The Importance of Rain; 'Stah'

Beautiful view of the Atlas from a bike ride

corn to make cornmeal

Newborn, Sara, posing in the garden

Sara is beautiful and belongs to friends in the village

Beautiful necklace on neighbors wall

Sheep are very curious

Playing with plastic spin tops

The completion of an earthen mud chimney

Starting the chimney

Teaching at the Dar Taliba

Kids in the village

First sunflower I have seen

called, 'Rbass' looks like celery

First lettuce I've seen growing in locals garden

turnips

Various white veggies at souk in Kalaa

Performance at Kalaa sports event

Volleyball match

The kids of Kalaa say 'hello'

Boys playing in the street making paper airplanes

 Women's 7km walk event

The locals keep talking about the drought and the high prices of fruits and vegetables. The weather has changed here and skies are cloudy, but we haven’t received rain. It’s sunny most days and warming up. It’s always interesting to see new fruits and veggies at souk each week. The things that are back in season are, artichoke, cauliflower, green and red onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumber, two different kinds of zucchini, bananas, large oranges, kiwi, strawberries, hot green peppers, eggplant, cilantro, parsley, carrots, green peas, white and red turnips,  mint, red apples, and what looks like celery but isn’t. Sweet potatoes, bell peppers, green beans, watermelon, pomegranate, and several other things aren’t in season. I love most of the food here which makes purchasing food easy, however, the quantity that I need is far under what they sell me as they go by kilos and I usually only need less than ½. Luckily I don’t spend more than 15-20dh or less than $2 American dollars each week. The fresh fruits and veggies tend to go by the waste side if not eaten quickly enough. Things like eggs and milk I buy from locals in the village and meat I purchase every other week for  $1-$2. I am lucky as they Dar Taliba makes dinner for me 3 times a week and they load my sack up with fresh bread and cheese spread each time I go. I also buy yogurt for my breakfast. The local souk coffee is about 25dh or less than $3 American dollars for what lasts about a month. It is a unique blend of spices, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, sugar, cardamom which makes it spicy but tasty. There was a local event for women in the community of Kalaa where woman gathered from different associations to walk 7km in town, school teams played basketball, hand ball and soccer against one another. It was a chance to network and be a part of a positive event in a larger city. Most of all, I enjoyed using my language and seeing how Moroccan’s take pride in their country and get excited about sports.