What's for Dinner?

I love LOBO spice packets - their Holy Thai Basil packet is phenomenal. I did not realize that they also make a Spaghetti Sauce and Taco Seasoning. I guess the Thais are branching out, but I think I'll stick to my Old El Paso taco seasoning and spaghetti sauce in a jar.

1 Kilo of Chicken

New goal: learn to say "breast" in French.

I decided to make chicken enchiladas for Bunko a few weeks ago and had to get chicken when my normal butcher was closed. The butcher shop that was open didn't have chicken breasts out on display, so my normal tactic of just pointing and saying "wahed kilo", which means 1 kilo in Arabic, didn't work. If I had been in the market for chicken thighs or wings, pointing to my own body would have probably worked. However, it was a little too awkward to point to my breasts, so I ended up with a whole chicken that weighed 1 kilo. Not really what I was going for, but I made it work. Will have to add "breast" to my repertoire of survival French.

Junk Food Mania

One of the perks of working at the American school is applying for the privelege of shopping at the US Commissary. The Commissary is essentially an American grocery store - think very mini Safeway, with no fresh food items. All products are shipped over from the US so that the Embassy and Consulate employees have access to food from home.

On Saturday, Julie and I went with Randy, Anne, Nancy, and Allen to the Commissary for our first shopping trip. I didn't really know what to expect, but I sure didn't expect to come home with this much stuff!

We stocked up on more junk food than we will be able to eat! Some of the items we purchased: flour and corn tortillas, cheese, Cheeto Puffs, bagels, bacon, brown sugar, and Taco/Enchilada Seasoning packets. I definitely have a bad case of buyer's remorse - there's no way I'll be able to eat all this stuff. Luckily, there are a few work get togethers coming up. I hope everyone wants me to bring junk. :)

Fresh Produce

Just the other day, I stopped at the strawberry cart and picked up a kilo (2.2 pounds) of these scrumptious looking berries for less than $2.00. The fresh produce's quality and price in Casa never ceases to flabbergast me.

Groceries in Paris

While spending time looking for toilet paper in a grocery store in Paris (btw, we didn't find any - what kind of grocery store doesn't have toilet paper?), I came across a Kodak moment. I quickly pulled out my camera and got this shot.

Emily and Kris were a bit horrified that I was snapping pics in the grocery store, but I finally got one that wasn't blurry. I would like to know when men started having a monthly cycle - does that mean that they can also go through childbirth?
I am so glad that they have both "Improved Fixation" and "Odour Control". Nothing but the finest for men!

Moroccan Rugs

Morocco is known for its spectacular carpet souqs and I've definitely taken advantage of them.

I purchased my first rug in Marrakech during October Break with Stephanie, Julie and Johnna. It is a traditional Berber carpet from the Atlas mountains. Unfortunately, after more rug shopping around Morocco, I ended up figuring out that I got ripped off on this one. It is my largest rug and looks great under my coffee table in my living room.

Here's a close up of the intricate pattern. Although there are similar rugs out there, each Berber carpet is quite unique.
While in Marrakech the second time with my parents and sister, I had the great pleasure of rug shopping with my dad. We picked out this High Atlas beauty.
This rug is reversible.

We also bought this runner and buying both allowed us to negotiate a better price.

I love that it matches the tile in my dining room, as well as the blue cushions on my dining room chairs. Note that Berber carpets only have fringe on one side - the starting side doesn't have any.

The latest addition to my Moroccan rug collection was this old rug that I found in Azrou with Mike and Julie. I highly recommend carpet shopping in Azrou over Marrakech - the location is closer to the Berber tribes and tourism isn't as rampant, so starting prices are less than half what they are anywhere else. The people were so friendly and Mike was able to negotiate an awesome price - this was my cheapest rug!

The carpet is over 50 years old - you can tell because of its color. The purple and teal were colors brought to Morocco by the French and since they've gone, this color isn't available to use in new rugs. A picture really doesn't capture the beauty of the deep purple and light teal. You'll have to come visit to see how gorgeous it is!

My Favorite Color

My favorite color is blue, so I was pretty excited to see Dan and Lori's bathroom - I will definitely have a toilet this color in my future mansion in Monaco. It used to have a white seat, but the third shade of blue goes soooo much better!

My bathtub will match the toilet because I'm classy like that! Feel free to steal this design idea - it's too pretty to keep to myself...

FYI

Just some things I've encountered recently...

1. I bought mandarin oranges yesterday. For 1.6 kilos (3.5 pounds), I paid $1.00 US. Not bad, eh?

2. At work today I helped put on a parent workshop called "Reading at Home with Your Pre-First Child". Only a few parents showed up, along with one nanny who had questions "on behalf of Mehdi's mom". Kind of like the parent who asked if she could send her secretary to parent/teacher conferences. Really?!?! How uninvolved can you get?

My Future Life

When I grow up, I'm going to be a princess. I'm going to live in Monaco, where I will cruise around town in this baby, or maybe the convertible version (note the Honda sign in the background - I will not be going that route. Ferrari is the way to go!)

I will probably take up residence in this lovely palace. The important looking people in front will be my friends.

This guy will be in charge of guarding my life and carrying my designer purse & suitcase. I love his outfit! It's almost as cool as the one I'll be wearing...(see below)

My yacht will be parked in this port, alongside other beautiful boats.

I will wear this fantastic dress to do my grocery shopping.

Here's a closeup of my everyday dress because it is totally fabulous!

On second thought, I pretty much love my life the way it is. It was pretty exciting to visit Monaco, but I was happy to be hanging out there in my blue jeans with a good friend and then catching the train back to my budget hotel in Nice. :)

Carpets & Mint Tea

While wandering through the medina in Rabat, Julie and I happened upon a shopping center with carpets, pottery and other items. Julie has taken a couple Moroccan Arabic lessons after school and took the opportunity to practice her skills with the carpet guy.

After agreeing a on a price for Julie's first Moroccan rug, the carpet guy invited us to have tea with him and his son. Over traditional mint tea, they helped us learn how to say "I am happy" (Ana farhana) in Moroccan Arabic, among other useful phrases. I love Moroccan hospitality! The tea was delightful and we were happy to make new friends. I may have to take a trip back to Rabat when I buy my next rug.

What's Under Your Djellaba?

There are no "Denim Fridays" at CAS, which drives me a little crazy, but we do have "Djellaba Fridays". A djellaba is a traditional dress worn in Morocco. There are djellabas everywhere! The wonderful thing about a djellaba is what you wear with it. Many of the "yummy mummies" here at school wear their djellabas with fancy high heels, and designer sunglasses & purses. I love my djellaba (which I bought at the habous with my mum) because I get to wear pajama pants and a tank top underneath. It's pretty much like I'm wearing a bath robe and pjs to school, yet still managing to look professional. Totally my kind of traditional dress!


Here's me in my djellaba, standing on the roof at school. It was pretty windy out, but my djellaba was keeping me warm and comfy!

Spices, Oils, and Herbs! Oh My!

Our trusty tour guide also dropped us off at this wonderful place, where we were given a presentation on spices, herbs, and oils in Morocco.

We were led into this room with tons of spices on shelves around the room.

During our presentation, this lovely lady came in to give us massages using argane oil. It was awesome! Argane oil comes from the argane nut and is used in cooking as well as for dry skin. It's very popular here in Morocco in kitchens and for cosmetic purposes.

Here's our guy who gave us the presentation. He showed us herbs, spices, and oils to be used for all kinds of ailments. One of the spices he showed us was saffron, which is about 1/20th of the price you could find back in the States. It's interesting how some things are so much cheaper and others are much more expensive.

There were spices everywhere. Even on the stairways!

I came away with some mint tea, ginseng, slimming tea (guarantee to lose 2 kilos in 2 weeks!), and some cosmetic argane oil. Our friendly presentation guy gave us some argane oil for cooking, a cloth loofah like thing, and some rose cream for gifts. All in all, a great experience.

Getting Lost in the Souqs

The Lonely Planet suggested that we take some time in Marrakech to "get lost in the souqs", so we did that the first day we were there. It was a bit overwhelming to see so many shops with similar stuff (carpets, blankets, woodwork, pottery, jewellry, etc) and the shopkeepers were pretty aggressive. I don't know how anyone actually finds there way around the maze of shops, narrow alleys, and tons of corners. My map reading skills are not great, but I think it would have been challenging for anyone to not get lost. Luckily, we had a good time exploring and trying to find an exit once it started raining.


The second day, we actually hired a guide to take us around. He brought us to a carpet shop, where the salesmen spoke English and I bought my first rug! Once I've decided where to put it, I'll take a picture to post. The work in progress below was in the carpet shop where I bought mine. The ladies who are normally weaving were off celebrating the Aid Holiday.

OJ stands

There are rows and rows of orange juice stands in the main square of Marrakesh. For 3 dirhams (~50 cents), you can get a tall glass of OJ at any time of the day or night.


This guy charged us 15 dirhams per glass. He was pretty much the only guy on the road who advertised for 15 dirhams instead of 3, which totally tricked us! It was quite a refreshing treat, though...

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!