Update since August

Greetings from cold, rainy Ifrane where they have just turned the apartment heat on in the evenings and nights. They turn it off in the day which is OK because most people are gone and those who are here just bundle up!

I figured it is time for an update since we got back.

Gerald - Well, if you've read the last entry, you know that Tarzan has a torn ligament. He is quite swollen and bruised above the cast, but we think that is because he hasn't been elevating it high enough. Today is rainy, so my goal is to get him home without another cast! (The walkways on campus are very slippery in the rain.)

Because of poor results of swinging on branches, Gerald has decided to keep his day job. And that part is going very well. Work seems to be under control unlike the last two years, and he even has time to fit in language lessons with a student.

Julie - I spend much of my time homeschooling Kendra. Otherwise I hit the language books. Now it's French - not that I've learned Arabic, but because I have to keep up with Katrina's homework! And there's always the stream of company and kids coming through the house which I've gotten so used to that I think I would melt of loneliness if it were any other way!

Katrina - Bops off to school (one safe block away) every day with all her little friends. The contrast between the start of this year and last is remarkable. She is so confident and happy this time around (last year full immersion into the French system was rather painful). She also now has a special Arabic class with the non-Moroccans. She was a bit insulted about this at first, but now she is happy.

Kendra - Goes happily to a Moroccan school in French two mornings a week. The other three mornings she is homeschooled in English. In the afternoons we work on Arabic & French with a tutor or a computer.

Katrina fell two weeks ago knocking out a baby tooth and knocking a permanent one sideways. We are hoping this will correct itself over time. Kendra fell a week before that and hit her head on our tile floor - so naturally, we are quite concerned about our recent accident history! I hope this pattern stops!

Ramadan, weather & wells - all have affected us recently. More on those subjects in the next entries.