As I Was Going to Cornwall…
As I was going to Cornwall1 I found a hedgerow, dense and tall After the hike a windy theatre With cliffside seats and comedy feature2 Then on to biomes full of plants, An indoor rainforest, birds and ants3 Fields of flowers, the best bouquet And one to take back home, in gray4 Gates, plays, plants and all How many days was I in Cornwall?5 And finally, some bonus ones Just a few, since I took tons This rhyme is based, as you may know / On one written long ago [↩]The protagonist, a real sad sack / Was Moliere’s hypochondriac...
read more ->Unexpected Concert
Sometimes life in Morocco can be frustrating. If I need to fill out paperwork at the police station, send a package, or have the plumbing fixed, for instance. And sometimes it is just lovely. 8:45pm on a Tuesday. A lone trumpet echoes across the street outside. Soon a drum joins in. I wander over to the window, and there–in the street–is a full brass band. As they launch into a traditional wedding song, children gather around them and begin to dance. Neighbors lean out of their windows and stand in doorways. I spot one dancing...
read more ->Peeking at Peaks in Py
The next stop on our European odyssey was Py, a tiny village1 in the Pyrenees. First, though, we had to get to France! After saying goodbye to our hosts in Girona, we hopped on the bus to Perpignan, on the French side of the mountains. The driver chatted away to me as he hauled our bags into the belly of the bus. (He quickly figured out that my command of Spanish is only slightly better than my command of North Baffin Inuktitut, and proceeded in French.)2 When I explained that I grew up in the US but currently live in Morocco, he immediately...
read more ->How to Cook a Tagine in the Woods
I suppose this post should, logically, be preceded with another titled “How to Cook a Tagine”. But you know me- I don’t do anything half-assed. I’d never cooked a tagine before, so naturally I made my first one in the woods over twigs and stones.1 Mustapha and I surprised his sisters by whisking them away last Sunday for a picnic in a forested glen by the ocean. After arriving, we spread out a big carpet to sit on, piled up the containers of ingredients, turned on some music, and got to work.2 Step 1: Find twigs. Step...
read more ->Morocco, Week Five
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here over a month already. Sometimes I feel like I just arrived, and other times I feel as if I’ve been here for years. A strange feeling, like making a new friend who becomes close so quickly that you forget there was ever a time when you didn’t know each other. Hunker down, kids, because these are my notes for this blog post. Front and back.1 My workweek was action-packed, and by “action-packed” I mean “hours in front of the computer preparing a pretty exciting edtech...
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