The 'Kech

Weekends are rejuvenating here in Marrakech, just like they are in The States.  I enjoy my job here; in fact, I have learned to love teaching all over again.  But it seems that no matter if you love your job and students, you still just need time to relax and enjoy the time to not be tied to a schedule. 

Chad, Danielle and I returned to the vegetable market on Saturday morning and I am working hard to create a relationship with the Veggie Guy, I will eventually work myself into the ‘local’ pricing instead of the ‘expat’ pricing!  The Veggie Guy and I are able to have extremely minimal conversation in French.

Veggie Guy: Bonjour!

Lexie: Bonjour! (We shake hands)

Veggie Guy: Ca va?

Lexie: Bien. Ca va?

Veggie Guy: Bien.  Merci.

Yep.  Lexie is making her way into the community.  Watch out.  We collected our veggies, went and had bread and tea at the crate place and headed back to the apartment.  Danielle and I got to chat a lot since it was just the three of us.  It was nice to be able to converse outside of school and without other expats around; just time with my teaching partner.  She cracks me up and I am learning a lot from her.  She is a world traveler and has done most of her traveling solo.  She has taught me that being aggressive but in a friendly way can get you far here-especially via taxi when the guy tries to rip you off.  She has given me inside information for Souk purchases, kept me company on shopping trips she didn’t need to take and overall just makes me laugh. 

This weekend, I successfully completed some birthday shopping and navigated some friends from our apartment through the souks and into Djemma el fna in the Medina (huge success for me!).  I feel like I am finally gaining my bearings navigating through town.  I can walk to places without feeling lost and turned around in the “Red City” where all the buildings look the sameJ In the Souks, a guy decided to convince me we were headed the wrong way, walked us 50 yards to realize we weren’t technically going the wrong way and we watched the grown Moroccan man pout for 4 dhs for “showing us the way.”  Whatever, 50 cents to leave us alone.  We arrived to Djemma el Fna 4 dhs poorer, and decided to land at an ice cream parlor.  Anna, Nick, Maia, Amelie, Chad and I ordered ice cream and rested for a bit before we went back at exploring.  The ice cream parlor ended up in Maia needing an urgent new outfit from the souks, a broken ice cream glass and myself getting to hold Amelie for a while!  Amelie is 6 weeks old and Chad has taken quite a liking for her.  He is so gentle and loving with the little ones.  Maia ended up with a beautiful purple Moroccan outfit and we kept calling her Princess Maia and she was twirling about the aisles.  Once we settled from the craziness, we went back into the souks. I was able to haggle my way down from 750 dhs to 320 dhs for some presents and left the shop feeling rather accomplished.  I may decide to become a professional souk shopper.  All in all, I was proud of my souk haggling and being able to lead a family through the city of Marrakech to the intended destination!  Whew!

We attended a birthday party for one of my students today at a local ice cream parlor called Panna Gusto Italiano.  Hanan, my assistant at school, was kind enough to pick Chad and I up at the apartment and of course, I was greeted with the traditional Moroccan kisses.  She laughed at me and told me ‘anytime you meet a Moroccan friend, you always greet with the kisses.’ I admitted to her that I am still getting used to the greeting!  The three of us drove to the parlor and upon arrival were showered in greetings and kindness.  We ordered ice cream and joined the party.  The party was rather elaborate with a staff hired to DJ the party and led the children in dances.  At one point, they set up an orange carpet runway and taught the children how to ‘walk’ the runway.  Near the end of this activity, I was suckered into strutting my stuff when my student conned them into pulling me out of the audience.  Those of you who know me, can imagine how red cheeked I became and the Moroccan’s loved that I was embarrassed, but seemed to love that I was from The States even more (apparently I am a fascinating American). 

Two clowns put on a rather entertaining show and Chad was practically rolling in laughter.  They were definitely silly, but my cheeks hurt from just listening to how hard Chad was laughing.  At one point, Chad told me his side hurt from laughing so hard.  How I love that kid.  Once the cake came out, the audience started singing ‘Happy birthday’ in French, proceeded by English, proceeded by Arabic, proceeded by Berber which was then proceeded by German.  Yes, ‘Happy Birthday’ was sang in five different languages.  I realized at this point, how lucky my family is to have these experiences.  Many of these children grow up traveling the world, many with parents from two different countries, so they grow up learning several different languages.

They had a piñata and Chad’s eyes lit up with excitement when it busted open.  He looked at me and said ‘Mom! I want some!’  Once I told him to go get it, he ran over and started gathering handfuls of candy.  After the piñata, I decided to call it a night.  We said our goodbyes (imagine lots of kisses here) and headed home. 

Upon coming home, Chad and I settled in and started preparing ourselves for tomorrow.  I was able to visit with my Happy girl who happened to be all bundled up in a winter coat.  Too small, but she was happy anyway. 

I found this artistic carrot at Acima.  Who could not purchase such a unique carrot?

 

All in all, we had a great weekend including all of the learning experiences that come from living in another country. 

Xo

Lexie