Heading to Kili

It's time. My bags are pretty much packed and I'm almost ready to go. This evening, I'm leaving on a jet plane (an Ethiopian Airlines jet plane) and headed to Kilimanjaro. Please pass on positive thoughts starting on Sunday, when my dad, sister Katie and I will be starting our ascent up the tallest mountain in Africa. I'm sure that I will have plenty to blog about when I get back, so stay tuned! I've got a couple of posts coming up while I'm away, but the best will be once I'm back on July 5th. Then it's home to the US on July 8th. Here's to a kickass summer!!

Goon Bag Lesson

I have recently figured out that Australians, particularly those from Tasmania, are resourceful people. I learned this from my friend Travis, who shared another use for a "Goon Bag". A Goon Bag is the bag full of wine that comes in a box of wine. This box is a 3 liter box of wine, though most Goon Bag experiences from Travis' past come from 5 liter boxes.

Here's the Aussie process and thoughts for the resourceful and alternate use for a Goon Bag:

Step 1: Make sure to get every last drop out of the box of wine.

2. By the time you're done with the wine, you should be feeling pretty darn good. Make sure to take the Goon Bag (silver bag that once held the wine) out of the box and place in your pocket for later use.

3. Continue having a great time until you start to yawn and get really tired.

4. This is where the Aussie genius comes into play. Despite being inebriated, start thinking about your Goon Bag and how that can help you with your exahuastion.

5. "AHA! I know!"

6. Time to blow up the Goon Bag!

7. Stay focused on the task at hand.

8. SUCCESS! Enjoy your Goon Bag pillow as you pass out from your night of drinking!

Thanks Travis for the awesome Goon Bag lesson! That's definitely something I can use throughout the rest of my life!

Language Confusion

Could somebody please tell me what this says? Also, why was this writing on a bus in Rabat, Morocco? Sure doesn't look like French or Arabic to me. Any insight would be much appreciated.

Good Times on the Barceloneta Beach

While sipping sangria on Barceloneta Beach, we witnessed socccer games, lots of laughing and even this awesome dog pile! Who doesn't think piling on top of each other is a great way to enjoy the day on the beach?

Guest Blog - Happy Father's Day from Katie!

After reading my lovely sister's blog, she kindly let me "guest blog" about our dad as well. So here it goes, here are just a few reasons of why I love my dad.

1. He has shown me the importance of tradition in a family. Even though I am 18 years old, he is still determined to put me on his shoulders in order to put the angel on the tree. Not to mention, the enormous amounts of Povo we have made together throughout my life.




2. He is always up for a picture, not matter how silly he may look :)


3. He'll take me snorkeling despite the fact that he is not the best swimmer in the world.

4. Can't deny that fact that he is a funny guy.


5. He shows me the importance of family. I hope to be as good of a daughter to him as he is a son to my grandpa.


6. He has given me so much in my life, including a chance to see the world.


Those are just a few reasons as to why I love my dad, but the list definitely goes on!

Love you dad, happy father's day!

Happy Father's Day!

There are a lot of different things that I love and appreciate about my dad, but here's a short list.

1. He gives a kickass bike tour of London. The man loves biking and he loves London, so he's the perfect guy to show you around.

2. Dad likes to have a good time and he's up for anything. Whether it's dressing up for Mardi Gras or dancing the night away at a family wedding, the guy sure is fun to be around.

3. My Dad's one of the most family oriented people I know. He talks to his dad every day on the phone (Markoviches are awesome at talking on the phone) and he keeps in touch with all his siblings and kids. He also is great to my mom and there's no doubt that he loves her bunches.

4. Pops isn't afraid to get his hands dirty for the greater good. Last Thanksgiving, the turkey's gizzards and such didn't come in a nice little bag - he had to actually pull them all out of their places in the turkey's chest cavity. He did all that with a smile on his face.

5. Dad can be pretty selfless - on our Kenyan safari, he let everyone else get the nice view from up front.

6. My Dad encourages all his kids to seek out adventure and pushes us to not give up on our dreams. He's a pretty inspirational guy that way.

I'm really looking forward to the awesome father/daughters bonding that Dad, Katie and I will get to experience climbing Kili next week. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, POPS!

Village Dining

Hiking in the Rif Mountains is a beautiful experience. In Chefchaouen, we hired a guide to take us to God's Bridge and then to lunch in a local village. This is the village where we ate our lunch.

The village was pretty small, so we set up for cooking our lunch outside the village mosque.

While our guide chopped up veggies for our vegetable tagine, we got to relax and take in the village sights. This adorable kiddo was walking around the village carrying a bag of laundry soap. We also listened as the village boys recited the Quran. They practice 6 days a week for the whole school day, with the goal of memorizing the whole book. That is the only education they receive in the village.

Our tagine was cooked in this part of the mosque, where the water is boiled for cleaning before prayer. Non-Muslims are not allowed in mosques (besides the Hassan II Mosque in Casa, which is open to tourists), but we were able to check on our lunch and pose for pics by the boiling water in this part of the mosque. Note our lunch on the propane tank on the right side of the photo.

This was the final product - it was delicious! We ate in Moroccan style, by using bread to dig in (with our right hands, of course) to the communal dish.

The Imam came out with mint tea for us and Ahmed poured the tea for us. We were happy and full when we left!

Borthday Weekend Part 1

Here's how to have a kickass birthday:

1. Get friends together for a yummy barbecue. (Make sure to have cool dude at the grill.)

2. Have amazing raspberry cake from Le Notre bakery.

3. Pose for cute pictures with the other two R Fatine gals.

4. Don't mess up the beauty of the cake with birthday candles. Instead, blow out a giant decorative candle and make a wish. (Also, make sure cute kid is in attendance)

5. Appreciate living in a foreign country with a different language. Even though Jen wrote down "Happy Birthday Annie" for them to write on the chocolate, they still ended up spelling it "Happy Borthday Annie". Love it!

What a wonderful way to celebrate my 28th year. The fun continued with our big night out the next night...I can't just celebrate my birthday on one day.

Laxative Advertisement

For Barb's birthday last Friday, we went to Trica, a bar down the road known for its 2 liter mojitos.

Check out this awesome sign - Ramon's Brownie Pills and Ramon's Pink Pills were unfortunately not on the menu, but the giant mojito made up for it.

Close up! Who doesn't love a bar that advertises laxatives on their walls?

Cactus Love

On the way to Park Guell, the park in Barcelona designed by Gaudi, we ran into this cactus plant.


I guess I've never really appreciated how absolutely beautiful the cactus plant is. The flowers are such a gorgeous color!

Apparently, I'm not the only one to think this plant is pretty. Other people decided that it was a perfect place to declare their love for each other. I'm not sure that I feel good about engraving messages into the flesh of a plant, but I do appreciate the reminder that love is all around.

This one's my fave. Gotta love that people with names like "Loulou" and "Medoudou" found each other. I think I would like to meet someone named Medoudou some day.

Moroccan Time

I went out for fondue last night with some lovely ladies I know. Since restaurants don't open here until 8p.m., we made our reservations for 8:30 and although it was pretty empty when we got there, we weren't the first ones! There was another couple already there, which does not normally happen. Just because someone else was already in the restaurant didn't necessarily mean that we were eating dinner at an acceptable Moroccan time - in fact, the owner was still in shorts and a T-shirt when we were there. Later in the evening, he changed into his formal attire. By the time we left at half past midnight, the restaurant was still popping.

It's been kind of crazy adjusting to Moroccan time - nothing runs on schedule and everything's closed between 12 and 4 for nap time. The French schools even have a break for a couple of hours at lunch and go until 5:30 or 6p.m. Unfortunately for adjustment, CAS operates on American time. Our standard hours of 8-4 do not allow for nap time, although most of the Moroccan staff sleep during their lunch breaks to make up for the fact that they don't got to bed at an early hour. Fatima Zahra, who works at school with me, recently went to a wedding around 10:30p.m. and when she left at 3a.m. they hadn't even served dinner yet. Makes for a really tiresome day at work!

Breakfast?

While many airlines have responded to the economic crisis by charging unreasonable amounts for checked baggage, meals, and even beverages, Royal Air Maroc includes all of these things in their ticket prices. It's always a delightful experience.

Check out this awesome spread. Clockwise from the bottom left: croissant, jam & butter, roll, yogurt (sugar flavored), potato square, chicken nuggets (yup - chicken nuggets!), pizza and quiche (under the pizza). This is the breakfast we were served on our 9:25 a.m. flight to Barcelona. Not the most traditional breakfast in my book, but it was actually tasty!