Au Maroc!

To Morocco!  Angie and I are heading to Morocco next week.  We recently learned about a two-week stretch where we would not have any class at school, so we jumped at the chance and booked our trip.

We hope to see several cities and immerse ourselves in the Arab world.  Ancient city squares, desert camel treks, lots of local culture, and delicious Moroccan food are our goals.  I’ve been learning a little bit of French for the trip and Angie has been feeding her passion for travel planning.  It’s shaping up up to be a memorable trip. 

The post-trip blog entry will tell the full story, hopefully with some good photography.  Until then!  B&A

 

“Plums Finished”

“Plums finished.”  That’s the message we received from a roadside vendor on Thursday, May 16.  That’s Liberian for “all the mangoes are gone.”  After one month of glorious mangoes, the season is officially over.  We are are surprised at how suddenly the day came, even though we were expecting it.  On Wednesday there were, literally, piles of mangoes all along the road.  On Thursday there were none.  It may be 11 months before we have another mango.

We are happy to say that we took full advantage of the plum (mango) season.  We stuck closely to our self-prescribed mango-a-day diet.  Over the course of the month-long season, we made lots of scrumptious mango-inspired dishes: mango salsa, oats with mango, mango salsa, PB&M sandwiches, crepes de mango, mango cream-of-wheat, mango/avacado salad, and most deliciously, mango bread.  Angie perfected her craft through numerous sessions at her oven.  She delighted and amazed the neighborhood with her technique of baking bread on a coal fire. 

Eating seasonally here really puts you in touch with natural order of things.  Nothing fresh is imported, so you have to enjoy things while they are in season.  If you aren’t deliberate about it, you will miss out on nature’s bounty.  We are sad to see mangoes go, but we are looking forward to cucumber season and all the wonders it will bring.