Intimidation and fear!

Last days of March!
A few things I have noticed:
No one bikes to school – primary, college or Lycee, not a bike rack or bike to be seen. I thought this was weird the other day that I hadn’t noticed before but most children have bus passes and will take the bus even for one stop!

Many children travel a long way to attend these schools – probably because they are private.
Tests are all the time - 1/2 per week. Seph's class had an hour long history test - 1 hour at age 8!! Up until this year the students had to go to school on Saturday mornings - the Lycee used to use this for a 4 hour exam each week as practice for the big exams. A different subject each Saturday morning - wouldn't you start to hate Saturday mornings? I am also sure that at uni the exams were ever only 3 hours maximum, can't remember being longer than this and these are high school students!

Today the Directrice (Principal of the Primary school) went into every class and called out each pupil’s name and told them how they have done in the past 3 months and handed out an envelope full of results to each one. Some however aren’t doing so good and got called up in front of the class for an earful – being called “stupid” and “thick” flicked on the earlobes and around the head! They were even told that they would go back down a year level. Hermione was quite amazed and disgusted really, about how this worked. She thought it was ‘harsh’ just because some children got low marks. She didn’t get an envelope but had to go up the front and show her books to the Directrice. Full of intimidation and fear really.
Also the class I was in today was getting a real dressing down as someone’s food had been stolen while they were at the pool. The teacher found out who had stolen and man what a dressing down he got in front of everyone too.
I am in 2 minds about this – I agree it is unacceptable behaviour regarding children’s ability to go on like this but then when it is a matter of right and wrong, like stealing, quite often we ‘hush’ it up - the pupil is called into the Principal’s office and we never hear again about the punishment and no example is made to the rest of the class and children. (Teachers here certainly go through a child’s bag and search it) The child can carry on and not ‘lose face’ in front of others - “Privacy” issues! Occasionally the rights of students we take too far – all politically correct and not enough action! No doubt about it, these students have manners and respect for their elders. However is it earned respect or from intimidation and fear? Does it matter? If teachers can teach without disruption does it matter where the respect comes from? I suspect it does but I think some / most N.Z. school pupils and children could do with lessons in respect and manners. What the teacher says goes!! Give us back some rights as teachers!!!!!
Anyway points to ponder……..

Lundi 23 – dimanche 29 mars Carnaval!

Hermione, Seph and Solenn

The highlights this week:
A phone call from Karen + Gavin!!! Wahoo! Our package that we sent home arrived in great condition –Whew!!
It rained and was really cold all week – back to winter temperatures!
Seph got something in her eye that caused a lot of pain and she had Friday off school so we could get it out!
On Saturday night Seph had a French friend come and stay for the night – they all really enjoyed having time together.
We finally booked a campervan for part of the summer holidays so we can tour around and see a few more places.

Carnaval in town- On Sunday we caught the bus into town to meet our friends and to watch the carnaval parade. I wasn’t really sure what it would be about but got told it is a famous tradition and that the Parade is a huge highlight and people come from miles to see the entertainment. As we arrived early – I got early genes which pay off every now and then – we got a prime spot at the end of a rue where the floats then turn a corner. All the barricades were up and security was everywhere. Before long the crowds started arriving and filling up fast. We had our spot but one of the girls moved back to talk to Nev and quick as a French Flash someone elbowed in and took her spot!
I was determined not to let this happen again and I was not going to be pushed out of the way until we are at the back again, considering we were the first there. So I went one side of the children and Nev the other to stay staunch and ‘hold’ our spot and stand our ground! I did manage to gain our spot back by edging in very slowly as centimetres appeared! However during the parade these people behind us pushed really hard and their children were so rude and pushy the other lady (the one who had originally pushed in) and me were holding firm. I really had to stand strong and push back to keep from getting edged out! The mother had a rather animated discussion with the lady beside me about not letting them in but I did catch her answer back – “Well, get here earlier!” My sentiments exactly! Normally it wouldn’t worry me so much but I could see that if we let her children in then she would elbow her way in and I would be at the back again! After all we are only here once.

The setup was amazing, balloon sellers were everywhere, they also were selling bags of confetti and the silly string cans for the crowd to use. This really created a party type atmosphere and amazingly it wasn’t raining and the sun even shone! After about 45 minutes of waiting and the crowds at least 10 rows deep, the first band approached. The costumes were extravagant, fun and well thought about. The bands came from Austria, Germany and many French bands. The people were of all ages in the bands and played many instruments, a few I have never seen before. The music was great and such a huge part of French life.
I can’t help but think if New Zealand bands were as much fun they might be more popular and have many people want to be a part of it. I have also noticed that there is no ‘stigma’ attached to what teenagers like to do and many of these bands were full of young people.
A very impressive parade, probably about 35 floats and as many marching bands. Many of the floats were made of crepe paper and some were other materials – not sure what though – fibreglass? Most floats were self driven with all the mechanics hidden. This was great for photo taking!

I Loved this float - A man sitting on the toilet reading the paper!

Many of the participants had confetti too that they would throw at the crowds. A couple of floats had confetti canons – man did they blow out the stuff. We got covered at one point.
Any one need ideas for float making this year?
The whole parade lasted about an hour and there was NO truck parade to boost it! There was also no pressure to go into an area after and have to pay for the privilege. However there were market stalls, side shows and the bands did perform again after on a stage in the town square. FREE!!!
A really enjoyable afternoon – the children kept picking up confetti from the street and throwing it on others. One of the roads by the square was even covered all in foam – not sure why or how though!

Hermione amongst all the foam and confetti on the wy home.

Most people were in the spirit – there was confetti everywhere! I have never seen so much confetti in my life. After we returned home the amount of confetti on the floor was incredible. An amazing amount on the toilet floor - good knows how it got inside jeans!!

Ok Have tried to be brave and added in a small video - hope it works! Don't forget you can click on photos to enlarge them.

Lundi 16 – dimanche 22 mars Carnavale

Another week has just flown by in the rush of normality! Except…..the sun shone all week and everyday reached into the high teens! It is now officially Printemps –Spring!! It really has been like someone threw the switch and it changed overnight. WOW, what a difference to have the sun on your back. I did hope it was all up from here- however the forecast looks for snow early next week.

I finally got a box sent home full of resources from here – a costly exercise but one that will be repeated at least 2 more times!

Neville got invited out for St Paddy’s day! He trotted into town to meet John and his mate (an english teacher) he also caught up with John the kiwi! He had a great time.

Uni this week for me has got really hard – so much emphasis on the written work and the grammar! Haven’t enjoyed this week at all, it must be hard for everyone else too as on Friday there were only 2 of us – more intensive tuition! This seems to be a problem every Friday!

The girls came home with a notice advertising that Saturday was Carnavale in our ‘quartier’ suburb. A bit of a mystery to us and not sure what to expect, the girls made masquerade masks in the morning and then wore their Moroccan dresses. We wandered off to the church for the rendez-vous but on the way a lady in a car stopped and told us that the meeting point had changed to the Intermarché (supermarket). As we rounded the corner we were met with many (200) people in fancy dress – young, teens and older people! It looked great – some fantastic costumes. As it was the meeting point there were different groups getting together and practising dance moves. An African drumming group and people with other instruments playing music. A lady came around handing out incredibly noisy balloon squeaky things and whistles.
We then headed off for a walk around the district with the drummers and large dance groups in front. We finished in another school’s playground where there was entertainment and food available. We had a choir, hiphop dance group, African drummers, and dancers, then all the children learnt an African dance. It was great! Sitting in the sun soaking up the entertainment.
This weather has inspired Nev in his running again, he had been trying to go out in the winter but it really was miserable and at times too dangerous with snow and ice on footpaths, so this week he has been out 5x!
Sunday was peaceful – the girls disappeared outside and built huts and things and we weeded the school gardens and picked up all the rubbish again in the school grounds.
A big disaster – the TV we had been given, very old and extremely heavy – finally gave up completely today. Amazing how much you rely on it for normal things like the News and weather. We all also enjoyed “Roue de la Fortune” (Wheel of Fortune) and “Prendre ou a Laisser” (Deal or No Deal). SO we will have to rely completely on the internet now for news in the world!

Lundi 9 – dimanche 15 mars

Back to all intents and purposes a ‘normal’ week if that really exists when you are in a foreign country. Things still amaze me and I still learn new things each day.
I do enjoy going to my university classes but they are nowhere near as much fun as I had with the first group of students – the class where there were many different cultures. Now it is all Chinese and to be honest-boring!
The amount of homework is a lot, I think this suits the Chinese as it is only part time and they spend the mornings doing homework whereas I work and when I get home at 6:30 at night there is al the family stuff to do and by the time that finishes I am too tired to do homework!
The girls have an invite to a birthday party this Saturday - great! We went shopping on Wednesday for the presents and ended up with Littlest Pet Shops – They are the craze here too and the girls have got quite a collection. The children tend to take them to school and swap them – which of course causes arguments.
The weather this week has been amazing, definitely ‘springlike’ – even made it to 18 degrees a couple of times! The pharmacies will be having a tough week as with the sun and no grey skies everyone’s ‘winter depression’ will lift and won’t need so many pills! When I went into town amazingly all the tables and chairs are back out on the terraces and they are full and there is a real buzz again. The daffodils are out and smelling great, the garden/lawn at school outside our window is full of them.
To leave class at 6:00pm and find the sun still shining is great. Technically here though winter doesn’t finish and spring start until 21 March. Only a week to go!! I just hope it is all up from here!
Help!!! Anyone out there hired campervans before? We are wanting to hire one for the summer and there are so many different terms and conditions from different companies, does anyone know what we should look for and what to look out for especially in terms of insurance? Sandra and Kerry?
Saturday the girls were very excited about going to Solenn’s for her birthday – I think they changed clothes at least 5 times each! We are very lucky to have found such good friends as John and Christelle live in a small village about 15 minutes away and they always come and collect us and return us home. However Nev and I decided that the girls needed a break from us and so they just went and we went into town and then the groceries!! At 6:00 John rang to say that he will bring the girls back in and they will all come and have a drink with us – great!! Anyway the night went on and suddenly we thought we better eat…. First takeaways since we left NZ…..the boys went and collected pizza from….Dominos!!!
Very spontaneous and felt great to have made friends! As the night went on I asked Christelle with some help with my homework, a section on colloquialisms. She looked at it and said “John couldn’t do this and he has lived and worked in France for 9 years.” They also speak French at home. She really struggled with it too and she is a native! This made me feel much better and I realised how far I had come in the language. Although speaking and trying to express myself is still incredibly hard as there are just so many tenses (at least 3 for the past tense) and the conjugation of each verb is different for each tense. I think there must be about 9 or 10 different forms to learn!

Le weekend

Not much to report here you will be pleased to know – just a quick entry. Tried to get blog started and had to sort out all the photos.
Monopoly again seems to be the hit… at least while the weather is so miserable. I have been told by a local that it is the worst and coldest winter here in 20 years – aren’t we lucky? I do hope though that it means a fantastic summer.
School and Uni again on Monday!

Vendredi le 6 mars - Home to Snow!

We left the hotel and did the reverse journey back to the Gare. We wanted to leave our luggage as we were not getting the train till 4:00.
We got there about 11:00 deposited the luggage and headed across the road to the shopping mall. Seph was starving so we thought we would get an early lunch / late breakfast. After wandering for a while the best option seemed to be “Pizza Pai” a bit like Pizza Hut, it was fairly full too at 11:30 in the morning. Sitting there we decided that we should catch an earlier train home as there was really nothing else we wanted to do in Lyon. After lunch, 12:30 I left to go and see about changing train to 12:49. On the way out there was a queue waiting for tables in the restaurant – surprising as normally the French eat later and why was it so popular?
I had to wait in a queue at the Garre to change my ticket -it was now 12:40 and we weren’t sure if we could change yet. Nev also had to race to the other side of the Gare and get the luggage but didn’t want to go in case we didn’t get on and then would have to pay for our luggage again. Made it to the front 12:44 and she said we could get on, Nev and Hermione ran to get luggage we waited for new tickets to get printed….12:45. 4 minutes to find the platform and get on…. Our luck the platform was the furthest away. Run…. No escalator to get suitcases up…lift them up the stairs…. Guard standing there to tell us ‘vite’ just stepped on and the whistle blew and train left! A bit close for comfort really!
Got on and found some seats then remembered…did not composte our tickets! A big fine in store for us! If we had stopped to do this though we would have missed the train!
Sitting there trying to decide how to handle this with the guard and thinking of the best possible scenario when he appeared. I was just plain honest right up front and he was a ‘good’ guy and let us off! The other conductor guard didn’t look as nice so maybe we were lucky.
As the train got closer to Besancon what was all around….SNOW!!!! We stepped off the train into fresh snow and it was still snowing. Seph had to change her shoes in the Gare as she only had slip ons on. We trudged through the snow getting wet feet within seconds, building up a snow bank with the suitcase behind us towards the bus stop.
What a welcome home!
Nev dived onto the computer first to see all the emails – inbox 39! WOW!!! Sadly only 2 were of importance from our friends! However he did read quickly in the news that Otago ‘thrashed’ Canterbury – Way to Go !!!! I bet Russell has been a pack of misery. I think that makes 3 in a row….oh dear!
Nev braved the weather to get food supplies and the girls and I unpacked. 3 loads of washing later we sat down for tea.

Jeudi le 5 mars- Back to France!

Our last morning here – didn’t do much really.

The girla got a Henna tattoo each on their arm.

Got a phone call to say the man would come and collect our bags at 12:00 and bring them to reception. So we spent a bit of time getting organised. At 12:00 headed up to reception where got our wristbands cut off – this now meant we couldn’t have lunch or anything! This annoyed me as it did say that our time at the complex officially finishes after lunch and we were not going to get anything till the plane at about 6:30! However the girls had not come with us and we had to find them to get their wristbands to hand in – so we went slow and had a couple more drinks before we took them up to get cut off.
I think we could probably have still gone to the restaurants but I am too honest, Paul (the Pom) reckoned all the other French people would have been in there anyway regardless, this would probably be true. The French don’t really care for rules and are pretty arrogant.
We headed out of the complex and ate at a local restaurant – Hermione a hamburger and chips $5 and the rest of us got pizzas at $8. Not too bad.
The Thomas Cook rep arrived at 2:30 to collect us to take us to the airport. After we gathered a few more from different hotels we arrived at the airport just after 3:00. Amazingly now everyone collected their own luggage, even thought there were men hanging around hoping to get tips for doing this. We are all so much the wiser!
Through customs control and Xrays to check in counter. We were second in the line and there were 3 different queues – however ours was the only one working and then amazingly enough the rude French from the other queues just took down the ropes and barged in turning the queue sideways running along the counter and before 5 seconds was up we were at the back!
This is so typical and very irritating – they would never think to go to the back, just barge right on in.
Duty free was hardly a saving so no purchases. Boarded the plane and took off at 5:30pm.
I drew the short straw and was to sit on my own across the aisle, amazingly though I had a great seat and had all this leg room. I enjoyed talking to the couple beside me who regularly go to Agadir – 10th time. We did get a very nice tea on the flight which surprised us.

We watched the reverse this time - day turn into night and saw a glorious sunset.

We arrived in Lyon at 9:30pm and then managed to find our way to the Airport Shuttle counter – he had just closed but he informed us that you buy your ticket from the driver and they do accept credit cards. The next bus was leaving in 5 minutes.
We raced to the shuttle stand, stowed all our luggage and the girls got on and found seats while we waited to pay. Finally our turn and the driver said “No cartes” - I explained that the man inside said yes you take cards and even the sign on the bus said it accepts cards – he was very rude and said ‘No’.
A bit shocked at how rude he was another passenger explained that we would have to go to the cash machine in the terminal on the first floor, but we didn’t have time. The driver was ready to leave and was about to take off when I tried to explain that our children and luggage was on the bus! He at least waitied, although very impatiently for us to get them off!
I was slightly concerned as it was now after 10 and we needed to get to the Gare to catch the metro to our hotel and I wasn’t sure what time the trains stopped running! Nor if there was even another shuttle bus.
I went up to the first floor and took a few minutes to find the cash machine, when I returned the rest were all sitting on a shuttle – whew! But…Seph was in tears. It turned out in the panic to get them off the other bus she had left behind her handbag and it contained her souvenirs and all her ‘littlest pet shops’.
I explained to the driver what had happened and he was great, he rang the other driver and left a message. After about 10 minutes the other driver called back to say he had the bag! Relief! Another few minutes passed and he called again to ask where we were getting off as he would meet us there to return the bag. Very nice of him but Nev thinks he was feeling very guilty about how he had been so rude to us. The next driver though made up for him and was really nice to us and to the girls.
We waited at the shuttle stop for the bus to come back with the bag and in the mean time a very drunk lady started talking to us in English, it turns out that she owns a vineyard and winery near Dijon and she invited us numerous times to come and stay with her. She was on her way to the airport to go to Egypt – but there were no more shuttles that night – we were on the last one!
Nev spotted the other shuttle and went to meet him as he got stuck in traffic – turns out he was still really rude to Nev but at least we had the bag. He had in fact got stuck in a little turn around as a car blocked it and there was no driver in it…this probably added to his grumpiness, I call it Karma!
We left our dear drunk new best friend, I tried to talk her into getting a taxi as not sure what she was planning to do but she didn’t want to. The police had driven past a couple of times to check on her I just hoped she was ok after we left. In her words. “I am pretty sloshed, been drinking like a fish!”
We made it to the metro it was about 11:00pm and then 2 changes and a short stroll we finally arrived at our accommodation at 11:40. Whew!

Mercredi le 4 mars- Lazy Day

We spent our last full day lounging around the pool and spent some time down at the beach on the loungers. It was a really hot day and we were pleased to make the most of it. At 3:00 we decided to head off into town to the one fixed price shop for souvenirs. It meant that you can look around in peace without the pressure to buy and to know exactly what it is worth. As you certainly can’t just look at any stalls in the souk or on the street and wander out again – to show any interest is weakness and they go in for the kill – sale!
This shop was huge and had so many tourists in it – I think every tourist is told about this shop. A few t-shirts later, a pair of shoes and a couple of other souvenirs we had to race back to the hotel as I had booked in a Berber Massage at 5:00.
The massage was 2 hours of heaven – it felt great, not sure why I have never really had one before but this was terrific. It was all timed in unison – about 10-12 different little cubicles for each client and their masseuse. As each section of your body was nearing completion you would hear everybody slapping, chopping or whatever all at the same time. A great experience.
While I was at the massage the girls went to collect our made to measure Morrocan traditional outfits that we had ordered yesterday. Seph just couldn’t wait! By the time I was out of the massage both girls were wearing their outfits – they looked great.
We decided to skip tea tonight at the Fish Restaurant – no one in our family is fond of seafood at all. We just went to the Oasis – the large main restaurant.
We met up with a few people we had become friendly with – exchanged emails etc had a drink or two and said our Goodbyes – as we might not see them tomorrow before we leave.
The girls headed to the disco for the last time and then we moved onto the show. The theme tonight was The Transvestite Show – very funny and good entertainment.

Traditional Mint tea is served in little glasses and traditional teapots - available at every meal and for afternoon tea in the Moroccan tents. It is very strong and ...you guessed it....not for me!

Mardi le 3 mars - Camel Trek

This morning we were off on a Camel trek – I must admit I was slightly hesitant about this for 2 reasons – 1: I had been told the movement can make you motion sick so I wanted to prevent this and took sealegs prior
2: A bit scared of falling off when they are getting up or down as it is quite a steep angle, but also it being ‘naughty’ and going out of control!
A very nice Berber man arrived in a van and took us out to the camels, about a 10 minute journey. We were met by the 2 camels – Scooby Doo and a name beginning with T…I can’t quite remember. Seph and I were first on and up with Scooby Doo, Nev and Hermione followed closely behind us – partly because they were tied to the back of our camel!

Anyway no worries…it was much more enjoyable than the donkey ride. We rode for about an hour to the Souss River where we met up with many more camel trekkers. We dismounted our camel and walked along the river a bit to a viewing platform. The board at the entrance had looked promising with all the different species we might see, however the tide was out and not a bird to be seen. Amazingly though there was a man selling souvenirs……needless to say we bought a scorpion keyring! This man was full of information and told us how if you don’t get to hospital within an hour approx after a scorpion sting you will die! He then followed this stunner up with the fact that a cobra bite will see you gone in 3-5 minutes! Just as my heart rate was returning to normal he did say that as it was technically winter all the snakes are hibernating and it is too cold for the scorpions. Whew!

We passed many ‘dwellings’ and I use the term lightly. I couldn’t believe what some families were living in…I guess it is harsh reality when you see it close up. I always really knew that many of the world’s population were nowhere as fortunate as others but it still is quite a shock. However what did blow me away as many of these shacks – built with tin and tent canvas or tarpaulins was the fact that on top was a satellitie dish. Even more was many dwellings merged into others and there might be a whole ‘campsite’ but it would have 5 satellite dishes! This brings forth many questions – Is there electricity in there? Even when it is not weather proof? How can they afford TV? Satellite TV? What do they go without to have this? You will have to use your imagination a bit as we couldn’t get a clear photo of these examples.
A slight aside – but on all buildings especially apartment blocks the roof is full of satellite dishes. I have never seen so many in one place ever!

Back to our trusty dromedaries….I do need to point out that technically they are not camels. Camels have 2 humps dromedaries’ just one! We finished our trek with a slight downpour, the last 3 minutes only. As we returned to our minivan the nice driver was waiting for us, I don’t think he had actually left but just waited in the van. After our return to the hotel we filled in our time until about 3:00pm when an overwhelming tiredness overtook me and I went for a sleep… very unusual for me to sleep during the day. No…to all those smart alecs out there…. I know I can sleep in the mornings but this is the middle of the day! Nev went for a run. This siesta was explained after Nev recalled I had taken ‘Sealegs’ and that I do fight hard later in the day to stay awake after these.

This is as close to the King's palace as we could get - This is a 'holiday' Palace and not his permanant residence.

Tea tonight was at the Medina - Moroccan Restaurant – Soup and flat bread, Tajine – poulet and vegetables, couscous with lamb, traditional slice/cake for dessert. I was very impressed with the children who each night took what was thrown at them for tea and tried everything. It was only the Japanese that nobody ate. I had also thrown down the challenge that every time we were in the main restaurant for lunch that we all had to try something we had never tried before. The girls took this challenge and tried heaps of different things. Seph turned out to really be a true descendant from her grandparents (my parents) as every lunch time she started with the soup. For those of you who don’t know my parents were terrific soup makers, both had different styles and you could always tell who had made which soup. It was always the first question when we were having tea-‘Who made this soup?’ My parents had soup with every meal, summer or winter. In the past few years they have helped Grandpa make soup on occasion. However I hadn’t realised how much Seph loved soup and she certainly didn’t mind what flavour it was. Hermione too loves soup but it has to be Tomato!
Show – Miss Agador a quiz/game show where 6 female members of the resort were picked out to participate. Full of laughs and sexual innuendo. In fact in 1 game they had to race to the audience and retrieve as many pairs of long pants as they could get. A lot of the audience was sitting pantless. The next game – collect as many bras! A rather interesting night. It also involved grabbing a man from the audience to form a team and then popping balloons in certain positions….need I say more. However the kids loved it, each night they sat with their friends to watch the show. The next day Seph said “ In the game last night with the balloons…what was up with that?!” I very quickly changed the topic!

Lundi le 2 mars- Taroudant / Tiouit

Another early rise to meet a man who will take us to Taroudant and Tiouit. We decided not to book this through the hotel and risked it on a guy, Momo, who stands directly outside the resort touting for business. I had talked to him a few times and bargained a good price. He assured us he does the exact same tour but undercuts the hotels rates! So not sure really what to expect!
However a man arrived on time in a Pajero to collect us and another couple. We headed out of town and first stop was to see the goats that can climb trees!

All animals are grazed using a shepherd and there are no fences to be seen. So beside the road there were 2 big coach buses stopped and a few cars. The shepherd makes his money by getting a coin to allow people to photograph his animals! I think he is on to a good thing going by the amount of people that stop to watch. It was quite weird watching these goats climb the trees and go out on very narrow branches to get the leaves. Some trees would have 5 or 6 goats in them.
Watching the villages go past and looking at the architecture we were amazed to find basically all houses are not finished, the second storey is always incomplete – the reason- if you have a completed house you pay tax!

We stopped at an orange grove for morning tea and could pick the fruit for ourselves -Yum!! Fresh lemons too. Not sure about this and maybe how much you'd have to pay at the end we were reserved.

Taroudant is called ‘mini marrakesh’ a varied town that has a windy medina (the oldest city centre) inside a fortified wall built in the 17th century. I again was astounded with the pollution – the plastic bag has a lot to answer for. The narrow lanes with donkeys carrying the loads to the souk, carts and even horses and buggies clogged the lanes. Shops were nothing more than a hole in a wall. Butchers with meat strung up on display in the blazing sun – live chickens getting their heads chopped off adds to the noise and atmosphere.
Very simple life – back to people taking big sacks of grain to and from the markets. Carts loaded high with fresh produce. Then in amongst this you suddenly see a hole in the wall selling brand new washing machines! Very interesting and words cannot possibly describe the experiences. Amazingly we did see the tourist buses and their guides doing the same tour as us!

We succumbed and bought a traditional berber carpet that has silk in it - hopefully we will find a spot for it at home!
We then continued on to a small village in the Small Atlas Mountains – Tiouit! A much simpler village and houses were shacks that have been straw -clayed on the outside. Small doors leading inside dwellings. On the top of the hill was a restaurant and sure enough the tourist buses were there too. This was our lunch stop – it had a beautiful look over the 7 smaller villages in the valley. It also had an oasis – a palmerie for figs!

Unfortunately the camera we bought decided at this point to run out of batteries and no more photos were taken!
Lunch was served in typical low seating couches and stools around a round table. First course was a chicken tajine.

These are served in a ceramic platter that is covered in a cone to keep it hot. Vegetables were also in this ragout type dish. It was very tender and had delicious spices. Next was couscous with lamb and vegetables. Finally we had fresh mandarins to finish. Freshly picked and super sweet!
After lunch was a donkey ride around the palmerai. I must say donkeys are not comfortable to ride at all!
We then headed back home via a different route - I just love looking at all the surrounding areas and seeing children miles away from a town on bikes or a donkey with their back pack on making their way to and from school.
School in Morocco is not compulsory but the new King is going to make it compulsory within the next few years. School at the moment can be just 2 hours a day with 50 in the class and then other students come, all in a roster basis from 8:00 – 5:00. There are private schools and looking at their buildings thay are incredibly flash compared to everything else around and even to us!
Back at the hotel for drinks and dinner!
Steakhouse – Soup, Tortilla, Pepper steak and sautéed potatoes, Chocolate mousse
Show – Lion King

Dimanche le premier mars- Agadir Tour

This morning we boarded a bus to go on a trip around the city of Agadir. First stop was to the top of the hill to the Kasbah – On the hill written underneath the Kasbah and is visible to the whole city are the words –God, Country and King. The people of Morocco must respect these in that order of importance. The Kasbah is the older part of a city or town often the market area. It was often enclosed as a fortress and possibly held the castle.
However on Feb 29 1960 at 11:50pm a 5.7 earthquake hit the town and demolished it killing 15000-20000 (1/3 of city population at the time) and many more were injured. The town was rebuilt 3 km’s to the south of the original centre as many were buried on the original centre. What we could see were some ruins – walls and stones. The hawkers were all up the top and as soon as we stepped foot through the gate Seph had tiny baby goat thrown into her arms for us to take a photo – then you have to pay for the privilege! However the people are very poor – if they have a job the average wage is 200 dirhams per month, that is approx $50 NZ! So I really didn’t mind giving a little bit to those who were trying to earn a bit of cash. The Kasbah had terrific views over the town and the port.
We went into the port for a look around, a very old port with many vessels and small boats that certainly don’t look seaworthy crammed in to berths. The Port had a huge sardine processing factory /cannery. It also was famous for traditional boat building. We stopped at a part of the port to get out and have a look, it was so polluted.

Rubbish visibly floating around, sunken rusted ships the stench of dead fish – not pleasant at all. There was also a man in a dinghy collecting the rubbish around the ships. I am not quite sure of why we would stop there – if this is something they are proud of then there isn’t much to see in the city! It also reminds me of how lucky we are in New Zealand and how ‘pure’ our water ways are really.

Third stop was to the biggest Mosque in the area, however non muslims are not allowed into the Mosques and you have to be content to look from the outside.

We then toured the main streets with the guide pointing out shops and areas of interest. There are many large open spaces for use – these are all tidy, paved and often have showers etc for after the beach. The promenade runs the whole length of the main beach – about 8km. Many people are out walking and using this wide boulevard all the time. Naturally it has many restaurants and shops running alongside. These are such a stark contrast to other areas.
The tourism industry is extremely important to the town of Agadir and it is definitely a very up and coming place. It will only go from strength to strength as all the works in progress are completed.
The souk ( an outdoor Arab market) is held within fortressed walls covering a huge area – 2 large square blocks. We only went straight through from 1 side to the other! Very easy to get lost as so many narrow intersecting aisles. The fruit and vegetables were impressive – piled high. All of these are for bartering too. The spices were highly colourful and steeped into pyramid shaped mountains. Many people were buying saffron – very expensive – however the guide did say to only buy from a registered seller (only 2 in whole market) as the others were selling other spice dyed yellow calling it saffron! You have to be so careful!
Seeing the live chickens (soon to be killed?) and other meat produce hanging in the heat certainly puts you off. The other sections of the souk included all sorts – you name it and it was there. Even whole stalls of what we would call total junk – a few odd bolts, screws, broken sinks, single shoes with no partner – along with the cell phones, playstation games etc.. Many clothes and shoe stalls too.
We had some free time in the souk after our initial guided tour – there are many offers from the locals to ‘guide’ you through the souk, however often they will only take you to their relatives stalls! It costs about 10 dirham for a guide - $1, BUT once you have a guide everyone else leaves you alone – so probably worth the money! We certainly noticed the difference after we left our guide. I did however manage to buy a pair of shoes!

I could have stayed at the souk for hours bargaining but the rest of the family wanted to return to the pool at the resort! They won!
We spent the rest of the day lounging around and swimming. The girls were off doing their own thing with their friends.
Pizza Night – Minestrone Soup, Tomato and Mozarella Salad, Pizza and dessert was ice cream. The service was amazing and we readily tipped our waiters. They really were very helpful so that Hermione didn’t have to eat cheese – filled our drinks as soon as they were empty and had a laugh with us. My favourite game and opening line was always “Can you tell my accent?” Many Moroccans couldn’t hear the difference and thought we were British! However it became a great way to get to know the staff.
We very quickly became known as “Zealand” - I think we were the first New Zealanders to stay at the resort as no one could remember anyone else staying. This would make sense as if NZ’ers were visiting Morocco I don’t think they would stay in a resort for a week. We really were being very typically French. I was even speaking French first before realising I could speak English if I wanted. This amazed me – it just came out in French!
I even have had a few dreams in French – more about verb conjugation and tenses than fiction! Does this still count as dreaming in French?
Show: Just For Fun – Comedy sketches!

Samedi le 28 fevrier - Ear!

The entrance garden to our rooms!

Seph went into a really deep sleep – with a fever. She didn’t stir when we got up and Nev and Hermione went to breakfast, nor when the cleaners barged in, or when Nev and I changed duties and I went to breakfast. She was still sound asleep when I returned after a meeting with our ‘rep’ at 11:30. I decided to wake her and found a lot of pus on the pillow. We took her to the ‘infirmerie’ before it shut for lunch. However they recommended to get a doctor to Seph – he came quickly – within 20 minutes. Something had burst and her ear was full of pus, and it was just oozing out. He had said she would have been in a tremendous amount of pain – which we knew! So Nev managed to race to the Pharmacie and came back armed with incredibly strong antibiotics, nurofen, panadol and ear drops!
Seph was feeling better though and after some painkillers was ready for lunch! She spent the rest of the day changing tissues in her ear collecting all the pus. I couldn’t believe how much was in there!
A family game of mini golf and a stroll to the beach – through the complex and across the road- however not the best day for swimming as it was now late afternoon and a bit chilly – probably still 23 degrees though! Amazingly though you acclimatise to the heat so easily – maybe it has to do with the fantastic summers we get in Alexandra!

Main restaurant for tea tonight – another superb buffet with everything you could imagine! Each night after tea there is children’s disco which the kids go to before the show. Held outside by the main pool if fine and inside reception/lobby if wet.
Show tonight was ‘Around the World’, involving lip synching and dancing to a variety of music. The big conclusion was a Parrot Show – where the parrots rode bikes, skateboards, counted, drove a jeep etc…

The ‘animators’ are the team of entertainers/presenters that are around the facility providing games and dance lessons to keep everyone happy. As part of their job they also are the main characters in the shows and present these each night. They must work a long day as they start about 9:00am and don’t finish until 11:00pm. The same people! They also rely I think on tips – as does everyone. The service some people get is impressive – I think they tip really well on the first day to set themselves up for the week and/ or are repeat business!
The whole complex was full of French, German, English and Dutch tourists. They come for at least a week – many two weeks. The occasional few stay a month or 2! People so brown – never seen the sun lovers so much! All bikinis – no matter what size you are – Don’t panic people – I did not succumb to that! It is a very common typical holiday for French people. They love it as Morocco used to be a French colony until they gained their independence so French is the second language – and they don’t have to worry about language difficulties! The resort is all inclusive – including alcohol, however of course there are the optional extras you pay for – the Safe in your room, a hairdryer, coffeemaker, the spa facilities, hairdresser, henna tattoos, a few private lessons in Tennis etc. A few snack areas, ice cream, waffles, crepes and drinks in the nightclub!
Agadir is a famous beach resort where people come for the sun and water. Even rich Moroccans (there are some) come for their holidays. The French, in particular are buying up apartments by the beach in record numbers. I talked to many people who return year after year to Morocco. Incredibly some never leave the resort and see the outside – I do presume they have done this though on previous trips.
Morocco’s main income is from people who have found jobs in France or other parts of Europe and send money home, second is from exportation of fruit, particularly citrus and tomatoes, and third is Tourism! The average wage for a month in Morocco is 200 dirham - $44 NZ. There is a lot of unemployment but the people are extremely friendly and very keen to get you into their shop – however they do accept graciously ‘non merci’. If you get inside you are lucky if you don’t purchase as they are very keen for a sale, haggling for price as they would hate you to go to the next shop and spend money!