from the city to the beach town, yoga, belly casting

Sunday-Tuesday Jan 14-16th I decided to stay in Casablanca for a few days upon arriving. It is so cozy in Aurelia and Sadek's love nest, a nice fire each nice, Sadek brings us each a fresh made juice or lassi each morning. Aurelia and I are enjoying getting to know each other and making up for lost time in building a bridge of trust so important between midwife and mother. On Sunday, we go to the central market of Casablanca-- it was by far the most tame outdoor market of its type I have every been to in my travels, or even going to the Italian market in Philly. This was a pleasant surprise and a good first experience. I got to buy a bunch of amazing fruits and veggies, nuts and dried fruits, olives and more. I come to realize I could quite easily have maintained the raw food diet I did between Thanksgiving and Christmas during my cleanse-- though the yogurt and cheeses here are too tempting to do so, let alone the yummy cooked dishes I've tried so far. One of the funniest things I've noticed about myself here is my uncontrollable desire to speak Spanish in response to someone speaking to me in French or Arabic. I just want to respond in a foreign tongue, even though the other person doesn't speak Spanish (luckily Aurelia and Sadek speak Spanish to each other a lot so the three of us often converse en espanol). I can't tell you how many times I say "Si" instead of "Oui", or "No habla francais" instead of "I don't speak French". I am please to find that I do know more French than I thought and that a little effort goes a long way-- folks are so appreciative of any phrases I can pull out of my head, and my Arabic repetitoire is expanding very slowy, but surely. Headed to Dar Buazza, my "beach home" for the trip, and to meet Trisha Gorman and her family with three beautiful children (the two girls Nayla and Zoe are very excited to have a new American friend around!), the friend of a friend who brought me here. The town is about 20 minutes south of the city, and I have a small but cozy cottage just a house away from Trish and her family to use during the week. It's funny-- the beachfront homes are actually rowhomes in many parts of this area, so I'm literally 100 feet away from Trish's yard. We come to have lunch with Trish and meet the French family that owns the cottage and only uses it Sat-Sun. In that small world kind of way, we find that Sadek knows the family and has known them for over 15 years! We all hang out for a bit, get acquainted with the house and find that they refuse payment for the rental since they know Sadek and they wouldn't be here anyway. This feels a little strange, but also opens the door for me to spend time back and forth in the city and at the beach, as well as frees up some money for the family to fund some travel and travel accommodation once the baby is born, so I'm excited about that.

I also realize I'll need to work on doing yoga each day here as I planned. There isn't a lot of space in any of the places I'm at so far, and I've been following other people's schedules making it hard for me to get my own. I think once I switch over to Moroccan time and get up earlier it will be easier. Sunday night we did a casting of Aurelia's lovely pregnant body-- breasts and belly-- in front of the fire with music playing. What fun! There are some pictures of this that are precious! They had never heard of belly casting before and it will make a lovely addition to the funky, colorful decor of their home. I'm so glad I thought of doing this as a gift to them! Monday morning I slept in late as I couldn't fall asleep Sunday night and was up until 2am. I arose just in time to accompany Aurelia to her prenatal yoga class at one of three yoga shalas in Casablanca. This is my first car ride in Morocco that is not in Sadek's large and high Land Cruiser. Aurelia drives an avocado green R-4 Renault. A tiny box. Traffic and driving here is quite a harrowing experience and the tameness of the marketplace is greatly counterbalanced by the insanity on the roadways--by far crazier than anything I've seen in Latin America--with cars merging, beeping, turning, bikes, mopeds, people, donkey's, human driven carts of produce all vying for space and speed. But back to the yoga...this studio is run by a Moroccan husband and wife team and is small, simple and peaceful. The male teacher has such a kind and loving presence and is truly excited about my joining the group for the morning (Aurelia has told him and the other mamas about my coming to attend her birth). He invites me to lead the class but I decline. However, at the end of class I end up informally "teaching" and sharing for about 30 minutes, including palpating the other bellies in the class. I'm them invited to come back and lead a 2 hour workshop and discussion for pregnant women from the four prenatal classes they hold there each week. I'm not sure what I'll cover but agree to do it. They want to pay me, which I refuse, but then see that the woman owner of the shala does massage, so it is agreed that we will barter-- a two hour workshop for a two hour hot stone massage with chakra clearing-- sounds good to me! Despite Aurelia and Sadek strongly hinting they don't want me to go, I pack up to head to the beach house on Monday afternoon via a stop for a tour of Sadek's 15 acre nursery and greenhouses. Sadek's business is in ornamental palm trees and plants and herbs and cacti from around the world. He is very passionate and knowledgeable about all sorts of plants and that work and his collection of species has driven his extensive travel agenda for much of the past 15 years. I found out that before plants, he was into exporting fish, and before that was a honeymaker and seller. He's had an interesting path and he is an amazing photographer. His daily work life is quite enviable--works from home in the early morning. Makes his wife a smoothie and climbs back in bed for a bit, works a bit more, has a nice lunch, a nap and then off to the nursery to walk the ground and check in on the plants and his staff and do what needs to be done in person. He works a lot and has a very successful business doing something he loves, and is able to spend a lot of time at home too. Lovely. The plants are amazing. It is like being in a forest--lush, fecund, warm air, aromas and scents from the flowers and herbs, gorgeous light, traditional Moroccan music blaring from speakers around the compound to keep the staff of 80 entertained. I take tons of photos and revel in the stories behind the plants and tree, especially some of his favorites-- this one from Sri Lanka on their honeymoon, this one from Cuba, this one from a village in Peru. I learn how to use the macro lens on my new camera (Phil- you would be proud!) and thank mom and dad again for the 2 GB memorystick. After moving into the cottage last night, I piled on about 6 layers of clothes to go to sleep. My bedroom opens right onto the ocean and I can hear the waves all night. I woke up late and went for a nice walk on the beach, went to Trish's to download and send email and am just starting to settle in this afternoon. I realize that since my cottage doesn't have internet access and trish and her family go to bed around 8pm, that lots of skyping and phone calls at a time that most of you are functioning and on the computer isn't too likely. But we'll see. For now, send birthing vibes across the Atlantic-- we are all excited to meet and welcome this little baby!