Just another day in Morocco

In the words of Sarah (about our evening last night), "Water pipe just burst under our kitchen sink...sprayed everywhere...half hilarious, half really not after a long day. Hung the soaking carpet out to dry....and it starts to rain. We would wash the towels but, oh, our washing machine is broken. Hmm..."

AND the "new" washing machine that was supposed to be dropped off today...not working? All you can do is laugh!

Life lesson 267...always pay your bills on time!

So apparently someone in our building did not pay their bills this month. The result...elevators turned off!!! Now if we lived on the first floor this wouldn't be so bad. However we are on the 5th floor. It really makes you think about whether you really need something or not! Thankfully they were only turned off for 3 days. I think this could be defined as passive aggressive behavior :D

Other funny story...I asked for juice-to-go today and watched a women rinse out a used water bottle for it to be put in...haha. Good thing I have a strong stomach!

A camping trip to remember!

As I said in my last post...camping was not my first choice activity for our days off :) However, I was putting on my best face and trying to be positive. Then the rain started! And the 5 day forecast for Ouzoud was...
Monday - Sunny
Tuesday - Sunny
Wednesday - Heavy rain
Thursday - Heavy rain
Friday - Sunny
Why the universe was out to ruin our days off I wasn't sure. So we left rainy Casablanca and stopped for the night in rainy Beni Mallal. Since we arrived at night, we did not notice the mosque right down the street from our $5 a night hotel. We were startled awake by the call to prayer at 5:30am. We all had a good laugh and fell back to sleep. When morning actually came we packed up and headed for the waterfalls in Ouzoud. We saw the falls, started our hike, forged a river, and set up camp overlooking the river. Dinner time rolled around and our "guide" Tim asked us where our forks, bowls, and cups were. Keep in mind he had said to us..."When I'm with people who don't camp I tend to overcompensate and take care of everything." And since my camping experiences involved hot dogs, I hadn't thought to bring one. Simo saved the day by wittling away chopsticks for us! The rest of our evening in the wilderness involved someone peeing behind our tent, Amber and I mistaking her breathing for an animal, and rain leeking through the seams of our tent and dripping on Sarah's face :) In the morning we packed up camp and hiked back in the rain. I think it will be pretty hard to top this camping trip!

Lunar Holidays, Traveling, and Valentine's Day

In Morocco some of the holidays depend on the moon. On our school calender, we had a break scheduled for this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. This was great because Sarah and I have a student we tutor who lived in Egypt and was going to let us stay at his house! However, on the day we were going to buy our tickets...the protests and demonstrations began. So plan B...the Western Sahara! Then on the day we were going to set up the rental car, the moon told us that the holiday was no longer Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday and Thursday! Thankfully we hadn't booked anything :) So now out current plan is to go camping near some beautiful waterfalls around Marrakesh.
And, since we were supposed to have school off on Monday, we celebrated Valentine's Day on Friday. According to the number of flowers, chocolates, cards received (all a part of a fundraiser)...I am the #2 most popular secondary teacher. However I'm pretty sure the fact that I'm young and single is one of the major reasons for all the love :) A student told my principle the Thursday that his girlfriend's initials were LS!!!*

*Note to reader: I am NOT dating a high school boy...just in case you were concerned :)

Exams

Exam week...yeah...or yuck...depending on how you look at it :) I spent my morning running between 7 classrooms answering questions and all afternoon grading and I'm not even a quarter of the way done (that's the yuck part). But, on Monday my dance class presented their final choreographies...and they were awesome (that's the yeah part)! Working in pairs, I had them create their own dance for their final exam. It has been so cool to watch them develop as dancers, become more physically fit, and see their confidence grow as well. On one of the in-class work days, one of my more quiet students was "strutting her stuff" and offering suggestions to another group. This would have never happened at the beginning of the semester. It has been such a great experience for the girls (and for me)!
Well, off to grade more exams....

The BIG Decision

After a long, emotional, and prayerful process...the decision is to move back to Michigan! My time here in Morocco has been one of the best of my life. I have learned so much and made so many wonderful relationships. I will greatly miss this place!

"Rain Days" and other exciting things

It has been a busy few weeks since I last wrote. After our long break (Belgium and Amsterdam), we had school on Monday and then torrential rain that caused houses to flood, people to die, and school to be canceled for two days! Then for the weekend, the "young ones" went to Essaouira. A beach town, Essaouira was peaceful and relaxing. The days passed slowly and we had lots of fun enjoying the sunshine and 75 degree weather (in December)!!! Back to school Monday but wait, Tuesday was the Islamic New Year so NO SCHOOL again :) I didn't quite know what to do with myself with so many little "weekends". They were greatly appreciated but have made it difficult to really get anything done. The kids (and I) just want the holidays to be here NOW!
Back-to-back middle school and high school dances kept me busy on Friday...Three parties took up my Saturday...a combined Christmas church service today and a quiet afternoon at home were in order today...Now only 5 more days of school and I'll be back in Michigan in the cold and snow (but loving every minute)!!!