Mac vs. PC

Right before leaving for Morocco, the Mac won me over and I made the switch. I couldn't resist the lure and appeal of the Mac. Now, in Morocco, I was depending on getting a mobile modem that you can find anywhere to access internet. I didn't think twice about it, but turns out, all 3 Moroccan phone/internet companies do not have mobile modems that work with the latest version of Mac's operating software.

So, for all the Mac lovers out there who may be traveling abroad in the near future, be sure to do a little research. Luckily, there's a great little cafe a block from our apartment with wifi, so we'll make it through. It's the little things you don't even think about beforehand that you wind up getting hung up on later.

Sharing a Room

We never thought we'd do it again, but we are sharing a room with Younis. It's amazing how when forced to, you just adapt to new situations. Of course, Younis loves being right next to us and lets us know that bright and early. However, unlike in Seattle, when we get him out of his bed and into ours, he usually can sleep another hour or so which is great. I sometimes dread what it'll be like getting him used to his own room again.... but I'll save those thoughts for another time.

For a few weeks, Younis was totally anti-sleep and would scream his head off when we put him into bed. He's not as upset these days, but talks a lot about "lie lie". Who's going lie lie, when he's all done lie lie, no lie lie, etc. We wanted to make his bed look really comfy and appealing so decided to go lie lie with Younis for a change and crowd up his bed.

We Have a Home!

It took a good while, but we finally found a home here in Morocco. What we thought would take a week turned out to take a month! Here’s a quick overview of what our apartment search looked like.

Go for a walk around the neighborhood we liked and ask the apartment “concierge” if there are any openings. Every two or three we’d get lucky and either there’d be an opening in that building or the concierge’s side job is rental agent and through word of mouth he knows about a few other spots. He says, it’s just down that sreet and around the way…. 10 blocks later we arrive at the spot. He calls out to the concierge of the apartment building with a rental, if we’re lucky he’s there and has the keys and can actually show us the place. More often than not, the concierge isn’t there and we have to come back later or he’s there but doesn’t have the keys.

In those lucky instances, we get to see the place. Again, more often than not, the apartments are not tidied up to show potential renters. We don’t consider ourselves picky, but I mean we do have some basic sanitary standards. We did find a few spots we liked, but then came the part of negotiating with the concierge his commission so we could get the owner’s number. When we finally called the owners, we were too honest at first. Most owners don’t want short term renters and want some kind of proof that you work in Morocco, so that threw us for another loop. We learned that stretching the truth is a necessity.

We (and mostly Imad) spent more hours than we’d like to share walking the streets of Rabat meeting one and then another concierge. Finally, literally our last hope before we were going to rent a place a little far from where we wanted for a month until we could figure out a better situation. We had heard of a furnished apartment in Agdal, where we want to live. We’d driven by the spot where the concierge who told us about it sits but he was never there. As we’re driving down a street, Imad spots him, Omar, out of the corner of his eye. So Omar hops in the car and we drive to the building….. and of course, concierge isn’t there. Later that night, Imad goes back and lo and behold there’s the concierge. He checks out the place and liked it! The next morning, we all go back and yes, it’s the one!

Now, to talk to the owner. We call the owner, an older woman and we decided just to be totally honest with her. It was destiny because she had rented several times to people on a short-term basis. Now we have a home! It’s furnished and has everything we need. It’s a small spot, a one bedroom, so we’ll learn to be very tidy and minimalistic, something we’ve been striving for a while now.

We have a big traditional “salon” so guests are welcome!! The cushions are very comfortable and meant for overnighters, so small space does not mean no room for visitors. We’re located by la Place Bourgogne next to Bab Marrakech, a piece of the old city wall that is still standing. Here are a few photos of the view from our neighborhood and the salon. I have to say the best part, sunshine. We get great sunshine in the afternoon which heats up the house for the cool nights and it feels so good. Vitamin D does wonders.

Weekend in Ifrane

We spent the past weekend in Ifrane, a town in the beautiful Atlas mountains with the family. It's about a three hour scenic drive from Rabat. Clean air, quiet relaxing town. Lots of city folk come for the fresh air, and I've been told doctors even used to prescribe a trip to Ifrane along with medication because of the fresh environment.

We took many a long walk with Younis and Ghalia preferring to push the stroller than ride in it.

Not sure what the deal is with the lion, but everyone takes pictures by it so why not.

And the cute little lake.

Ghalia and Younis have been getting along really well. Of course there are many a fight over who gets to push the stroller, play with the toy, etc. etc., but all in all more happy moments than stressful ones.

We went to the Sunday souk, market, where you could find pretty much anything you would need. Love the mounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, herbs. A very memorable temper tantrum ensued here. Younis wanted to push his stroller more than anything. When he didn't get what he wanted, full on lie on the dirty dusty ground kicking and screaming. But eventually he got up and we moved on with a few more mini tantrums along the way through the aisles of used clothing, toys, kitchen supplies, food and more.

Then for some final excitement on our way out of town, we went to Le Cedre Gouraud, a famous tree on the road to Azrou. The area is mostly known for all the monkeys running around. I've been to Morocco many times, but had never seen the wild monkeys. After spending many afternoons at the Woodland Park Zoo this past spring and summer, it was quite a trip to see monkeys hanging out right next to us. We even got to witness a full on monkey battle, a few were chasing eachother up a tree screaming and showing their big teeth.

Ghalia and Younis loved it! Especially the horse ride around the forested area. Younis now has mastered the words horse and monkey.

Haircut

Younis got his first haircut today. For the fifteen minutes or so that it took, he sat quietly in the chair with a skeptical look on his face. They did a full do with hair dryer and a little styling. His favorite part, the hair dryer, loves the sound of pretty much any machine.

Dryin' and stylin'.

Post due and enjoying a croissant at a cafe after the big chop chop.

Younis' First Day of School

Unbeknownst to us, Younis started his first day of school today. Imad's sister sends her daughter to a really nice child care center so we wanted to go check it out for little Nouni who we could tell was itching for some more action with others his size.

We left around 8:30 thinking we'd go take a look, see what we thought. Through my work, I've learned more than I want to know about child care centers and what makes them high quality (shout out to any SOWA folks reading this). We could tell right away that this was a really nice place where Younis would be safe, have fun and learn lots of new things first and foremost language since it's all French and Arabic speaking. We went on a tour and then the director said, "ok, vous revenez dans 2 heures, on verra comment ca se passe." Basically, leave Younis here for a couple hours to test it out and we'll take it from there.

Imad and I were not expecting to drop off Younis. We thought we were going to take a look then would make a date for the trial run then settle things after that. But that's just not how things work in Morocco. The motto just do it fits well half the time here. The other half things linger on for what seems like forever. In this scenario, it was a just do it moment. The teacher brought out a big box of lego blocks, Younis was in heaven. He gave me a quick glance as I blew a kiss goodbye and then got back to business.

Imad and I spent the couple hours looking around for an apartment (more updates on that in a post to come). Around 10:30 we headed back to the center. We went in the room and little Younis was sitting with the other kids listening to a story. When he saw us, he came running over to give a big hug. That has to be one of the best feelings! Everything went really smoothly.

For all the working parents out there, this next part will make your mouth drop. For this child care, which is way on the upper end in terms of cost, you pay approximately $90 per month for 10 full days, $160 full time including meals. Now this is expensive. Other child cares cost between $20 and $40 per month full-time. Some things in Morocco are surprisingly expensive like rent, but then others it's just hard to believe how cheap it is.

Trains and Bread

There are many things we love about Morocco. Two things that Younis absolutely adores are trains and bread. Imads family lives across the way from one of the two train stations in Rabat so every day we hear many choo choos going by. Younis often will stop what hes doing to acknowledge the choo choo before moving on and spends lots of time creating different kinds of choo choos with his toys.


The bread! In Morocco, bread accompanies every meal and Moroccan food is meant to be eaten with bread not utensils so it can soak up the sauce. The bread is delicious and in abundance everywhere we go. Even when Younis was sick, he kept up with the bread. It is good stuff!