Spinning

The girls have really been working on this move - Katrina spins Kendra around like this.

It makes me very nervous!
My former neighbor, Crystal, once me about a tragedy. She said she watched a little girl joyfully spinning in a mall. The sad part? Her mother missed it. "I wanted to tell that mother to turn around and watch the magic of her beautiful, happy daughter dancing, but she was too busy to even notice!" Crystal reported.

Ever since that day, I've made it a point to stop whatever I'm doing and watch my spinning little girls. I'm no poet, but here are a few words to describe how I feel when I do -

Dancing little girls

Imagining they are princesses

Or fairies

Or flowers

Uninhibited

Joyful

Giggling

Beautiful

Singing

Faces uplifted

Time disappears as I watch you

I won't forget this moment

Flood Damage

I realize there is much greater crisis in Haiti and that many of you probably have stories to tell about the Christmas blizzard, but here's what happened over here December 24 - the night my meditation takes place when we were stranded because of flooding.

First the water from three different streams overflowed the top of this dam (right) and the hill higher than it near Ifrane. There are all kinds of rumors as to why this happened, most of them blaming the people in charge of the dam. This is always the problem in a place where we live off of rumors and have almost no printed or official information! What seems to be the case, though, is that it could not have been prevented.

Then the water came tearing down through the palace grounds, overfilling the lake, and onto the other side of the road where it tore up sidewalks and roads. This part has already been repaired but there was a 3-ft drop where the gravel is now. Notice the height of the cut in the road at the back of the picture. This is where a brother of a friend of ours was killed. He jumped off the top of his truck as the water was rising and his body has not yet been found.

Then through the woods - this is normally almost all grass (this picture is actually taken after a smaller flood from last week. The December 24 flood was much worse).

Then it broke about 20 feet of the wall you see at the top, uprooting two huge trees and changing the shape of the waterfall. It continued down to the village below where the water poured over the cliffs like a waterfall where there had never been one before. A shepherd who went out looking for his sheep has not been found since that day.

On a different road, this is the place that blocked our way December 24. The water broke the wall and ran over the road, cutting it in two places.

Yesterday we went to a village affected by the flood about 25 minutes away where all the water ended up. There used to be a road connecting the left side of the picture to the bridge at the right.

The hole in the sewer pipe in the center is causing the sewage to mix with the spring/drinking/cooking/washing water. The government in the area seems to not have any concrete plans to fix this, so we (Christian community with AUI) are trying to figure out how to get this fixed first. Note the trees in the back with trash at the top of them and the mudline on the building in front, giving you an idea of how high the mud/water came.

This lady is still cleaning out her house. Two houses fell in this village and many were filled with mud ruining everything. It was overwhelming to have little ladies with so little left offering us tea over and over again. One lady actually tried pulling me into her house - and for such a little thing, I was shocked at how much strength she had!

There used to be a house there. This village was interesting. There were mud homes right next to concrete homes which fared much better. We felt humbled and overwhelmed walking through the streets past people begging us to come to their home and see their damage, hoping for amazing results from these rich foreigners.

Overall, there were 12 homes completely destroyed in this area, and 83 which filled with mud ruining all the possessions. We've heard that 30,000 hectors of land have been flooded and countless trees have been cut down or uprooted. Many roads and small bridges have been washed away meaning everyone from cars to school children still cannot get to where they need to be.

Later, we were told we needed to reprot to the Quieed's office (a sheriff in charge of the entire area affected). Even though we went with a government representative, he was angry that the representative didn't tell him about it. He was worried that foreigners would make him look bad by offering to help and acting like the government had not done anything. It would bring shame on them. (This why, earlier, Karen had been told that there were absolutely no needs and that everyone was fine!) Then he proceeded to show us an entire power point of all the places he had visited and all the food and blankets distributed. We assured him that he was doing a fine job, but that, as neighbors, we wanted to help too. We also explained that in a crisis in America, the government expects others to come and help too. He seemed pacified by this and off we went after promising to work together with him.

Christmas Meditation

Stranded on Christmas Eve

Torrential rain produced terrible flooding and mudslides on December 24 in the Ifrane area. Over a foot of water rushed through the neighboring town of Azrou, knocking school children off their feet and into the water. We know of at least 6 accidents and 5 deaths that night. Before the police closed the road to Ifrane, several vehicles were filled with water as passengers escaped out the windows. Then a section of the road collapsed engulfing a truck with water and tipping it over.

Not knowing that all this was going on, we headed straight into the storm on our way back from the desert heading to Ifrane. Gerald, Ron, Daniel & Helen were two hours behind since they stopped to visit a village on the way. Below in regular type is my account of Christmas Eve 2009. In italics is Joseph’s account of the first Christmas Eve.

Christmas 2009

Family is coming to our home for Christmas Eve. I’ve planned everything and it will be perfect! There will be hot food at the end of our journey, a warm house, twinkling lights and a peaceful, joyful time together.

The Messiah is coming. Mary must have her baby here in our home. Everything will be perfect. Mary will be warm and comfortable – she and the child will have the best of care.

We’re running late. Dark is falling. My nephew Andrew needs to get to a doctor.

A census? We have to travel? Now? But Mary is about to deliver!

Ominous, jagged, black clouds lurking behind the mountains breathe out rumblings and flashes of light. Soon a waterfall of rain crashes right in front of us. Mist closes in. Wind threatens to blow us off the road. We crawl through the storm.

We leave Nazareth, jostled by other travelers. Mary’s face shows her fear as she looks to the long road ahead. Soldiers yell at us, hassling us for fun. We plod along, moving only between her pains, growing closer and closer together.

Evidence of recent mudslides appears on the road. An army truck hangs off the edge after nearly careening into the valley. Rocks cover the road. Rushing brown streams flow across our way as we gingerly bump along. The mudslides are getting worse. I’m not sure if I can cross any more.

Bandits attack a group ahead of us. We hide behind some rocks until it is over. Taking advantage of all the travelers, they are making a lot of money today. I’m afraid to continue, but I know we must.

Oncoming cars signal for us to turn around. They tell us the road is closed. Part of it has collapsed and a huge truck is engulfed by water. Surely the driver is dead. In the dark, rain, mud-stream and rocks, I turn our car away from home. Lord, do you even hear me? This is not how I planned Christmas Eve!

Finally we stumble into Bethlehem and begin knocking on doors. Seeing our state, those who answer despair in telling us that there is no room. We turn away to try another inn. God – is this how you want your son to be born? This is not how I planned the birth of the Messiah!

I call Rachida who lives a safe distance away. “Can we come to your home? Do you have any room?”

Finally an innkeeper opens his door and hurries us to the only space he has left . . . a little cave where the travelers have put up their animals. Not what I had planned, but we are relieved.

We arrive at Rachida’s home and are greeted warmly. “You are welcome! You are family! Stay as long as you need to!” they announce as though we have just arrived in time for a party. We sink into the Moroccan couches lining the room. The walls and ceiling above them are unable to contain the recent rain. Deciding to celebrate, we sing Christmas carols and break out the games.

Mary’s pains increase. I panic. There is no family to help. I’ve never delivered a baby before!

All of a sudden Andrew’s fever soars. His heart stops for a moment and he feels like he is dying – a mudslide of shock and stress engulfing his weakened body. None of us have a medical background and we are running out of medicine. He needs care immediately. Most of the roads out of town are blocked. We wait anxiously for the arrival of the rest of our family who started out later.

I run into the inn. Has anyone here delivered a baby? Someone help me! I return to the stable alone and afraid.

To our great relief, the rest of our family finally arrives. We call a nurse close by. She tells us not to go the hospital because they will assume Andrew has H1N1 and will quarantine him for a week. A few of us set out in the four-wheel drive on a deserted gravel forest road that will bypass the mudslide and river to pick her up and bring the nurse back.

Suddenly a warm, strong light pours into the stable enveloping us with peace. God is with us. The Messiah comes into the world safely. We gaze into his face in wonder. Surely the world stops spinning. We hold our breaths. We are swept away by love.

The nurse checks Andrew’s vitals. He is improving. We all breathe a sigh of relief and hug each other. We are safe. We are together. We have received amazing hospitality. Later we head home on a different, dark, steep, mud-swept road and fall into bed at 3:00 AM.

This is not how I planned the Messiah’s birth – travel, danger, fear.

This is not how I planned Christmas Eve – travel, danger, fear.

But all is well. He has come. He is with us. We are holding the promised one in our arms.

But all is well. God is with us. Close to us on the road and every step of the way.

I look up to find the source of the light and gasp at the beauty of the star shining above us.

The next morning we wake up to brilliant sunshine and message from Rachida – “Good Morning of Light to you” she says.

Yes, indeed, it is a morning of light.

2009

Our family on the Rock of Gibraltar

Christmas Joy to all of you this season!

Winter 2009 - Five months of solid cold, rain, mist, sleet, wild winds, flooding, snow and blizzards made last winter the most severe since the 80s. We barely saw the sun and figured that we received about 7 feet of snow in accumulation. We were so very thankful for our well-heated house but felt guilty as well since local Ifranis really suffered under the weight of the weather. Though very difficult, the winter did help fill up lakes and wells that had long been dry.

Spring 2009 - Gerald taught classes at AUI, Katrina worked hard at school, and Kendra was part-time homeschooled and went part-time to a local school. She took the three-hour entrance exam for Katrina's school in May and passed. That gives you an idea of what the French system is like! Our wonderful friends Dennis and Barb visited Morocco for a week during May.

Summer 2009 - We went back to Kansas for a great time of catching up and helping out with family and friends. We spent most of our time with Mom and Gerald's parents. We also got to see several brothers and their families which was a real treat.

Fall 2009 - Katrina and Kendra attended the same school for the first time. Both of them sailed through the semester - by far the easiest school experience we've had! Katrina has a sweet, new teacher and Kendra has Katrina's old teacher whom we also love. Gerald got right into the swing of the semester and I worked on Arabic and house duties and somehow ended up on a committee commissioned to determine the future of the school - yikes! That is certainly my 2010 prayer request!

Christmas 2009 - My brother Daniel and family came to visit Morocco! We took them around Ifrane, Meknes, to the desert and up to Gibraltar. A very full and amazing time. What a great family! Details on that trip below.

If you are on facebook I would love to stay in touch that way too! I am listed as "Julie Friesen Reimer"

Christmas 2009

Please let me know if you cannot see these pictures. I realized I put them on here full-sized.

After a two-day weather delay, my brother and family finally arrived in Morocco - YAY!

Andrew, Emily, David, Daniel, Helen & Timothy

After seeing a mostly wet and soggy Ifrane, we headed down to the desert where we enjoyed dune-jumping, camel riding and...

Four-wheeling. Gerald took Kendra for a little spin first then just the guys went out to the dunes you see behind.

Dinner entertainment

Gerald's reward for being the only one to wake up early enough to see the sunrise - beautiful!

Daniel is a solar engineer so Ron was eager to show him a solar hammam (bath house) that he and some others built. Hammams use huge amounts of wood which is leading to deforestation - a dangerous condition for a country on the edge of the world's biggest desert!

Note the clouds in the background - in between this picture and the next is where the "Christmas Meditation" happened.

Christmas Day in Meknes with Daniel & Ron's families - here is our food creation Ron had us make combining Christmas and Morocco. We made the "Three Kings Kasbah (Moroccan fortified house)" saying this is the little-known inn where they slept on their way to Bethlehem...

Our home - you are welcome to come join us! The "Christmons" on the tree - symbols of Christ - have a special meaning for me this year. As I was decorating for our Christmas program at AUI, a student came up and asked me about each of the Christmons on the tree. It was the first time a Moroccan has really asked me questions about what I believe in stead of me initiating. It was so very special to explain things to her. After each one, she said, "That's so beautiful!" I felt like that conversation was a special Christmas gift!

Then we went on to Gibraltar - on the tip of Spain. I'll explain all that later. Here we are inside St. Micheal's Cave on the rock of Gibraltar. It was so very beautiful and even had a theatre inside! This is the only one of the 140 caves in the rock that tourists are allowed to visit.

The ancients thought this cave was bottomless and led to hell - yikes! Others said it connected to Africa (only 8 miles away) under the water which is how the North African monkeys made it to Gibraltar. Well, there's no tunnel, but either the Arab or British soldiers must have brought them as pets.

...and now they're all over the rock in a semi-wild state since the army feeds them but they are not caged. Our tour guide had this monkey climb onto my arms! We feed this type of monkey all the time in Morocco, but I had never held one. Later a monkey stole Gerald's camera and Katrina's jacket. Thankfully Gerald managed to salvage both items!

There it is - part of the rock of Gibraltar. The ancient world said that Hercules separated Africa and Europe by pulling apart the pillars of Hercules - Gibraltar being one of them. The ancients believed this was the end of the world and said that you would fall off into the world of Hercules - the sun god - if you went any further. Later the Arabs used the rock as a military base whose comander was named Tariq. So it was named "Jbel (mountain of) Tariq" and "Gibraltar" is a corruption of that name.

Used over and over again in military operations, the rock and the strait haveeen very strategic over the years. Over 53 km of military tunnels have been dug through the rock and if we were allowed, we could travel the entire length and breadth of the rock in tunnels. There are more tunnels inside the rock than roads on the surface! This tunnel was built by the British when they were defending the rock against the Spanish siege which lasted four years. Gibraltar is still a British enclave, much to Spain's disliking!

Jbel Musa (Moses) - the other pillar of Hercules - on the African coast which we could see most of the time.

Gerald and a few others climbed the 1000+ steps to the base of this cliff! Meanwhile, I was taking a nap :)

My nephew, Andrew, is a Holiday Inn chef so he prepared a wonderful four-course meal for us with the help of Jasmine and Emily - yum!

The girls wanted to play on the beach even though it was raining - brrr!

Loved the British phone booths - here's Ron's family with Daniel sneaking up on them....

Saw an awesome fireworks display set to 80's music on New Year's Eve - fun!

Katrina

and Kendra's first time ice skating - they did great!