Living and Working in Morocco

Somebody emailed me asking about Morocco. Let me list down some reminders and  concerns for you if ever you will accept the job offer they are giving you:

• What kind of job are they offering you? Is it an institution who has contacted you or a private individual working for one of the very few rich families in Morocco?
• What are they offering you? Just remember if they really want your services and that they have no one but you in mind, you can ask for the sky and they will try to give you at least one of the stars. That's a good deal!
• Morocco is a friendly place for friendly guests. 
• Try to visit Ifrane, Marrakesh, Volubilis, Rabat, Casablanca and other ancient cities of Morocco.If possible, visit all the Mosques and other burial grounds of their Kings.
• If you are a Filipino, email me in private and I will give you email addresses of the Filipinos living there.
• If you are like me who wants to travel and see places where I am in, you have to learn basic Moroccan Arabic. If you learn this, taxi's and use if the train will be your second and third name.
• Befriend locals and they will be your guide. 
• A point and shoot camera is better than nothing. But if you can bring your own DSLR the better.
• If you like snow, better be in Ifrane around March and April.
• Rabat, the country's political capital, but it looks like the Makati Business Center without the malls and the high rise buildings. It's clean, nice city roads and has a beautiful traffic system: NO TRAFFIC. Before I left Morocco, they were putting up tramps there.
•  Casablanca is the country's economic capital. It looks like the Escolta side of the City of Manila. The same old buildings can be found there and the traffic going in the city from the Autoban is terrifically congested.
• Their money is called Moroccan Dirhams. If you will not be given the working visa, you will have a hard time sending money (US dollars) overseas.

I lived in Ifrane and Meknes when I was in Morocco and I had the chance to see beautiful and ancient places there. It is still a backward country with 80 percent of the people not having access to education. Watch out for Islamic traditions, they observe and practice them.

Respect the people there and they will admire you for having an open mind about their culture.

That's all for now and do send me an update about your plans.

Good luck! 

Great Cochlear Implants

I've been a special education teacher and a school-based occupational therapist for the last ten years and I tell you this, working with these children has helped me more than I have helped them. They taught me more than I have ever taught them. They have given me more than I could ever share and they have shown me much of what life should really be about than anybody else.

I have handled children of all abilities and have worked with parents and other paraprofessionals seeking to help children and students from different parts of the globe.Working in the school setting has indeed provided me various opportunity to work with them.

Children with Autism, with ADHD, with Cerebral Palsy, with Global Developmental Delay,, with multiple impairment and children with hearing impairment.
 
Back in 2003, I enrolled and passed a 10-day course on Basic American Sign Language given by the Special Education Assistance heade by Father Luke Moortgat, a De La Salle brother whose origin is from Belgium.

From the course I have learned that signing is just one of the many ways we can help our students with hearing impairment.

One great help we can give them is a Cochlear Implant. For those leaning on the non-medical side, I know you would want to know more about this. Just what is a Cochlear Implant (CI) about?

Cochlear Implants is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The cochlear implant is often referred to as a bionic ear.

Robotic, bionic or whatever you want to call it, I have seen it helps wonderfully my students. They perform better inside the classroom, outside of their schools and blend perfectly well within their society.

Make no mistake about it but Cochlear Implant Surgery is a safe and relatively minor operation of just a few hours. Students or children who have had the surgery have been known to go home immediately afterward, playing normally with minimal post-surgical effects. The surgery has the same normal risks associated with any surgery, and serious complications are rare.

Go and have your family member needing a cochlear implant be checked by a specialist. The gains from this is a win-win for everyone involved in helping our hearing impaired loved ones.

Let's give our children the gift of a lifetime. The gift of hearing and the gift everyone aspire for: normalized life.   

Fall In Style

Pack those summer clothes and make sure they're all ready for the season of Fall, in style!

Run out of stylish clothing for the season of fall? When you wish you just had those well-fitted blouses and shirts worn only by women of good taste? Too busy for a drive to the mall and head off to your favorite boutique? Just too cozy at home you wouldn't want to be anywhere but right in your living room with your family but just have to have additional back to school clothing for your loving kids? Or you simply want to live the online life of one-button shopping?

I know you have answered yes to all of the questions asked so I will not keep you hanging about this spectacular offer from ShopWiki.com.

As we all know, Shop Wiki is not your "usual" online store that caters to limited products and offers you a not so interesting internet shopping experience. Let's take a good look at what shopwiki can offer us:

Fall style guide:

You see, shopwiki wants you to buy products which you need and what suits your wish. You would have to consider the layering, colors and accessories to match your wits and style. For Fall 2009, we can expect older trends to be made new again. Thanks for the info shopwiki.

Women's Style Guide:

Let me be direct on this... must have's for women means exactly that. You can't go thru this fall season without those dazzling colors of gold, teal and burgundy. From sweaters to dresses, you won't go stale if you match them well. Leather jackets 'a classic and you'd wish you have them on when the cool breeze of the season blows to your direction. Don't forget to layer your clothing and vests of different colors or a black one will surely fit your imaginative style.

So much for the details for women.

For the men of picky taste, let's see what they ca give us.

Simply put, look great this fall for men!

A cashmere turtle neck sweater, military styled jacket, peacoat or a double breasted grey suit and a pair of oversized eyeglasses plus a wool mariner's cap will surely do the trick. A universal man is someone who just loves simplicity with a flare and shopwiki can give you that, all the more.

If I had a teenaged son or daughter, I'll just make sure he or she check out what shopwiki can offer them and for sure, these hard-to-please-I-won't-listen-orgive-in group of people called teenagers would instantly love wiki back to school for teens products.

Oh wait! I need to stop now and have my shopwiki experience! Come and join me now!

Swimsuits at ShopWiki

I know Summer 2009 has just passed and I never went anywhere near water that can be called a beach but I somehow dreamed of walking along the shores with shells shining in the sun. Add to this daydream of mine women running towards the shoreline wearing nicely fit swimsuits.

Ahh! Those were my college days when we were free and crazy. Times when life was easy and all we ever cared about was our next group swimming date, either on a friends' private pool or a beach hidden away from the commercialized thinking of business oriented people.

Have you thought of going out on the beach with your family? Friends and would be friends? If you do and your female friends want to go too, make sure they bring the best fitting and best looking swimsuit they can ever find without going thru the hassles of going to the malls.

At ShopWiki, they offer you the best online shopping experience and more!

So we are now in search for a women's swimsuit and let's be honest to say we don't know what to look for in a swimsuit because we don't wear them, we the male species just don't want to wear them but we want to buy them and give to our female friends and beloved.

We search for Women's Swimsuits and we get the informational site on what to look for when buying one swimsuit.

Buying a swimsuit is peanuts but one has to know some of the great things written at ShopWiki about swimsuits and below are some of them.

Before buying, decide on what you want. That's the first thing to do and it's a lot easier to decide if you know if the one using the swimsuit will go to the beach for tanning purposes or just a pool workout. We also have to consider the print patterns when choosing a suit. Print patterns are connected very well with the body types. These are worth knowing and I am asking you all my dear readers to make sure you visit Women's Swimsuits section of ShopWiki for a lot more.

And since it's springtime, ShopWiki has Women's Spring Style Guide and we ought to tell our female friends about this. From technicolor, graphic, brooming lot, shorts story and the shapes of things, everything have been laid out for would-be buyers to look into.

Oh, I'll have to go now before I get into more details out of amazement and awe because of ShopWiki's wonders.

Happy shopping!

Home Sweet Home

Touchdown Sunday, 3:10 PM July 5, 2009 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport where my wife and kids had been waiting for almost an hour. Went out of the airport around 400 PM and didn't mind anybody else except my family.

My original July 18 flight was rebooked and this is the main reason why I didn't have any "pasalubongs" as I have planned to do my buying at the MEDINA of FEZ a week before July 18.

There is no place like home!

The loving arms of my kids, the sweet nothings I have with my wife and the constant sad news seen and heard on TV about the Philippine affairs is an assurance that I am where my heart is!

My Morocco experience was, is and will always be a blessing from my God and I will forever be grateful for that!

I met friends, learned a lot from a very different culture and it's people. Found out that sincerity and honesty is a word so foreign among the locals of the country where I stayed for 6 months. A certain "Kuya" even told me that the "word of honor" is non-existent among the locals and I better lower my expectations or I'll be living my borrowed life in Morocco in mysery.

There are good and there are bad experiences I've had and this makes my Morocco adventures perfect. Thanks to all who have joined me in this wonderful 6 month old blog about my adventures in Morocco.

Goodbye and please feel free to find any helpful read here if ever you are planning to visit Morocco. You can even send me an email if you want to find out something about Morocco. I'd gladly help.

Gotta go now and in a week I'll be back to my former day job!

Now that's the best deal I've had!

Home sweet home!

A Toast to Endings

When something ends, you can't help but feel nostalgic about certain striking moments that you are sure to remember forever. For instance, getting off that jet for the first time in the Mohammad V International Airport and meeting Abdel Hak for the first time. I remember what he said, which I did not understand at the time, "fait froid" meaning "It's cold" in French. I remember how the jet lag felt like, and how for three whole days, I had no sense of time and had no other sensations than hunger. And then the first ever complete sentence that I was able to memorize "Tu belle comment une poubelle." (You are as beautiful as a trash can). I went through a whole lot of firsts here in Morocco, half of the list will keep me up until late tomorrow afternoon. And it feels so surreal that now I'm leaving, what I'm doing are the lasts. My last dinner at the table, my last night in my bed, my last venture into the cellar, my last hug, my last kiss, my last photo, my last day, my last glance...

It's weird that I'm even toasting to this ending. It's been a part of me for so long that I would feel cripple without it (believe it or not). I would be leaving behind friends and family, and a country that is so much a part of me now. Leaving is hard. Saying goodbye is hard. Toasting to endings is hard.

I guess I should change my title. A Toast to Beginnings. Only, it doesn't feel much like it yet. It feels like an end. Like everything that has been with me for the past two years and six months will all dissolve into a misty dream. Misty, but still there. Still existing. Always remembered.

I fucking hate goodbyes.

Where am I?

For the last 4 weeks here, I have had nothing much to think about and prepare but my luggage and my papers. Let's see what I have accomplished so far and how I did it. No thanks to the backwards system of the land and the people here:

1. I had to clear my bank account and I had to go back to the bank 3 times before everything was fixed.

2. I had to rebook my flight and I had to go to the agency 5 times and wait for a day only to be told that I won't get it. The agent said my flight rescheduling, for the first time was for free. The following day, I was told I had to pay 900.00 MADS (Dirhams), then I of course had to use my complaining voice, then she tried to call the other airline offices. Then my original flight was cancelled so I had no choice but to give in to the 300.00 MADS fee for my request. Still I didn't get my confirmation and e ticket and had to wait after a week.

3. Then my dough. I had to travel 50 kilometers to get what I needed.

Oh well, even my boss told me something like "this is Morocco Francis, Morocco!" It didn't sound like a compliment about her own country though.

Do Not Expect

Reviews about the country and it's people below. I stumbled upon these links and thought most of these reviews, good and bad, are very truthful!

1. 10 Bad Things About Morocco
2. They Don't Who They Are
3. Mixed Reviews
4. Child Abuse Story from A Moroccan
5. The People

If there is one thing stuck in my head about these people which I'll be bringing with me in my head for the rest of my life is this comment I got from an elderly who have lived here in Morocco for the past three decades:

"Lower your expectations... or do not expect anything at all from them. That way you won't have to suffer for the rest of the time you are staying here in Morocco!"

Ouch man! That would be quadruple ouch!

Stargazing

For almost 5 months now I have never looked up and gazed at the stars on a night sky until tonight. I played football with my ward awhile ago and enjoyed the night with him trying to catch a falling star.

Of course he "saw" almost every shooting star there is which I expected anyway. How lucky he was for seeing these stars and unlucky I was for missing it by a split second. I love the night sky and I love the sentimentality it brings.

Tonight I was again brought back to my place in Imus. Most of the nights after dinner, I would sit on our white monoblock chair located just outside the service door of our house. With the cool winds suburban sky brings and the dim lights on the streets of our village, I get to chit-chat with my wife and update each other on how our day went by. There are good and there are bad nights but one thing I remember most is how I crave for each moment I spend in that little sanctuary of mine. There were nights I'd consume 2 bottles of my favorite light beer while wrapped in the embrace of the chilly nights of our veranda and just pass time 'till I feel like sleeping.

All these I reminisced and long for awhile. I looked up and realized I was missing "home" like hell. In less than 4 weeks I'll be home and get back to my usual life and I bet I'll go thru the adjustment period but I'm ready for it.

In German they say "Shon Heimat Shon" while in English it's home sweet home. In Filipino? "Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska!" Harharhar! Kidding aside, in Filipino we say "Iba pa din ang nasa sariling bayan!"

Anyways, I guess I've captured a piece of emotion which Van Goh felt when he painted that Starry Night Over The Rhone painting and Don Mc Lean's Starry Starry Night song.

Oh well! I better go now before I dwell deeper into Van Goh's life story.

Saturation Point: Maximum

Hi there!

It's been awhile since I played with my Picasa 3 and tonight, I pressed on the saturate button under the effects menu to my satisfaction. The results were just what I've wanted, pastelized!

My very willing subject, Sadik. His moustache, his eyeglasses minus his classic cigar puffing moment. No smoke this time Sadik!

I took this photo on our way back to Ifrane Centerville. This one fronts the National Park I always go to. Today I went there with Ate Wilma. This was a natural looking capture before pressing on the saturate mode three times pastelized!

This one I took from the veranda, opposite my room and right next to my ward's room. I missed the farm workers picking fruits from these trees.

My oh my! My unfixed, Oh no, my fix it now things!

What did I tell you? He is more than a willing subject for me. But you know what? Each time he shows up for work and drive all of us in his red checkered longsleeves, I am reminded of the early days of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam. They were never seen in concerts and MTV's without that reddish checkered longsleeves which most Filipino bands copied to the hilt. Anyways, I pressed the black and white button once, then saturate, lastly black and white button again. I loved the effect here!

Here, Ate Wilma took the shot. I did a combination of glow, feather and sharpen effects here.

This last one, I wanted to create a nostalgic feel of the place and at the same time capture the surroundings as wide and as clear as I can. Sadly though, my camera is a point and shoot which means it cannot do a wide angle shot. If I try to do a panoramic shot, my subjects would be far and small and if I zoom in on my subjects, I won't get the background.

Anyways, Nikon D 40 would have to wait for awhile or if I win in a lottery, I'd buy a high end Nikon SLR camera. Thing is I don't bet on any lottery.

Comic Relief

For the past two weeks I have not had a good run here in Morocco for reasons I can't really post here. But today is different and it started with a good call from Alice, informing me her flight details and some side info's.

In the afternoon around 430, I played football with my ward around 30 minutes and damn it was tiring for someone who has chosen the path of the pear-shaped body. While resting and gasping for air, I saw someone made use of a Mercedes Benz C 270 as the football goal and practiced his goal kicks several times. of course I could not laugh out loud with this but I was really, really having fun quietly on my sit. To add to that, the guy just enjoys his moment while the driver of the car was so grumpy (who wouldn't be?) but just could not do anything about it.

Comic relief it was.

I guess the word for today is KARMA. I have witnessed twice today the revenge of KARMA. I can tell you the last one but the first I choose to shut up.

The crazy guy who made use of the Benz as his football goal was later brought to the clinic to fix his bruises on his left hand. He stepped on the ball while trying to hit that imaginary Euro Cup kick of his and came down on the floor.

Oh well!

My WANA subscription expired today so I'm using my boss' Internet connection.

Am going now have a good night! Laughter really is a medicine for all times!

33rd in Morocco

I celebrated June 10 in Morocco!

I asked to be dropped off at Marjane Meknes and hailed a cab going to Hameria where my bank is located. I'm preparing for my July 18 flight and one of my major concern is my dough here in Maroc.

Expectedly, they asked me to come back tomorow!

Anyways, around 300PM me and ate Wilma attended our Darija lessons which gave me the feeling that I was giving an English Language lesson. Hmmm!

After an hour, ate and I went to the Meknes Pizzeria where I always go to when I'm in Hameria. I treated ate Wilma and it was good to know that she knew the reason for the treat.

More than my supposed special day, I think the thought of July 18 fills my thoughts ad existence here in Morocco.

I bought Europe Chess Magazine worth 62 MADS which equals to around 300 Pesos. I'll write a story about it in my Chess blog at http://philippinechesschronicles.blogspot.com, the first chess blog by a Filipino for the Filipinos.

In my craziest and wildest imagination, I wished to receive a call and greetings from His Excellency, King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

Bye for now!

Amnesia in Rabat

Left Meknes farm yesterday around 830 PM and was picked up at the farm gate by Alice and Val on a taxi cab. Yes guys we rode the cab from Meknes to Rabat and it took us 3 hours using the old national road. We paid 350 DH for this and had so much fun on the road.

Went straight to Hay Riad where several Filipinos were waiting for us. Met ate Chat for the first time and lucky I was to have a taste of her latest kitchen creation, SIOPAO.

Then around 12 AM we all went out and headed to AMNESIA, discohouse in Rabat that attracts the young but not so cool ones... at least for my taste.

430 AM we headed back at kuya S place and slept till 945. Alice prepare breakfast for all of us, Pinoy breakfast at last.

I need to catch the train by 145 and get back to work with my ward. Until then my dear readers.

Apprenticeship in Casa

Hi!

Just got back here in Meknes from Casablanca. Today me and my ward attended a 2 hour Relaxation Workshop for Education which basically was aimed at the following learner's skills: Concentration, Focusing and Sensitivity.

As a diploma holder of bachelor's science in occupational therapy and a master's candidate in special education, I found the workshop and the speaker (French speaker) effective.

Sensory Integration as promoted and researched upon by Dr. Jean Ayres was the basis of the activity and it was so relaxing to go through the session as a participant and not as the facilitator.

To end this post, I learned upon my boss that she has enrolled me under the facilitator's guidance for the Relaxation Education on an apprentice mode.

Well we will see!

Early Morning Ifrane

Today we arrived in Ifrane around 745 in the morning and this is early by compared to the usual 820-825 last minute-arrival-before-the-school-bells-rings. I was surprised to find El Hajeb with a sunny sky and was surprisingly glad to see Ifrane covered with dark clouds. Ifrane residents on an early morning walk were all wearing the usual Ifrane-ish attire, winter jackets!

I thought I'd give myself the Friday walk but then changed my mind and went in our base camp and did all the things I could to make time worthwhile.

I saw the movie Into the West on MBC Max and man oh man, tears fell from my eyes in one scene when the self-abandoned father had visions of his wife and three children and he said:

"For two seasons, the mountains took my company and now it's taking my mind... As I look into the eyes of my children and see the hope that they would someday see their father's eyes I know I have to find them and I'd live for the day when I see them and be with them again."

Go find out what happened in the movie but I'm telling you, the scene was just the beginning of th man's heartaches.

Well, it's Friday and the next two weeks are test weeks for my ward.

I'll be home soon!

Darija Day

I finally attended my Darija Lessons with Ate Wilma in Hameria, Meknes. What can I say? Ate Wilma and me plus the excuse-me-I-need-to-check-something-in-and-out female teacher slash secretary slash receptionist of the school I never even know the name of.

Now I know why Ate was and is hesitant about the lessons... it gives one the stupid feeling of being left alone when in fact you were there to maximize your time. I was asking Ate, is this how they teach you the past 3 months?

But today, thanks to my kakulitan and willingness to learn, when the fake teacher sat down in front of us and started telling us something about the letters and how these Moroccan Alphabet should be written, I said "Madame excuse me, Afek, I would like to learn Survival Darija for now."

After another excuse-me-I-need-to-check-something-in-and-out moment, she came back and said, "Right, you will never need Formal Arabic or Classical Arabic!"

Whaaaaaaaat? I thought there were only two variants, Darija and Classical Arabic!

So the comedy moments began.

After another excuse-me-I-need-to-check-something-in-and-out moment, she came back with two substitute and said "I'm sorry I'm too busy but they will teach you what you need.."

Well now.

Imagine the room with my barrage of please-tell-me-how-to-say-this-and-that while Ate Wilma just mums herself. Ate knows how to speak Classical Arabic anyways so when I don't hear it correctly, which was almost always the case, she interjects and explains.

The guy laughed out loud when I said "Please man, tell me how to ask someone if she wants to go out with me." He said "Oh that's really important I know!"

We started the session around 330 in the afternoon and Ate and I wanted to have the lessons finished around 415 so we can still roam around. It was more for Ate Wilma's tour than mine, I'm sick and tired of Hameria, the new medina of Meknes.

It was a comical relief for me, spending an hour pretending to learn enthusiastically the language but I would rather learn French from the French Institute.

On our way out, we chanced upon our male teacher and I handed him a pack of eminems!

It's my mom's birthday today! Happy birthday Mom!

46 Days

Days to go and counting! With the help of Morocco's Daylight Saving Time, I just got that needed blitzing for my countdown. The days may be longer but the hours move faster, in fact time here is advanced by an hour. What more can I ask for? Oh such a beautiful experience it is!

+ 1 Hour

Today inside the car on our way to Ifrane around 7:59 in the morning, we received a call from our boss and she said "add one more hour on your clocks".



First thing I blurted out to the eldest? "Is it DST now?" and I got a nod from her.

I had to adjust ate Wilma's phone clock coz mine was in the car trunk. Then ate said "So they are late!" Well oh well!



I asked sadik about this and I learned this "time changes" happen every June and takes effect until September.



It's a good thing I knew about Daylight Saving Time and I had the experience during the electricity crisis of Cory Aquino era. the reasons may not be the same for the time switch but definitely there would be adjustment issues for everyone here in Morocco, most especially my ward.



Here is a timely treasure site that explains Morocco's "clocky" concerns: Time Zone in Morocco.

Sunday With Penny

Hey there!

Just yesterday I wasn't sure where I'd be for Sunday. And Sunday when I woke up, I still had that dilemna of having no Dirhams at all. After breakfast with our chef Abdurahim, everything just went from uncertain day to manage my time 'till curfew concerns.

First off. I went to Meknes Catholic Church and from there met Regina and Katarina who were going to a one week prayer retreat with the Franciscan Sisters. Sad news as Regina will be going back to France by June 14, her birthday and she'll be back by September. By that time, Katarina will be very busy packing her bags to settle back in Germany and work on her University degree.

Looking forward still, by July Alice and Val will be moving out of Morocco. Val will be going on a Euro trip while Alice will of course be settling back in our beloved Philippines with her soon to be husband Tiff.

So that means I would have to learn to be on my own. Interestingly, when my Little UN minus Redoune met up this morning, Regina told me, thru Katarina's interpretation, that I would have to learn French from her. Of course I said yes but I forgot to ask for her rate. She is also a teacher in French Language (usted in Darija) and I wouldn't go thru her lessons if she won't accept a language lesson fee.

On to my Sunday activities today:

After walking from the Church and watching the two leave the parking lot, I went looking for the restaurant me and my ward once parked. I ordered salad, water and cola for lunch. Since I was alone and never really knew where to go, my usual blitz meal of 15 to 20 minutes went on for an hour and a quarter.

Excruciating moments of solitary bliss! Salad was good and the place was ultra nice, quiet, low lights and soothing music with about 4 to 5 tables filled with customers. But I was lost in thinking how to spend my day off since all my possible "let's be crazy" companions are all away.

Around 1230 noon, I left the restaurant and walked towards the intersection where one can find the Meknes Police Prefecture. I don't really know what function it does but it is within this vicinity where you will find the barber shop of my ward, coffee shops lined up along the boulevard on both sides, the French Institute can also be located here. A little walk will bring you to Cinema Dawliz, 5 month old Pizza Hut and the ever famous among the young ones, with the Golden Arch logo, Mc Donalds.

I had my tea of course Moroccan tea, in one of the billions of coffee shops in Morocco (exaggeration but just a little) for another hour. I had a chit-chat with another man sitting beside me and of course, he was wrong about my country of origin. He asked me, "Indonesian? ...Chin-wah ....Taiwanese?" And all my answers were "Makeynj, makeynj, makeynj!"

I wanted to say Fujian or Timbuktan but save for my own agony, I said Filipini! Yes, they would easily relate with the word Filipini instead of Filipino. When it was my turn, I simply asked him this "Fin chutranj cafe Meknes?" It literally translates to "Where chess cafe Meknes?"

The guy kept still for a moment and said "Chutranj? Makeynj Meknes... Casablanca"

There is no chess park here but in Casablanca.

After some series of nodding and "ngiwe-ing" from both sides I said Bislema which means 'till we meet again in English, Auf Wiedersehen in Germany, Hanggang sa muli in Filipino and Aw revwa in French.

And then the bulb just lighted up!

I went straight to the cinema house called Cinema Dawliz. They were showing a Cannes film called Vicky Cristina Barcelona featuring Penelope Cruz. Written and directed by Woody Allen, this film showed the flipsides of a bizzare love triangle. Oh how I love the cinematography, Barcelona it is!

Another side of the film that got me interested? One character who is a famous Hollywood actress but not so famous because I don't remember her name, was into photography. So I got a glimpse of some cameras and dark room scenes.

Penny played the cigarette smoking bisexual role Spanish in the film who was tied knits and knots with Juan Antonio Gonzalo, the artist. Aside from the immoral-almost-real plot, I just love the backgrounds in most scenes of the film.

The movie started at 230 and ended by 4.

And off to my usual activity, walking and clicking!

Here are some shots I did today:

And the next two photos were taken Friday afternoon in Meknes while I and Sadik were waiting for my ward to finish the ritualistic public bath of Morocco, Hammam:





I call these two photos as My Meknes Sunset!

The next few photos were taken last week:







So far these are the photos I took from the past week. Ensha-Alah I'd be taking more photos this coming week and really praying I'd be able to own that brand new Nikon D40 by August this year.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Found Out

Hey there!

I found a way to have my $'s be changed into Dirhams so I'm out of here in 30 minutes or so. In the meantime, I'd like to share this untitled drawing by Mr. Rettino:



I'm off! Until then!