Apparently these elephants really ARE between circus gigs. Sort of. A bit sad actually. You can check out their story on this YouTube 'news story' video. The kids in the video are mostly kids that go to our school as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kaFC0cdIx0
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Yep, elephants!
Today is Eid Al Mawlid, which is the observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet, Mohammed. It gives us a day off work, so YaY! I was even fortunate enough to sleep in (until 10:00!!!) because the annoying construction across the street apparently observes this holiday as well. Not waking up to the incessant noise of metal pounding on metal was fabulous.
Jenny decided we should go on a walk and out for lunch. Beautiful day, great idea. So, we walked down along the corniche(which basically refers to the area along the coast/ocean). As we were between the Grand Mosque and the first McDonald's, (yes, there are two of them down in this area) we came upon an empty lot off to the left. In that empty lot is a small blue tent/tarp, and a blue truck/trailer of sorts. I had seen this a week prior when going on a field trip with my class (to an aquarium...that had no live aquatic life of any kind. Not my field trip idea, mind you, but that's a different story). In this open lot are some elephants. They are apparently between circus gigs, because there's nothing else there except these 4 elephants. And when I say nothing, that includes any kind of barricade one would expect to be present with elephants. As Jenny and I are walking over to see the elephants, I'm mentally kicking myself for not having my camera with me. We walked up and found many other observers as well. Adults, children, and everything in between. There was a small area 'roped off' for these large mammals. I am not joking when I say that the elephants were being 'corralled' by a piece of rope or twine attached to some stakes that did not look to be real sturdy. There was also a metal 'rope' going around as well, but attached to the same stakes. Basically, there was nothing keeping these elephants from doing whatever they wanted, including running and stampeding the small children who were there. Or the large adults. Also present was a Moroccan man who came stumbling out of the trailer in his socks and sandals, with tea and cigarette in hand. He yelled something in arabic at the 20-something kid who is apparently in charge of 'watching' the elephants in his absence. Or maybe he was yelling at the elephants. Who knows. At one point, the 20-year old did yell at a man who dared step under the twine. Because obviously, that would be unsafe! Jenny and I giggled at the whole scenario and eventually left. The rest of our walk entailed meeting a group of teenage boys who pretended to take photos of us while making inappropriate comments, two men in a car stopping to try to talk to us in spanish, english and french (while we ignored them), and being followed by two small girls who seemed to be playing tag around us, but were actually trying to figure out which one of them was going to ask us for money. I believe it was close to this point that we decided we needed some 'comfort food' and thus headed to TGIFriday's for lunch. Onion rings appetizer and blackened chicken alfredo for me...burger for Jenny. And an oreo ice cream dessert. It was too much, but a good reminder of how we don't eat that way here very often. Which is good.
Days off are always good days. And when you live here, they also prove to be entertaining more often than not. Looking forward to next week's "February Break." Parents are coming, and we plan to visit Fez and then go on a 4 day trip to the desert. A camel ride out into the dunes will be involved. Thus, my parents will both be on a camel. I will definitely have my camera battery charged and ready. :)
Jenny decided we should go on a walk and out for lunch. Beautiful day, great idea. So, we walked down along the corniche(which basically refers to the area along the coast/ocean). As we were between the Grand Mosque and the first McDonald's, (yes, there are two of them down in this area) we came upon an empty lot off to the left. In that empty lot is a small blue tent/tarp, and a blue truck/trailer of sorts. I had seen this a week prior when going on a field trip with my class (to an aquarium...that had no live aquatic life of any kind. Not my field trip idea, mind you, but that's a different story). In this open lot are some elephants. They are apparently between circus gigs, because there's nothing else there except these 4 elephants. And when I say nothing, that includes any kind of barricade one would expect to be present with elephants. As Jenny and I are walking over to see the elephants, I'm mentally kicking myself for not having my camera with me. We walked up and found many other observers as well. Adults, children, and everything in between. There was a small area 'roped off' for these large mammals. I am not joking when I say that the elephants were being 'corralled' by a piece of rope or twine attached to some stakes that did not look to be real sturdy. There was also a metal 'rope' going around as well, but attached to the same stakes. Basically, there was nothing keeping these elephants from doing whatever they wanted, including running and stampeding the small children who were there. Or the large adults. Also present was a Moroccan man who came stumbling out of the trailer in his socks and sandals, with tea and cigarette in hand. He yelled something in arabic at the 20-something kid who is apparently in charge of 'watching' the elephants in his absence. Or maybe he was yelling at the elephants. Who knows. At one point, the 20-year old did yell at a man who dared step under the twine. Because obviously, that would be unsafe! Jenny and I giggled at the whole scenario and eventually left. The rest of our walk entailed meeting a group of teenage boys who pretended to take photos of us while making inappropriate comments, two men in a car stopping to try to talk to us in spanish, english and french (while we ignored them), and being followed by two small girls who seemed to be playing tag around us, but were actually trying to figure out which one of them was going to ask us for money. I believe it was close to this point that we decided we needed some 'comfort food' and thus headed to TGIFriday's for lunch. Onion rings appetizer and blackened chicken alfredo for me...burger for Jenny. And an oreo ice cream dessert. It was too much, but a good reminder of how we don't eat that way here very often. Which is good.
Days off are always good days. And when you live here, they also prove to be entertaining more often than not. Looking forward to next week's "February Break." Parents are coming, and we plan to visit Fez and then go on a 4 day trip to the desert. A camel ride out into the dunes will be involved. Thus, my parents will both be on a camel. I will definitely have my camera battery charged and ready. :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Go figure...
One would think that living in a desert country, and driving farther INTO the desert (Marrakesh), you wouldn't expect to encounter rain and cold temps when running a half-marathon on January 30th. Well, one would be wrong apparently. Because that's exactly what we had...rain and cold temps. Most would probably say "Oh, but that's great running weather." Maybe it is, but I hate to be cold. And especially hate to be cold and wet.
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| Looking down into a reflecting pool |
I was lucky enough to ride to Marrakesh with my training partners Sherry, Amy, and Younes (who is Amy's boyfriend and has a vehicle!), along with coworker Allison who decided to run the full marathon while we were smart enough to opt out at half. We managed to find our riad in the medina of Marrakesh despite the fact that we left the directions here in Casa. Turns out if you pay a man hanging around the square 30dirhams, he will escort you there. :) The riad was just a door in the middle of seemingly nowhere, and opened up to a cozy little place for us to hang our hat for the night.
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| Doorway to the 'suite'. We got to look inside. :) |
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| Looking into the little bathroom area of our room |
Our room just had two single beds, and a small 'not-so-private' bathroom area. But it was cute. They even had breakfast ready for us early before the race and had a cozy fire going in the fireplace Friday night when we arrived after walking back from dinner in the rain. It was a lovely way to wind down for the evening.
Race morning arrived, and the sound of rain persisted. To give you any indication of how chilly it was, I could see my breath when we got outside. But, as we walked to the start, the rain tapered off and we warmed up a bit - or as much as we were going to. I 'represented' my homeland, donning a KC Royals hat and my favorite Liberty softball t-shirt. I'm sure the Moroccans were impressed with my fashion choices. Ha!
In true Moroccan fashion, the race that was scheduled to start at 8:30, began at about 8:45. Thus, I ran. And ran. And ran some more. We passed the person running in a full on easter bunny costume (no joke) and then I was passed by a dude wearing spandex with his name on the butt...Goooo Eric! HaHa. After much running, some very tight calves, and a cramp in my right butt cheek that resulted in an attempted stretch break, the '20K' sign appeared, meaning one kilometer (less than a mile) to go. It seemed like forever, but eventually, the finish line was there, and I sprinted pushed plodded through it 2 hours and 14 minutes after I started. I didn't necessarily have a 'goal time', but in my mind had hoped to be under 2:15. So I guess I accomplished what I set out to do. And no, I have no desire to do a full marathon. Ever.
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| Drenched in sweat from head to toe...but look at that medal!! :) |
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Just another drive home from work
Yes, another story about crazy drivers and traffic in general. It's a daily occurrence. Today, we were almost home. By 'we', I'm referring to friends (Jim & Luann) who regularly give me rides home, allowing me to avoid the Big Blue Bus. I'm forever appreciative. Jim managed to maneuver through the usual traffic headaches of random street construction, cars trying to 'snake him', women in jilabas (who are the worst drivers ever according to Jim), and left turns that are 10-cars wide and 2 or 3 deep (trying to converge into one or two lanes). We were two blocks from their apt. when the car in front of us stopped. In the middle of an intersection. No, wait. HE was partially through the intersection. We were in the middle. Why did this vehicle stop suddenly, blocking traffic on this narrow street you might ask? Apparently it was because his big meathead passenger needed to get out and yell at a guy. But by all means, just stop RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, and don't attempt to pull over. Feel free to impede the 10 cars behind you who are just trying to get on their way. UGH! Next, meathead saunters over to the man who is in his vehicle perpendicular to us, and they started yelling at each other. About what? No idea. It didn't look like there had been an accident. Maybe the guy honked at him in the wrong way. You really can't explain it, other than to just chalk it up to Morocco...or more specifically, Casablanca. You really have to have an abundance of patience and a great amount of humor to drive every day in this city....
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