a beautiful coincidance!

i was in this chat room for moroccans..i was having fun talking to these funny smart people.. and there was this fuuny, very polite guy who talked about his guitar! it was fun! we asked the other chatters which cities they'r from, we told each other. he turned out to be from the same city as i am but from different neighborhoods.. i was surprised to know that he grew up in the same neighborhood i grew in.. BUT the irony of fate doesn't stop to that limit, we also grew up in the same street, we knew the same people we had played with when we were kids, we even played together, and to top it ALL,we were classmates and friends in primary and junior schools!!!he was my childhood friend and guess where he was chatting from??! CHINA!!

now HOW strange and surprising this life can ever be! he was there working on his PHD in some high Tech engineering, i even don't know what that is, but i always thought of him as a genius and always always looked up to him for his intelligence... not that i wasn't a good student myself :)

anyway, i was soooooooooo happy, excited and thrilled to know about him.. he told me about our other friends and where they ended up.. some of them are in france studying, others married while others not..

it was such a blessed bliss to meet him and revive that incredible sweet world we lived in as innocent little creatures!

and this is his pic with one little chinese girl (maybe a friend's daughter)

what are the odds!!

i've been reading a reveiw of a book by Nicole Krauss, a Jewish American writer. I also have been doing a research on Jewish American writers. The two writers i read for are Nicole krauss and Jonathan Safran Foer. The works i read for them are simply amazing. worth reading!
Now i come to the funny part: a couple minutes ago i found out that these two writers are married to each other. Again, what are the odds!!!
This makes the research a lot more fun :^)

A captivating Sunset on my way back home.. i couldn't help but taking a picture of it!!

Cave Zaâbal between Errachidia and Rich..

some pics!!

An old "Ksar" few miles outside Errachidia. Authentic!!

Prada?!...so what!

"Appearances are misleading".. I believe that there is an equivalent of this famous proverb in every language. I know there is one in Arabic. All Arabic speaking communties know it. And yet. there is hardly anyone in this vast eternal universe who works by this rule. Most of us are being misled by appearances, voluntarily sometimes.



Appearances are misleading, indeed. Most of us prefer to ask a well-dressed up man with a suit and tie than a rather shabby person for directions. we do most of the times judge poeple through the type of clothes they're wearing, the brand of their shoes, and even by the colors of their outfits. Wearing sunglasses, believe it or not, can make a difference in our judgemnts ( or rather pre-judgements).

you may think that you're not misled by appearances and that what i've just said does not apply to you by any means. maybe it does not.maybe it does. Just think about it.. how many times you encoutered a stranger who was not "into fashion" and not that "good-looking" but through a small discussion you realize that she knows about things more than you do, smarter than most people you know..

i've been there,and believe me it sucks being prejudged just by the looks and the outfits.
Everytime i jump in the train i find myself stuck in a small room with 7 other people, who always start conversations about their lives and brag about their jobs.. everytime, i try to keep my distance, but they end up asking my opinion or about the book i'm reading.. few words said and they realize that i am a high school English teacher.. as little and small as i seem to them, i am an english teacher and that always has an effect on my poor "companions". A clearly seen effect. I would be a liar if i said that i don't enjoy that effect on those worn faces but i do enjoy it.

the point is: clothes, suits, ties, make up or sunglasses.. are none but objects that can by no means display the inner goodness, smartness, intelligence, or skills of a person,whatsoever.

And till people realize this fact, i'll keep surprising them and enjoying the effect of the surprise on their "hypocritical" faces.

Another random thought!!

Does it ever come to your mind to think about being a parent? well.. as far as i am concerned, it always does... Day in day out, this thought or rather feeling grows stronger and deeper in me. Maybe the growth of this instinct feeling has to do with age. whatever this feeling has to do with, i just love it..
The idea of writing about how being a parent must feel came from the fact that one of my best friends:layla has just had her first baby girl. Her name is Aia. she is just one adorable little princess, and that is why i can't help calling her princess :)

I've known layla since primary school when we were 9 or 10.I remember that she was my number one rival. we were both the best of the whole school and that's how we started our strong ever-lasting relationship.. it has lasted along secondary school, high school and even till college but she majored in literature and I in linguistics.. for me, she was the smartest, the prettiest, the funniest... in short, she was the best! she still is, indeed!

And I believe that my princess Aia can't have a better mom than Layla. God bless their hearts!!
In the picture above, sleepy Aia :)

from left: Rabia(bride's friend), me, Maryam, Siham, and layla with bride and groom

Hanane and her groom!!

Mrs. Hanane!!

Remember Hanane or tenderness? well, she got married. last weekend, we attended her wedding and it was fantastic.. we were so happy for her cuz she was wed to the love of her life forever.. they were sooooo cute together .. she was amazingly beautiful in her different bride gowns. we just loved her. my friends (the sweet Maryam and Siham) and me got prepared for the wedding and here are some of pics of that graceful day.

back to tinjdad

Everytime I come home i prefer to believe that i am not leaving it anymore.. but no matter how long my vacation might be, i always end up going back to tinjdad.
last year,which was my first year there, i had a heartache whenever my vacation was over.. and yet, i don't feel that anymore. Something has changed. Indeed, now i have friends in tinjdad. they make it a lot easier for me to go back to tinjdad and start new and "fresh" in my job :)

"a friend is your needs fulfilled" Gibran Kahlil, THE PROPHET

Amen to that!!!

the view from my classroom.i took this picture with my cell phone's camera

this is tinjdad mountain!!

another beautiful sunset in Tinjdad

Tinjdad "jnane" or fields at sunset!!

our tiny beautiful house has got a view. yes, ladies and gents. and not ANY view!!

these green gardens' picture is taken from our very bedroom's window.

we enjoy it every morning. i hope you could :)

can you say "no" to such natural beauty mixed with innocence?! i bet you can not!! her name is siham and it means "arrows" in arabic. no wonder Cupid uses them to make people fall in love!!

this is my siham, my arrows..

ladies and gents,

let me introduce to you one of the joys of my life: Lady Hanane

she is the most talented midwife i ever knew.( DO NOT think that i have never known midwives before!!!)

she is a very sincere, genuine, affectionate young lady. above all, she is MY friend.

her name means "tenderness". you know what i mean now?!

pics, pics, pics...

this is my room and my friends' "bedroom" on a sunday morning. i konw what you wanna say; what a MESS!!

this is one of the old "ksars" (old castles)

it was built in the 1800s.

it is still surviving nature, amazing!!!

Ode to Friendship!

Song: "For Good"
ELPHABA:
I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited
I'm just look at you -
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda
So now it's up to you
(spoken) For both of us
(sung) Now it's up to you
GLINDA:
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
ELPHABA:
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend:
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
GLINDA:
Because I knew you
BOTH:
I have been changed for good
ELPHABA:
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
GLINDA:
But then, I guess we knowThere's blame to share
BOTH:
And none of it seems to matter anymore
Like a comet pulled Like a ship blown
From orbit as it Off it's mooring
Passes a sun, like By a wind off
A stream that meets Sea, like a seed
A boulder, half-way Dropped by a
Through the wood Bird in the wood
BOTH:
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better?
GLINDA:
And because I knew you
ELPHABA :
Because I knew you
BOTH:
Because I knew you, I have been changed for good: Aura, Layla, Najiya, Hanane, and Siham

caftan!!

that's me in a caftan.