Moroccan Music

One of my favorite styles of Moroccan music is Gnawa. Gnawa came from South of the Sahara, actually, and now it is very popular in the area where we live. The musicians below are playing Gnawa music fused with another local style. Of course, you can't listen without dancing.

Musicians sing while children dance

This instrument was very loud! (It is not a Gnawa instrument).

Musicians playing at our school

Moroccan Clothing

Everywhere you go in Casablanca, you can see men and women of all ages (kids, too) wearing the traditional dress of Morocco. Sure, people dress very modern as well. However, it is perfectly acceptable to wear your djellaba and slippers around town, and even recommended to wear it for a nice dinner. I can't complain- imagine the baggiest piece of clothing you could find, plus slippers! Moroccans sure know how to dress comfortably.

Have a look-

This little boy drinks Moroccan Tea while wearing a Fes hat, which is from the city of Fes.

The girl on the left is wearing a djellaba. You can tell because it has a hood in the back.

The girl on the right is wearing a kaftan. You can tell because of the belt.

Look at the blue Moroccan slippers!

In Morocco people drink lots of mint tea. It has lots of sugar in it. Moroccans like their tea frothy, so the "tea man" pours it from way above the glass. Anywhere you go, people always use the fancy pitchers and glasses.

This is me wearing a djellaba I borrowed from a student. I am wearing Moroccan slippers. This is in my living room!

Camels!

Hi, friends! It has been a long time since I updated this. Will you do me a favor- if you are following my blog, please comment. Then, I can be sure to keep updating for you.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a lovely town on the ocean called Essaouira. While we were there, we rented camels for 2 hours and rode them on the beach. There was a big group of us and our camels were tied together, so it was a tame trip. My camel was very friendly and kept putting his head close to my husband's leg. Here are some fun pictures for you to enjoy!

A camel on the beach

Tom and I on our camels (we bought turbans to block the wind, sun, and sand. They really work!)

A typical Essaouira scene: seagulls, ocean, fishing boats

Fish, anyone?

Casablancan Dump Truck

I really wanted to take some "everyday" pictures of life where we live. Tom and I went on a walk, and I saw this cute donkey in the street pulling a cart. So, I quickly took a picture. The man (in the first picture) saw me, laughed, and invited me to take more pictures. He laughed because the donkey was pulling a cart of trash- they must've thought me silly to be fascinated with a "dumptruck"!

From Morocco 2

From Morocco 2

-Karissa

Breaking the Fast

It is Ramadan in Casablanca. That means that for a month, people fast during the day. That means that between sunrise and sunset, they don't eat food or drink beverages. Can you imagine having to do that all day for a month? Of course, when the sun sets, EVERYONE eats a big meal, and some people stay up very late eating. There are lots of sweet treats to buy for this big meal, too.

We happened to eat at a restaurant one of these evenings, and two men gave us a performance. Go to the link to see the video I took. (It's not very good quality).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ8DW-GeM_U

My Classroom

Hi! I wanted to share my new classroom with you. It is bigger than the one at REMS- we actually have desks! And there is a separate stage with a theater. In the pictures, you can see the new xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels I get to teach with. I have some cool drums, too, but they need to be fixed.

My classroom is in the basement, but here, they don't call it that. On the elevator, if I want to get to my room, I push the button that says -1. 0 is for the ground floor!

School starts on Monday- I can't wait to meet my new students! Most of them are Moroccan and speak French, Arabic, and possibly other languages, too. English is a new language for many of my Kindergarten and 1st grade students.

What are you enjoying this year at REMS? I hear some of the voyages are going well!

From Moroccan Classroom

Desk Side

From Moroccan Classroom

Instrument Side (See the big mirror?)

From Moroccan Classroom

The whole room

Bonjour au Maroc!

Hello! I am excited to be in Morocco. We flew 4 hours to New York City, then about 7 hours to Casablanca. I had a hard time with jet lag yesterday- it is weird to wake up in the middle of the night here and my body thinks it's afternoon like it is in Colorado! We have been having fun traveling around the city of Casablanca and eating delicious Moroccan, French, and Indian food. Remember the mint tea I told you about? It is everywhere!

Below is a photo from outside the window where we live. This is a very typical view here. Everyone has their windows open because it is hot (there is no air conditioning), so we hear our neighbors a great deal.


Looking out from our 5th floor window

I want to add more photos but my internet is behaving a bit slow right now. More to come later!

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the school year!

What would YOU send to Africa?

My little sister, Kendra, is in this video. She was a BIG help, as you can see!
We could send 20 boxes like these, but we only sent 5. If you had to choose
what to send to Africa to live with for 2 years, what would you send?

Here we go!

Hi! We have a few weeks left of school until our goodbyes, so I wanted to set this up so we could keep in touch. I will use this page to post pictures, videos, and stories of my time in Morocco. I hope you visit often, leave comments, and keep in touch!

~Ms. Karissa

p.s. This is a picture of me playing the steel drums in Guyana, South America.