Finally !!

It’s been 25 days since I arrived in Morocco – 25 days
I’ve already made 2 sales and have experienced unseasonably cold weather for this time of year. Everyday I wish I had packed my winter clothes. Thank goodness for North Face I have literally been living in my jackets on a daily basis.
Last week there was snow on top of the Riff Mountains it was a spectacular sight.

Although I have found my own apartment I am still living with Jessica and Erik. I need to buy several items before I can move in. #1 HEATERS - There are no heaters in any of the homes so we use portable heaters in our rooms at night.
The apartment is 2 bedroom, 1 Bath- 3rd floor unit with a Panoramic View of the Mediterranean overlooking the pool – Unit #33 (what a coincidence). Yllara Beach is the name of the complex. Several of my other co-workers live here as well. The area is called Cabo Negro. We are turning it into an American compound.

Things move at a snails pace here. The Moroccans say “Enshallah” (God willing); basically it will happen when it happens. It could several weeks to a month to get phone/internet installed. This is after you can find the right person to communicate to someone exactly what you need.

The language barrier is a huge obstacle right now. Arabic, French and Spanish are the 3 languages spoken in Morocco. My landlord speaks Arabic and French and our complex supervisor speaks Arabic and Spanish. Luckily a few of the Americans speak Spanish so after I tell Liza what I need in English she then will tell Khalib in Spanish who will then tell my Elhaitny my landlord in Arabic!!!
February 5th we start Arabic lesson with our teacher Sanae.

January 20th we had a company party to celebrate the Islamic New Year as well as a new year for Compass Properties. It was a traditional Moroccan party at a large hall in Tetouan. There was a traditional Moroccan band the played “shabby style” music.
The girls from our office came dressed in their very best Moroccan dress or Kaftans. They dress just as you and I do on a daily basis so it was a real treat to see this beautiful handmade clothing.

They serve desert first at the meals almost as an appetizer then a type of bread and mint tea which is the popular tea in Morocco made by a tea man. The dinner was 2 traditional Moroccan 1 which I can’t pronounce or remember the name of and beef couscous.

After dinner there was a lot of dancing by the Moroccans. However, it is not custom for men and women to dance together. The women will dance in group and it is not odd to see 2 men dancing together by themselves.

Shabby Band

Mint Tea Guy

Erik and his Angel's Fatima, Kadija, Nizzia, Rajae

Rob and Rick Knight our directors

February 5th we had an official Superbowl party. Jessica’s sister in California has a program called Slingbox. We can either watch American TV live or DVR it. We connect the computer up to the Wide Screen TV and we’re set. The picture is not perfect but it’s a great stream with almost not interruption. Jess DVR’d the game Sunday and we had a party complete with Chili, Buffalo Wings(the best we could do), & a few other American treats. We did squares for 200 Dirham each which is the equivalent to $2.00 per square. Winnings = 0. I drank my Amstels (which I can only buy in Spain) in a Red Sox coozie and enjoyed the game!!