There are no words...

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Lunchie munchies

...for 25 dirhams each. That's about £1.80!


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Another wedding...

...another mlhfa (or 2)



A large wedding present (top left) and party central in a tent (bottom right)

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Bedford; the final throes

The day before leaving for the sand pit, I visited a new café in town that is about as atypical of Bedford High Street as 'Noble Rot' is of Tavistock Street.

It's called 'Coffee with Art'. Check out the wall;


If Pinterest was a café it would be this place

A beautifully designed space with paintings and photographs on the walls


A book theme to make any bibliophile weak at the knees and a refreshingly novel cake selection to keep an ADD gourmand indecisive


The pièce de resistance for me was a wildly eccentric installation at the far end that looks like books are exploding through the wall


I picked out one tiny book and found The Book of Common Prayer inscribed with 1916

This is the kind of place that you hope is so successful it stays for many years but conversely you hope not too many people get to hear about because its your hideout!

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Reverse culture shock

I can't really claim to have been away long enough to be experiencing reverse culture shock. I have, however, been surprised at my heightened awareness of normal life experiences in the UK since returning;

Brushing my teeth with tap water

Overhearing people talking in English

Eating a meal with a fork, rather than fingers

Pavements you can walk on

Getting into a taxi with £2.40 already on the clock

Toilet paper as standard!!

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Cereal nights

Everyone knows a bowl of cereal for dinner at quarter past eleven p.m cancels out a day of eating junk food, right?


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Day 2 in town

The fox socks were reunited for two days in London!


We found more quirky joints to hang out, drink coffee, eat cake and chew the cud in Angel


Later we continued making a dent in the Christmas shopping (not at the Sainsbury's in the background!!)


then upped yesterday's wood pigeon and quail with elk in Kensington.

Not too shabby



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Down to the smoke

Cake I didn't have but looked spectacular.


Thank you Hummingbird Bakery, South Ken.

Then on to a place I've wanted to go to for years!!! MOMO!



I don't think it's too hard to see why


Fabulous lighting casting Moroccan patterns everywhere


Wood pigeon Pastilla (not had wood pigeon before)


And the Momo grill with another first; roast honey quail


Grand day out with Sarah :)

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Landmark moment!

I'm allowed into a local kitchen to cook!! This really is a special moment as I sit with one of my sisters preparing 'lardus' (lentils) and fish.



I prepped the lentil part of the meal with interjections about how to do it properly :)


Lentils, 'madness & kuspoor' (parsley & coriander), skingerbeer (ginger), kimown (cumin), bsla (onions), madisha (tomatoes), thm (garlic) bubbles away on a single ring gas bottle.


The fish steams with onion and potatoes and a salad is prepared.
Grated cucumber, peeled tomatoes...and we chatter away in a unique combination of French and Arabic!

Later I'm given the job of finishing off some embroidery she's never got round to finishing



I was given a typically Berber item to wear for the task!


Next I was taught how to make one of my favourite types of bread here; msmn.
Kneading in a traditional bread plate


Rolled into balls, flattened into pancakes, folded into squares then fried until they look like this;


The saucer on the left is amlou. A pretty good day in my book!

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Deblij...

...which means 'bracelets'

I've been up cycling random objects and makin' pretty fings!


Looks like I may have a market in the next town (4hours away) with a friend who is opening a boutique



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Haima

Went out to buy dates and some thread.

Came back having wandered into an interesting looking shop, where i drew a picture and put a deposit down...



...on a tent. It will be ready on Friday!!

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All creatures great and small

Two rather splendid ginger kits at a service station


(Where you pay a dirham for no loo paper, no soap, no lock on the door, a hold on the ground and a small bucket of water!)

A silver slick of fish caught in the Laguna


(Where the coast is unspoilt and the beach is small but private)

A stunning hummingbird moth-hawk with a long proboscis and wings that beat to a blur


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On another planet

Never have I felt less Christmasy. It's weird.
This afternoon, friends took me out on their sail dinghy. The weather was great and it was a warm, sunny day.


Coming back and seeing people's comments on FB about Christmas was just odd. It was like someone telling me in June that they were putting up their decorations!





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Huh?

What's the difference between laying an egg, painting something white and lightening up a dark picture?

Nothing!

In Arabic it's the same verb.


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The very hungry caterpillar

In four days I ate;

2 apples
3 bananas
2 portions of plain rice
Some bread
3 yoghurts

...and on the 5th day I turned into someone with rather wobbly legs and an intolerance to light!

I have been ill. I am 99% better. Thanks for p's. got hands henna-ed for a wedding I missed!




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One evening

Hung out with H (not from Steps just to clarify). Had dinner of half a bread each, stuffed with chopped sausages (lamb), onions and chilli sauce for 75p. For both. Not each :)



Looked round the fish market and saw some stunning beasties from the deep!


Looked at and resisted buying some serious local bling for a 'monasaba' (wedding party) I'm invited to on Monday.



Negotiated the art of buying mlhfa (local dress) with a degree of success. Of course it's not as simple as seeing piles of material and choosing which you like.

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I can tile a rainbow...

I gather, clean and clip tiles left all over the ground;


I form a picture;


I put it on wood and grout;


Moderately pleased with a first attempt but already plenty I will change for next time

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A typical scene;


A street completely blocked off by a huge tent. Usually fora wedding or perhaps a naming ceremony. Drivers can find another route!

Strange places I've found Kitty Malone in my apartment;


In the bath, in the drying up rack...

And in other news;


My friend's dog has had puppies!

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The inexplicable;

Snails sold on the street for immediate consumption.

Taxi drivers stopping to chat to mates.

Camel in a cul de sac.

Car stopping and reversing back up street to shout at me in Spanish.

Drivers indicating the way they intend to turn.

Stray dog trotting the wrong way down a dual carriageway.

The fun;

Offered a puppy if the meeting of two pure white dogs goes well (one purebred Siberian husky)

Cleaners blitzing the house

Getting grout to holdup

Aq

Getting my mate back from Eastern Europe


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Numbers

TWENTY degrees hotter here than Britain

FORTY FOUR words of vocab to learn tonight

TWO dhiram increase in taxi fares for longer distance rides taking the price from THIRTY EIGHT pence to FIFTY THREE pence

THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE miles travelled last week



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