Just a quick note to let you know I will not be posting again until May. Tomorrow I leave for another property show in London. The show runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday I meet a very old friend "Susie McKirdy" who I met when I worked in London back in the early 90's. I think it may be10 years or more since we've seen each other.
Sunday night she gave me the news she's pregnant!! The best part of that story is that her Father doesn't know yet and has never met her boyfriend who will be asking his permission to marry her on this trip -YIKES.
I'm heading out on my very first vacation since I moved to Morocco.
Tuesday night I meet Susie and her fiance Dom at London, Stansted Airport. Staying in a B&B that night and flying out to Southern Italy very early Wednesday. Susie, Dom and I will then meet her Dad and his girlfriend Ann in Lamezia, Italy. We'll be boarding her Dad's 45 foot sailboat and heading over to Greece. Final destination is the Greek Island of Corfu.
I've been to Corfu but never via a massive Sailboat. When I was there I was backpacking through Europe with many random people, very young and stayed at "The Pink Palace" that's a story for another time.
I'll be back in Morocco Sunday April 29th. Stay tuned..........
April 11, 2007
April 6, 2007
Debra and Denise
I met 2 very cool women today "Good Friday" on my viewing trip - Americans living in London. They gave me tons of things to do next weekend while I'm in London. A tiny hole in the wall Sushi place - aren't those always the best. Jess will be psyched since we were craving it last weekend. We talked girl talk and laughed and had lunch together. It was for the most part extremely normal. Somewhat like hanging out with 2 of my close girlfriends from the states although I had never met these women before. It was business and the goal was to sell a property but I truly would not have been bothered if they ended up buying or not. They gave me some tips on English men...best tip is they are not American men. I may be thankful for that in the long run?? They love London and could not imagine moving back to the states. "What about the weather" I asked, my clients are always saying the weather in England is horrible. They didn't seem to agree, they believe due to global warming there is actually a "proper" summer in England. I guess that's an easy word for Americans to pick up since I have already used it in a previous post.
At the end of the day I got them to put a holding deposit down on a unit at Playa Vista, mission accomplished.
For my fellow fans of Prison Break I must say this last episode "SONA" was riveting!! Thank goodness for iTunes.
At the end of the day I got them to put a holding deposit down on a unit at Playa Vista, mission accomplished.
For my fellow fans of Prison Break I must say this last episode "SONA" was riveting!! Thank goodness for iTunes.
I swiped this photo from KK's blog. Hope you don't mind girl....I just love it.
HAPPY EASTER!!
April 4, 2007
AHHHH London
A great weekend was had by all, well maybe not all. Yours truly was top sales agent of the weekend. Our incentive was to book viewing trips. For every VT we booked you got 100 euros. If you brought the client into the booth and signed them for a trip you got 150 euros. Day 1 the slowest day I won 200 euros. Day 2 which was a bit busier I got 3 more. So I was getting a bit nervous....day 3 Sunday, last day of the show....the morning was so dead I was ready to pack it in. Out of nowhere around 12:00 things went crazy. I booked "13" trips it was awesome. I also ended up booking clients who know the editor of "A Place In The Sun Magazine" They are coming to Morocco to buy multiple units and feature "Playa Vista" in the Magazine. Bonacci scores big with the directors! In the end I made the equivalent of about $2000. Just in time for my 2 week vacation - more on that later.
Enough about business.....arrived Gatwick took the tube to Victoria Station. Hopped in a taxi and drove through the city - saw all the sights-beautiful. The hotel was great it was in the Docklands area which are very cool.
Night one was a group dinner in the hotel. Hung out with one of our developers who is a "Brit" and loves to have a good time as much as I do. Great little gym in the hotel ran every morning! Night 2 Jess and I went solo and found the Caribbean Scene Restaurant across the street. Live music, "reggae" & excellent food and wine. We met the chef and the GM. Also that night we met the "Bourne Brothers" and Kirsty. The Bournes, which we later found out, had a booth at the show. They own an international relocation company. They were great fun. We played Giant Jenga in the Hotel bar with them it was hysterical. They have a family record to beat, that was set by their father, of "26" rows. Below is Wess right before the whole thing went down. The record still stands!
Side note for the PA crowd - they asked me if I ever heard of Pottsville.....they are moving a client there!!
Saturday night Jess skipped the group dinner. I was not happy with her. The dinner was at Canary Wharf about 10 mins from the Hotel, a business and shopping area. The stores were closed but in the complex was A STARBUCKS - it was also closed but I now knew where it was. They had Costa Coffee in the convention hall which I had been drinking daily -not bad. Got back to the Hotel bar and hung out with the Bourne Brothers again.
Sunday night I skipped the group dinner..........
Monday morning before we left for the airport we headed to Canary Wharf to do a bit of shopping. First stop, you guessed it and to my surprise they still had Cinnamon Dolce - I drank 2 Venti's that morning - delicious. I bought 3 books, 2 cd's, mags, soap and some "bars". A perfect ending to a successful weekend of civilization.
Next Thursday I head back to London for another property show. Earls Court is the location of this show. Apparently a very posh section of London. One thing about London, it's not cheap and the GBP is very strong right now. Whatever the cost is just double it and that's what it costs in US Dollars. I guess it's best not to think about it to much in those terms!!
From London I fly out for my first European vacation - 2 weeks - - I CAN'T WAIT.
March 28, 2007
Out Of Africa
I’m an American living in Africa and tomorrow I’m going to London “for the weekend”! That’s something a year ago I would have never imagined would be part of my vocabulary.
This time last year I was nursing a serious leg injury that kept me from running The Boston Marathon and counting down the days until “Red Sox Opening Day”. The thought of missing opening day and not seeing JV on his 35th birthday “honestly” makes me homesick more then anything right now. Someone please send him my warmest Birthday wishes from Morocco.
Let’s talk about today.
I took the day off - -I still had clients calling me and I was returning e-mails but none the less it was an official day off.
Earlier in the week I had Rachida make an appointment for me at her friends Salon in Tetouan. I was hoping to get a manicure in London but we don’t get in until late Thursday and there would be no time before the show on Friday. I thought what the heck. Maureen has had her hair done there twice. It turned out quite nice and was dirt cheap. 400dh which is about $45 dollars for a cut, highlight and style. You might want to fly over for that deal alone! I know women who travel hours even across states for a good cut ;0) The manicure is scheduled for 11:30. I made plans with Souhaila to meet me at the Marjane and I would follow her there since she was getting a hair cut and knew where this joint was. She was due to call me when she was leaving the office. I hate being late, no new news there. It’s now 11:15 no call so I head out to the meeting point to be on the safe side. She finally arrives and we get there about 12:00. No sign of the women who is dong the nails but I hear a baby crying in the background so I’m guessing she’s a bit busy. Souhaila and 2 other women who work in the salon are chatting away in Arabic. Interesting shop - some Matrix and Biolage products, other lotions and unknown potions too. Signs written in French and some random Egyptian show on the TV. FINALLY at around 12:30-12:45 the girl takes me in. Her name is Hennah – not pronounced how you would think. It means happiness. Luckily she speaks a bit of English. Very sweet, attractive, young girl. I get the scoop…..she’s the owner of the shop and has an 8 month son named Ryan (pronounced that way, wrong spelling) means doorway to the kingdom and her husbands name is Elias meaning prophet. Thank God we cleared that up. She was meticulous in her work and applied enough lotion to my hands for 10 people. Granted I had not had a mani in over 2 months so there was major work to be done on my digits. The baby came into visit us since he was still crying up a storm. I was freezing, zero heat in the room I was in. The nail color selection was minimal at best. I was scared…..she asked if I wanted a French Manicure but I told her maybe next time. Was there going to be a next time was my thought process. We chatted some more she said if I taught her some English she would teach me some French which is 1000x’s easier then Arabic. At this point I had no clue what the time was. I ended up with a very pale pink, which was perfect and we were finished. At this point I had no clue what time of day it was. We walked out and she said 70dh!! I almost fainted less then $10 I gave her a 20dh tip so the whole thing cost me 90dh about $10. I jumped into my car and looked at the clock 2:15. Well I guess I won’t be running there on my lunch break anytime soon. I must admit she did a very nice job and I would definitely go back to her again. A successful adventure!!!! Next time maybe I’ll risk the brows?!?!
This time last year I was nursing a serious leg injury that kept me from running The Boston Marathon and counting down the days until “Red Sox Opening Day”. The thought of missing opening day and not seeing JV on his 35th birthday “honestly” makes me homesick more then anything right now. Someone please send him my warmest Birthday wishes from Morocco.Let’s talk about today.
I took the day off - -I still had clients calling me and I was returning e-mails but none the less it was an official day off.
Earlier in the week I had Rachida make an appointment for me at her friends Salon in Tetouan. I was hoping to get a manicure in London but we don’t get in until late Thursday and there would be no time before the show on Friday. I thought what the heck. Maureen has had her hair done there twice. It turned out quite nice and was dirt cheap. 400dh which is about $45 dollars for a cut, highlight and style. You might want to fly over for that deal alone! I know women who travel hours even across states for a good cut ;0) The manicure is scheduled for 11:30. I made plans with Souhaila to meet me at the Marjane and I would follow her there since she was getting a hair cut and knew where this joint was. She was due to call me when she was leaving the office. I hate being late, no new news there. It’s now 11:15 no call so I head out to the meeting point to be on the safe side. She finally arrives and we get there about 12:00. No sign of the women who is dong the nails but I hear a baby crying in the background so I’m guessing she’s a bit busy. Souhaila and 2 other women who work in the salon are chatting away in Arabic. Interesting shop - some Matrix and Biolage products, other lotions and unknown potions too. Signs written in French and some random Egyptian show on the TV. FINALLY at around 12:30-12:45 the girl takes me in. Her name is Hennah – not pronounced how you would think. It means happiness. Luckily she speaks a bit of English. Very sweet, attractive, young girl. I get the scoop…..she’s the owner of the shop and has an 8 month son named Ryan (pronounced that way, wrong spelling) means doorway to the kingdom and her husbands name is Elias meaning prophet. Thank God we cleared that up. She was meticulous in her work and applied enough lotion to my hands for 10 people. Granted I had not had a mani in over 2 months so there was major work to be done on my digits. The baby came into visit us since he was still crying up a storm. I was freezing, zero heat in the room I was in. The nail color selection was minimal at best. I was scared…..she asked if I wanted a French Manicure but I told her maybe next time. Was there going to be a next time was my thought process. We chatted some more she said if I taught her some English she would teach me some French which is 1000x’s easier then Arabic. At this point I had no clue what the time was. I ended up with a very pale pink, which was perfect and we were finished. At this point I had no clue what time of day it was. We walked out and she said 70dh!! I almost fainted less then $10 I gave her a 20dh tip so the whole thing cost me 90dh about $10. I jumped into my car and looked at the clock 2:15. Well I guess I won’t be running there on my lunch break anytime soon. I must admit she did a very nice job and I would definitely go back to her again. A successful adventure!!!! Next time maybe I’ll risk the brows?!?!
March 25, 2007
"TIA"
Friday night I had the privilege of dinner at The French in Tangier. The have recently added a jazz bar - very nice. I happened to be in the right place at the right time when a bet was placed regarding the moving of earth at Playa Vista. Richard Padget one of the developers lost the bet by approximately 12 hours. While waiting for Richard to show up (he tried all day to get out of it) we sat in the bar and had a drink. I was chatting with Erik enjoying a Casablanca Beer and some olives. The 2 of us stopped talking and started cracking up because they were playing a very jazzy version of "Walking In A Winter Wonderland" How bizarre! Just when you feel like you may have found a spot that makes you feel like your at home for a few hours you are quickly reminded "TIA". For those of you that have seen Blood Diamond ,if you haven't please do, this acronym is from the movie and our new favorite to use. TIA = This Is Africa
The first time we went to The French it was raining terribly and we ran out of wa
sher fluid. Chuck pulled into Afriquia Gaz to get some. No one in the car could speak Arabic so we knew it was going to be interesting trying to explain what we needed. After what we thought was our best sign language, apparently not, the guy ended up washing the entire car. In the end we did get the fluid but it took about 20 minutes for what should have been a 5 minute pit stop.
sher fluid. Chuck pulled into Afriquia Gaz to get some. No one in the car could speak Arabic so we knew it was going to be interesting trying to explain what we needed. After what we thought was our best sign language, apparently not, the guy ended up washing the entire car. In the end we did get the fluid but it took about 20 minutes for what should have been a 5 minute pit stop. In one of my previous posts I talked about no power in the complex for over 12 hours. This is one better - - NO WATER for over 24 hours - excellent!!
The new Compass Properties Web-Site is up and running. Check It Out!
March 20, 2007
March 11, 2007
Let There Be Light
1:00 Sunday afternoon and the power has just returned. This is the second time in a week I have been without power. Last week it was my block of apartments. No power for over 12 hours. Today it was the entire complex for almost 4 hours. There is nothing you can do. Just wait and wait. I can't call up the electric company "Amendis" and report it because I can't speak Arabic. I called Brian & Liza, we all confirmed what we already knew and then continued to call each other to see if there were any updates. I watched Nip/Tuck on my computer until that battery died and then started a new book "Memory Keepers Daughter". Nip Tuck - I never watched it before and had no intention of doing so, but, Jess & Erik left all their DVD's with me before they headed home. They have the first season so I decided I'd give it a try. I'm on disk #2. Somewhat disturbing yet gripping in a strange sort of way.
I also found balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese in the shaker can, and what looked to be a delicious Olive Tapenade but was awful. I spent almost 3 hours in that place.
Memory Keeper's Daughter was given to me by Ginger who said it really wasn't her type of book. She had been in the states over Christmas and brought it back with her. I was psyched! I just finished reading "The Tenth Circle" which I had bought at Logan on my flight out. It was perfect timing. Let me know about any new books that are worth picking up. They will be part of my shopping list for London.
I got "2" packages last week! Many thanks to my Mom and Kath. They got here so quickly. They were post marked Feb. 26th and 27th and arrived here around March 5th. PRETZELS!! 1 bag of the ultimate Rold Gold and another bag of an all time favorite "Kidzels" very yummy, 2 Cliff Bars, People Mag. love the dirt - - and 2 pouches of Premium Albacore Tuna. I think I may have had a break through with the Tuna. Silly I know....yesterday I went to the Marjane and spent some quality time in the canned fish aisle. I read or tried to read can after can to find a proper tuna and I think I have finally found it!?!?! I haven't tried it yet but it may be a winner. I better not get my hopes too high.
I also found balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese in the shaker can, and what looked to be a delicious Olive Tapenade but was awful. I spent almost 3 hours in that place.Weather Update-64 - Very sunny but it's so windy here today that even with my shutters closed the curtains inside my apartment are swaying.
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