Teachers are dorks!

So what did I do on a Friday night in Casablanca? I found an internet connection and looked at WASL results for the state, Highline, and McMicken. Then, Julie came over and we checked out her old school's results too. We had a great time discussing what total dorks we were for choosing to spend our time looking at test data! Eventually, talk turned off of school, but we sure did have a blast analyzing data. :)

Meet Zakia

Zakia is the incredibly amazing woman that Julie and I have hired to cook and clean for us. Since Julie and my apartments are just a floor apart, Zakia cleans both apartments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She also cooks for the two of us Mondays and Wednesdays. Her first day was Monday and I came home to:

• my hand washed laundry from the week before drying on the rack outside
• swept and mopped floors
• spotless bathroom
• appetizer waiting in the oven
• stew in a pot on the stove
• cut up fruit in the fridge
• beds made
• windows and shutters washed
• all in all, a clean home!

All this in only half a day! Julie's house was just as clean. We ate together on her magnificent balcony and reflected on how wonderful Zakia is!

In a country with 15% unemployment (3 times the rate in the US), it is common for foreigners to hire housekeepers to give a job to someone. Julie and I split Zakia 3 days a week and each pay $24.00 per week (which includes her transportation). Zakia works from about 7:15 to 5 each day.

Awesome - For $100 a month, I have someone to handwash, iron, fold and put away all of my clothes as well as keep my apartment sparkling clean. She also happens to be incredibly sweet, although the fact that she only speaks Moroccan Arabic is limiting our conversations!

Tech Issues

Just so you know...
our school's tech people both left in the last month and have probably messed up the switches and server. I'll be out of internet contact for anywhere from the next few days to the next month. Yay for technology issues!

How to Purchase Alcohol

When there is only one week left until the start of Ramadan, it is difficult to find a place that does not have the alcohol section caged up. I didn't have much trouble as there is a small supermarket on my block that is known for continuing to sell to foreigners. However, it was an interesting experience.

Here's how you buy alcohol in Casablanca one week before Ramadan starts:

1. Enter store recommended by coworker.

2. Go to alcohol section and look at the selection.

3. Pick up a bottle/can of something (at this exact moment an employee will come right to you with a black bag to place your selections in)

4. Hurry up and finish selecting - the employee is going to start to get nervous if you don't.

5. Follow employee with black bag to cashier. He will tell the cashier how much you bought and place the black bag in a blue bag.

6. Walk out of grocery store carrying a blue bag just like everyone else. Noone on the outside will know about your black bag items.

7. Hurry home to enjoy your beverages!

Sqala

Orientation week involved a lot of learning new things, but it also included an introduction to the cuisine in Casablanca. Wednesday night, the bus dropped us off at Sqala, an old Portuguese fort turned into a Moroccan restaurant.


These dishes were served to us with bread. To eat this assortment of goodies (octopus, sardines, carrot salad, lentils, red pepper salad, lettuce and jam, and goat cheese) just pick it out of the bowl with your hand (right hand, of course). Use bread if you want.

This is a traditional pot used for cooking in Morocco called a Tanjin. Tanjin is also the name of the food cooked in the pot. Food is placed inside and the pot is placed in a bed of coals to cook for awhile. There are many varieties of tanjin - this one was chicken with dates and apricots.

Ewww! Hot fruit! The chicken, however, was quite delicious!

Dessert. Most desserts/cookies in Morocco are made with almonds. This dessert was a creamy, almost yogurt like texture, tasting of a hint of almond. It was topped with peach slices and almond slices and was quite delicious!

Now that orientation week is over, we are in charge of our own meals. I'm excited to try some of these things in my local neighborhood!

Rugs, Rugs, Rugs

I promised my dad that I would post pictures of "Rug Heaven", since rugs are his favorite thing to shop for. There are shops completely full of Moroccan rugs at every corner in the habous. The rugs sold within every shop vary in type, size, and history. It's really quite amazing. Luckily, I have completely tiled marble floors and will need a few rugs in my place!

Olives

On our habous trip, I was in awe when I turned the corner into the olives section.

That wasn't anything compared to what I saw after I entered through the archway.




So while in Rome...I went ahead and bought a half kilo of spicy olives that I had had a chance to taste for the huge price of $1! Just in case you ever wondered what $3 worth of olives looks like in Morocco, check out the photo of Stephanie, myself and Rebecca below.

Habous

A habous is a market where you can find anything from cookies to rugs to lampshades. We had a guide (one of the Arabic teachers at the school) tour us around and explain a bit of the history. In Islamic law, a habous is an area that can be neither sold or exchanged. I only bought some olives while I was there, but will be returning for more beautiful stuff. :)

Safe Arrival

Despite a 3 hour flight delay in Seattle, I was able to make my connecting flight to Casablanca and arrived safely yesterday. My new apartment is just like the pics below, but I haven't received my boxes yet so it's pretty empty. And of course, I haven't unpacked. I'll get that done eventually.

I live in the neighborhood of Gauthier, really close to everything I might need. I'm a half hour walk from the beach and the famous Hassan II Mosque. And for those of you who were worried for me, I have found Coca Cola Light to be available at numerous stores along my street. :)

I hope all is well with everyone at home. I can't set up my Vonage number until I have internet and I've just found out I'll need my residence card for that, so it might be awhile. I will let you all know as soon as that happens. In the meantime, I look forward to reading emails from everyone!

All My Bags Are Packed....

Well, most of them anyways. Of course, I'm leaving for the airport in less than 3 hours and I still have some packing to do. Whoops!

Next time I post something, I'll be a resident of Casablanca. Thanks so much to everyone who helped me with the moving - I really needed it. :)

My New School

Here's the website for the school I'll be working at in Casablanca.

http://www.cas.ac.ma/

Check it out!