New Places New Faces- Marrakesh!

Marrakesh Medina

We've spent a couple of days exploring in Marrakesh - our new hometown. And along with that, we've met lots of wonderful people here that I'd like to introduce you to.

This is Kumbi, my darling new friend and neighbor from Zimbawe. Her husband Shamie works with Rob and it has been a joy to get to know them and their three children. She is a busy mom but still finds time to work on her PhD while in living here in Marrakesh. She's a gem!

This is Abdullah. He is somewhat of a legend in Marrakesh - he knows EVERYONE - and has taken us under his wing to show us the city and sell us some of his beautiful carpets. He is a character!

Abdullah spent a day giving me, Rob, and Scott (another of Rob's coworkers and new friend for me) a tour of the Marrakesh Medina, or marketplace. It is a HUGE and absolutely crazy maze of shops full of food, clothes, leather, carpets, fabrics, spices, shoes... You really have to see it to believe it, but here are just a few pictures to give you a feel for the place.

Olives!

Shoes!

Riads (little hidden hotels)

Seated outside a carpet shop in the Medina, this sweet woman invited me to sit with her and taught me how to do a little weaving. She was so patient and kind; I finally got the hang of it! Another new friend!

Abdullah also introduced us to one of his Berber friends and insisted that I join him for a little serenade. I hope I get to see this dear man again soon!

Our visit to the Medina included a little history lesson and a walk around the Koutoubia mosque. 

The day concluded with a ride back to our car in a tuktuk because Abdullah thought I needed to get off my feet. The little shriek you'll hear in the video is me reacting to how close we were to the taxi right next to us. You'll also notice Abdullah greeting a friend in a taxi going by. Like I said, he seems to know EVERYONE in Marrakesh!

There is so much more to tell you about another weekend we spent in Rabat, but I'll save that for the next post, inshallah. 😉

Sue

Ourika Valley

Growing up in Merced, I still remember learning about the California gold rush during 4th grade social studies. Referring to the discovery of gold in the rivers and streams of the Sierra foothills not far from my childhood home, the word "Eureka!" (I have found it!) is emblazened on the California State Seal. So I have always associated "Eureka!" with mountains and history.

Our current home in Marrakesh is very close to (we can see them from our back yard) the foothills of another important mountain range; the Atlas Mountain chain stretches across North Africa through Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The mountain community closest to our home is the Ourika Valley (pronounced OY-REE-KA) which roughly translated from Arabic means "river passing through foothills." Eureka, Ourika - I marvel at the similarities! And the differences...

The Ourika Valley is a popular destination in the summer partly because they offer a unique dining experience for heat-weary Moroccans and tourists. There are many, many restaurants and cafes along the Ourika River that give customers the chance to cool their feet in the water during the meal. Yes, the tables and chairs are sitting in the middle of shallow places in the river! 

The weather was cool on the day of our excursion, so we enjoyed sitting near rather than in the water. We enjoyed our tagine and local entertainment with dry feet this time, but we will definitely go back sometime for the full experience.

But I've gotten a little ahead of myself. On our drive up to the Ourika Valley we stopped at a little museum to learn more about the rich Berber culture of the area. Finding our way to the museum was not easy as it is tucked up in a little village and not obvious from the road. Fortunately we received assistance from these little friends who were happy to lead us through rugged streets and stairways to the entrance. The children here are precious and happy to pose for pictures if you tip them a few dirham. 

These are some views of the village where these children live from the top of the museum. It's very humbling.

After our tour of the museum we stopped in at a women's cooperative at the base of the village to check out their argon oil products. 

Argon oil is a natural plant oil derived from the fruit of argon trees and is quite expensive; roughly $20 for 1.5 cups. It is very difficult to extract and supposedly has both medicinal and cosmetic properties that make it highly desireable, so of course I bought some! Have you ever seen a picture of goats in a tree? I always thought it was fake, but in fact it's REAL, and the goats are eating fruit in an argon tree. I had no idea! This is in another part of Morocco so I didn't see it firsthand, but it's the truth.

After our visit to the museum and argon showroom we drove on up to find a place for lunch. What amazed me most were the rickety footbridges that went straight from the road across the river to homes or compounds. 

After our lunch on the river we drove a little further up the mountain and explored some of the village shops located right on the main road which in most cases is just one lane. We made some more new friends including Omar who sold us a beautiful Moroccan carpet. We promised to bring all of our American friends to his shop when they come to visit us so he gave us a VERY GOOD PRICE!

On our drive back down the mountain we observed a large group of village women working together in the river. At first I assumed they were washing clothes, but as I looked more carefully I realized they were washing and scraping large quantities of freshly slaughtered chickens, probably headed for the cafes downstream to use for that night's tagine. Hmmmmm. 

Truly, the world is a wonderful place, isn't it? Until next time,

Sue

What's New?

If you were to ask what's new for us in Morocco we could answer in one word.  EVERYTHING! 

We're living in a private community located south of Marrakesh. Several of Rob's co-workers and their families are living here as well. Our villas are on the perimeter of a golf course and it's quite lovely. There are bougainvillea and olive trees everywhere.

In addition to the golf course, the community is home to a cable Water Skiing park aptly named "Waky." We haven't tried it yet but maybe we've still got a little cutting and spraying left in us! 

Driving is really different but I think I'm getting the hang of it. You just have to remember that lane lines are just a suggestion and there are no formal rules about who gets the right of way. They're also pretty lax about passenger safety. 

The hardest thing for me is to see little children riding on motorcycles with their parents. In this case the child was on his mom's back. I guess you just have to do what you have to do.

We see camels all over town. They're strictly for tourists who want their picture taken. 

We also see cats everywhere - including restaurants, businesses, and our backyard patio furniture. As we are dog people this is not necessarily a good thing. I even heard Rob quote his mother the other day... "Damn cats"! (Mikkelsen inside joke.)

The food here is quite different than any place else I have ever visited. Tagine (I always thought it was tangine but this is how they spell it here) and couscous are two very common traditional Moroccan foods. Tagine is chicken, lamb, or beef cooked in a special pot.

Couscous is a small pellet pasta made from semolina, mixed with meats or vegetables. You can eat it any day of the week, but similar to our "Taco Tuesdays", the Moroccans have "Couscous Friday" which coincides with the day they attend mosque. 

My favorite traditional Moroccan dish so far is called B'stilla. It's a savory chicken pie with a hint of cinnamon and sugar. Really yummy! 

In general, the food is pretty good, but I'm finding it difficult to find what I need at the grocery store, partly because I can't read the labels (thank goodness for pictures on most items!) and partly because things just aren't available. I'm still trying to find vanilla extract, regular mustard (not dijon), sour cream, crisco, and broccoli (I had to put in at least one vegetable!) When I'm feeling homesick and hungry for something familiar to eat I head for the nearest fast food place at the mall about 10 miles from our house. Any guesses? I've been there 4 times in 3 weeks!!! 

I could write lots more but this is getting long. Next time I will write about a memorable trip to the Ourika Valley in the nearby Atlas Mountains. 

-Sue-

The Move: Phase Two

I joined Rob in Marrakesh this week after spending a month at home finishing some projects and saying goodbye to many of my favorite people.

A quick visit to the cabin with Gen and Maryn.

A lovely afernoon in San Francisco with Ryan and nephew David.

A delightful lunch with my cousins in Modesto.

 

 A bon voyage party with my friends from church.

I saw lots of extended family at birthday parties for my dad and brother-in-law Guy. (Sorry no pics)

And finally, a sweet send-off from the children at church, each of whom shared their fingerprint to make a musical note on this charming poster of the song they often sing while I accompany them on the piano, "I am a Child of God."

I really can't express how grateful I am for all the love and support I have received over the past month. It has made all the difference as I prepared for this adventure! 😊

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And an adventure it was, almost from the beginning of the journey when the car I rented to drive to the San Francisco airport experienced mechanical problems about 45 minutes after I pulled out of my driveway. REALLY?  And does it surprised you to learn that AVIS wasn't really too concerned about the fact that I needed to get myself and 200 pounds of luggage to the airport which was still 90 miles away in a timely manner? Well, it surprised me! After 3 conversations with different customer service agents that got me nowhere, I realized that if I was going to make my flight I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. Enter my angelic cousin Pam and her knight-in-shining-armor-husband Ed, who dropped what they were doing when I called, picked me up, and got me to my flight on time.  I will love them forever! (Someday this will be a funny story we retell at family parties. Someday...)

Everything after that was smooth sailing. Easy flights, luggage arrived safely, and Rob was there to pick me up at the Marrakesh airport. Whew!

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And now I'm settling in. Unpacking, reorganizing a few things to make the house a bit more efficient, learning my way around town and even doing a little bit of driving. Wow, I look nervous! 😐😂

Thanks again to all of the wonderful people who have supported me on my journey to this amazing new life. Hello Morocco - I'm sooo happy to be here!

Off to Ghana

Wow, my head is spinning from all that I am learning and experiencing... and I’ve only been gone a few weeks so far.  After being in Morocco for one week, I spent a week in Ghana at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF). A direct flight from Casablanca to Accra made it easy to get there.

The AGRF is the largest gathering of scientific organizations, government agencies, and philanthropic groups interested in improving African agriculture.  I was a bit overwhelmed learning about the complexity and challenges of working to help increase food production across the 54 countries in the continent.

There has been real success in increasing food production in a few countries (such as Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ghana), but farmers in most of the African countries continue to degrade their soil, in part by failing to replace the nutrients removed during harvest and also taking off the crop residue from their field.

Even more worrisome to some friends at home, 60% of cocoa production comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana.  Yields have stagnated there due to poor management.  Any volunteers to sample their products?

Cocoa pods...chocolate bars in the making

I’ll see what small role I can play in addressing some of these issues.

It will be a new adventure for sure!

-Rob

First trip to the doctor

Getting medical “care”

I had a lingering sinus infection when I arrived in Morocco last week.  I had finished one round of antibiotics before leaving home, but the infection returned when the medicine was done.  

One of my Moroccan work colleagues was concerned for me and volunteered to help find a doctor who could assist me getting over the sinus problem.  My friend is not from Marrakech, but he knew someone who would make a referral to a good doc.

My first inkling of something out of the ordinary came when he texted me the doctors name and address the night before the appointment.  On the internet, I read it that he was a doctor of dermatology and venereology.  It seemed a bit odd to go to a dermatologist for a sinus infection and I had never heard of venereology before (look it up), but my friend had gone to the trouble of making the appointment so I figured it should be fine.

I arrived at the doctors office and found the lobby covered with tarps and two painters were working on the walls.  I sat down as the only non-painter in the room and waited.  After a few minutes, another painter came out to the waiting room... and he was the doctor.  He took me outside and we tried to converse.  I had memorized a few medical phrases of my symptoms in French and he knew absolutely no English.  After he tried to tell me that he treated the skin (using hand motions), he referred me (I think?) to a doctors office in the same building one flight down.

I went to the downstairs office and recognized the doctors name I had been given.  It turns that the dermatologist had referred me to a women’s clinic.  I quickly backed out and made my way to the street again.

I spotted a nearby pharmacy and went in to ask them for the Augmentin antibiotic that I’ve taken regularly for sinus infections over the past many years.  The good news for me is that no prescriptions are required for most medications in Morocco.  My adventurous trip to the doctor ended up just I had hoped it would- medicine in hand. 

After five days of treatment now, I feel much better and I’ve learned a lesson about navigating the health care system here.  I really need to learn French too!

Actually, I now have a name on an excellent English-speaking doctor when the need arises again (and not a venereologist!)

The Move: Phase One

We're doing the move to Morocco in two Phases.

Phase One
Rob went first a few days ago. His trailblazer duties include but are not limited to:

• Packing some of the essentials that we may not be able to get in Morocco. Those things include peanut butter, ice cube trays and most importantly, my sewing machine. (Isn't she a beauty?) She was part of the deal I negotiated in my compensation package for this new venture. ;)

• Safely transporting said items (and a few other things) to Marrakesh via Air Portugal. 

• Getting the keys to our house.

• Taking the first dip in the pool.

• Making the first grocery run. (He sent me these pictures to reassure me about the food options.)

(Oh yes, and these also.)

• Learning to drive "Moroccan Style" before I get there.

• Starting an amazing new job! (I'll let him tell you about that in the next post.)

Phase Two

I leave  the US for Marrakesh on Monday September 23, 2019. I miss Rob already and I'm truly excited to join him soon!

Sue