Out And About: Jardin Zoologique de Rabat (plus COLA)

Decided to make this my first full Cost of Living Assessment (COLA) as I know lots of people want to get an idea of that as well :)

As part of our robust home schooling program, the girls and I took a trip to the royal zoo in Rabat. It is amazingly only about 5 miles from our house! According to urban legend the zoo was opened to house lions that were originally kept at the royal palace. We got there right after they opened and were probably group 10 to enter the zoo. After paying for parking (10 Moroccan Dirham [MAD]), we got our tickets. I couldn't see an option for a membership so we bought single day tickets with a bonus ticket to their Vivarium which is their reptile house. Amelia is free until she's 4 so our tickets were 130MAD. 

We started with the Vivarium and got to see a lot of cool critters - think snakes, turtles, amphibians and more lizards than we could count. All of the critters are in exhibits that mirror their natural habitats and represent all 6 zones of African ecosystems: Moroccan, Subtropical, Afro-alpine, South-Saharan, Equatorial and Malagasy.

The favorite was probably the dwarf crocodile but the girls also really loved the giant tortoises.

The park its separated into different zones as well. For this first visit, we decided to tour the Atlas Mountains, Desert, and the African Savannah. While there were some smaller animal areas, many were wide open spaces that reminded us of the Safari Park in San Diego - with different specifies mixed together and a variety of habitat features (trees, water, shades, etc.). 

Many of the things we saw were similar to other things we have seen at other zoos - lion, rhino, porcupines, fennec fox and a huge variety of antelope. They had a white lion which was cool but the real show stopper were a group of white porcupines AND we loved their name in French - porc-epic (and I shall call them nothing else forever). 

Mid-way through our loop we paid an extra 15MAD to feed the giraffes (awesome fun) and then stopped for lunch. 

I got a burger and onion rings (that came with fries - oops), 2 lemonades, and 2 kids meals (burgers, fries, waters, ice cream) for 200 MAD. 

Refueled, we saw more animals - lemurs, zebras, storks (the same ones that are all around town), camels, hyenas, and some birds of prey.

The front of the park is beautiful with fountains and thick vegetation that surround the basics such as the information desk, gift shop, a food shop, conference areas, and a small museum. We checked out the museum and were treated with some fossils from the area that represented many of the same animals we saw around the park. The zoo also had a prayer room and I have already been here long enough to not be surprised by that - they are located in rest stops and malls as well for when people are out and need to go to prayers. 

While everything did not look to be at full capacity, I would say one of the biggest differences I noticed is that there were not souvenir stands everywhere. There were a few small kiosks to buy snacks and water and the restaurant we stopped at for lunch but none of these places sold themed tochkees or other items. It was nice to not be constantly bombarded with all the stuff and just focus on the animals. There was also a really nice picnic area in the middle of the park where you could eat at a semi-secluded picnic table and gaze out at the antelope or oryx while they were grazing too.

We decided 4 hours was enough at the park and we'd leave some bits to see with daddy so we headed out. Of course the girls begged to stop at the gift shop (which perhaps thankfully wasn't too well stocked) and I spent anther 100 MAD on a zebra face mask and a small stuffed monkey.  All in all, the adventure cost 455 MAD which is approximately $50.

Pictures have been added to the Morocco: Around Rabat google album. Permissions are required as there are pictures of the girls' faces so let me know if you need access! 

Rapport de Rabat: Emergency Dentist Visit

On Monday morning while eating my breakfast I felt a nice crunch and spat out what appeared to be a tooth! For a few days I had felt like there was something wrong with my tooth and apparently it was my crown falling off! Thankfully Chris had just been given the name and information for an English speaking dentist the previous Friday and shared with me the image he had of a copy of the business card.

First, I tried looking up the address. No luck. Then I tried looking up the street.  No luck. Then I tried finding the name of the business. No luck - unless I was driving to France. I am assuming this is a common occurrence as the business card back is a map. On the map it showed the names of some other streets (no luck) and then the name of a building - Cinema Royale. THANK GOD Google knows that one. 

So then I pack up the girls after profusely apologizing for ruining our first day of fun - with the car and adventures to have - and snacks and activities and we all head out. The driving there part was okay. The business is in the medina which is the old city area - behind large walls and pretty busy/crowded compared to where we live. We survived the chaos that comes with driving, went the wrong way down a street (just once), and were able to find a (seemingly illegal) parking spot. After heading out walking the wrong direction, we turned around and made it to the office!

The door of the dentist office was closed and locked with a metal gate over it. I can tell from the sign they should be open so I try calling and Abigail (so boldly) knocks. Thankfully they answer the door before the phone and even more thankfully the person who answers the door says that she does speak English. I am trying to explain to her why I am there and cannot find the word I am looking for (crown) and am fumbling (in English) as I try to get into my purse to get the small plastic container I put my crown in to show her what I mean and she ever so politely says "I do understand English, you can talk normally". I AM TRYING TO! 

We get into the small office and she has us all sanitize our shoes and sanitize our hands. I then have to put little booties over my shoes and put a hairnet on. We get to go to the small waiting room were I get a super short new patient form and wait. As we didn't have an appointment we wait a little over an hour to see the dentist before I get called back into his office.  His office, according to my FIL, is old-school where he has his desk, the regular dentist chairs and related paraphernalia and 2 guest chairs. 

The dentist has maybe an assistant who has me put my personal face mask in a large plastic bag then I get to sanitize again! In the chair there no comfort of the tinted glasses to protect my eyes from the bright light (annoying) and then the dentist physically SHOVES the crown onto my tooth and I forget all amount the previous eye discomfort. I think he put something on the crown to glue it back on but they don't have the curing gun thing I am use to (usually has an orange shield and beeps - I think its UV). 

After he is done and has fully complimented the quality of my crown, described it as a "cute little hat", and congratulated me on getting to the dentist as quick as I did - which made the fixing much easier. The doctor goes to the desk in his office and writes the bill for the services - 500 dirham. They don't take my US insurance directly so I just pay them cash. This is 56 USD. As we are leaving, I thank the girls for being so good in the waiting room (a very nice woman who was also waiting entertained them a bit) and for coming with me. Abigail is quick to respond that 1) its not like they had a choice and 2) that it was the worst way to spend their day. Ah, from the mouth of babes. I tried to smooth them a bit with a purchase of some snacks and a stop at the park right by the dentist office that (THANK GOD AGAIN) has a playground and not just grass and trees (which apparently are the worst). 

Mission: Accomplished

The Top 10 Most Interesting Things About Living in Morocco According to Abigail

These are in no particular order because trying to explain what a top 10 list is to a 6.5 yo is a battle.

1. All the houses are made out of cement.  This might be too that all the houses look similar as well but there are no house bits we can see that look to be made of brick or wood  - or the ever popular stucco that is seen around San Diego.

2. All the houses have fences, walls, and gates so you cannot see people's yards. One of our favorite things to do in San Diego was to walk around and look at people's plants, pets, and yard decorations. Not happening here! There are a few blocks where we have seen some grass and plants in a larger area in front of peoples gates/fences with a driveway but there aren't too many

3. There really aren't any sidewalks. I have mentioned this before and I am sure it will come up again. The sidewalks around our neighborhood and many of the places we have visited are inconsistent at best. This, combined with the crazy drivers, makes walking with 2 small people who tend to wander quite a challenge. 

4. There are piles of trash along the street. There are a decent number of vacant lots (probably 1 every block) and they are mostly overgrown with plants and piles of trash. There are also piles of trash along the streets in the city centers and along the area where the beach is. We haven't investigated the beach area much yet so more on that later.

5. There are people who sit on the sidewalks in plastic chairs or on boxes who just look around. These people are known as community helpers and the guy who sits on our corner happens to live in the house he sits outside of (or at least that is Chris's theory). Many sit on plastic chairs, plastic crates or even boxes along the side walks but some have fancy little shacks. These men are the live-action neighborhood watch. Some people will bring them food or pay them a couple Diram but it is not required for their "services".

6. The people use palm leaves to sweep up the street. This just seems clever to me but A seems to think its really quite amazing. Large palm fronds are frequently used by gardeners we see to sweep up the sidewalks and streets. I don't think we've actually seen anyone using a broom outside.

7. They don't really recycle. From what we have seen/heard, there is very limited recycling. In San Diego we were use to recycling almost everything (even though there were issues within SD county regarding how much was *actually* getting recycled). Here, it doesn't seem to be a thing. We are able to take cardboard to Chris's work for recycling and have learned that we can leave beverage bottles outside for the people who collect them - assuming there's money in it somehow. This is adding fuel to my efforts to reduce our consumption and limit single use items. Challenge accepted.

8. There are stray cats everywhere! This is pretty sad honestly. It seems there is nothing here like the SCPA and there are skinny little cats and kittens all over the streets, hiding in trees, and even in some restaurants! We have only seen what seems to be a few stray dogs.

9. Our neighbors have a peacock. Not sure what else to say. There is a peacock that lives on the block behind us. We think it lives at the neighbors house. It occasionally walks around the neighborhood. NBD. 

10. The money is different colors. Yep. She thinks it looks fake. Perhaps. They don't have as many coins as we do either which I think is interesting. We are able to use our credit cards at the big grocery store, gas station, and restaurants but we use more cash than we did in the states!

Rabat, Morocco and COVID

Of course it will come up as COVID is still around but it is different everywhere. Arriving into the country, none of us had to be COVID tested though Chris and I were asked to show our proof of vaccination at the airport before we went through customs. The girls are not vaccinated so they were to quarantine after we arrived. 

Like other countries, there have been recent spikes in infected persons and deaths due to COVID.
There is a night curfew in place that begins at 9pm and large tourist cities are closed to most people/tourists. Access to other countries from Morocco such as France, Spain, and Portugal have been limited or closed as well. The infection and death rate here is still pretty high and it was just last week that the ministry rolled out the vaccine for 12-18 year olds. We think this might be part of the reason that schools were told to close. The country is the lead in Africa for rolling out the vaccinations for adults so that is reassuring. 

We have seen people wearing face masks in most places - inside public areas like the grocery store and retail shops. People outside seem to wear masks too - gas station and parking attendants, security guards, and police officers directing traffic. Inside stores (and even walking around) you see the same thing you'd see in San Diego with people's noses sticking out of their masks or masks around their chins. I have not seen many children outside the school and walking into the pool club that have masks on. There are security guards who temperature check everyone who walks into large shops and hand sanitizer stations at locations of all sizes. I did see one guard tell someone to put a mask on once but I think the guy had just forgot. Almost everyone is wearing a mask when they should and they have it on properly. There are workers sanitizing floors and surfaces in most businesses. They also have shoe sanitizer things you step into when entering most places as well. 

The US and other countries are also helping Morocco with their COVID response efforts. And the country just got a large shipment of J&J vaccines (which is what I got!). Overall we feel safe but we also have the privilege of knowing if we get sick there are many measures in place to make sure that we are well taken care of.

Updates from Rabat: Part 2

**Update: I have created more photo albums and I decided to update some photo albums I already shared. We don't share photos of our children publicly online and since I have set it so I don't control who reads this blog I wanted some control over who can see the pictures. If there are any albums that need permissions, I will indicate them and you can just ask. Assuming we know you, I will add you to them. Thanks for understanding!

I was going to be clever and slowly release answers but alas on day 6 of limited internet and FB now blocking my blog post links as SPAM, I am going to answer the rest of the questions I have so far. 

Have you made friends?

We are coming at an interesting time. A lot of people who are part of the embassy community have been here for about a year and have had their time greatly impacted by COVID. With things opening up a little we are less impacted but arrived when a lot of ex-pats were back in the US on home leave. We have gone to a private pool (we are members of the club) and have attempted to talk to some people. Anyone who knows Chris and me knows we are not great conversationalists so there’s been no huge rush of new friends. One of the parents of a girl in Abigail’s class was thoughtful enough to reach out and arrange a pool hang out time and the girls will be doing pony lessons together so that is some movement forward. 

Before arriving we were assigned a family as our “social sponsors”. They both work at the embassy and have children close in age to our kids. We have hung out with them a few times as well. They have been here for a number of years and this is their 2nd foreign assignment so they get to answer all our silly questions. In my first hang out sesh with the family this past weekend they said it well in that you make a lot of acquaintances through the embassy and those connections but those people are not automatically your friends. We get it. We also spent over 10 years each in San Diego so we know how long it takes to cultivate friendships. Right now I would say it would be okay to meet some new people and have more things to do but we are also still settling in. We did meet a US couple this past weekend at a restaurant that are NOT here withe/for the US government (shocking) and the boys exchanged numbers so perhaps we will branch out and be social with them and their 3 kids. Miracles can happen :)

We live on a busy street and the way houses are designed here (large walls, hedges, and gates) doesn’t lead to intermingling in a neighborly way. We were told there are other people from the embassy that live near us with similar aged kids but we don’t know who they are yet and have not made any efforts to actively seek them out. The other day at the park a little girl was trying her hand at English to get Abigail to play with her but with Abigail showing little interest, so it did not last long. At parks or plazas the girls tend to play together. Hopefully through school they will both make more friends as the year progresses.

**Update: Today is Abigail's last day of school until October 1 and Amelia is also postponed until then based on new ministry orders. Hopefully things with COVID get under control and they'll both be back in school soon.

What is it like being a woman/girl in Morocco?

We had assumed and heard that the girls would get a lot of attention for their super blonde hair and blue eyes. I would say that so far this hasn’t been too intense. I am sure there have been people noticing and talking amongst themselves about the girls but it has not been very forceful. A few people have touched their heads without asking (is that something you ask for?) But it has been so quick its been hard to stop them. We also usually don’t know what they are saying. We have been trying to talk to the girls after this happens of course to tell them that they do not have to let anyone touch them and they can and should say no if someone tries to.

The girls do not have any restrictions or expectations for what they are supposed to wear as they are both young. We have always had them wear shorts or leggings under dresses so that has not been an issue. While we are in a bigger city and get some accommodation for being foreigners, I would say there is a noticeable difference in what women wear. Morocco is considered a progressive Muslim country but they are still Muslim. Many women wear the traditional long dresses which cover their knees and shoulders. Some women also wear head coverings. A handful that we have seen out and about wear full coverings. Especially coming from San Diego, I would say there is a lot less bare skin. I have seen a few women running at a local park who have been wearing shorts but they have been wearing loose/longer tops. Some women even run in full length clothes and head coverings. Some women, especially younger women I have seen wearing the cropped tops that are making a comeback or tops that are off the shoulder. There have been a few tight clothing sightings but even after being here for almost a month they stick out. When we went to the beach a few weeks ago there was not a single woman in a bathing suit. Some were wearing long sleeved shirts and knee length shorts/skirts in the water. Some were wearing what looked like their regular full coverage clothes and some also had their head scarves on in the ocean. Many of the women in and around the beach were not in the water and wearing their regular clothes. Men and boys were wearing just shorts. Some young girls were wearing bathing suits in the water.

For myself, I had some time to prepare for coming here. I have some longer dresses that I feel comfortable wearing and some dresses I wear with leggings underneath. I do have a few dresses I have worn that go to my knees and are sleeveless but I haven’t worn anything with spaghetti straps or short shorts and definitely would not together. At the beach I had my black one piece swimsuit on but ended up keeping my knee length dress on over it. When we go to the private pool I have worn my suit in the pool and surrounding area but would not think to wear just my suit to say walk into the market that is there or just wear a pair of bottoms with my suit.

As for a general gender equity commentary, I have not noticed anything that would jump out at me. I also clearly not from here so I assume I am treated differently. I have read some things about what women should be careful about and realized I have done many of the things on the list. One such thing was smiling at men as a greeting or being the first to say hello. Another was going to a cafe alone - though this is supposed to be cafe-specific. Most of the time I have one of my kids (or both) with me so I am assuming they know I am not throwing out a “hey there cutie” vibe or looking for a short-term “companion”. 

I use to be tasked with the duty of walking the dog at night and now I do not do that. Assuming I should not be out alone at night by myself is a pretty safe bet.

What can you do to be active?

Taking the Bee out for a walk

Thankfully there are some green spaces around us. The driving is crazy and the sidewalks are inconsistent so trying to navigate around our house has been a bit of a challenge. I also don’t have my car and the area we live in is urban though we have some shops, a grocery store, and a few restaurants less than a block from our house. 

I have not had the opportunity yet to run yet but have walked to some parks with our Bee (trailer) and Amelia and think they will be good spots to run to. I am looking forward to running once both girls are in school as a way to explore our area a bit more. There’s a park that is about 2 miles away which is the only place I have seen anyone (male or female) running. For the time that we have spent here, we have not been as active as we were in San Diego. The closest playground is a mile walking. Thankfully we have a yard that is big enough to run around in and the house is plenty big to set up a place to work out.

There are many organized runs around Morocco, Africa, and the very nearby countries of Europe, France, and Spain. I also haven't done an organized run years. I think there is hiking in the relatively close Atlas Mountains but we have not looked into it much yet. There are definitely lots of places to explore. The good news is the sporting goods store sells running, hiking, camping, and water sports gear so I am assuming all things can be done while we are here!

Photos Morocco: Art and Architecture, Morocco: Flora and Fauna, Morocco: Around Rabat (request access), Morocco: Rabat - Around the House (request access)

What do you do about the grocery store/food/eating?

The entry to our Marjane grocery

Sadly going to the grocery store almost daily has been our principal form of entertainment, but I guess we are learning a lot. There is a grocery store right across the street from us. Most of the stores around us are called Marjane which is a Moroccan chain directly belonging to the current King. There are also a few Carrefour’s which are French and little mini-marts scattered all around. The grocery store is not too hard to navigate. Food packaging makes it pretty easy to guess what a food is and with Google Translate on my phone I can double check a flavor (in an attempt to avoid any disasters).  Of course, as I have learned in traveling in other countries, things don’t taste the same. You can of course buy some brands we know in the US like Dannon and Nabisco but they are usually more expensive. We have struggled with finding meat, cheese and yogurt that the girls will eat. There are also not many snacks that the girls have approved. The fruit has been okay but the grapes have seeds (OMG) and the carrots taste different (no clue). 

Most of the produce is very fresh - like the dirt is still on it- and I think that makes it a bit challenging for the girls. We are very spoiled in the US with how our food is presented to us. The girls like to look at the fish and meat counters as the the fish are whole and the meat counters have a LOT more meaty parts than they are use to seeing. We just talk about how our food looks here vs. in the US and that in many places people make better use of all of the parts of the food - veggie greens, beef hearts, tripe, etc. We also talk about what the meat IS and I am trying to normalize that a bit for them so it seems like less of a shock factor to see a whole duck or a whole goat in the meat case. Reminds me of stores we went to in China where the animals were still alive when you picked the one you wanted. That lesson might be a bit much for now.

Now that we are all back together, more cooking is happening at home. The kids still eat a lot of noodles and we struggle to get them protein as they shift what they like by the minute. We have found traditional hot dogs at the embassy but I am not sure they are worth the cost. There are other sausage options that we are field testing. Thanks be to whoever there are chicken nuggets here so they won’t starve. The girls also eat a lot of hard boiled eggs, cereal, toast, some veg (tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots), and most fruit. Chris and I have a pretty standard meal of meat and vegetables. We have found ground turkey, chicken, and red meat pretty readily. We did find some bacon pieces that add flavor but pork products are next to impossible to find. There is apparently a guy who knows a guy so we are working on it. The veggies we get are pretty similar - squash, peppers, onions, the occasional potato.

Beef tajine and bread

Eating out has been hit or miss with the kids but the adults have done pretty good. We can easily get hamburgers and pizza. There is a lot of grilled meats. We have had sushi, Thai, Indian and schwarma that has all been good. Traditional Moroccan is probably couscous or tajine which we do not eat regularly. We have also not tried to cook either at home. I am a big fan of the French influences which include crepes almost everywhere and croissants. They have omelets (pretty basic) at a few places and we even tried bagel sandwiches (decent). I did try a traditional Moroccan breakfast and I think it had 6 different kinds of bread. I have not tried the sweetened mint tea that the country is known for but we have had a lot of coffee (mostly lattes) and lots of fresh squeezed orange juice (I may never go back to anything else). 

Photos Morocco: Foods

Updates from Rabat: 27 days in Country

I have so much to post about and didn't know where to start so here's my first attempt at answering your questions. Started with work in honor of labor day! #unionstrong since 1998!

Why are we here? 

Chris had the opportunity to come for his work. We applied for this posting and got it ! We had applied to a number of other foreign spots before getting assigned to Morocco. His assignment will be for a minimum of three years with the opportunity to extend for an additional three years. He works at the US Embassy in Rabat. There is also another US Embassy in Morocco down in Casablanca about 1.5 hours south of us. (After a short visit there, we got the better location!)

I recently was offered conditional employment (pending security review) to also work at the embassy as the English Language Instructor. There is no current English language program and the last person in this position was over 10 years ago. I have not started yet so I don’t know all of the details. There’s the benefit of being able to start from the ground up and create my own program. There’s also the stress of needing to start from the ground up with very little supports. They think I should be able to start in November. I am currently working remotely for my previous employer.

How do you communicate? 

Thankfully Chris went through an intensive language program to learn French before we came. To some detriment that course and daily French interaction ended 8 months before Chris actually arrived. French is used here as a remnant of the colonization by the French that just ended in 1956. There were also places of Morocco that were colonized/controlled by Spain and they speak a decent amount of Spanish. French is the language used for business, diplomacy and government. Moroccans also speak Moroccan Arabic called Darija. 

I have been studying French with an app called Duolingo and can make my way through my day to day needs with what I have learned there and with my Google translate. I hope to start taking French lessons when I start my employment at the Embassy.

There are also many people that we come into contact with that speak some level of English. French is taught here in school and there is growing popularity in learning English. Perhaps I can branch out and offer additional English tutoring for my side hustle :P

What about school? 

Abigail is going to a private school called the Rabat American School. They follow a lot of US standards for education and the teachers all speak English. Abigail’s 1st grade teacher happens to be from New York and also just moved here. The students are all on campus and following safety protocols similar to what we had in San Diego. The biggest difference so far would be that Abigail has daily classes in French and Arabic. They do have a pool and that is one of their PE classes so that will be different too but the pool is closed for now. The students wear uniforms for PE days. And they call their teachers by their first names - which drives me crazy. The students in Abigail’s class are from all over - another girl from the US/Virginia (might as well be another country to A1), Canada, and Guatemala. I am sure there are others as well but Abigail can’t remember. These are just what we heard during orientation/what I can remember.  She will also have local/Rabati students in her class as well. We were able to tour the school, which is PK-12, and it is new and fancy which is exactly how I expected a private school to be. Abigail stays within the elementary building as the cafeteria is closed but there are playgrounds, a field and an amazing library. She takes a “bus” to and from school.

Abigail’s extra curricular so far will be pony riding lessons. Her first class is this coming week and she’s excited. Swim lessons are not a big thing here so we most likely will not continue those. Dance is available so we might look into that as well. She was also doing Soo Bakh Do (Korean martial arts) which I have seen nothing of and nothing similar. 

Amelia will be in a Moroccan preschool that is French immersion. She will spend half her day learning in French. The class sizes are relatively small and there are a few other students from the US but (I think) the class is mostly locals. Her school was set to start on Monday but they are not a private school and have to follow guidelines put out by the ministry. Currently the orientation is delayed a week and we are assuming school will be too. We did a tour of the school and it was pretty similar to what we’ve seen at our old school - save for the kids wearing a shirt/vest uniform daily. All schools here have early days on Wednesdays so the teachers can do prep work. This happens at the preschool too. We are able to leave Amelia at the school later on these days (for an extra fee) and let her participate in rotating classes like art, yoga, and dance. Unlike at Abigail's school, the "canteen" is open at Amelia's school. For an additional monthly fee, we can sign her up to get lunch at school. Parents are required to bring fresh fruit each day to share for the morning snack.

Amelia is currently too young for pony lessons but will potentially do dance class at the same place Abigail will attend. There are apparently pony rides she can do while we wait for Abigail, a small playground, and a market with cheese and onion potato chips, so she will be good to go :)

Weekends have been a great time for us all to explore a new park, go to the pool, or spend time together so we're okay without more classes for now!

More questions answered soon! Keep 'em coming!

Out and About: Tangier

For my birthday weekend we took a short trip north to the coastal town of Tangier. It is about a 3 hour drive along the coast that quickly moves out of the city and then meanders through endless farmland. I don't know enough to tell you what all I saw but there were crops across open spaces and in plastic covered "greenhouses". Many of the fields had hand built shade structures of a piece of plastic propped up on a stick or little shelters I am assuming to provide the workers with shade. As we went up the freeway we noticed there are large bridges every few miles. These bridges seem to serve the purpose of letting people pulling carts with donkeys or small motorbike trucks filled with produce from one side of the farmland to the other. There were also many men standing along the freeway with small piles of produce - mostly watermelon for this trip - that people could pull over and buy. 

About halfway there we stoped at a rest stop for a bite and a break. Rest stops here (at least most I have seen) consist of a restaurant called Oasis Cafe and a gas station (we also have these across the street from our home). There is also a mini-mart like we're use to for gas stations in the US but the restaurant is more like a diner than grabbing something the KFC-Pizza Hut-Burger King. I decided to order my first tajine and I was NOT disappointed. I went with beef and I would compare it to a light stew with meat, potatoes and veggies. It comes with a rustic bread that was perfect for sopping up the juices. There was also a large playground so the girls could get out some energy before we headed back out. As with many other places, in addition to the restroom there were also prayer rooms for men and women (who do not pray together). 

Our next stop was about 30 minutes outside Tangier at the Caves of Hercules. We did pay the 5 dirham to get into one part of the caves (not really knowing what we were doing) and were a big shocked at how crowded and clustered that bit was. There were some fall carvings and frescos but there were also random things shoved everywhere (like giant pieces of driftwood, vases, and statues) and a guy with dress up clothes and a monkey you could take your picture with. There was also a gift shop crammed into the stony wall filled with plastic trinkets. After we escaped that area we were able to go into the larger cave area and while there was more dress up for photos, there was also some cool caves and the opening out to the sea that does in fact look like the shape of Africa.

In Tangier we stayed at an AirBNB right along the water. The city itself has quite the colorful past - think international zone with no real ruling body as a safe place for all sorts of "deviant behaviors" in a fairly strict country. I found the building we were staying in and the surrounding area to be a bit sketchy/run down. I think our apartment was part of a complex that had/has a number of clubs/dance places but it was hard to tell really what was going on.

We did a little bit of a walkabout (mostly to try to find a store to buy diapers at, which we had forgotten) and then we were in search of dinner.  I insisted on dinner at Mc Donalds as I knew it would keep the girls happy and quiet and allow the grownups to actually enjoy their dinners.  I was trying to find something interestingly different but ended up with just a chicken sandwich. They do have steak fries at the Mickey D's here and they are AMAZING. The view wasn't bad either.

After dinner I suggested a walk along the beach back to our apartment. he beaches were littered with trash and we had to be very diligent to not be trampled to death by the tourists riding horses all crazy on the beach. We all got to put our toes in the Mediterranean and if you could squint through the bit of haze, you could make out Spain from the water's edge. The sunset was beautiful and the company was good so that is a bonus. Back at the apartment, Chris and the girls made cupcakes at home before we left and we took them along on the road trip with us so we sang and ate cake before calling it a night.

The next morning we went in search of a more proper meal - not American fast food - and found most places closed. We usually go out to eat around 8-830 and have found there are few places open that early for sit down food. (Chris says the breakfast of choice here is an espresso and a cigarette, which seems mostly true.)  We indeed found food. For a people who don't seem to each much for breakfast, every breakfast we have had out comes with SO much food! I ordered the Maroc breakfast and I think it came with 6 different kinds of breads! There was an assortment of things to put on the breads plus the requisite bowl of olives. 

The kids breakfast was pancakes smothered in chocolate, a huge bowl of cocoa puffs (which came with the milk already in it) and a chocolate milk with so much powder it in that the powder could no longer be dissolved into the milk! The girls quickly reached their sugar limits, and Amelia ate more of my food than her own so I had to help some withe the nutella pancakes. The juice as always was fresh squeezed and a mix of orange and mango for a fun twist. 

After breakfast we decided to head to the beach for a bit more before check out. While we all had our suits on, I kept my dress on over my suit the whole time. Many has asked about the dress here and it is more  conservative for sure. Some of the women at the beach were wearing full cover including their hair and were fully in the water. Most women I saw along the beach were wearing their normal clothes and maybe took off their shoes. Everyone still looked to be enjoying themselves so I guess you don't have to have bare skin to have fun. 

Chris took the girls in the water and I just watched and checked out the locals. There were a few industrious older men who had spent the first part of the morning setting up chairs, tables and umbrellas who were then renting them out to people. A family came and sat next to us and propped up what looked to be a produce sack with a stick and had their full on breakfast with their proper tea set and all right in the sand. There were vendors walking up and down the beach selling pre-inflated water toys, snacks, and hot tea (with a charcoal bin attached to a large metal tea pot). 

We headed back home around mid-day so we'd be able to have downtime before the start of another work/school week. According to my Lonely Planet there is a bit more to see/do in Tangier so we will definitely have to come back again to do some more exploring! A few more pics are in the Around Morocco: Tangier (Tanger) Google Photo Album and permissions are required.

Morocco, Week 1

 This post's updates: Arrival recap, general observations, and the ground floor

Arrival Recap

We have moved to Rabat, Morocco! Chris left San Diego on June 21st along with about 1000 pounds of our stuff. The girls and I stayed in our house until July 22nd. On that day, over 10,000 pounds of our stuff was packed up and split between two trucks - 1 headed to storage in SD and the other to the east coast to be shipped to Africa. The cat moved in with my mom for the next 9 days and the girls and I moved into a hotel in Old Town. July 31st we headed to NYC where we met Chris. We then went to CT for a few days to visit family and then to VT to visit the other side of the family, see Bindal and Chad get married, and then back to CT. We all left JFK together the night of August 9th and arrive in Casablanca the morning of the 10th. And this is where our story picks up...

We arrived in Africa safe and sound with all of our luggage and our cat! The driver from the Embassy came to pick us up in a van (thank goodness) and drive us from Casablanca to Rabat, about an hour and a half north. Chris and Nacho have been in our house in Rabat for about 3 weeks before we arrived so he was able to unpack our quick shipment and get the house settled a bit before all of the chaos arrived. 

The girls were excited to see their rooms - they each have their own big room now with a big kid bed for Amelia (while Abigail is suffering from withdrawals from her queen). Their rooms each have a playroom/bonus room, their own bathrooms, and patios. Abigail might have the largest patio in the place! 

The house in general in crazy big - bigger than anything the girls and I have lived in! I cannot tell you yet if it is a typical/Moroccan style house as we haven't been to any other houses. Our first week has been spent getting to know our new house, doing some fun government required training and document completing, shopping for some necessities (always more snacks), and doing what we can to settle in.

General Observations

The light switches and faucets are backwards from what I am use to. The bathrooms in each of the bedrooms have 2 toilets and I assumed one was a bidet but with a faucet and not a hose I am not so sure. Pedestrians are not given right of way by cars and there are limited sidewalks - many of those that are around our neighborhood are tiled and not super smooth (aka riddled with holes). Crossing the street to the shopping area across from us is like frogger but slightly scarier when also pulling along 2 small people that may or may not listen to all directions provided. Driving and drivers are crazy. I am not sure I am looking forward to that although leaving the house during the day while Chris is at work would be nice.

We have to soak our fruits and veggies in vinegar before eating and buy bottled water. They don't readily recycle here (especially in homes) and there is quite a bit of trash around in parking lots, vacant lots next to houses, and the streets. Where China had their trash chickens, here they have trash egrets (which is stranger for sure). All of the houses I have seen (in our neighborhood and others) all have large fences and hedges around the front of the house with a vehicle gate and a pedestrian gate for access to the house. 

Ground Floor

When you come into the house through the huge front door, there is a large entry way leading to an open space. This large area has a bathroom (sink and toilet in separate mini-rooms), a formal dining area, a sitting area, and... another area to sit in (??) you run out of names after so many areas. There is a fireplace between the two sitting areas and chandeliers all over - all of them different too! Off of the raised sitting area there is a door to go out onto the patio/sun room. There is another smaller room in this area where we have the TV so we have aptly named it the TV Room. Then there's another bathroom (2 rooms) and the kitchen (photos to come after I clean). In this corner is another door that goes outside to the driveway/carport that cannot actually be locked from the outside so it doesn't get used much. The stairs to go up and down are in this corner as well with an open stairwell - we have discover the acoustics here are very nice for yelling things like "Mooooommmmmyyyyyy!" over and over again. 

To tide you over, here are some pics of the house and our neighborhood. 

If you have questions or things you'd like to see, let me know!

**UPDATED: I forgot some fo the basics! (For those who don't know Google) Morocco is a country in the north west corner of Africa - technically it is the Kingdom of Morocco. Rabat is one of four imperial cities and the king lives not too far from us. Abigail asked if we get to. meet him and if you're wondering that too, the answer is most likely not. 

People here speak a Moroccan dialect of Arabic called Darija and they have a language called Standard Moroccan Tamazight that looks cool - ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ . Morocco was controlled by the French for a period of time hence the influence of their language and culture (yay crepes and croissants!) Thankfully we can take advantage of the French and we are leaning heavily on Chris's 400 hours of French instruction in 2020 to help us. We have been doing some French learning on our own (Muzzy and Duolingo) but both girls will learn French in school. Abigail will also receive some instruction in Arabic. I am hoping to get into some courses through the embassy or through some other means so I can handle myself better at the grocery store and places like that though my Google Translate app has been great. Speaking of grocery stores, here is a fun fact: many of the shopping carts have the holes in the front where a kid would sit and put their legs through but I have yet to see a cart that actually has the seat for the kids. What do they think those holes are for???

We are in a coastal area and now our western coast is the Atlantic. Our house is about 15 minutes from the sea/beach. It is quite different than the sandy shores of Pacific Beach so we will have to investigate some. We are located at about the same latitude as Los Angles so the weather is fairly similar with the addition of more rain. In the week we've been here I can say it feels warmer and muggier to me. Most nights this last week it didn't cool down below 70!

Everything Changes

I have officially been a mom for one week. That looks as insane written as it feels to think/say/believe.

Obviously we knew we were going to be parents and I had 7 months to prepare myself for being a mom but that isn't the same thing as BEING a mom. Especially when you're supposed to have 2 more months to get use to the idea. And more time to register for the baby classes. And to finish reading the book. And to clear out the spare bedroom. And to build the crib.

I was lucky in that I had about 6.5 months of a relatively uneventful pregnancy. Some back pain, some strange pins and needles feelings in my arm... but nothing that stayed too long. And then the swelling came. It started the middle of January and I went to my trusty pregnancy website/app and read causes, cures, and worst case scenarios. The causes, like most everything else that's happened to my body since August, was attributed to pregnancy/hormones/immune system fluctuations with a simple cure of time or waiting for the kid to pop out (which I guess it also time). It was the worst case scenario that caught my attention - "life threatening", "permanent damage", etc. I messaged my doctor's office to let them know what was going on and they said if my symptoms continued to let them know. Well I was letting them know, and I said I'd already had my symptoms for a week so how much longer was I supposed to wait? I had a regular appointment about a week after I called so I decided to wait until then  to say anything else and hope for the best in the mean time.

The swelling in my hands, and a bit in my face, got worse but it was nothing compared to the swelling in my legs. In three weeks, I had gained over 15 pounds and most of it was not baby bump. I went to my appointment the first week in February asking for answers, concerned about the Worst Case Scenario, the swelling, the what-the-heck-is-happening-to-my-body feeling and was told that there was no real concern, to buy some compression tights and come back in 2 weeks. I bought the stupid $70 tights and saw no difference in the amount of edema in my legs. I decided to take the weekend off the stupid tights as they hurt to put on, to wear, and to remove.

Then I woke up last Saturday with a face so swollen I could barely open  my eyes. It took almost 3 hours for the swelling to go down a enough for me to feel mildly normal. I figured it was just part of the fun. I pulled myself together and went to yoga telling myself the discomfort would be eased and this too shall pass. I spent the afternoon feeling a bit off but just sucking it up and helping get stuff done around the house. We went to Home Depot and that's when the downhill started. I'd had a few episodes previously of flashing spots in my eyeballs but this round was so intense I couldn't read the shelf signs and walked myself out to the car and waited for Chris. Back at home I sat on the couch with what was the most INTENSE headache I'd had in a while. Chris, busy searching WebMD said the number of symptoms I was developing for Worst Case Scenario were increasing and we should go t o CVS to measure my blood pressure.

So we went, and it was HIGH - like crazy high - and I used my fancy medical group app to see what it was when I was at the doctors on Tuesday and it was high then but had gone up about 20 points from Tuesday to now. And what was this? It was up about 20 points on Tuesday from what it had been at every doctor's appointment since August. WTH?! Trying to figure out what to do, we went to grab something to eat and I just couldn't think about food, but I thought about my friend B who delivered her little man about a month early after going in for something unsuspecting and I say aloud "how crazy would that be?" And we go back to the house and I can't get over the nagging feeling that Chris is right and we need to go in and he's trying to make me feel better saying we will go back to CVS to test again in the am and I turn to FB - silly perhaps, but I have high school friends who are doctors and I harass one and I share numbers and symptoms and pictures and she says GO NOW.

We had been to the triage at the Women's Hospital once before back in October so that made it familiar yet just as scary. We quickly got seen by a nurse and the ball started rolling. At this point I'd say my concept of time and sequence got a bit off but I will try my best. We probably checked in around 8pm. The nurse measured my BP again and made a list of my symptoms. My blood pressure had gone up almost another 30 points (!) and now there was no question, it was Worse Case Scenario. WCS would be something called preeclampsia: caused by pregnancy and cured by delivery. If the diagnosis was immediate, the solution was the very next breath and the nurse and the on-call doctor from my OBGYN said they were going to "take the baby". I would need an emergency C-section. We'd be parents within the hour. My life was at risk. The baby had to come out. Chris' response was something along the lines of "but we didn't take the lamaze classes yet" and mine was "the baby isn't done cooking". I think they call this part shock.

They immediately started prepping me for surgery and put me on anti-seizure medicine (among others) as my blood pressure was shooting through the roof and they were worried what could happen before we were able to get into an operating room. Chris called our families and they gave him a full body suit to wear in the operating room. I called Jhanna and tried not to totally lose it. I thought of all my friends who had been through scary baby delivery situations and tried to channel their strength. We took all the advice, wisdom, and soothing that my nurses would offer up. It was too early. The baby wasn't ready. We didn't even have a name picked out! (The nurses were great and had something to say for every new thing we freaked out about).

I had heard that walking into the delivery room for a c-section is super scary - I don't think being wheeled in made it any better. My first thought was "what creepy back area of the hospital are they taking me to?" and my next thought was "this isn't how anything looks on Grey's Anatomy!"While they continued their surgery prep, one of the nurses from before stayed with me. She held my hands and wiped my tears and convinced me everything was going to be just fine. I was scared and it seemed like forever before Chris was there but as soon as he was they started the surgery and all I kept thinking was that the baby wasn't ready and that it needed to be okay.

Once they got her out, Chris saw that it was a girl and she cried out and it was relieving and scary and awesome. While they finished with me, Chris went with the baby as she was cleaned up and assessed. The best news at this point was that she was okay - 31 weeks of growing was all she had under her belt, but she was okay. She was born just after 11pm and I went through the end of surgery, post-surgery care, and waiting (with Chris) so I didn't get to see her for the first time until almost 3am. From my hospital bed, barely able to feel my lower half, still on so many drugs, my first sight of her was in the NICU craning my neck to try to see her through the top half of my bed and into her incubator. I think I could make out the side of her head and an arm.

We all spent the next 4 days at the hospital. Now that she was out, the immediate threat to my heath was gone but my elevated blood pressure was still an issue. I was able to really see her the one time I was able to make it down to the NICU on Sunday. A million different hospital staff came and went making sure we had resources, knew what was going on, and that we were okay. Friends and family sent flowers, food, gifts, their love, positive vibes, and so much more. The love we felt in those days was the best kind of overwhelming I have ever experienced. With the aid of a wheel chair Chris was able to take me down to see her a few times each day and we could both stare at her in awe. We were parents. She was here. She was ours.

For the first few days we could only touch her through her bed - a temporary cooking device. Her progress is typical for her gestational age (they still count as if she was in the uterus) and they told us that she'll most likely be in the NICU until her expected due date in April. We went back and forth a bit but quickly picked Abigail as her first name (the only name we had both liked immediately)  but we took until my discharge on Wednesday to settle on a middle name, Kay. Right now, as she's being forced to mature before she was ready, she has a lot of hoses and wires and while we are taking pictures of her every day like the crazy new parents we are (I KNOW that was a smile! Did you see how cute her ears are? OMG, she just grabbed my finger!!) we are choosing to not share those pictures of her with the masses. Thank you for understanding our need for privacy and desire to protect our daughter from  everything we can.

The day before I was discharged we were able to help the nurses do what they call "touch time" where they take her temperature, change her diaper, and clean her up as needed. The day after I was discharged (Thursday) I was able to hold her - directly up with just 2 hands stretched out from me - as they changed her bedding. We knew we'd have to wait to hold her until XYZ happened and the BEST news was that those things happened way before we thought they would and on Friday we were both able to hold her to us for the first time. Words cannot adequately describe what that feeling was like even if you're a parent and you've been there before - let's just say it was epically indescribable.

Now our day-to-day as a family consists of me trying to heal from being cut in half (c-sections are no joke) and us being able to get ourselves into the NICU as much as possible (they're only closed 2 hours a day) to see, touch, and hold our daughter. The love we've continued to feel from friends and family from meals, dog walks, hugs, and kind words have been such an amazing part of this whole experience - thank you all. We will of course continue to keep everyone posted on Abigail's progress and hope that the closer we get to April, the closer we get to bringing her home with us.

So quickly everything changes. Thus begins our greatest adventure.

Wedded Bliss

For sure not the final adventure in this relationship, but surely the next big one, Chris and I got married on the 25th. The day was sunny and beautiful, everyone had a great time, and there were red velvet cupcakes - what more could a girl ask for?

For the last year I have been asking a lot actually. Mostly my questions have been to married friends and family asking them if it feels different to be married hoping desperately that they would say you suddenly felt like a shiny rainbow unicorn. Why this need? Heaven only knows.

Living together before marriage was a requirement for both of us. We had already put our lives together as much as we could. We had spent time with each other's families. We had Nacho, Kolby, Sid, the fish, and some plants I keep trying to kill. We survived 4 months of training and 3 years of grad school.  Our relationship has always been practical and for anyone who knows me, they know that would rank high for me. Over dinner with some friends Chris said quite simply he didn't want things to change after we got married - that he likes our relationship the way it is. And the truth is so do I - why do I feel like a shiny rainbow unicorn is even needed? Why can't being married be enough? Now that the day has actually come and we are officially married, the truth is, it is enough just to be married. I don't need a shiny rainbow unicorn and I don't think people need me to have that either so I am happy with what it is: the start of a happily married life built on the solid foundation of a practical relationship filled with love.

It is still new so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I don't feel like a wife yet. I can still count the number of times I have called him my husband. The paperwork is a hassle. I have yet to perfect my new signature. And there is this flutter in my heart when I see the ring on his finger and I know that he is mine from now until forever. And that last feeling, that flutter, is the one that I don't ever want to fade.

Changing MY Conversation

All this motion right now about this "tutus are lame" SELF magazine scandal has been INTENSE. I sat with my SELF magazine today and flipped through most of the magazine not really seeing anything that would raise an eyebrow (other than debating whether or not their models are photoshopped) and found the infamous picture tucked away at the end of the magazine and it made me think - what IF the situation was different?

My friends and I have tossed around the great idea that the magazine should have just dressed up an intern in a tutu if they were going to make fun of it and you have to ask yourself, would you have really cared then if the magazine called wearing a tutu silly? I mean REALLY cared?

If they had taken the picture off the web, or if Monika didn't happen to have cancer at the time that picture was taken, or if no one who knew Monika or Tara saw the pic, would the reaction have been different?

Think about this - "Be kind to every person you meet because you never know what someone else could be going through. "

Now, I don't want to assume anything about you, but I know 2 things about me: 1) I am awesome. 2) I have made fun of people when I knew they would never find out. Perhaps you have too and you can relate. Now, I am not a popular fitness magazine, I didn't request someone's photo under false pre-tenses, and I do not condone what this magazine did, BUT I think if we really want to change the conversation, we need to also think of the conversations we have with our friends...about other people...when we feel confident that they won't find out what we have said about them. 

I love the girl empowerment and the runner love and the tutu support. That being said, I think in reality we have all said something mean about someone at some point. Even something mean about ourselves - and that is no better. What is it with human nature that makes us feel better about ourselves when we put someone else down? How can women who are role models for other women hate on themselves? How can we #changetheconversation? Well, I am going to start with me as that seems the best place to start. 

I am going to change MY conversation.

I am going to use this incident as a learning experience: be careful of what you say and do as you never know what might come of it. And, most importantly, don't say anything about anyone that you wouldn't feel comfortable saying to their face.