Trick or Treat!

We had our first Halloween in Morocco. There were a lot of Americans and Canadians around so we were able to celebrate. A group of about 10 kids came by our house for candy. We didn’t have Jack-o-Lantern but we did set up lots of candles and played “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. The children were American and their parents made arrangements to go around to the different American houses. Stephanie helped with the 5th grade Halloween party… nothing like a bunch of 10 year olds on sugar! One 5th grader dressed up like Sarah Palin (a little parental influence in that costume decision) and even had a speech prepared if you asked her. I won’t give you her speech… just in case we would offend our Republican friends. Last night we went to a “Halloween” party. It turned out that no one got dressed up (it was Nov 1) so we were glad we didn't spend time putting together a costume.

The school had parent conferences Monday and Tuesday. It went pretty well. Most of the parents came and had good things to say about my teaching style and that the students were challenged.

It is still raining a lot. With the rain, the temperature drops and our cement house stays very cold. Outside it has been about 52 degrees so inside ... is the same since we don't have heating. It’s kind of like living in a parking garage… always damp and cool. Today we started the fire place! That was exciting! We are very glad we brought so many blankets with us. Our next winter goal is to find a transformer so we can use the electric blanket we brought with us.

We took a trip to MegaMall on Saturday. It was a good flash back to American life. We ate burgers and fries, bought Newsweek in English and then went bowling! The mall even has an ice skating rink. We will never be able to actually buy anything at the mall (other than our hamburger and fries). The mall mostly had designer items… shoes, jewelry, bags, etc. The only stores we recognized were Nike and Levis… not designer names. The Levis store had a pair of jeans that would cost us $170! Please! There was even a lingerie store which Stephanie thought was a bit bizarre. It was very strange being in a developing country and having designer clothing. We think we had our fill for at least another year.

We have a four day week due to a national holiday starting on Thursday. We plan on going to Marrakesh for at least two days so… more to come.