Two Weeks with Grandma

Prior to Christmas...

     Traveling is not so easy when you are still getting used to a 1 month old baby's eating schedule who is literally unable to travel since she still has no official passport country (another post to come about this soon). Therefore, we were super grateful that Dave's mom came to visit for two weeks to help us take care of her first granddaughter. :) Normally, family visits are filled with trips to the desert or to Marrakech. This time, we stayed home in Dar Bouazza (primarily) and enjoyed the little things:

Grandma gave Aliyah her first bath

Aliyah had her first photo shoot... for FREE!

We took a lot of walks

Grandma finished Aliyah's Christmas stocking in time for the tailor to sew it together

We enjoyed a big couscous dinner

We laughed at Aliyah's preferred sleeping position

We took a day trip to the haboose/camel market

Grandma gave Aliyah one last bottle before flying away...

We miss you Grandma!

-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah

Sellou & 3D Glasses

     Grandma Grudda came to visit us and baby Aliyah for two weeks! We had such a great visit. Aliyah even cooperated by agreeing to learn how to smile while grandma was here. We have yet to capture a good smile on camera though.

    Predictably, our landlord was also eager for grandma's arrival to Morocco. They seem to love these opportunities to assure our family back in America that we are well taken care of here in Morocco. When Nicole's dad and stepmom came to visit last year, they bought new couches, curtains, and serving platters in an effort to impress (we think). They also ensured that we were invited to a large couscous dinner. This years family visit was no exception. In the weeks preceeding grandma's arrival, our landlord and his family were busy killing rats, trimming trees, and sweeping up the driveway. The obligatory couscous dinner was also quickly arranged.
     We wanted to recipricate the kind gestures of our landlord's family by offering back something we know they appreciate: quality time with their family in an effort to deepen our relationship with them and embrace Moroccan culture. Since Dave had to work every day, we inquired about a Moroccan cooking lesson. Naturally, we expected this to be something that Nicole and ma could do while Dave was at work during the day. We should have known that things here never go quite as expected...


Sellou
    Our landlord's family seemed excited by our interest in learning about Moroccan cuisine with them. When they asked what we wanted to learn how to make, we decided to pick something traditional that we enjoy eating but don't get very often: sellou. The sellou they made in celebration of Aliyah's arrival was so delicious and we were anxious to get their recipe. We thought this would be a simple and easy treat to make while Dave was working one day. Najete, our landlord's wife, hastened to finish a grocery list and asked that we accompany her to Hay Hassani to buy the ingredients. Considering Aliyah and our busy schedule, we could not agree to a shopping trip at the market; however, we all agreed that the Wednesday of Ma's second week would be the ideal day to make sellou.

We didn't make sellou on Wednesday.

    Little did we know, sellou is extremely complicated to make. The process of preparation began Wednesday, but the actual mixing of the sellou did not. We were not expected to participate in the lengthy preparation process....but we also did not realize how much time and work went into it:

• On Monday, David tried his best to negotiate exactly how much sellou we would make. We were hoping to make 4 cups, maximum. They insisted that we needed to make a minimum of 20 kilos (44 pounds). We were finally able to compromise with a total amount of about 7 kilos (15 pounds)
• In order to create the best taste, our landlord's family spent Tuesday night at the Hay Hassani souk (marketplace) purchasing all of the freshest ingredients. Remember when we wrote about how to buy a chicken in Hay Hassani? Well, apparently all of the freshest spices are sold in big bins directly across from those floating chicken feathers
• Najete spent well over 4 hours tediously picking through every single sesame seed in order to pick out anything that was not a sesame seed (i.e. other spice seeds that got mixed in accidentally at the market or chicken feathers)
• Several additional hours were spent carefully sorting through the fennel and anise seeds
• All of the sorted seeds were laid in the sun to dry out
• The sesame seeds were toasted in a pan over the stove
• All of the almonds were boiled, peeled, and then browned in oil
• The flour was browned in the oven, which took about 2 hours
• Najete had to slowly but gradually grind all of the almonds and toasted sesame seeds in her small nut grinder
• Two whole nutmegs were grated and then crushed into a coarse powder  

Najete - sorting through the sesame seeds one by one!

     Thursday evening, after ma and Nicole spent the entire day home waiting in vain for the preparation to be complete, we began to worry that our previously arranged "date night" was not going to happen. Grandma was set to take Aliyah for the night while we went to the IMAX to watch The Hobbit. We were not enthusiastic about changing those plans... but, as we anticipated, the knock came on our door moments before we were ready to leave the house for our date.
     We apologized for not understanding the process of making sellou and explained that we would not be able to help make it. Aliyah had to sleep and we had to leave. They insisted that it was a quick process and that it was necessary for us to come for just 10 minutes to see how everything was mixed together. Ma went down by herself since we had to eat quickly and take care of Aliyah. 30 minutes later (with the sellou still not finished), we were able to get ma back upstairs with Aliyah and we left for our date, late.

3D Glasses
     The date plan was to get gelato before The Hobbit....but we no longer had time. Dave dropped Nicole off to buy our movie tickets so that he could find a parking spot. The line at the ticket counter was long, and it took at least 10 minutes before Nicole finally reached the front of the line to buy tickets. Two tickets were purchased and she was handed the ticket stubs and receipts just as Dave arrived. We were ready to put our frustrating day behind us and enjoy the movie, so we headed directly for the theater entrance.
    We handed our movie tickets to the guards at the door and reached for our 3D glasses. Unexpectedly, we were told we did not have the purchasing ticket for the 3D glasses so we could not get them. We were furious. Shouldn't the glasses be a part of the ticket price? Why didn't they tell Nicole about the purchasing of 3D glasses when she bought the tickets for the 3D movie? Indeed, we argued these questions angrily toward the theater guard...but we got no sympathy. Instead, he told us we had to go back to the ticket counter, behind another long line, to purchase our 3D glasses. Dave threw a pair of glasses across the floor in protest and we marched up the stairs.
     It took another 5 minutes before we got close to the front of the line again. The ticket vendors did not have adequate change to provide customers with....so we were at a stand still and getting more and more frustrated. Instead of waiting for the change to arrive, we started screaming and arguing with the ticket vendors. We were not happy. We caused so much of a scene that one of the employees finally printed out two purchasing receipts for the 3D glasses and gave them to us, free of charge, so that we could enter the theater in time for the movie to start.

     Remember those receipts Nicole got with the ticket stubs? Well.... turns out those weren't receipts after all. We had unknowingly paid for the 3D glasses all along and had the receipts to prove it. Oops

     Luckily, the movie was excellent. It was also long enough to allow us to get over our frustrating day. Grandma and Aliyah were just fine. When we got home, we were presented with the finished sellou...which we didn't really help make. We now have enough sellou to last us for at least 2 years.

-David & Nicole

That Awkward 'Estimation Winner' Moment

     Aliyah and I had our first outing that did not involve a doctors appointment the other day. My third graders have been anxiously awaiting a visit. Since I was already planning on going to GWA for a rfissa celebration in honor of Aliyah (yes, another one), I figured it was the ideal day to visit my class as well.

     A month before Aliyah's birth, I designed a mini-math project which revolved around one of their favorite topics to talk about at the time: baby Grudda's arrival. The students estimated the date and time of Aliyah's birth. Dates had to be recorded in two ways, based on what we had learned in math previously in the year. Likewise, they had to write their estimated time both digitally and using an analog clock. The students also had to estimate her weight (using the American weight scale) and her name. After everyone made their estimations I split the class into three groups, based on their math abilities. Each group was assigned the task of collecting data from our estimation calendar and graphing the results. As an added incentive for motivation throughout this mini-project, the students knew that the individual whose estimation was the closest to baby Grudda's actual birthday would be the first and only third grade student to hold her when I came to visit.

    None of my students guessed November 12th.... but the closest estimation went to the boy who guessed she would be born November 13th. Naturally, this winning student also happens to be the one person in my class who hates photos and doesn't know how to smile. I found this to be especially hysterical:

Love my class :)

-Nicole

Incredibly Blessed

     Nicole's due date was November 19th. She had a prearranged appointment with our doctor for one week prior: November 12th at 10:00AM. We decided a month ago to use this appointment as an excuse to enjoy one last 1/2 day together, pre-baby, away from work. Hence, Dave had already arranged to work only for the second half of the day. We had absolutely no idea at the time that God had already ordained every miraculous aspect of our November 12th (The mere fact that we had a doctors appointment that morning, as you will soon see, validated that He was watching out for us). This is how our day went:

November 12, 2014

7:30 a.m. - We woke up, showered, & got dressed.

8:00 a.m. - Before leaving the house for breakfast, Nicole suggested taking the hospital bag and car seat along, just for practice. It seemed like a silly idea since she had no pain, but we took it along regardless.

9:00 a.m. - We enjoyed a large, delicious breakfast at Chez Paul.

10:00 a.m. - We walked three flights of stairs to Dr. Karaoui's office for our doctors appointment. Shockingly, Dr. Karaoui was ready to see Nicole immediately (usually, the wait time is at least 30 minutes). Even more shocking; however, was Dr. Karaoui's face when she assessed that Nicole was already 4.5cm. dilated and having regular contractions. Nicole wasn't feeling a thing. We were told to go directly to the clinic because our baby was apparently just hours away from arriving!

10:13 a.m. - We called our family/friends in order to notify them that we were heading to the clinic, our translator to tell her to rush to the clinic, and GWA to inform our supervisors that we would not be returning for the second half of the work day as planned. Even as we made the calls, we had a hard time believing that Nicole was really in labor because everything seemed so normal.

10:30 a.m. -We voluntarily opted to walk the two flights of stairs toward the delivery floor of Clinic Maarif. Nicole was immediately hooked up for monitoring. The nurse broke her water and contractions started to increase, but Nicole still had no pain. Even though we had planned on getting an epidural, we decided that it was no longer necessary.

Just arriving at Clinque Maarif - 5cm. dilated

@ 6cm. & still no pain :)

10:40 a.m. - Our translator (and friend) arrived at the clinic. Coincidentally, she happened to already in the city when we called...so she had no problems getting there quickly. Additionally, she informed us that she had just finished praying and telling God that  "November 12th would be a great day to have a baby" when she received Dave's phone call to meet us at the clinic.

11:40 a.m. - Nicole was dilated to 7cm. and started to feel pain for the first time.

12:33 p.m.  - Aliyah Jewel Grudda was born! Dave cut the umbilical cord.

Dave's first time holding Aliyah

     We spent one night at the clinic; and then we were discharged before noon the next day thanks to the fact that everything went so smoothly. The final bill for the entire delivery was $610 (Yes, that's before insurance). Aliyah is beautiful, healthy, and strong; and she has been feeding so well. Nicole is in a lot of pain now, but she is healing.


     It is impossible for us to express exactly how blessed we feel right now; but we have been counting our blessings today. These are just a few examples of how God has blessed us (in no particular order):

1. We have incredible friends here in Morocco. In fact, a big crew of our favorites showed up all at the same time to greet Aliyah and us at the clinic. They came prepared with pepperoni pizza and Snickers. Our friends have also been incredibly helpful in answering our many questions  and encouraging us as we get used to Aliyah.

2. Our landlord is literally the best in all of Morocco. Not only was his family the first to visit us at the clinic (carrying an enormous bouquet of flowers), but they also spent the entire day following her birth preparing beautiful gift baskets of sellou and a platter of walnut-filled dates for us to distribute to our friends who visit. Additionally, they prepared a feast of rfissa (a traditional Moroccan meal prepared for new mothers), and asked that we invite all of our close friends to accompany us for this meal in celebration of Aliyah's birth. 

3. Last month, Nicole's friends threw her a huge baby shower. As a result of this shower, we were blessed with exactly 1,250 diapers and the best hand-crocheted hat in the world.

Photo credit: CCR

4. A meal-train was established immediately following Aliyah's birth. We have had (and will continue to have) the most amazing meals delivered to our house. The biggest surprise so far, which pretty much brought Nicole to tears of happiness, was cookie dough. :) She hasn't been able to eat raw cookie dough for the entire 9 month duration of her pregnancy.

5. Nicole has a phenomenal class this year filled with students who adore her (they have already sent a slew of homemade cards to congratulate us with our new baby). With no behavior issues, she has been able to enjoy teaching again this year, even while being pregnant. There is a retired teacher from America who has flown in simply to cover her class during the months she is gone for maternity leave. She is so sweet, with a heart ready to serve. 

6. We received a recommendation for a local pediatrician, Dr. Filali, who speaks perfect English and was trained in the United States. We called her to set up our first appointment. Before ever meeting us in person, she called us twice to check in on us and on Aliyah. At the appointment she said that Aliyah is incredibly healthy and strong. There are no problems. 

Driving to Aliyah's first pediatrician appointment

7. Dr. Karoui's was wonderful. We were pleased with all of our appointments with her throughout the pregnancy, even in spite of the language barrier. Her wisdom in making decisions regarding Aliyah's birth was also evident. Aliyah was born with the assistance of a vacuum extractor.

8. The entire delivery, accounted above, was a huge blessing. For instance, if Nicole hadn't had that appointment...she would have certainly gone into work. Based on when her pain started, we may or may not have even made it to the clinic in time for Aliyah's arrival. God's control over the entire day is so obvious to us, and we are so thankful. 

9. Our translator/friend Kari was amazing. We're not sure we could have done it without her help. She  ensured that every bit of the delivery was translated into English and coached Nicole's breathing. She also helped Nicole with the first feeding (another blessing), answered tons of our questions, and translated tons more questions to the doctors and nurses on our behalf. 

10. We were able to successfully upgrade our internet just in time. The video streaming for Skype has been amazing. We have already been able to introduce Aliyah to all of the grandparents.

-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah