Dust in the WInd

Cotton Candy Smiles on the Street

Where has the time gone? Somehow two weeks have disappeared since I last blogged. As we watch Vermont dig out from a massive snowstorm from afar, we are fighting our own kind of storm in Marrakech.  I have mentioned before that we have been living next to a construction zone all year. An apartment building came down the first week we arrived, and they started rebuilding right away. We have grown accustomed to the wake-up routine: Call to prayer shortly after 5:00 a.m. Go back to sleep. Construction begins at exactly 7:30 a.m. Depending on the stage of the building process, the noise rotates from jack hammers to buzz saws to cement mixers. The whole scene unfolds in an enormous cloud of dust. 

This week, the stage we had been dreading arrived. The new building reached the fifth floor, which means that the pounding is directly on the other side of our bedroom and bathroom walls. We find ourselves closely analyzing the plaster for new cracks in hopes of discovering a clue about whether we should run for safety. In the shower, I have nightmares about the entire bathroom wall collapsing - leaving me exposed to a gaggle of construction workers hovering high above the street.

Then, it got better. As the temperature hit 90 degrees this week, someone decided it was time to knock down the apartment building across the street too. The jack hammers and excavators returned. The building crumbled. The dust cloud took over our lives. We have sealed ourselves into our apartment, yet the dust still coats every surface. We watched in amusement as a backhoe and a donkey tag-teamed to get the debris out of the now empty lot. And, now, a new building is going up.

The good news is that our apartment pool was filled with water (since being drained for the winter) last week. The bad news is that the water is dingy brown from the dust cloud, and construction debris from the site next door floats down from above and lands in it. We've got our fingers crossed that one day, before it gets really hot, someone will turn on a filter and give it a good cleaning.

Bri's newly acquired
henna skills on display

Apart from the construction woes, life in Marrakech is still good. The busy tourist season has arrived, and the main square is packed every night. Pasty legs and sunburns are regular sights on the streets again. Work and school are keeping us out of trouble most of the time. Our March highlight, though, was a visit from friends from England. Originally connected by a rental car in Namibia two decades and five children ago, we reconnected with these kindred traveling souls at the opposite end of Africa this week. We got the chance to share a little piece of our Marrakech adventure and reminisce about travels from the past. Their visit injected an extra dose of sunshine into our already very-sunny world. It's truly amazing how distance and time are irrelevant when you find yourself bonded by wanderlust. 

Marrakech Reunion

Hannah and Brianna display their ball-handling
skills at Project Soar.

As we head toward April, we are hoping that March sticks to the "in like a lion and out like a lamb" wisdom. It feels as though our Marrakech March came in like a Tasmanian Devil - a whirling dervish of dust. We are anxious for it to go quietly on its way. I'm nearly 100% certain that April showers will not be arriving here, but a nice peaceful (dust-free) transition to summer would be most welcome. Insha’Allah.

Heading to Setti Fatma for a mountain adventure