Teacher Work Day at my New School!!!

Monday was first work day at Casablanca American School!!

 

 

The school is located in an area 15 minutes outside of downtown Casablanca. It's a beautiful campus with a lot of open space. Upon entering the front entrance, there's a huge open courtyard with a fountain at its center. I can already tell you that seeing this every school day will bring a smile to my face. The buildings bring in much outdoor light and have natural landscapes within them. I definitely feel like I'm in an authentic Moroccan-style building given how the sunlight illuminates the white walls and the blue tile work on the floors.

 

After much HR and housekeeping discussions, we all took a trip to Marjane Shopping Center. This is like a huge Wal-Mart where you can buy anything and everything. The prices are pretty much the same and I was able to find many of my usual products. However, all the writing was either in French or Arabic. I still need to keep up with Rosetta Stone...

 

Later that evening, all of the new staff and CAS admin went to the Tahiti Beach Club on the shore of the Atlantic for dinner and ate at La Terrazza. People in Morocco don't eat dinner till late, like 8:00 pm late, because they usually eat a large lunch.

We all enjoyed Moroccan wine, bread and a variety of olive tapenade for an appetizer...

 I ordered Souris d'agneau and it was delicious...lamb with mashed potatoes.

 

The following day was spent touring downtown Casablanca. It's usually crowded around the city, but today (Tuesday, August 20th) is a Muslim holiday. It is Morocco's Revolution Day when King Mohammed V returned from exile from France. So many businesses and markets were closed, except for the Mariff market. This marketplace is full of fresh, international (some local) vegetables, fruits, nuts, poultry, cheese, beef and fish. 

 Our school has a new chef making our lunches! During our teacher's PD we had meatballs and egg cooked in a Tagine (a local Moroccan clay steamer). The lunch was delicious!