Goodbye 2011

    Sbah l'kheer 2012 [good morning 2012]. To ring in the new year, we are going to brief you on all the exciting things that happened in 2011 since our last update.

   The mall had its grand opening at the start of December. There are over 350 top brand name stores and over 40 restaurants inside. Further, there is an IMAX theater large enough for 400 people [which plays movies in English twice a week], and an ice rink. The mall was a big deal for us not only for the entertainment, but also because there are a few specific company names that are now in the mall that we thought we would never see living here: Gap, Starbucks, Banana Republic, American Eagle Outfitters, etc.. So... if you drive 15 minutes away from our house, just past the local snail-soup strip, you will find yourself starring at the new largest mall in Africa. True story. This is the view from the  main entrance:

   We bought a car: an old VW Polo. The entire experience of purchasing a car here, overall, was very frustrating. Cars here hold their value very well. This means that any car that runs, no matter how poorly the condition of the car is in, is worth a minimum of $4,000. So we spent a lot of money on a not so awesome car in the end, but it at least gets us from point A to point B. Or rather... we hope it will get us from point A to point B when we finally get it back from the mechanic...

   We traveled to Chefchaouen for three nights just before Christmas. It was a very picturesque and quiet city; however, the area is known for its abundance of marijuana and the gardeners of such plants are unrelenting in their attempts to sell it. Further, we were informed by a shopkeeper that his ultimate goal is to add value to his life via earning enough money to close his shop and join the Hamas army in Lebanon. Sketchy. But regardless, we managed to keep to ourselves and enjoy our time there. Here are a couple of our favorite pictures:

   We spent Christmas Eve & Christmas day at home in Casa. It was strange not being able to experience the traditional sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes of Christmas back in America. There were many things missed; however, we did our best to make our apartment feel festive. We were finally able to find a small, semi-affordable Christmas tree and we decorated it with a mini-jalaba that we had purchased in Chefchaouen. That alongside our lone nativity set and homemade gingerbread house completed our Christmas decorations. 

    Instead of gifts, we spent some money buying things to make our apartment a little more "homier". [Though... Dave did surprise Nicole with Dunkin Donuts coffee & paper DD cups; & ranch dressing was also gifted to us by a fellow co-worker/friend]. We spent most of our time Christmas Eve/Christmas day watching classic Christmas movies, eating loads of junk food (including cucumber dip and homemade donuts), and joining in on a few fun get-together's with others who were stuck here for the holidays. Overall, it was very good. 

   After Christmas, we traveled via ferry to Spain with another couple. We have very few pictures of this trip since we spent 70% of the trip inside of grocery stores/Ikea. Those who have lived or are living overseas in Africa can appreciate how wonderful that was. We were able to find (and stock up on) an abundance of precious treats that we have missed for the past four months: bacon, pork, bagels, Reese's peanut butter cups, tapioca pudding, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, tomato soup, cheddar cheese, root beer, cocoa, brown sugar, etc..

    We took a day trip to Gibraltar, which is owned by the UK. It was amazing to be in an all-English environment again, even if for just a short while. At the peak of Gibraltar you can see two continents, three countries, an ocean, and a sea. In spite of how those countries are so close together; however, they are worlds apart. Highlight of the Gibraltar trip: we took cable cars to the top of the rock of Gibraltar where an ape unexpectedly jumped from the rocks and landed on Nicole's head. 

Our New Years resolution: update this blog more frequently.

-David & Nicole