 2 weeks of this club. we are to start again this friday and i just hope that interest has not been lost, and we can still accomplish something in the next month.

english class and youth club. both going well, i have lots of students and the youth center is pretty full most nights during the week, which is great. unfortunatly i really dont like teaching english. after christmas i might just stop!

this past weekend i left my town for the first time in 2 months. i had to go to the big city to get my yearly flu shot. everyone in my region had to go, so it was cool to meet a lot of people who i'd never met before.

And we went out! a lot of the hotels there have clubs. and these clubs are like 80's discoteches. pretty sweet. we drank, we danced. it was a blast.

then the next day i traveled to a little beach town that i'd been wanting to visit for a long time. unfortunatly the weather wasnt great and i didnt have much time there, but it was beautiful! the pictures you see with this post are from a few of the beaches there. it was at dusk and really foggy. needless to say the pictures didnt turn out that well. i brightened them on the computer, but they still are pretty bad. i guess that means i'll have to go back for some better ones!

ok, i guess thats all for now. i hope you guys like the new site. feel free to send any suggestions, comments, questions, etc.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

i love halloween. in my opinion, it's in the "big 3" of holidays. you dress up. you eat candy. you party. nothing but fun involved. so as you can imagine, i couldnt just let my 2nd out of country halloween pass without a fuss. especially when 2/3rds of my job is cross cultural exchange.

Halloween this year fell on the day of my first classes, so i decided to take advantage. I would do some halloween themed lessons. i would bring a jack-o-lantern. i would make caramel apples. i would wear a costume. I decided to be a black cat. simple. classic. easy. The week before i bought a headband and attached some ears. i also made a tail. i dressed in black, and used eye liner to draw on some whiskers. sweet!we dont have orange pumkins here, but i thought, who cares! i bought a whitish green one and carved it up. the caramel apples were a blast. the people who i bought the caramel from surely thought i was going on a binge eating spree, but i managed to find enough to make about 20 apples. they were delicious.The big day arrived and i lugged all of my paraphenalia to the youth center. when i arrived i added my makeup and put on my costume. i lit the pumkin and put him outside. i brought candy which i gave out to all of my students, and some sweet halloween sticker. they learned vocabulary like vampire, witch, full moon, monster, pumkin, etc, etc. i think they thought i was a loon. i've never been laughed at so much in my life. it was worth it.when class was over i decided to bring some apples to my host family, so i wore my costume across town. i was greeted with much laughter. i gave them stickers and apples, and tried to explain why i was looking so crazy. me to a 70 year old berber man, " today is a holiday in america. everyone dresses like this. we eat candy!" him to me, "cat! makeup!"when i was ready to leave one of my soccer girls said to me "teresa, take off that tail and the ears. people will laugh at you!" i took them off. my whiskers were with me until i made it home, where i finally washed them off.