First Few Days

Cody's parents left two days ago and we had a great two weeks with them. We traveled around the country for one week and were in our city the rest of the time. Well, Jan took two thousand or so pictures and we currently in the process of sorting through them. Here are few happenings from their first few days in our city. We will have much more to come including our travels to my friend's village way down south and visit from some ol' New Mexican friends.


First day, we wake up and leave the house on our way to a favorite coffee shop for breakfast and we get into a wreck. Totally the other girls fault but of course she doesn't admit it. We were going straight and she swirved into us. A little traumatizing for the rest of the driving but we get through it.

Here's the damage to the car we are using.

We went to the Kasbah and this is a cute old man in his shoe shop.

Some friends enjoying the view together.

This is leather shop in the market. I love all the bright colors and these are called poof's and are stuffed and used as ottoman's or chairs.

We took them to some Roman Ruins (later built on top of when Islam came here). WooHoo that is one good lookin man!

Cody's parents. Cute!

Good thing I like to have my picture taken! :)

Eating at a nice dinner at the Mega Mall for a friend's birthday.

Where does the time go?

This month we are celebrating two years in North Africa. (October 24th to be exact). I decided to go ahead and post today because Cody's parents will be coming in tomorrow and I may not get a chance to post again for a couple of weeks. We will be traveling all over the country and Cody's Mom has an incredibly nice camera she just bought so be prepared for some amazing pictures! Also, for those who are counting, this is our 99th post!!! WooHoo!

A brief look back to 2005, still exploring our new city.



October 2006, one year under our belts and feeling like experts ;)

















And here we are yesterday, my how we have grown...well at least matured...maybe? An interesting tidbit is Cody and I have spent more of our married life in North Africa than America! (4 years this December)

Ramadan Continues...

I know, I know, I am late posting our blog this week but it's been a bit slow as far as picture taking. I promise next post will have photos of us, in case you missed our faces this week :) This week it rained for the first time in a long time and it really cooled off the weather so that has been nice. It also made for some lovely clouds. Here is our neighborhood mosque on one of those days. Also, Leo DiCaprio is in town shooting a movie. Cody thought he saw them shooting down the street where a street was blocked off. By the time I made it down there, everyone was packing up :( The hunt continues...


In other news we have more fast breaking pictures. Here is a lovely spread at a friend's house this week. This fitor was special because it was immediately followed up by a nice trip to the local hammum (public bathhouse). Nothing like steaming and scrubbing up for a couple hours after a big meal.(We had to hurry immediately after breaking the fast to get a good spot, it fill up quick!) By the time we left at 10:00 p.m. the party was just getting started because then we headed to the coiffure (salon) so my friend could get a manicure, pedicure, and hair brushing. I got my hands and feet massaged for about $2.50! She was traveling the next day and needed to look superb.


Here is her living room, just thought you might like to see it.


And last, but certainly not least, who doesn't love a cute picture of a baby?! We had fitor had a friend's house last night and this is their adorable son. Look how big is eyes are! Cody looked SO cute (albeit slightly awkward) holding him, I wish I had gotten a photo. (I'll work on that).

Tune in next week, Cody's parents are visiting and we will be traveling for a week so we'll have TONS (please read TONS) of photos from that!

Ouverture Prochaine!

For those of you who don't speak French:
COMING SOON TGI Friday's!

In our neighborhood (at the top of the main street on the other side of the round-point, in case you were wondering) we are getting a TGI Friday's. It just says "coming soon" but no opening date. I am hoping it won't take too long since they are just renovating a building instead of building a new one (which takes FOREVER here). This is our first non-fast food chain. (we have McDonald's and Pizza Hut). Oh the things we get excited about living in the 3rd world.



In other news, we were able to break the fast a few times with people this week and here is spread from one of my friend's house. We have here starting in the far left corner: turkey balls and pizza sauce, olive pizza, hard boiled eggs, traditional sweet named shabakea served at Ramadan, sfoof (think dried out peanut butter), banana milk, dates, traditional bread named msimen, and turkey sandwiches with lettuce and tomato.
We all just sat around the table and as soon as the call to prayer went off everyone dug right in!

Now for a viewer question. Jana writes:
What do you and Cody do during this time? Do you eat during the day as usual, or do you partake in the daily fasting?

Great question Jana! We sort of have to adjust our schedules a little bit. Instead of meeting with friends during the day we go out at night (too grumpy during the day and people want to sleep). Everyone shuts down about 1-2 hours before sunset to make sure to get home on time and then after they break the fast and watch a little TV. All the shops and the market open back up from about 9pm to midnight and people are out late into the night. So we go to school in the morning and study or run errands and then go out at night. We NEVER eat or drink in the streets but don't fast with them. We just eat and drink in our house.

Ramadan Mubarak

Well, it's that time of year again, you know...Ramadan! I always like to do a post explaining what Ramadan is about here. First of all it is a 30 day fast for Muslims and is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. Everyone fasts from sun-up to sun-down, which right now is around 6:30 in the evening. They must abstain from food, drink, cigarettes, sex, chewing gum, brushing their teeth, wearing gel, perfume or makeup, and talking bad about people. I was surprised the first day when I came home and my concierge was missing a bunch of teeth. I guess dentures fall in this category too!
It is forbidden to eat in the streets and if foreigners want to eat out during daylight hours our choices are basically McDonald's and Pizza Hut. After people break the fast with a traditional soup, dates and some super sugary sweets they wait a few hours and then gorge themselves late at night. Some even get up before sunset to eat one last time. The ironic thing about the month of fasting is people actually gain more weight this month and consume more food than other time!


First of all, you will see a lot of this in the streets during daylight. Workers open up their shops mid-day so they can sleep in and do as little work as possible. Yesterday I saw two men laying side by side in the grass, kinda cuddling in fact.

If you do happen to find some open stores this is most likely what you'll see, lounging and relaxing. A few hours before sunset the young guys will play some intense soccer games to get their mind of food and work up a good appetite to break the fast. Luckily, we have a soccer field right across the street so we get to hear the chants all the time.

After sunset, all the families stroll the streets until late in the night. There are always Ramadan fairs, sales, and little carnivals set up. At about 6:15 the streets completely clear out and it's actually a dangerous time to be out. There is crime that goes on because criminals know everyone is busy eating, even the police. I cannot take credit for these photos. A friend visiting last month actually took these and I like them.

Here is an example of the sweets they consume to break the fast and raise the blood sugar really quickly. They are mostly honey coated and really delicious hot.

Here is some commercialism at its best. The burger is shaped like a moon because the sliver of the moon is the symbol that Ramadan is starting. To break the fast is called Fitr. So McDonald's even has McFitr where you can get soup and dates at sunset. By the way, don't feel special about Coca Cola wishing you a "Merry Christmas," they also wish us a "Ramadan Mubarak"

P.S. Feel free to write any questions in the comments box or if there is anything in particular you would like to see a picture of, thanks!