Experiencing Big Change

    We have arrived! After two long flights and a very short layover in NYC, we made it to Casablanca! It took a total of ab(sheep)out 17 hours in the air to reach our destination and was a pretty good transit. I am writing this with about 8 hours of sleep, spread out over a 70 something hour period, so I apologize for any hallucinations.

    Not a whole lot to relay at this time but here is a little. So far Casablanca seems great. The weather is perfect, the food so far is tasty, and the people for the most part don’t stare and point and shout at us. We have had a few really nice encounters with people and a few not so nice ones. It mostly boils down to language barrier. Though some people do speak English, we have mostly run into people that don’t. Everyone speaks Moroccan Arabic (Darija) , and most everyone speaks at least some French. It’s a little confusing on which one to use when greeting. Hopefully our French will get a lot better over the next few months. For now smiling and being friendly is our best ally. My first unfriendly encounter was at the airport while we were waiting for our ride. I went to a little coffee shop to get a bottle of water and only had large denominations from the ATM, so when I went to pay the 8 DH (1$) with a hundred DH (12$) I received a lot of frustration and guffawing. He eventually made change and continued to be unpleasant. The next day at the grocery store I had a similar experience and have come to the realization that cashiers don’t like bill denominations too far from the price. Guess I have to start carrying more change. (Airplane)

    Our apartment is pretty awesome. It is in a 6 story building, on a busy corner, and quite the upgrade from what had in Sierra Leone. *Keep in mind we were volunteers in Sierra Leone and loved our home. Lights! Water! Refrigeration! Our abode is on the top flo(rabbit)or, directly across from the elevators. Yes, elevators!        

     As you walk in you find yourself in a large living room/dining room/ kitchen area, with a bathroom off to the side. Down the hall we have two bedrooms and a small balcony overlooking the terrace. It is pretty well furnished, has plenty of outlets, and some pretty amazing Moroccan style overhead lanterns. We have a washer(!!!), oven(!!!), 4 burner gas stove(!!!), shower(!!), WIFI(!!), and a TV with satellite. Quite the upgrade from roughing it in the dark.

    Our location seems pretty awesome from what we can tell. A couple blocks away we have a grocery store where we can find most things you would find in a Safeway. The produce looks like you w(parachute)ould expect from not having any refrigeration, but awesomely cheap. You have to take it to a separate counter to get it weighed and priced before you take it to the cash register. The packaged stuff is all in French or Arabic. Should prove a worthy challenge. Also within a couple blocks we have banks, hair salons, cafes, and a bunch of tiny little shops that range from butcher shops, produce sellers, hardware stores, 7-11 type convenience stores, bookstores, pharmacies, coffee shops, and even a chocolate maker not too far. Supposedly there is a KFC/PizzaHut within walking distance! We have yet to take a taxi but have been told that we can get to a huge mall (with an IMAX movie theatre th(talking ice cream cone)at does English movies on Thursdays) within a 30 min ride, a huge open market within 10 min, and the beach area (Corniche) within 15min. The buildings all around us seem to range from 5 to 10 stories and are an interesting mix of nice new buildings and rundown buildings, all sprouting a beautiful head of satellite hair. There is a pretty good amount of traffic that seems pretty chaotic and horn filled, but alas we have moved to a city of 3 million plus!