Painting Party at Project SOAR

Surrounded by olive trees, lavender bushes, and mustard-colored blooms, we painted, stretched like yogis across the tent panels of the Project SOAR art area. Too cold to fan their plumes, the namesakes of Peacock Pavilions perched, watching us work to Dave Matthews with a rooster crowing as backup.  Maggie requested a Lionel Ritchie encore. Maggie O’Neill, American artist whose prolific portfolio includes designing the Washington,…

Finding Friends in Fes

Frazzled, frustrated, fearful in Fes. I left not a fan. To be fair, the seven- hour bus ride on CTM with no bathroom break began the trip badly. At 10 AM as Monica and I tried to board behind other passengers allowed on the coach at the station, we were yelled at angrily and herded back into the lobby. As we showed the glaring…

Saturday American Artists To SOAR

I can hardly wait for Saturday to return to Project SOAR, this time to paint alongside master American artists like Maggie O’Neill of Swatchroom. She and other creatives are flying in to decorate welcoming spaces at Peacock Pavilions and the non-profit’s new Dourar Ladaam village center.  There girls and their moms will take classes in health, sports, and yoga.  Also coming in 2015 is a…

Sunny Sunday with Marrakech Trekkers

Today marked the first hike of a new group and I’m so glad I joined.  It was the maiden voyage of the Marrakech Trekkers—almost literally— given the rain -swollen river that gushed across the road we needed to cross.  On the other side were mountain villages we’d hike around and through, lookouts over green valleys and the snow covered Atlas Mountains. Even before we…

Les Jardins de Bala for Lunch with a View

Les Jardins de Bala, my favorite lunch spot in town, is perched atop the 5-star hotel, Les Jardins de La Koutoubia, located in the front of Marrakech’s Medina.  Sun lovers can eat the best Indian food I’ve found while overlooking the pool, the Koutoubia Mosque, and the Atlas Mountains.  Around the corner are tables in the shade with comfy leather couches overlooking the ground floor pool….

To Moms from Marrakech to Music City Post-Holiday

Thank you to Kate, an Australian expat mom I met through InterNations who moved to Marrakech last fall, too.  Her son visited and returned home before my children came, and she set up lunch for last Sunday before I left for London knowing I’d need a friend after the holidays who understands the joy of sharing this life with family, then sadly saying goodbye again….

Christmas Day in London

Christmas Day we attended the service at Westminster Abbey, another gift.  Seats had been reserved months in advance but days before our trip someone returned three.  The sermon referenced the truce on December 25, 1914 between English and German soldiers.  More on the story here.  As we sang hymns and heard the children’s choir in a cathedral built in 1066 where William the Conqueror…

Christmas Eve in London

Seems like old times.  My children are asleep in the next room and I’m up early writing.  The Three Musketeers are together again. We spent a Happy Christmas in Merry Ole England, my first love as an English lit teacher when I began traveling abroad.  My son wanted to see London, and my daughter has loved it since she, my niece, and I toured…

In Marrakesh Girls SOAR

Like many who come to Morocco, I have stepped off a camel onto sand soft as powdered sugar. I have stepped onto a balcony overlooking nothing but ramparts and sea. I have stepped around a corner in the mountains knowing that more blue alleys await. All marvels and memories under the Moroccan sun. But one of my best Marrakesh moments was stepping into a circle…

From the Desert to the Daily: First Three Months

November 18, was Morocco’s Independence Day, the 58th anniversary of freedom from the French Protectorate lasting from 1912–1956. It was a milestone birthday of my cousin, Annette, a loving lady who hosted our family reunion in Kentucky last summer.  And it was a marker for me. Three months ago I landed in this country and began a new era in my life. I’ve thought…

Chefchaouen, Morocco: My Blue City

You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz….There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. –L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Of course I have…

Seaside Escape in Essaouira

It was many and many a year ago,/ In the kingdom by the sea,/ That a maiden there lived whom you may know /By the name of Annabel Lee.–Edgar Allen Poe Oh, baby, baby, it’s a wild world/I’ll always remember you like a child, girl.   —Cat Stevens Last weekend I discovered the writing retreat of my dreams. My heart, churning like the waves beneath…