Dennis and Barb's Visit

We just had the privilege of having our wonderful friends, Dennis and Barb, visit us for a week from Topeka, KS. When I started teaching, it was Barb's wisdom, kindness and professionalism that helped me survive that first rough year and the years after that. Her husband, Dennis, is a retired colonel but is such a jack of all trades, that it's hard to tell what he can't do! Somewhere along the way Barb and Dennis decided to 'adopt' us and our children - which led them to making the long trek across the ocean to see 'their grandchildren!' What a pleasure! As usual, my pictures are out of order....We spent a morning at a cooking school especially for Master Chef Dennis -where we all learned a thing or two about Moroccan cooking!

Barb bought some rugs from our friends in a local village. With the carpet money these women have raised over the last several years, two of the women have been able to pay for their houses to have solar electricity (they had none at all before).

Dennis with my brother, Ron (right) and two peace corps volunteers after a long and animated discussion about how to insulate a high school with locally available materials. All of them were in their element!

One of the rare pictures with both Barb and Dennis in it!

Barb is, among many other things - a fabulous photographer. She loves gardening so we took her to the botanical gardens in Rabat where she kept saying things like, "I didn't know this plant could grow this big!" Rabat is a very similar growing climate to LA.

Visiting our friends, Lotfi and family, in their new home where they served us a delicious chicken tajine. Lotfi's wife never eats with us (because there are men present), but the kids came in and out.

At 210 meters, this minaret of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the highest in the world. Built by the current king's father on a slum and using the taxes of all Moroccans in 1993, this mineret and its mosque are viewed with mixed feelings.

We took them to the farmer's market where Dennis said "you can taste the air-" filled with the smell of all the fruits and vegetables - and a few other things...

Barb's most photographed subjects on this trip!

The Royal Palace in Fez - though the king does not actually reside here when he visits Fez, but rather in a simpler palace across town. The tour guide said he is called the "King of the poor."

The leather tanneries - one of the main things Fez is famous for. Unfortunately, Dennis had forgotten to take his blood pressure medication on this, our most demanding day of walking. He didn't feel good for two days but thankfully perked up the third.

They had to have a tour of the university of course - this is the theatre - my favorite building on campus.

And we had a lovely stop in the woods.

Now it's your turn to come visit!!!

Hard to believe

It's hard to believe, but my brother, Brad just turned 50! Born in Indonesia with a head-full of hair (he looked like Elvis at birth), this guy is my most world-roaming sibling. Somalia, Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan... and probably several more. Hilarious commentaries, a wild imagination, and a gift for writing can only mean that a book is somewhere in his future. But right now he is traipsing all over Afghanistan having started a company called "Frontier Power" which brings electricity to remote mountain villages through hydro, wind or solar power. The turbines he's designed, built and marketed blow my mind as I certainly did not pick up the engineering/detail gene! As you probably can guess, Brad gets himself into some crazy situations -carrying supplies on 70 donkeys, crossing mountain passes in the snow on horseback, getting stuck in landslides (on his 50th birthday).... Like I said, he needs to write a book! His lovely wife, Nancy, and their fabulous three kids - Ben, Will and Sophie will be moving back to North Dakota next year while Brad will go back and forth between Afghanistan and ND to continue his business. A hard solution to help a country that he loves. Happy Birthday to an amazing guy!

The 2009 Ifrane Olympics!

The girls' birthday party and 'block' party was last Saturday. The weather was actually warm and sunny! But many of the kids were gone because it was Labor Day (May 1). "The Parade of Nations" to the John Williams Olympic Theme. I decided it would not be a good idea to have the USA vs. Morocco :) --- so the kids created their own countries and then each got a ribbon to wave for this. Katrina's country was "Secret Land" (she's tired of her parents and her sister and wants a secret place...) and Kendra's was "Snuggle Land" (she's not tired of her parents and sister). Most of the countries created seemed quite pleasant except for Katrina's friend, Maddie, whose had active volcanoes and multitudes of crocodiles...

Then we did events - gymnastics (led my niece, Tamara), relays and obstacle courses (led by friend Misty), basketball (guess???), and throwing - discus: frisbee, shot put: softball, javelin: pool noodle (led by my brother Ron).

At the end was the medal ceremony - a Twix bar stapled to a ribbon accompanied by wild cheers!

The birthday girls with the birthday cake.