July 4th Weekend

I received some visitors the weekend of July 4^th to celebrate the holiday, my birthday, and our end of homestay. Cara, Sami, and Dave arrived on Friday evening from Tiznit. We caught up on the last few weeks and cooked gourmet Kraft macaroni and cheese, provided by Cara. My kitchen was not quite equipped to handle cooking a meal for 4 people, even though it was a Kraft mix. We had to cook macaroni in my tea kettle because the only other pot I had could only hold 2 cups of water. For the next 3 days, I had elusive noodles stuck in my kettle spout, coming out unexpectedly as I poured hot water in my cup of Nescafe. But, the mac and cheese was delicious, a taste of home.

On Saturday afternoon, we were joined by Martin from Essaouira, and Donniel and Nathaniel from Amzmiz. I decided to bake a quiche and a tarte a la moutarde for my guests. It was the first time I was using the oven so when we first turned it on, all the dust on it started burning and smoking. But we cleaned it up and my pies were a success. After dinner, I managed to skype with the family back home. They were having a big reunion at the parent’s house for the grandparent’s 80^th birthday party. Everyone on the Reid side of the family was there except Quade, Quinn, and me. The Bruce’s, Ralphs, Tom, Carol, Charlie, and even Clement and Audrey were there. It was nice to see everyone. They seemed to be having a great time. Daddy-Daddy entertained me with his silly comments and funny faces. I showed them my group of guests via my computer. We couldn’t hear each other well, but we got a few phrases across.

On Sunday morning, Naima, my counterpart, brought us a plate of Lmsmen, Moroccan crepes. She had also lent me some ponj’s for people to sleep on, and baked chocolate cookies for my birthday. She’s so sweet! I spent all morning taking care of rental agreements at the cyber with my landlord and came back exhausted from the ordeal. While I’d been out, Cara had gone back to Agadir, Nathaniel back to Amzmiz, and the others had visited the souk. I got home to find Donniel making us one of her delicious vegetable tagines in the tagine pot Nathaniel had brought me. The group had also bought me three house plants! Aloe, lemon verbena, and a plantana. How very thoughtful! After lunch, Donniel went home and Martin, Sami, Dave and I went on a walk to the lake. It was surprisingly breezy and slightly cool out, so we weren’t baking in the afternoon sun. We went to check out the popular weekend picnic and swimming spot by the lake. It’s definitely not someplace I would go without a male friend. The lakeshore was packed with half dressed Moroccan men lounging in a sea of trash. Music was booming as people swam and grilled food. Trash was everywhere and there were maybe 4 women among all the men. Condoms and beer cans were everywhere. We didn’t linger. At least now I know what it’s like out there so I can be sure not to go, especially on Sunday. In the evening, Martin made a chocolate cake in a cake dish he’d brought for my birthday. Sami and Dave made vegetable stir fry and rice. We played cards, ate great food, and enjoyed another great evening among good friends.