Infrequent Bloggers

     In March of 2011, we officially announced our plans to move to Africa. If you had talked to us back then, we would have assured you that this was a two year plan. But a lot has changed since then... and we've changed.

Our initial excitement about blogging has deteriorated, because...

• we've been sharing our life with you for five years now
• we can't think of anything new to say
• we're not convinced anyone even cares to read this blog anymore

     That said, know that we expect to update this blog even less frequently henceforth. Feel free to re-read some of our adventures if you care to be reminded about our relationships with the Muslim community, our cultural struggles, our unique cultural experiences, etc.. & please feel free to e-mail us with any questions/inquiries, or just to say hello. We might appreciate this more, actually, since it still feels nice to be connected to our "home" in America. Six years is a long time to be out of touch with all of you, too. In other words, we would rather get updates about your lives this year. Deal?

Here's a quick update from us though:

     We thoroughly enjoyed our summer in Maine this year. Highlights include seeing the joy on Aliyah's face as she played with her grandparents, picking fresh peas and raspberries from the Grudda garden, celebrating our 7-year anniversary at Cirque Du Soleil, posing for our first family photo shoot, hiking "the beehive" at Acadia National Park, and eating lots of good food. It was such a relaxing time.

7-year Cirque du Soleil trip!

Picking peas

     Our sixth year in Morocco, on the other hand, has kicked off with a rough start. There have been a lot of tears. And it's not because of Morocco (although - the new Moroccan law banning all plastic bags country-wide has complicated our grocery shopping trips even more, since alternative bag options are not consistently available). It's not because of work either (we both still love our jobs, and there have been a lot of positive changes around GWA this year). This year is just hard. Pray for us. 

     In spite of everything, we are trying hard to choose joy and to focus on appreciating the things that we are thankful for. There is so much that we are thankful for. For instance, we just spent  an entire day and a half at our old landlord's house celebrating the Eid Al Adha. While we still hate boulfaf, we felt completely comfortable and "at home" with this family. We really enjoy spending time with them.

     We also have a lot to look forward to this year. Specifically, we will be meeting Nicole's dad and step-mom in Germany for Christmas, and we are traveling to London in October. :) Perhaps we'll update again to let you know how those trips go.

World Travelers :)

-David, Nicole, & Aliyah