I managed to catch all but about the first ten minutes of the champions league final on Wednesday night. It was shown on terrestrial television over here so I was able to watch it on the TV in the cafe beneath the apartment. Chadi, one of the guys from work who I often give a lift to stopped with me to watch it. He was a happier man than me at the end as he was supporting Barcalona, as the majority of Morocceans seemed to. Still, it wasn't a bad match and it made a nice change to finish of work at a reasonable time and get out of the apartment for the evening.

Today we had, for lunch, cous cous, vegatables and chicken served in a tajine of epic proportions in the boardroom at work. It was a communal meal with about eight of us taking part. The meal was accompanied by a drink that tastes like slightly sour milk but in a pleasent way. I must find  out the name of it as we often have it as an accompniment to cous cous! I wish I'd taken a picture of the meal before we started on it because it was impressive! When we eat cous cous like this you are generally issued with a fork (although you are free to use your hands if you prefer) and you just dive in. We don't use any separate plates or anything like that.

 

Meals really are a pleasure in Morocco and why it has not got a better reputation for food I'll never know!

One of the things I am really missing over here is Cricket. The fact that Sri Lanka was such a cricket mad nation was one of the deciding factors for me going out there. Here in Morocco it is all football and whilst I like football as much as the next man and will probably follow England's matches in the world cup it is Cricket that is my passion.

 

However, the absolutely fantastic news is that Sri Lanka are playing England at my the nearest international cricket ground, Trent Bridge, to my home town of Ripley the week I have booked as holiday in the UK! I simply can't believe it. So I'm praying for dry weather and will hopefully (Helen permitting) get down there for a day or two. It will be a bit odd supporting England again as whilst living in Sri Lanka I always supported Sri Lanka except when England came over to tour!

 

This has made my day

The good news is that Helen, my wife, has agreed to come over to Morocco to stay until the end of my contract in September. After our experiences renting out our house in the UK whilst we were in Sri Lanka we have decided not to risk it again this time. We shall simply close the house up, leave the car at my father's house and put our cat into a cattery. It will mean finances will be pretty tight as Helen will have to give up her job in the UK but we decided we couldn't really continue living apart; it just wasn't working out. Helen initially didn't want to come out to Morocco due to the boredom she had living in Sri Lanka and unable to work. She will try and get a job out here as an English teacher but even if she can't I think she will be able to survive for 3 months until we go back to the UK in September.

When work dropped the car off on Friday it ended up being a complicated procedure. At my apartment we have allocated parking spaces in a car park underneath the building. Someone had decided to park in my space. To me the obvious thing was for me to park in the space next to mine, get the person parked in my space to shift their car when they could be located and ask the person whose space I had now taken to use my space. This idea went down like a lead balloon with the apartment block janitor. It appeared that the people who owned the car parked in my space had gone out - in their other car - and had left their own space which was free. However, I couldn't use that as my car's roof is too high to get into their space as the ceiling is very low at this point (I had previous found this to be the case and have a dent in my roof to prove it). Putting my car in another space appeared to be a big problem. However, I decided to let common sense prevail and I got the car parked in the space next to mind and told the janitor I'd move it the next day. The annoying thing was there were only cars parked taking up 3 of the 11 spaces. Nothing, it seems, is ever simple over here. Anyway all this wasted a good 15 minutes argument. Just what I wanted after a hard days work and I think contributed to the Migraine that came on later that evening :(

I have noticed over here that it is quite common for someone to buy a single cigarette over here. At regular intervals you can find, usually older men, sitting on the pavement with some cigarettes in a box they sell individually to passers buy. Thsi is something I have not seen anywhere else in the world.

I must remember to ask at work what the story is with the guys who go around with baskets on the back of their bikes and repeatedly call out a word I can never quite makde out what it is. I assume they are selling something but I've not actually seen any of them stop nor seem what is in the basket.

I don't know whether two years in Sri Lanka has changed my perception of temperature but I am finding Morocco quite cool. I think part of the problem is that it is very much geared to eating outside and Morocceans seem to have a completely different idea of what temperature is ideal for sitting outside. For me it is over 20 degrees but they seem quite happy sitting outside in weather that would have me covering up the BBQ and reaching for the central heating button back home. My fleece has hardly been off since I got here. We have certainly had the odd fairly hot day and never had a really cold one but I'm glad I have a quilt on the bed at night.

I should, hopefully, be going back to the UK for a week's holiday on Friday 26th May. I can't wait and I am counting the days (20) left. Just need some confirmation from work about the flights. My intention is to spend the entire week at our house in Ripley with just one trip out to see my father and mother-in-law. I expect Helen will have lined up a few jobs around the house for me to do but it will be great to see Helen again, our cat and our house. One thing I am starting to find I miss is a garden. I have been living in apartments now for 2.5 years and although they are much more practical than a house for a short stay I find them souless, enclosed places.

My wife, Helen, came out to visit me, see The Joys Of Flying Or Not As The Case May Be, a few weeks ago. She seemed very taken with Morocco. Fortunately my meeting Helen at the airport was more successful than the last time I did this, see Helen, My Wife, Arrives In Sri Lanka For Christmas. Helen's flight, despite leaving Heathrow on time was around 30 minutes late but I arrived a few minutes before it landed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This lunchtime we went to a cafe just a few minutes from work in Sale. The cafe is one where you buy the meat for your lunch next door at the butchers and then take it round to the cafe where they cook it for you. It was a bit bizarre as we made our way through four hanging carcasses to get to the meat counter where we ordered the meat. There was blood still dripping from the carcasses.

 

There were five of us for lunch today. We bought some mince and chops. Whilst we waited for the meat to be cooked we had a bowl of warm beans in a sauce along with the obligatory bread and chilli, salt, pepper and a runny tomaoey sauce. The meat arrived after about 15 minutes. The mince was cooked into burgers and the chops fairly well done. We had tomatoes and onions to accompany the meat. As was usual all was eaten with utensils. I'm getting quite used to eating with my hands a some bread now. There were no separate plates. Each dish was served on its own plate and we all just dived in and helped ourselves a piece at a time.

 

Afterwards we moved a few doors along to another cafe where we ofthen come after meals at other cafes for a drink. I had what sounds like nous nous - a coffee half milk half water I think and served in a glass.

 

It was my turn to pay today. The meal came to about 200 dihrams and the drinks just over 30 dihrams. All in all an excellent lunch. the burgers are a particular favorite of mine, although the chops wre very nice today.

This morning I woke up about 07:15 and swung my legs out of bed to a splosh. It took a few seconds to register but it became evident that my bedroom was about a cm deep in water. A quick panic attack later and it became evident that so was my dining area, kitchen and bathroom. In fact it reached a depth of around 2cm at the wirth point.

 

A quick scout around soon revealed the problem. The balcony off the bedroom was a good inch deep in water as the single drain was blocked. It was still raining and it was evident that there had been severe rainfall during the night (I remembered being woken up by thunder at one stage) The balcony had simply filled up with water which had made its way into the apartment via the patio door I always leave slightly ajar to let some cool air in. The water had made its way across the bedroom floor into the lounge/dining room, kitchen, bathroom out under the front door and down the stairwell (I live on the 4th floor). I had slept, blissfully unaware to it all.

 

Fortunately Abdullha, who was driving me into work this week arrived at this point and he was able to ferry me into work, returning to sort the mess out. He has literally, just handed the apartment keys back and with my limited french I think I understand that things are alright in the apartment. Let's hope the apartment block lift is working as I noticed that was also not operational this morning, probably due to my flood.

 

So twice in 5 weeks the apartment has flooded. I shall go back now and inspect the damage ...