Wednesday:
Wednesdays are long... for all of us. Wednesday is the one day of the week on which Nicole's workday extends beyond Dave's since she tutors after school. Early this year, the elementary principal connected her with the family of a former GWA student (by specific request from the family). Nicole actually taught this sweet girl twice: once when she was in Kindergarten as well as during the first few weeks of third grade. Just a few weeks into this past school year, a series of unfortunate circumstances forced the family into a decision to immediately transfer her from GWA to a smaller (much cheaper) British school in Casablanca. The academic curriculum at this new school is not nearly as challenging as it is at GWA, but the family has no choice but to remain there in spite of its weaknesses. Therefore, Nicole was asked if she would work through various mini-projects with this student in an effort to continuously augment her English skills. It was her pleasure.
This particular student is exceptionally gifted and self-driven to learn and to succeed. She exhibits an obvious excitement about learning (She even asked if Nicole would help her write a research report on Helen Keller, simply because she found this Historical individual to be fascinating). Dear teacher friends... you know how rare it is to find a student with such fervor. This child truly is the perfect epitomization of the GWA mission statement: "GWA inspires students to become multilingual, lifelong learners who pursue excellence, model integrity, and honor cultural diversity...", and so it's a shame that GWA's high tuition rates have obstructed her ability to be a part of our school. Perhaps someday this family will obtain the financial means to return to GWA... but until then Nicole really does enjoy tutoring her each Wednesday (especially since it allows her to be able to tap into her passion for teaching literacy - something she obviously doesn't get to do in P.E.).
Dave's workday ends at 4:30 P.M., the exact time that the creche is closing down for the day. He has to promptly rush from his desk in order to pick up Aliyah, who doesn't even notice that her time spent at the creche was one and a half hours longer than it was the day before. Together, they hang out around campus until 5:45 P.M., when Nicole is finished with tutoring. We don't get home until just after 6:00 P.M.. At that point we have less than an hour to feed Aliyah and play with her before her bedtime... And, we have to get our own supper since we don't have the option of eating after Aliyah goes to bed on Wednesday. Aliyah's bedtime coincides with the time Dave heads back out the door for staff soccer. In addition to Saturday, Dave's staff soccer league plays every Wednesday evening from 7-9 P.M.. Then...Bam. Our day is done and we're both exhausted and ready for bed. As we said on Tuesday, we literally go from one thing to the next all day long. No breaks. But at least it's "hump day".
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
February 17, 2016
February 14, 2016
Tuesday
Tuesday
Tuesday commences our three consecutive days of relative insanity, since we both go to work full time. We are so grateful that Nicole is able to work part-time this year. Not only does her schedule allow her to spend more time with Aliyah, but the four-day weekend also affords her the opportunity to alleviate our weekly to-do lists in order to ensure that our weekends remain relaxing. Tuesday reminds us of how especially thankful we are for Nicole's part-time job because it serves as a constant reminder, every single week, that life is more stressful when we both work. We go from one thing to the next all day long. No breaks.
On Tuesdays, our regular morning routine is compounded by the need to get Aliyah ready for her day in the creche. We practice a sort of tag-team game in order to balance the responsibility of Aliyah with getting ourselves ready to work. We habitually talk through our checklist of things that need to make it to the car before we can leave: Aliyah's lunch, snacks, diaper bag, Dave's soccer stuff, etc.. It seems as though we are always racing out the door after breakfast. We carpool to work, always picking up our friend Dusty on the way. Dave and Dusty talk about soccer in the front seat while Nicole and Aliyah play in the back seat. We live just ten minutes away from GWA.
After dropping Aliyah off at the crèche, Dave heads next door to the Finance office while Nicole walks down the hill toward her own work responsibilities. Nicole works as the part-time kindergarten P.E. teacher, so her “office” is the lower school gymnastics room. She teaches P.E. to all of the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes (3-5 year olds). At the start of the year, the elementary P.E. teacher blessed Nicole with a brand-new Kindergarten P.E. curriculum, which included detailed and easy-to-follow lesson plans for every day of the entire school year. This blessing has made Nicole’s job completely stress-free. No lesson planning, no parent-teacher conferences, and no grading papers! The job has also proven to be a lot of fun and Nicole really enjoys it. What’s not fun about seeking to augment a child’s physical abilities through engaging games/activities? Nicole intends to continue in the same position next year.
Tuesday commences our three consecutive days of relative insanity, since we both go to work full time. We are so grateful that Nicole is able to work part-time this year. Not only does her schedule allow her to spend more time with Aliyah, but the four-day weekend also affords her the opportunity to alleviate our weekly to-do lists in order to ensure that our weekends remain relaxing. Tuesday reminds us of how especially thankful we are for Nicole's part-time job because it serves as a constant reminder, every single week, that life is more stressful when we both work. We go from one thing to the next all day long. No breaks.
On Tuesdays, our regular morning routine is compounded by the need to get Aliyah ready for her day in the creche. We practice a sort of tag-team game in order to balance the responsibility of Aliyah with getting ourselves ready to work. We habitually talk through our checklist of things that need to make it to the car before we can leave: Aliyah's lunch, snacks, diaper bag, Dave's soccer stuff, etc.. It seems as though we are always racing out the door after breakfast. We carpool to work, always picking up our friend Dusty on the way. Dave and Dusty talk about soccer in the front seat while Nicole and Aliyah play in the back seat. We live just ten minutes away from GWA.
Aliyah loves the crèche. There are three
Moroccan nannies that work there, loving on 5-10 staff babies every day. The
cost is just 110dirhams ($11) per day. Aliyah’s primary caretaker is Chabia. She is amazing. Aliyah literally jumps into
her arms the moment we step into the crèche, and then immediately turns to
wave, “b'ama” (her version of “b’slama” – Arabic for “goodbye”). Clearly, Aliyah has no separation anxiety
issues.
Aliyah
is the only girl who regularly stays at the crèche. Consequently, she is
already evolving into a little “tomboy” by imitating the behaviors of the boys
she plays with each week: She loves to throw/catch balls, and she loves cars (she makes an impressive
“vroom” sound, too) Additionally, Aliyah is considered to be the “crèche
princess”. The nannies spoil her rotten, always giving into Aliyah’s
inclination to mooch off their food - particularly if she sees that they have
bread. Aliyah has learned that she can communicate her desires effectively by
combining her ability to verbalize “that” with her adaptation of the hand sign
for “more”. And she does this incessantly. The crèche nannies, always
inclined to give Aliyah all the attention in the world, also make sure to
educate her on some of the most important things… such as butt dancing to
Moroccan music and imitating the Moroccan wedding ululation (a high-pitched tongue trill).
 |
| Chaibia :) |
After dropping Aliyah off at the crèche, Dave heads next door to the Finance office while Nicole walks down the hill toward her own work responsibilities. Nicole works as the part-time kindergarten P.E. teacher, so her “office” is the lower school gymnastics room. She teaches P.E. to all of the kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes (3-5 year olds). At the start of the year, the elementary P.E. teacher blessed Nicole with a brand-new Kindergarten P.E. curriculum, which included detailed and easy-to-follow lesson plans for every day of the entire school year. This blessing has made Nicole’s job completely stress-free. No lesson planning, no parent-teacher conferences, and no grading papers! The job has also proven to be a lot of fun and Nicole really enjoys it. What’s not fun about seeking to augment a child’s physical abilities through engaging games/activities? Nicole intends to continue in the same position next year.
At 3:30
P.M. Nicole’s workday ends… but not Daves.
Dave’s workday does not end until 4:30. This little detail makes carpooling to
and from work rather problematic. Often, Nicole will pick up Aliyah and hang
out on-campus for an hour until Dave finishes work. Right now, however, the Varsity soccer season is in full swing, and practices take place every Tuesday and Thursday. For the 5th consecutive
year, Dave is co-coaching the team alongside his best friend Dusty. They are
preparing their players for the April tournament, in hopes of sustaining their 1st place winning streak. Since soccer practice runs until around 5:30 P.M., Nicole picks up Aliyah from the creche so that she can head home immediately after she finishes work at 3:30 P.M.. This means that Dave is left, unfortunately, to scramble for his own ride home (One time, he had to ride home with a student). We manage.
As happy as Aliyah is to arrive at the creche, it is comforting to know that she is just as happy to leave at the end of the day. She often claps her hands in excitement; and then she speedily crawls over and beckons us out the door by yelling, "b'ama". Nicole frequently stops by the finance office to say goodbye to "dadda" and the finance team before leaving GWA. Brahim and Hassan, two of Dave's co-workers, love the opportunity to entertain Aliyah with peek-a-boo games or a game of basketball. They usually get home around 4:00 P.M..
In the time frame that Nicole is at home waiting for Dave to get home, she juggles the tasks of feeding, bathing, and entertaining Aliyah. On the days that we both work, cooking our own supper is not a priority. With the little time we have left in the day before Aliyah's bedtime, we feel that our time is better spent hanging out with our daughter as opposed to standing in front of the kitchen stove. So on Tuesdays (and Wednesdays/Thursdays) we tend to eat our own supper after Aliyah goes to bed; and we eat small meals that can be thrown together quickly. To ensure that we are still eating well each day, we have gotten into the habit of buying cafeteria lunches at work.
School cafeteria food, as everyone knows, has a longstanding reputation of being terrible... But the GWA cafeteria boasts an exception. The GWA cafeteria food is outstanding. The cafeteria prepares breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to 800+ people daily. Almost everything served is made entirely from scratch (cinnamon buns, cookies, donuts, muffins, pizza dough, cakes, soups, sandwich wraps, taco bowls, etc.). Further, much of their produce is harvested organically within the cafeteria gardens on-campus. The menu is extremely varied each week and consists of things such as Cornish hens, enchiladas, stuffed chicken breasts, and grilled fish. Their best meal is unquestionably their tacos: An edible taco bowl stuffed with rice, spiced hamburger/chicken, fresh guacamole, beans, sour cream, and cheese. Served with an additional side (garden salad or homemade soup), dessert, water, and fruit. All of this for 25dirhams ($2.50). Be jealous.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
As happy as Aliyah is to arrive at the creche, it is comforting to know that she is just as happy to leave at the end of the day. She often claps her hands in excitement; and then she speedily crawls over and beckons us out the door by yelling, "b'ama". Nicole frequently stops by the finance office to say goodbye to "dadda" and the finance team before leaving GWA. Brahim and Hassan, two of Dave's co-workers, love the opportunity to entertain Aliyah with peek-a-boo games or a game of basketball. They usually get home around 4:00 P.M..
In the time frame that Nicole is at home waiting for Dave to get home, she juggles the tasks of feeding, bathing, and entertaining Aliyah. On the days that we both work, cooking our own supper is not a priority. With the little time we have left in the day before Aliyah's bedtime, we feel that our time is better spent hanging out with our daughter as opposed to standing in front of the kitchen stove. So on Tuesdays (and Wednesdays/Thursdays) we tend to eat our own supper after Aliyah goes to bed; and we eat small meals that can be thrown together quickly. To ensure that we are still eating well each day, we have gotten into the habit of buying cafeteria lunches at work.
School cafeteria food, as everyone knows, has a longstanding reputation of being terrible... But the GWA cafeteria boasts an exception. The GWA cafeteria food is outstanding. The cafeteria prepares breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks to 800+ people daily. Almost everything served is made entirely from scratch (cinnamon buns, cookies, donuts, muffins, pizza dough, cakes, soups, sandwich wraps, taco bowls, etc.). Further, much of their produce is harvested organically within the cafeteria gardens on-campus. The menu is extremely varied each week and consists of things such as Cornish hens, enchiladas, stuffed chicken breasts, and grilled fish. Their best meal is unquestionably their tacos: An edible taco bowl stuffed with rice, spiced hamburger/chicken, fresh guacamole, beans, sour cream, and cheese. Served with an additional side (garden salad or homemade soup), dessert, water, and fruit. All of this for 25dirhams ($2.50). Be jealous.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
February 12, 2016
Monday
Monday
Monday is the start of Dave's work week... and the end of Nicole's weekend. That's right - Nicole only works three days a week this year (Tuesday-Thursday) . Dave, always envying the four-day weekend, begrudgingly carpools to work Monday morning so that Nicole can have the car. Technically, we have two cars right now since we just bought a "new-to-us" Honda Jazz... but having two vehicles is very temporary since we plan to let Steve take over our old VW Polo during his stay here (and then sell it when he leaves). We have been a one-vehicle family for so long that carpooling seems natural.
Dave is the finance manager at GWA. He manages eight people, all of whom are local-hires whose native tongues are not English. In addition to managing these individuals, his job entails constant interaction with GWA parents, local bank personnel, etc. (the majority of these individuals are also non-english speaking). So... from 7:30-4:30, five days a week, Dave literally speaks more French than English. If that's not impressive enough, he is also extremely good at his job. It could be contended that GWA would literally not be where it is today if it were not for Dave's financial wisdom. He is responsible for managing staff payroll, tuition collections, purchasing, accounting, reception, financial services, budgeting, etc.. To secure his intent on continuing these responsibilities, Dave recently signed a two-year contract. surprise.
Shortly after Dave starts work, Nicole leaves to join her small women's study. The study, for now, coincides well with Aliyah's nap time... and since the creche is located directly above where Nicole meets for her study, Aliyah simply naps there for a few hours every Monday morning. Currently, Nicole is working through a book entitled Restless, by Jennie Allen. It's a great study which delves into discovering God's purpose for our lives. There are only four women in the group and Nicole feels very encouraged and thankful to be part of it.
Following women's group, Nicole typically makes a Marjane run in order to stock up on our weekly essentials (usually with Aliyah, unless she is still napping in the creche). Marjane is essentially the Moroccan version of Super Walmart. If you recall, we blogged about Marjane a while back and Nicole confessed her fear of ever allowing Aliyah to accompany her on a shopping trip there. Well, things have changed since then. Aliyah naps less frequently, Marjane got new (less rickety) shopping carts, and Nicole was introduced to one of the greatest inventions ever: the shopping cart cover! By no means are we saying that shopping in Morocco is suddenly a breeze. Heck no. Just re-read that blogpost and you'll be reminded of the fact that there are still plenty of other obstacles that arise when shopping here in Morocco. However, with the new ability to strap Aliyah securely into the cart (thanks to that shopping cart cover), shopping in Marjane is not the nightmare that Nicole had once imagined it would be.
Since moving to our new house, we have recently tried to be more intentional about inviting our friends over (AKA having a social life). Living overseas, it is near impossible to sustain meaningful friendships if you are not purposive in initiating time spent with them. This has not been a strength of ours...but we're doing our best to work on this weakness by welcoming our friends over for a decent dinner on Monday evenings. ;) During this time of year, decisions are being finalized with regard to who is staying next year and who is leaving. The GWA staff is about to have a big turnover once again and we will be saying good-bye to a lot of good friends. This is the start of that "emotional roller coaster" that we blogged about a few years ago...
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
Monday is the start of Dave's work week... and the end of Nicole's weekend. That's right - Nicole only works three days a week this year (Tuesday-Thursday) . Dave, always envying the four-day weekend, begrudgingly carpools to work Monday morning so that Nicole can have the car. Technically, we have two cars right now since we just bought a "new-to-us" Honda Jazz... but having two vehicles is very temporary since we plan to let Steve take over our old VW Polo during his stay here (and then sell it when he leaves). We have been a one-vehicle family for so long that carpooling seems natural.
Dave is the finance manager at GWA. He manages eight people, all of whom are local-hires whose native tongues are not English. In addition to managing these individuals, his job entails constant interaction with GWA parents, local bank personnel, etc. (the majority of these individuals are also non-english speaking). So... from 7:30-4:30, five days a week, Dave literally speaks more French than English. If that's not impressive enough, he is also extremely good at his job. It could be contended that GWA would literally not be where it is today if it were not for Dave's financial wisdom. He is responsible for managing staff payroll, tuition collections, purchasing, accounting, reception, financial services, budgeting, etc.. To secure his intent on continuing these responsibilities, Dave recently signed a two-year contract. surprise.
Following women's group, Nicole typically makes a Marjane run in order to stock up on our weekly essentials (usually with Aliyah, unless she is still napping in the creche). Marjane is essentially the Moroccan version of Super Walmart. If you recall, we blogged about Marjane a while back and Nicole confessed her fear of ever allowing Aliyah to accompany her on a shopping trip there. Well, things have changed since then. Aliyah naps less frequently, Marjane got new (less rickety) shopping carts, and Nicole was introduced to one of the greatest inventions ever: the shopping cart cover! By no means are we saying that shopping in Morocco is suddenly a breeze. Heck no. Just re-read that blogpost and you'll be reminded of the fact that there are still plenty of other obstacles that arise when shopping here in Morocco. However, with the new ability to strap Aliyah securely into the cart (thanks to that shopping cart cover), shopping in Marjane is not the nightmare that Nicole had once imagined it would be.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
February 06, 2016
Sunday
If we could pick one day to be home in America for, it'd be Sunday. We really miss the routine of hearing our pastor preach at church, and then going home to a good pork roast lunch. Here, neither of those options really exist... so we do something different.
Sunday
Usually, Nicole takes over morning duty with Aliyah on Sunday so that Dave can sleep in. She's become pretty talented at multi-tasking on her own: In the span of a few hours she is able to get Aliyah dressed, fed, and entertained while simultaneously prepping a large breakfast dish to bring to our weekly "house group". With no decent church options, we gather with five other families every Sunday morning at 10 A.M. for the purpose of spiritually encouraging/teaching each other. We always start our meetings with a delicious potluck breakfast. Truly, our breakfasts make us forget all about the bacon that we don't get to eat all year long. It's that good. A few times a year, we even go all out and make homemade glazed donuts or cinnamon raisin bagels - both of which taste far better than anything you can buy in America. Not that we're bragging or anything ;).
Right now, our house group is studying an incredibly informative book entitled, A Muslim and A Christian in Dialogue, by Adru Kateregga and David Shenk. We mentioned this book in a recent blog post, and we would recommend reading it. Though we wish we had done it earlier, we always find ourselves completing the reading "homework" for our house group a few minutes before we need to leave the house. oops. But we still really appreciate the conversations gleaned from the book during our meeting.
We usually don't wrap up our conversations from house group until around lunch time... but Nicole refuses to cook lunch on Sundays (Why bother after eating such a big breakfast?). The unspoken house rule is that you have to find your own lunch if you're hungry... with the exception of Aliyah, of course.
Our house group takes up a good chunk of our "Sunday routine". Aside from this, our Sundays are pretty lazy. Occasionally, if the waves are good, Dave will go surfing in the afternoon while Nicole and Aliyah nap. Living just a few minutes away from the beach has its benefits. In the evening, we usually make it a priority to Skype with our family back home and to cook a decent dinner. Our go-to Sunday dinner is a chicken roast with rice and gravy - a meal that we have perfected in our 5+ years of marriage since we eat it nearly every week. Sunday, as it should be, is a day of rest in our family.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
Sunday
Usually, Nicole takes over morning duty with Aliyah on Sunday so that Dave can sleep in. She's become pretty talented at multi-tasking on her own: In the span of a few hours she is able to get Aliyah dressed, fed, and entertained while simultaneously prepping a large breakfast dish to bring to our weekly "house group". With no decent church options, we gather with five other families every Sunday morning at 10 A.M. for the purpose of spiritually encouraging/teaching each other. We always start our meetings with a delicious potluck breakfast. Truly, our breakfasts make us forget all about the bacon that we don't get to eat all year long. It's that good. A few times a year, we even go all out and make homemade glazed donuts or cinnamon raisin bagels - both of which taste far better than anything you can buy in America. Not that we're bragging or anything ;).
Right now, our house group is studying an incredibly informative book entitled, A Muslim and A Christian in Dialogue, by Adru Kateregga and David Shenk. We mentioned this book in a recent blog post, and we would recommend reading it. Though we wish we had done it earlier, we always find ourselves completing the reading "homework" for our house group a few minutes before we need to leave the house. oops. But we still really appreciate the conversations gleaned from the book during our meeting.
We usually don't wrap up our conversations from house group until around lunch time... but Nicole refuses to cook lunch on Sundays (Why bother after eating such a big breakfast?). The unspoken house rule is that you have to find your own lunch if you're hungry... with the exception of Aliyah, of course.
Our house group takes up a good chunk of our "Sunday routine". Aside from this, our Sundays are pretty lazy. Occasionally, if the waves are good, Dave will go surfing in the afternoon while Nicole and Aliyah nap. Living just a few minutes away from the beach has its benefits. In the evening, we usually make it a priority to Skype with our family back home and to cook a decent dinner. Our go-to Sunday dinner is a chicken roast with rice and gravy - a meal that we have perfected in our 5+ years of marriage since we eat it nearly every week. Sunday, as it should be, is a day of rest in our family.
-Dave, Nicole, & Aliyah
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