Pages-- Chapter 3!

This is post number 100 on this blog, which has been in existence for less than a year! I'm so happy I started it, as it gives me a great outlet for writing and is such a great way to keep family and friends around the world a glimpse into my life and travels. It's more personal and detailed than Facebook, but less time consuming than personal correspondence, which it doesn't really replace, but in my sporadic conversations with friends throughout the year it's so much easier to just direct them here for a report on what has been happening!

Anyway, for my one hundredth post, it's an absolute pleasure to talk about the very exciting event that happened last Wednesday! I had the opportunity to speak in front of a crowd of Moroccans and expats at a bar in the "old downtown" of Casablanca at an event called Pages. If you missed my previous post about Pages, take a look here.

Photo from the Pages FB and photo credit to Rapax Studios!

The night was fantastic, the other speakers inspiring, and the music enjoyable! Tahir Shah, the author of The Caliph's House which is based on his experience moving to Casablanca, was there and spoke a bit about stories and storytelling to open the night. Having read his book (along with every other expat in Morocco I think...) and been to his house (as the venue for the baby shower of a friend sometime last year), it was really interesting to see/meet him in person. I really enjoyed his thoughts on storytelling, and especially his point about how the same stories, Cinderella for example, crop up in totally different cultures and corners of the world repeatedly. Certain stories and characters are transcendent of time and place, simply because they are so compelling, and are unlikely to disappear any time soon.

I was the last speaker to talk, which was a bit nerve-wracking since I had to wait my turn the entire night, but being a teacher I'm so used to standing up and "performing" in front of a bunch of people that I wasn't too nervous. I mentioned in my introduction at the event that although anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I'm a talker, even more than talking I like to write. So instead of talking in front of all those people, I read something I had prepared. And due to the fact that while here in Morocco I'm most at ease speaking mix of French and English, what I wrote was in that same mix, given that I was privileged enough to be speaking to a crowd who could understand it all. Feel free to use google translate to get the main idea of the French sections. ;D

Photo from the Pages FB and photo credit to Rapax Studios!

 My Maroc

un

3 years.

3 years, 8 months, 6 days.

I’ve lived in this city for 1344 days. Almost two million minutes.

I’ve lived in this city for 192 weeks— that's 18 weeks longer than my college career.

Those weeks have been full of sunshine and tears, white knuckled car rides and donkey pulled fruit carts, hair tearing bureaucracy and toes dancing with seaweed.

deux

The first time I came here was on my University’s account. Bank account. I scrapped together some BS grant proposal as a pretext for visiting that man right there, and getting to know his country, his family, and him. He and I had had some good times en France plus tôt dans l’année, et ça a commencé d’être plus sérieux. Ma première vrai journée à Casa, et il m’amène ou? Bah a Derb Ghallef bien sûr! On a bu du thé marocain dans un magasin de pièces de voiture. J’étais trop excite de montrer ma grande connaissance d’Arabe—atay nana ! Mais non, c’était même pas nana.

The shopkeeper’s sob story how his wife had just left him was translated sporadically, but I was content watching the pitter patter of pedestrian traffic on the small side alley, everyone picking their way to avoid the ablution runoff. I didn’t see any women.

trois

Au début, chômeurs, on a habité avec ma belle-famille. J’ai appris le Français. Mais c’était pas facile.

quatre

Imsouane. Imsouane.

New Year’s. Sunshine beating our skin, Atlantic winds chilling our bones. Nutty argan oil on my veranda breakfast omelette. Blond surfers in the bay, us exploring the shore’s rock formations, afraid of the frigid sea. A fisherman dancing with his dog, silhouetted by the last crimson sunlight of the year. Fish, fish and more fish to eat, and never a complaint from us. The stars. The silence. The next year, we did it all over again.

cinq

It’s the day to day things I find the hardest. My death-defying taxi drivers. My lack of time to form proper friendships. The struggle to get the internet fixed, or the fridge, or the water heater, or to get the electricity turned back on when Lydec turned it off EVEN THOUGH WE PAID.  The birds that poop on the clothes I just hung out for the sun to finish my laundering job. The ear splitting, high-pitched road rage of blameless drivers. Walking on the street with self-imposed invisible blinders, shielding myself from the honks, looks and dirty mutters I don’t understand…. but understand.

It’s the day to day things I appreciate the most. The seagulls perched as regularly as piano keys on the construction crane in front of my school. The way the fruit here pops when you chew it. How the wildflower colors change each month. Le fait que je parle français maintenant. Les couleurs de la coucher de soleil au-dessus de l’océan. How little trash I create here, compared to in the US. No heating needed. Central AC? Pff. Real food is cheap, processed isn’t, that’s how it should be.

six

On Mondays for the past year I’ve headed to la petite église près du Rond-Point du Sports, pour chanter dans une chorale. On est des marocains, des français, des anglais, une danoise, une américaine, et même plus j’en suis sure.  C’est ma thérapie hebdomadaire. Pendant notre spectacle en mai le monsieur chargé d’ouvrir et fermer les rideaux sur la scène a le Rialto était totalement défoncé, et il a fait n’importe quoi. Les rideaux ont ouvert sans le moitié des chanteurs, et après ils ont pas fermer pour que on fait la changement de costume. Embarassing? Ohmygod yes. But this is Morocco, and no one really seemed to pay attention to that.

sept

In a multilingual country such as this, one picks up on things that might not draw attention otherwise. Par exemple comment des voix changent quand on parle dans les langues différents. I imagine my voice to be the same mix of throaty nasal dans les deux langues, but you might not agree. E si eu falo português, a lingua da minha mae, é totalmente differente! Funny how that works.

fin

Part of how I make sense of this world, this life, this country, is through writing poetry. I’ll leave you with a true story.

In the West she’d be locked away

She’s a shadow made of moss and brown,
feet horned and dusty. Her sandals slip
on and off.

She ambles with that monkey gait

through carts of egg vendors,
boys screaming at their goalies,
and the local station de police.
Her chatters and mumbles don’t stop,
going from spider to howler in an instant.

The first time she looked drunk-stoned,

I thought maybe she’s another glue sniffer

or counts among the illicit alcoholics

of this dry and thirsty country.

I saw a man offer her bread at the hanout today.
She didn't seem to understand;
maybe her stomach was sated.

She must have been educated
before the psychosis set in;
her French, spat out with saliva darts,
is better than mine.

I've often wondered if she has anyone,

a sister, uncle, social worker. Him?
But that's just my Western brain,

I think. Because then I remember her wiry hair
tied up with that kind of plastic rope
they string dried figs onto.
She shifts it back onto rough chopped gray
from its flower power place.

There's never a fly too far off.

She is as scenery in this place,
another piece of Oulfa’s puzzle,

and I’m the only one the least bit phased
by her accusing stares.

Photo from the Pages FB and photo credit to Rapax Studios!

A huge thanks to Monika and Amr for organizing another night of fantastic entertainment, which brings so many different people together in such a wonderful way. Already looking forward to Chapter 4!

An inclusive Halloween: the Teal Pumpkin Project

Just a quick post about an article I saw linked to on Facebook and think is really great.

The Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) nonprofit has come up with a lovely idea for this Halloween: offer non-food treats for kiddos who come trick-or-treating at your door this year, and place a teal pumpkin (or this poster) outside your home to alert caregivers that non-food items are available. This can literally mean life and death for kids with extreme food allergies, can also be important for kids with other illnesses like type 1 diabetes. Anyway c'mon, do America's kids, with childhood obesity rates as they are, really need more candy?

Also, I worked with a woman during my time in the food court at Notre Dame who lost her 10 year old niece who died for unknown reasons after eating her Halloween candy a few years ago. Candy from strangers can be scary! And handing out

glow bracelets or necklaces, pencils, markers, boxes of crayons, erasers, bubbles, mini Slinkies, whistles or noisemakers, bouncy balls, coins, spider rings, vampire teeth, mini notepads, playing cards, bookmarks, stickers, and stencils

can still be all sorts of fun for both givers and getters! (Ideas from FARE.) Click on the links and take a look! 

If we were in the US this Halloween we'd definitely be participating. Even if you don't know anyone directly affected by food allergies, or think that kids around you don't have any, cute pencils are still healthier than candy. And you could always have two options-- a candy bucket and a non-food bucket-- and have kiddos choose! 

Pages- an event worth attending

A week from today I'll be finishing up what will surely be the most interesting Wednesday night of the month. Othman and I will be at an event called Pages, a super fascinating glimpse into a Casa we get to see much too seldom.

We were invited to Pages, Chapter 2 at the very beginning of September, and were intrigued enough by the Facebook event description to head across town with a friend of mine to attend. I found it funny that it took place on a Wednesday night, but didn't give it much thought. After many minutes of searching for the street in the old "colonial downtown" of Casablanca, notorious for one-ways and no street signs, we finally decided the bar, Le Vertigo, must be close, and parked. We walked down the street, nothing. So we walked up the street following the numbers and looking for 110. Suddenly we were at 130, so doubled back a bit and realized we had walked straight in front of the discreet street opening! "Man this is underground," I thought to myself.

All pics stolen from: https://www.facebook.com/pagestheothersidesofmorocco/timeline

Little did I know, but I was more right than I guessed— after paying our 50dh entrance fee and entering our names for the raffle prizes we were directed down a flight of stairs. Upon arrival in the cozy basement, the first thing I noticed was the conspicuous lack of something: pretension. I feel rather awkward in many social settings so yes I was a bit uncomfortable, but that's just me no matter what, so when I say it felt like a low-key house party at a buddy's home, I mean it. A buddy with many friends I don't know, sure, but I did meet the friend who invited me on Facebook right at the bottom of the stairs, and we were all soon engrossed in conversation with all sorts of interesting people. We even got offered free mini cupcakes from a sponsor (from the others' reactions, they were amazing).

Can you spot us?

After a while we settled around some small tables and the storytelling started. The idea behind Pages is that there are so many stories to be told about Morocco, so why not tell them? Here's the event description from their Facebook:

"Pages" is an event devoted exclusively to Morocco and life in this charming, yet ambiguous country. We desire to show that it is not as bad as some people tend to think. 

Each one of us, whether the expats or Moroccans have countless stories to share. Sometimes joyful, sometimes a bit tough. No matter what the experience is, it always makes a memorable chapter of our endless book about living in this country. We want to show you Morocco from a different perspective and share our experiences in a different, friendly atmosphere- far from crowded conferences and formal stages.

The idea is to organize "Pages" every month. Each month a new Chapter. We want to make it an endless book that everybody can be the author of!

First we heard from an adorable Italian girl, who I had been chatting with earlier, about how she met her Moroccan husband on a train while touring with some friends. Then that same husband and his band Chouftchouf took over, and they treated us to some live music which was underground, real, and fantastic. There was a bit of rap, hiphop, even reggae all mixed in. After that we had a Canadian man talk about him making his way to Morocco after meeting his wife in Canada at art school, then an exhibition of her stunning photography, and even a Moroccan comedian! Everybody was young, interesting, and real. The stories were ones I could relate to, and everyone found themselves grinning and nodding more than a few times! THIS is exactly the kind of event I've been missing all these years in Casablanca, and finally I found it! What's more, now that I work "normal" hours I can attend evening events, whereas a year ago I would have been shaking my head saying "oh well, another thing I can't go to." Kindergarten teaching FTW.

Not long into the night, Othman gave me a meaningful look, nudged me and whispered, "You next time?" Myriam, the friend I brought along, made a similar remark later on. They know me well, because before either of them mentioned anything I was already halfway composing my "story" in my mind. 

The evening ended with a raffle drawing with some pretty spectacular prizes— nights for two in amazing riads around the country, a signed copy of The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah, and some cool printed calendars, coasters and more. Both the people attending and the storytellers had drawings and a lot of people went away happy! After that I managed to run up to the blonde girl in a djellaba who was clearly in charge, and ask her how to speak next time. She told me just to contact them on Facebook and that they needed people! Needless to say, I left happy too.

A week or two later I met Monika, the blonde Pole who is fearless and infectious in her enthusiasm, and Amr, an Egyptian-Moroccan who never stops smiling, for coffee close to the apartment they share with some other young expats. Joining us was Sarah, an inspiring French-Moroccan who is just beginning an amazing documentary/social work project that is totally worth checking out. We all chatted about our lives, Morocco, and Pages, and Monika and Amr gave Sarah and I info about being storytellers and about how the event came to be. Apparently after living here a few months they two of them felt the same need I did for events like this, and instead of complaining and pining like me, they simply did something about it, and started this up! I'm seriously in awe of these two. Also, they solved the riddle about it being on Wednesdays— they wanted to keep the unassuming vibe, and felt like holding it during a weekday would keep it from turning into a Saturday night party. I like that reasoning.

Later on in the month we all met up again at their apartment with a few more people that will be speaking, and Othman came along that time too, and we had a really lovely evening chatting and taking "behind the scenes" photos, despite our pressing work schedules. 

Now Chapter 3 is coming up in a week's time, and I'm really excited to read what I've prepared and share my little bits of Morocco with others. Maybe after it happens I'll post it on here, who knows. If you're in Casa try to make it out— it should definitely be a fun night.

Choir YouTubes and more

Between work-work-working nonstop at 100mph, not sleeping enough and the weather changing (it's crazy how it so suddenly goes from summer heat to oooh-it's-chilly here) I unsurprisingly got sick. Along with quite a few kiddos at school too, so I guess flu season has officially begun. Luckily it hasn't been a horrible illness, but I've been totally exhausted.

I also got really lucky that my being sick coincided with Eid al-Adha, which is "the sheep Eid" I posted about last year. We have Monday-Wednesday off this week which seems like it'll be enough time for me to recover, so yay for that! I was too sick on Sunday to celebrate the Eid with Othman's family, which was a bit of a bummer not to be with everyone, but at the same time it's not my favorite holiday seeing as its focal point is the family meal where we eat sheep insides— liver, kidney, heart etc. Not really my thing.

In other news I've started up with my choir again, and we're diving in headfirst with some lovely songs. Many of the songs we did at our concert last year are up online now, and I wanted to share some with you!

This is an extract of "Te Deum" by Karl Jenkins. This is all we did last year but this year we've already begun working on the other two parts in order to preform the entire song this year. (Forgive my silly faces throughout these videos please— rare is the person who looks nice while singing in a choir!)

It was during the choir's performance of this song in 2013 that I realized I absolutely had to join! It's a mixture of languages and religions— Aramaic, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, even Latin. It is a prayer for peace for Jerusalem, and is an incredibly moving piece.

I'll leave you with another I loved— Les Djinns by Gabriel Fauré. It's a poem of Victor Hugo's which Fauré set to music, and it's very haunting and beautiful. I think we had sung it much better in rehersals than we did in this performance, but a big factor is the place where we practice has beautiful acoustics— a theatre stage with microphones just can't compare. Also the way the speakers were set up made it so that we heard ourselves very differently from usual, so it created a bit of weirdness. But anyway, here's the song:

If you want to check out more of what the choir has done, both this past year and in years previous, type our director's name, Marie Claire Agoumi, into YouTube and you'll find all the videos she has put up. She doesn't put all the songs from each year up, but a nice selection. 

The beach house

Othman's family's beach "house" (read: little apartment in a nice complex) is a common destination for us on the weekends and during the summer. In August I felt like I was there almost every day! The complex is called La Alcazaba and they've had the apartment there since Othman was 16 or so. It's 20 minutes south of Casablanca and it's a wonderful place to enjoy the beach, being much less crowded and less dirty than the Casablanca beaches. 

When we lived with Othman's family we went there very often, taking long walks on the beach (so cliche, and so wonderful) and having fun cooking for ourselves. When my family was here last month we spent a couple of nice days there, eating and exploring the beach. My mom felt right at home, having grown up on the opposite side of the Atlantic in Rio, and my sisters loved the unusual experience of being at the beach! 

This happens quite often on the way there. The
white buildings in the background are Acazaba!

A week ago we spent a quiet Sunday afternoon here with Othman's parents and uncle. It was a nice break from school and I took the opportunity to get some photos with the old iPhone my sister Isabel gave me this summer. (She got an upgrade and her iPhone 4 was hanging around doing nothing, so I took it, even if I can't unlock and use it here, it can be useful in situations like this!)

My vantage point while reading on the patio.

Heading up the the beach.

I can't go to the little "cafe" anymore without having
a major dose of nostalgia upon seeing the tables I sat
at with my parents, aunts, uncle and Alli!

I've often talked with my friends here who grew up on the beach, and it's interesting how our childhoods play such a vital role in our preferences. I like the beach, but it doesn't speak to me the way the rolling hills, small forests and plains like those I grew up in in Midwest America do. Many of those I've met here have the opposite feelings, and only feel really at peace and comfortable by the ocean. (I for one find it almost frustrating-- you can see so far but you only have access to the edge!) 

Now that school has started the place is deserted but for a few.
There were a couple horseback riders to keep us company though!

These are the buoys they use to mark off the "safe to swim" area.

The colors and architecture are really lovely, and even when it's full to the brim in summertime, I still find it a nice place to be, and very different from where we are every day.

At the cafe-- the ocean on one side, this view on the other.

I feel extremely privileged to have married into a family that has assets like a beach house, even if I sometimes feel like a snob when mentioning it. The fact of the matter is that Moroccans often tie up their money in real estate since it's a safe and good investment here, so having a second or third home is very common among those who "have". Usually I'm able to get over my guilt and enjoy my luck!

How to keep track of your books (or: This post is not about Kindergarten)

Well it is still the case that I'm in Kindergarten mode 24/7 (including very detailed dreams of lessons I've planned for the next day going wrong...), so I haven't had much time to blog lately. Nor have I had many topics, because this blog isn't the place to explain the cool lesson I taught today, or to fawn over my super-adorable students and their super-adorable personalities. Even so, here's a cute picture from class yesterday:

I could go on and on about the shapes lesson we did, which involved a
 vocabulary game playing rock paper scissors, or the learning how to use
glue sticks component, or about all the cute shapes and shape "families"
they drew on their mini whiteboards, but instead I'll just say: awwwww.

Now that that's out of my system, I'll talk about another of my favorite things (after kids and teaching)-- books!

A colleague at British Council introduced me to shelfari.com sometime last spring, and I've found it to be a really useful tool since. Shelfari has a "bookshelf" for each user with three categories: "I plan to read" "I'm reading" and "I've read", with a 5 star rating system for finished books. It has just about every book ever to search for and browse through, including synopses quotes, reader reviews, discussions, characters, even glossaries! It's a very cool resource, plus you just need your amazon account to log in (because you most likely already have one of those).

Living in Morocco it's hard to get my hands on English books, so I read mostly whatever comes my way. The upside is I read all sorts of interesting things I'd never have picked out myself, but the downside is my list of "to read" books just gets bigger instead of smaller, yet I keep forgetting what titles are on the list! So this site helps me keep track a bit and when I was in the US this summer I was able to move a couple books to the "I've read" list, which gave me a nice feeling of accomplishment.

The reason I even thought to write about Shelfari now is that I recently added two books to my profile. I'm currently reading one of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street novels, and loving it. My mom brought it on my family's Morocco/Euro trip and had finished it by the time she left so she gave it to me to read. I'm so happy she did because I really am enjoying it!  

Also, I recently finished a really interesting non-fiction book given to me by my friend David when I saw him this summer in Chicago. Written by a husband-and-wife investigative journalist team, it's called Provenance and is about a con-man and a forger in England operating in the late-80s and early-90s, who successfully created and sold a huge number of forged modern art paintings all across the world, and created fake "provenances", or histories (receipts of sale etc) for each. The story was incredible and the writing very fast-paced and entertaining, and full of tons of characters from all over the world. The fact that it was all real made it that much more interesting. I especially loved considering where I was and how old I was throughout the timeline, since the story spanned more than 10 years, all during my early childhood! I really enjoyed the read, and learned a lot about the art world in the process. David works at an auction house, and while I still don't really know what he does, now I've had a little glimpse into that world!

                                    
Anyway, here's a link to my profile/shelf. Take a look at the site, and if you like what you see and sign up, add me as a friend!

Week one of Kindergarten? Check!

Sometimes after I've done something for the first time I reflect on how that experience has changed me. Like never again will I NOT know what sheep liver shish-kebabs taste like. And never again will I NOT know what Dubai feels and looks like; or Paris, or Essaouaira. Never again will I not know how it feels to be a Moroccan bride. And now, never again will I not know what it's like to teach Kindergartners. 

To be honest, I've been eat-sleep-thinking Kindergarten for what seems like 24 hours a day for more than two weeks now. Even in my dreams I'm planning classes or seeing what happens when they don't go right! The week before school started was really the ONLY time we had to prepare, and with absolutely bare-minimum materials, so it was full steam-ahead... and then Monday morning arrived! But we made it to day one, and now we've made it through week one as well!

I'm teaching a lovely little class of 5-year-olds. There are only 6 of them for the moment, but on Monday I'm getting another, and more people are coming every day to check the school out. Just in this past week enrollment jumped from 30 to 40 students! Now that the construction is finishing up (note that present continuous tense there...) and classrooms are set up, its easier for people to see the place as a functioning school! We still don't have all the materials and furniture coming—our desks, tables, chairs and bookshelves are all borrowed from our Arabic-language sister school right now—but we've been able to make do quite nicely. 

Here's a glimpse at my classroom as it looked after the first day at school. It's a bit empty, but again, more materials are on their way. And this afternoon there were already quite a few more things on the walls!

This year most of the Kindergarten curriculum will be focused on EFL, with a heavy dose of literacy, but of course Kindergarten is a really important year and I need to include a lot of time for the development of other skills too—from fine motor to math to social. I'm very happy I did so much research and reading into Kindergarten over the summer because I don't feel over my head, just excited and ready for a challenge! I don't actually have an English textbook for my class yet (it's on order), but that's where my EFL experience really comes in handy, because I've had plenty of ideas to fill up the time.

I'm in charge of the Pre-K and K department of the school, and during the week before school I not only had to set up my room and get materials for it, but also for the quiet/naptime room, the play room (which is the arrival/dismissal waiting area for all the kids at this point, while numbers are small and construction is on-going), and the art room. I also will have an office, but while we wait for furniture it's doubling as a storage closet! 

The play room

These past two weeks have been full of challenges and frustrations, but have also been a wonderful learning experience and it has been lovely getting to know my kids this week! I wish I could post some of the fantastic pictures I've taken of them so far, but won't for obvious privacy issues, so you'll just have to take my word for it that they're beyond adorable. They're all quite different developmentally though, and having such a small class is great because I already know so much about each of them! I'll be able to really tailor our studies this year to their needs, which is so important and motivating for me. 

The ball pit is, obviously, a HUGE favorite.

On top of that, the administration side of my job is interesting as well—making schedules, liaising between teachers and admin, doing a fair bit of recruiting as well as some basic organization/shopping has been really invigorating.

Between the other K-section teachers and I, we're taking care of Art, Music and PE for the Pre-K and K kids in the afternoons. I'm doing art every two weeks (during the other week it's the Arabic teacher who will do art for them, in Arabic) which will be fun. Seeing at my mom has been teaching art for years at homeschool co-ops, and the Pre-K teacher's mom is a music teacher, it all works out pretty well! This week we weren't going to do any of those extracurriculars, but the 2nd grade teacher shared this hand-print flower project with us, so I dove right in and we did it on Tuesday. The kiddos did the gluing, so it's not as flower-like as it could be, but it's still pretty dang cute!

Despite ongoing construction, the lack of materials and some other constraints, I'm really looking forward to a great year, and really excited not only about the kids I get to work with, but also my fellow teachers! We have a great team of high-caliber English teachers, and all of us have been able to collaborate and get along really well, which is a huge plus. Here's hoping things only get better from here!

New beginnings!

A bad picture of my new glasses! I love them. The old ones were so scratched I could barely see out of the left eye anymore. New glasses to begin a new school year!

Here's a better picture, with Othman's cousin Camelia before she left to go back to Belgium. We had a nice outing at Morocco Mall, chatting a lot, and I was able to enjoy the calm before the storm.

"What storm?" you may ask. Well the blog has been silent for the past week because I've been working from about 8:30 am to midnight solid every day getting ready for my first day teaching Kindergarten tomorrow! I'm actually in charge of the entire Pre-K and K section, and while our class sizes are extremely small there has been an enormous amount to do getting the classrooms, nap room, play room etc ready. Not to mention creating the schedule, meeting with other teachers, staff and parents, and just planning my own class! Here's hoping tomorrow goes as well as it can, and expect some pictures soon!! 

Sisters, art, happiness

Yesterday I was at doing some testing at British Council, talking to a student waxed extensively on the topic of her 3 younger sisters. With gleaming eyes she told me how close they all were and how they shared everything, and then said this little gem: "What's the point of having good news if you don't have sisters to tell it to?" I thought that was just lovely.

It made me think about my family, since I'm also the oldest of 4 sisters. Of course we have some boys thrown in there and the age range is much larger, but I could identify with her love for her sisters. When I'm home every summer I try to make sure I make good use of my sister-bonding time, and this past July my sisters and I worked on a fun project together. I got the idea for it while visiting friends Rene and Nathalia earlier during the 4th, seeing some really cute artwork they had in their kitchen. I asked if I could take a picture of it, and Rene told me where I could order the prints online, but I shook my head laughing— why spend money on art like that when you have artistic sisters??

Bad quality pictures, but you get the idea.

All four of us sisters were involved to some degree, but Isabel ended up doing most of the work. She drew and wrote, and I directed and painted. Maria helped a lot with pre-production and Tessie with giving tips on watercolor techniques, plus supplying the paper and paints! I had never really worked with watercolors before and it was lots of fun to learn. We worked on the paintings bit by bit the whole time I was home. It was a nice project and I know these paintings will hang on my walls for a long time to come, reminding me of a special time spent with my sisterlies.

Last week I finally went to go get them framed, and a few days ago I picked them up, absolutely delighted with the results:

Super cute. Now I just need to get a kitchen big enough to hang them all in!! 

Here's a big thanks to Rene and Nathalia, Tessie and Bia, and most of all— thanks Isa!!

Heaven in a pie

Do you like coconut? How about chocolate? Do you like chocolate and coconut in your desserts? Do you like chocolate/coconut desserts that are decadent but don't make you feel horrible for eating them? Do you chocolate/coconut desserts that are decadent, healthy AND easy to make?? Finally, does this look good??

I hope you answered yes to all of those. If you didn't, this post isn't for you.

Chocolate coconut pie

Crust:

- 2 egg whites

- 2 cups +/- unsweetened shredded coconut (Can be sweetened if that's REALLY all there is, but it makes the whole thing way too sweet in my opinion. Also, the smaller the flakes are, the better.)

- Honey/sugar to taste

- Pinch of salt

- A bit of vanilla extract

Filling:

- 2 egg yolks (See what I did there??)

- 1 bar unsweetened or semisweet baking chocolate

- A nice big splash of vanilla extract

honey/sugar to taste if unsweetened

- 1 cup coconut milk (This is about a half a can, NOT a whole one— if you put that much it’ll be a gloopy mess. Trust me on that one.)

 

For the crust, mix all ingredients together, and it should be slightly sticky. Press the mixture with your fingers to the bottom of a well-oiled pie pan, leaving a small edge all around the pan. Bake for roughly 15 minutes at 350°F, until edges and top are slightly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the filling ingredients in a small saucepan and melt on low heat, mixing constantly.

Once crust is out, let cool a couple of minutes, then add the chocolate filling on top. Let cool, once it’s about room temperature put it in the fridge until it’s time to eat.

I’m sure you could put whipped cream or raspberry sauce or something on the finished product and it would be lovely, but it’s so delicious I’ve never craved anything extra.

These pics are from when I made this for approximately the ten thousandth time, but was at home this past summer and actually thought about photographing it. The ingredients I use in Casablanca are slightly different, but whether American or Moroccan made, it's still so so good. I make this every year to take to work on my birthday and people talk about it all year long. THAT'S how good it is. (Othman just looked at this as I finished it up, and his comment was: "What, you're only posting that now?" Because it really is my favorite thing in the world.) So do yourself a favor and make it yourself— you won't regret it.