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….

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…

Incognito: Moments in Marrakesh

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.  Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden So… my cover was blown. Last weekend I lost my huge floppy hat—the one I wear to shield me from the sun and would-be purse-snatchers. Gone are the days of tucking my hair in its crown and hiding behind sunglasses and in…

Weekends in the Village

After a long workweek and Friday night on the square, a girl living in a tourist town sometimes needs a quiet, country retreat. Palmeraie Village Residence, 20 minutes from the Medina, is family friendly and Girls’ –Weekend- great. On my daily ride to work through the Palmeraie region, I see palm groves, saddled camels, and dirt bikers popping wheelies. On my Saturday ride to…

Friday Night Lights: Jemaa el Fna Square

They were women who wore brightly coloured djellabas with silky hoods halfway down their backs, and their hands and feet were covered in an intricate web of design. ‘Tattoos,’ Bea whispered. ‘Henna,’ the woman nearest me laughed, noticing my fascinated stare.-–Esther Freud, Hideous Kinky Last Friday my friend, Jasna, and I returned to Jemaa el Fna where Esther Freud, great granddaughter of Sigmund Freud,…

Walking in Carrie Bradshaw’s Shoes: Sahara Palace Tribute

So glad I did what I’ve told my students to do every year since I first saw, then began showing to them, Dead Poets Society. This move to Morocco is about “seizing the day.” Before moving from Nashville, I finally looked up from grading papers to see my teens standing on their desks and saluting me with an “Oh Captain, My Captain.” Teaching is…

New School

The great teachers fill you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of life… The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language. Because of them…

First Week in Morocco: Part 2

The only real failure is the failure to try – and the measure of success is how we cope with disappointment – as we always must. We came here – and we tried – all of us in our different ways. Can we be blamed for feeling that we’re too old to change – too scared of disappointment to do it all again? We…

First Week in Morocco: Part 1

All we know about the future is that it will be different. But perhaps what we fear is that it will be the same. So we must celebrate the changes. Because, as someone once said, everything will be all right in the end. And if it’s not all right, then trust me, it’s not yet the end. —The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  Never lose…