"We don't need no education..."

"...We don't need no thought control.  No dark sarcasm in the classroom..."  Yes, school began on Wednesday.  But, first, a message from our sponsors...

Eat brown eggs.
Eat yogurt.
But not Greek yogurt :(
Got milk?
Fresh and cold?
Nope.  #$%&!

I could go on an on about the tragi-comedy that is grocery shopping in Morocco.  I'll just furnish some of  my personal highlights.  I eat lots of eggs, so I've simply resigned myself to the fact that they will be medium, brown ones.  I don't know if it's in my head, but the taste doesn't thrill me.  The yogurt section section is huge, but most of it (and I've tried everyone) is mediocre.  Don't know why.  Have you ever had milk that comes in a package at room temperature with a shelf life of 6-9 months?  It is UHT milk, the UHT stands for ultra high temperature processing, used often in regions where cold shipping is prohibitively expensive.  I would kill for a glass of ice cold milk, without the odd taste from UHT treatment.  It can be had, but not cheaply or easily.  The pre-sliced, mass-produced bread is terrible.  But the real deal is s-o-o-o good.  The few offerings in the teeny spaghetti sauce section are beyond atrocious, and a little pricey to boot.
Reminds me, it's couscous Friday!  WHEE!  If couscous weren't the national food (to go with yummy mint tea, the national drink), it would be tajine (tah-szheen), a delectible slow-cooked stew brasied at low temperatures named for the distinctive cone-shaped-with-a-knob-at-the-top pot in which it's cooked.  Moroccan tajine is usually made with chicken or cheaper cuts of lamb with any combination of nuts/fruits/vegetables/spices you can think of that may be in this region.  Producer, throw up a graphic on the screen!

Coming down the homestretch...running neck-and-neck with tajine is pastilla.  (Short version of recipe)  It usually is served at special occasions and is basically a meat pie, traditionally made with squab (young pigeon) but most often made today with chicken.   The meat is slow-cooked and shredded and combined with a filling similar to custard.  The thin, crisp and flaky crust has bits of almonds plus cinnamon and sugar.
How about this?  I ate snails today!  I was walking down this one road toward the grocery at the mall.  I've been wondering what all these vendors lined up have been cooking.  I put on my big boy pants and plucked the little sucker out of his shell with a toothpick and downed it.  It was in a real spicy, tasty broth.  Not bad at all!
Not much excitement yet at school these last three days.  Perhaps I'll have something next week...

"All in all it's just another brick in the wall."

"Take This Job And..."

It's Friday night, the work week done.  Had an early dinner - TGICF - Thank God It's Couscous Friday!  I might have mentioned before that for reasons unknown Moroccans eat couscous on Fridays.  Works for me - I like the stuff.  Didn't know it was a pasta instead of a grain.  Did some errand shopping.  The taxi system here is crazy! 
You have the white taxis (gran taxis) which will take you along main roads and outside the city limits.  They are mid-sized Mercedes, and they pack them 5 minimum, quite often 6, and I was one of 7 in one last weekend.  Then there are the red taxis (petit taxis) which are SUB-compacts and are supposed to hold 4 max.  Apparently they usually hold to that because the cops will actually stop you for that.  They try to cheat us foreigners all the time (like 1 hr ago) but I'm told that this is absolutely normal.  It would almost be an insult if they didn't.  I'm just thankful that in orientation we were taught how to handle such things.  It's like a game to me.
You all know how I've spent a huge chunk of my adult life working with people who have significant special needs.  I've seen countless times people get frustrated to the point of absolutely losing it because of an inability to adequately communicate their needs and wants.  Only now do I know what that's like.  I'm extremely patient with my students.  I'm far less patient with others (who have no excuse).  I have zero patience with myself.
Arabic is the official language of Morocco and French the language of business.  I speak all but two of those.  I've only pitched small fits thus far.  It's really affected my diet - it's hard sometimes to know exactly what I'm buying at the Marjane (like WalMart) and worse, how to prepare it when I get it home.  I'm getting real tired of eating the same foods for breakfast...and dinner for 3 weeks straight.  Baby steps.
It so happens that back in December the largest mall on the continent, and one of the top 10 largest in the world, opened maybe 5 minutes straight down the road.  Imagine the Franklin Mills Mall, but with a stylish futuristic look, and real high-end stores instead of real low-rent ones.  Oh yeah, put two more of them of top of each other.  And tack on an Imax theatre.  And put in a two-story aquarium that you can go 'inside' and be surrounded by it.  And add along the one side an outdoor dining area next to a huge pool with fountains that do a show like at the Bellagio in Vegas, but unlike Vegas, this is along the ocean.  I can't afford to shop in there, but it sure is nice.
I'm getting tired, so I will leave you now with some mall pics.  Bonsoir!

 

http://www.moroccomall.net/concept

"When The Sun Goes Down"

It's 20 minutes after 7 pm GMT which means sunset in Casa and the (4th of 5 daily) call to prayer, amplified and broadcast all about the area.  This scene is being repeated right now throughout the Muslim world.  You gotta hear it.
I thought I'd post a couple of pics of where I live and work, which are almost the same, given my classroom and apartment are only about, I guess, 250 feet apart.  The first pic is from my balcony looking toward the school.  The Atlantic Ocean is about 1 km away.  You can see parts of the king's Casa beach compound, which extends about another 1/2 mile each in either direction.  He has at least one palace in virtually every town in the country.  The visibility was poor today; in the future I'll try to throw up pics of the beach town of Dar Bouazza to the south and downtown Casa to the north, where can be seen one of the world's largest malls and one of its largest mosques.  From my bedroom is an unbroken view of cranes and construction activity in every other direction.  Morocco is a developing nation, but has a rapidly expanding middle class.

The other pic is of my apartment, Maison de Jacque:

These places are incredibly spacious.  I think they're very nice.  There are a few differences between a pad here in N. Africa and back in the States.  I think the most interesting one is that screens had to be imported from the US; they aren't found here.  My bedroom is in the top right-hand corner.  That's right, ladies - Jack's Love Shack!  I hope my mother doesn't read this post...

Alright, folks - talk to ya soon!





Home Sweet Home...and my job, too :(

While I was thinking of it I thought I'd add a photo of the campus where I live and work.  We are just outside the city limits, obviously surrounded by fields.  Every day I can see and hear a variety of animals.  From my view I look right down over the campus wall on horses, cows, sheep, wild turkeys and a loud donkey.  If you move 1 km "to the right" you hit the ocean.  The 3 smaller buildings "at the top" of the photo are apartment units; I live in the unit on the left, top floor.  My balcony gives me a view of the beach town of Dar Bouazza in one direction and Casa to the other, but the million dollar view is of the Atlantic (and of the king's beachfront compound).  Enjoy this pic as I promise to work on others...

"Welcome To The Future"

My sister-in-law Keri had the great idea that I should write a blog about my stay in Casablanca, Morocco.  Anyone who has seen me work has observed that for me writing is an extraordinarily onerous task.  Being creative doesn't rank too far behind.  But since I believe in trying new things and improving oneself and want to communicate better, here goes!

I have taken a job at George Washington Academy, a K2-12 private school just outside the city limits of the nation's business center of Casablanca.  And about 1 km from the Atlantic :)  It is legally an American high school.  Students will graduate with a US HS diploma.  The graduates, 60% Moroccan, 20% American, 20% "other" (from 25-30 different nationalities) will largely go on to university in the US or Europe.  I am the Learning Specialist for the Upper School.  May I say that my title is AWESOME - makes me sound much more intelligent than I am.

I've just finished 2 weeks of orientation.  This isn't your father's training.  Our days consisted of largely of crash courses in French and Arabic, learning about Moroccan culture and Islam, learning how to navigate this city of well over 3 million (5M+ in greater Casa), plus other school-type stuff.

A few notes: Morocco is a constitutional monarchy; King Mohammed VI is the head of state, son of Hassan II, grandson of Mohammed V.  I didn't have to look these up.  I haven't a clue who the Prime Minister is.  Read into that what you will.  This is an Islamist state - 99% Muslim.  You might be familiar with Ramadan, a HUGE religious observance for Muslims worldwide.  Practicing Muslims will fast from sunrise to sunset everyday for a month - no food or beverage (or familial relations) during those periods.  The dates change annually.  By coincidence, it has been Ramadan since I arrived and is just ending.  I'll feel a little better about having lunch in front of my Moroccan colleagues now.  What?  You think I fasted?  ROTF LMAO  Foreigners get a pass, by the way, though it's been hard to find places to eat during the day.

Arabic is the official language of Morocco and French is the language of commerce and gov't.  I speak all but two of those.  It's been fun trying to communicate with cabbies while they are trying to rip me off (constantly).  When I do find a guy not trying to fleece me, we are crammed in like a clown car at the circus.

Well, I'm getting tired.  I promise pics very shortly.  I don't have a bleeping clue what to do next with this - hope it gets published...