Trying to capture full glory

Morocco is a great place for beautiful panoramic shots to capture the ocean, desert, cities, mountains, and greenery. Here are just a few from the middle of the country (Volubulis and Meknes):

Comes a little closer to capturing the full beauty, but still nothing like seeing it in person!

Islamic art, as seen in a showcase mosque

Just some of the amazing tile and metal designs that come from pictures of people/ landscapes being prohibited in islam. 

Jellaba time

Now that I have a lightweight robe to wear outside, I am now way less panicked about summers with nice ocean breezy 80-90 degree temps but 100% humidity and modesty rules that dictate full coverage. 

Last year, even in the fall, walking around outside in long pants and long sleeves did not incline me to leave the house much during the day. 

Enter the Jellaba gold! The Moroccan full-length hooded robe that comes in all kids of designs and colors. 

Winter robes are thick and warm. Summer robes are light and breezy. Great for all seasons. The hooded robes are for outdoor wear only. This same exact robe without a hood would be considered indoor-only wear.

So much better than pants!!

Sarah's first cooking in Morocco!

Every so often I request more veggies from Cory. Usually he cooks me up something delicious! Every so often he suggests I cook them myself. 

I pondered this idea. 

I have gotten along for this long in my life without cooking very much. Here it's even easier because we could hire someone to cook delicious Moroccan-style food for us (since there's not even one Trader Joe's here ... so what am I supposed to eat?). 

I thought to myself: 'self, you've gotten this far in life without cooking, why start now?' I don't believe I have cooked a single thing since we moved here 5 months ago.

And I pondered some more.

And I thought at some point I might have to feed more than just myself and at that point the efficiencies of running out to the store and grabbing a smoothie to eat become inefficient and it would probably be good to have some other tricks up my sleeve. 

So upon my return from my trip back to the States, my goal was to cook *1* thing.

I fueled the flames by opening a pinterest account and pinning all the moroccan veggie recipes I could find. 

Last night with our friends was the perfect opportunity to dive in. 

I worked from this recipe but substituted my fave veggies.

http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/moroccan-vegetables-and-chickpeas

First stop was to the veggie market on the first floor of our apartment building. 70 cents later, I had zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, and a chunk of pumpkin (they just off however much you want!).

Next stop was the grocery store to get the chickpeas and harissa spice paste. Then we were on our way to Heather and Adam's!

Delicious and nutritious - made even better by the great company and eating it outside by the fire.

First trip back to USA

Got to celebrate the birthday of the one and only ezra and the marriage of the hilarious darren and marsha. And lots of fun family and friend time in between ... And the best snowfall ever!

Also, i ate my first ever salad!!

Trilingual dinner parties

As we're getting to know more and more people here, a funny thing struck me today as I thought about inviting a few people over for dinner: In a trilingual culture and an even more multilingual expat crowd, I have to make sure that the guest list all has at least one language in common!

If everyone speaks French except one person who 'only' speaks English, Spanish, and German, that's not going to work. If everyone speaks English except the person who 'only' speaks French, Arabic, and Tamazight, that's not going to work. More likely, there will be a few people who all speak one language and a few who speak another, so everyone can find someone to talk to :)

This definitely comes up with just Cory and me too. If we have a guest over who speaks French and Arabic, but not much English, s/he has to have two separate conversations with us (if they want to go into any depth) because my Arabic is beginner and Cory's French is beginner.

We have tons of trilingual conversations in a given day. Often Cory's translating for me if the conversation gets over my head in Arabic, and vice versa in French.

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Oh, and we were videotaped sharing our thoughts on Valentine's Day this weekend! Cory gave his interview in Arabic, and I gave mine in French. Both of us are sputtering a bit because we didn't have a chance to think about what we were going to say before the camera started rolling, but it was tons of fun! Here's the link on the hespress website: Eid l'Hob.

Up North with friends

 We had friends come visit from Ohio and look at all the beautiful places we got to see with them!

Above and below are Volubulis, a huge Roman ruin in the northern part of Morocco.

 Carpet shopping in Meknes. Great group of guys and so many incredibly creative woven things.

 I think this was my first time seeing a donkey carrying a refrigerator. Pret-ty impressive

And one of the many delights of Morocco - double chocolate magnum bars! *Note for mom - Sharon helped me cover up in the sun :)

 Out for a hike outside of Chefchaouen