Marriage Retreat in Salado

Last weekend Ben and I went on a marriage retreat, or we retreated from marriage, as Ben likes to tell it! This semester has been insanely busy, and we needed a little r&r. We went spent two nights in Salado, Texas at a retreat center. The material was good-- any time we can spend just focusing on our marriage is great-- but mainly we enjoyed spending time together with no emails to answer, no phones, and no school work! As an added bonus, most of our small group came along.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Last week it SNOWED in Waco! Yes, it snowed. It was not enough to stick, but it was enough to make every student throw down his or her books, run outside, and giggle with delight! If you need proof... You can kind of see the snow falling in this picture. The statue of Jesus even turned his head to catch some snow on his tongue. Really.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ben and I celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, over good food, good conversation, and a lot of fun. It was our first holiday in Waco as well as our first holiday away from family. There are two other families that live in our residence hall, so we all shared Thanksgiving dinner together in the second floor lobby. A couple of students who didn't go home also ate with us. Although we certainly missed our family, it was a great day together.


Pictured above is our lovely food table, and the most important part of any meal-- the desserts! Mom, I thought you would want to see a picture of the cake! We enjoyed eating cake and pumpkin pie, and so did our friends' 150 pound dog. One bit out of a pie and half of it was gone!

Football in the Big 12

Baylor vs. UT (not the University of Tennessee, although both school colors are a horrible shade of orange)- the University of Texas. Because we love college football and because UT is playing in the national championship (and hopefully losing), I thought I would include some pics from this game. Well, it was a game for about the first two minutes. But, "Sic'em Bears" anyway. For those of you who are concerned, I have not abandoned the Bulldogs. I can be fans of both-- one has my heart and other has my money and ministry. And, they probably will never play each other, and if they did... well... it would probably be a good game, unfortunately.

Here's a shot of the Bears in action.

Here's a shot of Colt McCoy in action. Colt is all the rage here in Texas. It's like they don't realize that there is a whole world of football outside of this state-- yeah, like the SEC. What's wrong with the picture below? Do you see all the orange?


The Baylor fan is one of our students. Even in the face of absolute doom, the true fan still puts on his gold cape and green socks, raises his arm, and readies himself to "Sic'em." Although it is not and will never be the SEC, it's certainly been fun to support the Bears.

Happy Halloween

Every Halloween for the past three years, we've had a Halloween throw-down. Ben and I were fairies two years ago (we wore fairy wings over our clothes... creative, I know). Last year our costumes won the Most Improved award. I was a black-eyed pea. I painted a giant 'P' on my shirt and had a black eye. No one understood my costume. Apparently, they did not grown up eating peas. Ben was a Mormon missionary. You've seen 'em-- white shirt, black pants and tie, a backpack, riding their bikes.

This year I was a Hershey's Kiss, and Ben was FaceBook (Ben actually came up with this and not Jim). I try to make excuses for our not-so-fabulous costumes (we are too busy, don't have the time or energy to worry about it, etc) but, to be honest, this is just how we roll.



Part of the group...




Our friends Lyle and Aurelia were Mario and the question box.

For one night and one night only, the Linds were white trash.




The Beans were, creatively, Pork and Beans. They are holding a pig, in case you can't tell.


And the Jacksons... well, you can tell. She made her costume.

Long time, no post

It's been a while since we have updated our blog. It's been a long while. But, thanks to Lindsay, (the only person who really cares about our blog other my parents) I have decided to add a few pics. Most of our time is spent in class or in the library trying to keep up with our classes, hanging out with college students (which we get paid for) or grading papers. Although our life isn't filled with fast cars or babies (two things that are pretty exciting), we love where we are and what we are doing. I hope the pics make you smile.

The Great Outdoors

Ben and I spent last weekend with great friends eating great food in the great outdoors. We went camping. Although it was not Call to the Wild style, our kind of camping is not for whimps. Our first camping experience brought a torrential downpour and a colony of spiders. We happened to choose the one unseasonably cold weekend of the semester for our second camping experience last fall. What they say (whoever they are) is true: the third time is a charm. The weather was perfect all weekend! It was such a blessing to spend a weekend away from homework, filled with fun and laughter (and about 150 Scouts of various ages and kinds).

I know this guy looks like a homeless person we picked up along the way and asked to join our camping adventure. But it's actually just Scott. He used a stick to roast hot dogs and marshmellows instead of a clothes hanger. Now that's what I call real camping.

The Mangrums relaxing in a hammock.

Ben and our friend Joey relaxing in the same hammock.

Here are a few of my friends: Diane (married to Scott, the wanna be hobo), Kate Bean (what a cool last name), Ashley (kickboxer extraordinaire), me, and Aurelia (one of the coolest people that Louisiana has ever produced).

Preparing hobo dinners: meat, potatoes, onions, peppers, corn and spices wrapped in foil and cooked over the fire. Yum!

A friendly game of spades with Joey and Ashley.

Onion

We apologize for not posting in a while. We've been in Kenya with Ashley's parents where we went to a rural 'town' in the northern part of the country and then did a safari. We haven't had internet access, which has unfortunately caused me to fall behind in my soap-operas. Regardless, we are alive and well--we leave tomorrow morning for London and we'll finally arrive in Jackson at 10:00pm-ish on Saturday night! It's been a long strange trip (yes, that's a nod to Bill Walton...for those of you in the know), and we are so appreciative for people to share this experience with. We can't wait to talk with you all and share more about this summer. We feel like we've grown and learned a lot.


In conclusion, we'd like to confess that we've made many, many mistakes this summer...a few of which we've already told you about. Mainly these mistakes have been the result of our attempts to speak with Moroccans in their dialect of Arabic. We've told you about calling ourselves donkeys, and I (Ben) think I even called myself my own husband. We've also kept speaking Moroccan Arabic to Kenyans (who speak English and Swahili), but we're used to being foolish, strange foreigners.

One example of these kinds of mis-communications happened early on when we were taking language classes in Casablanca. When leaving one day from class we told our teacher Besla, which we thought meant "Good bye." "Good bye", however, is actually pronounced Beslama (which literally means 'with peace'). Besla in Moroccan Arabic is actually the market word for "onion." So our language teacher cocked her head, stared blankly at us, and then walked away without a word.

So, in honor of our stupidity, we would like to say "onion" Morocco. "Onion" Kenya. It's been a long strange trip, but we wish you a very sincere Besla.

Corniche

So we're leaving Morocco on Sunday at 11am. In celebration of our last few days, we went to the corniche in Casablanca. While 'corniche' sounds like an adjective describing something that is corny-ish (just like the joke I've just made), it is actually a French word for "road tracing along the sea" that has made its way into common usage in Morocco. In Casablanca the corniche has several nice restaurants and shops, and it provides a view of the beach (along with the thousands of beach-goers) for a little bit.

In the picture above there are thousands of yellow umbrellas, which give an understated picture of how the beaches are heavily populated. There are nicer 'clubs' where you pay an entry fee and have a 'private' pool (the quotation marks indicate my sarcasm...just in case it doesn't translate across the internet). The club in the picture below, however, was actually quite nice if you wanted to pay lots of money.

Here is a picture of the mosque we posted about earlier. You can see how it is built upon the water. (We were cheated on a taxi not long after walking here...but that's another story.)


As a semi-splurge we ate lunch at Rick's Cafe, which is the restaurant supposedly featured in the movie "Casablanca" (it was actually re-built five years ago and designed after the restaurant in the movie). It was a delicious meal!

Ben had swordfish and pasta (which may have been the best fish either of us has ever eaten) and Ashley had a fantastic curry with a peach chutney. Although neither of these dishes are very Moroccan, they sound adventurous and so we thought we'd impress you with our superd gastronomic preferences.

Here's the most beautiful woman in the world.

This is not the most beautiful woman in the world.


Here's the cafe from the vantage point of our table. At nights there is a pianoman and dancing.



Over all, it was a wonderful dining experience and a great way to begin closing out our time in Morocco.

Cafe Culture

Morocco was a French colony for several decades until its independence in the 1950s. Despite their newly (re)acquired autonomy, however, much of the country is still strongly influenced by Europe. One example of the vestiges of European influence is the cafe culture prevalent in most of the country.

As a general rule, men frequent cafes for hours. Whether because of unemployment or a "business over coffee" mentality, some men even spend the entire day there. It is less common for women to frequent cafes--many have an unofficial but obvious 'no-women' rule. Those cafes where women are able to participate in this aspect of the culture are typically called "glaciers" (when pronouncing this word, envision yourself as a haughty French person and say with a flourish and an up-turned lip "glaas-ee-ay"; then conclude with "oui oui").

I (Ben) have been able to go to cafes to study and read. It's an opportunity to be out in public, soak in the social scene, and drink a year's supply of caffeine in one sitting. At the cafe near our apartment in Casa, however, Ashley is allowed with no social qualms...at least as far as we know. We've seen a few Moroccan women there, but the sign does not read "Glacier" (see above for pronunciation) so we're hoping our ignorance will prove us to be innocent.


To be able to have a conversation in Moroccan Arabic at one of these cafes is the indicator that a foreigner is "in" with the culture and social life of this country. Because this 'cafe culture' lies at the heart of urban Morocco, we've really enjoyed being near the beating pulse and getting a taste of what life is like in this unique part of creation.

English Club

Of the many things we have done in Morocco, one of my (Ashley's) favorite times has been Wednesday afternoons at the Churchill Club. Here, my mentor facilitates a conversational English class. Moroccan women gather at this 'club' (social club of the American League of Casablanca with an odd name), read stories and/or articles in English, and then discuss the contents. Last week the ladies found themselves in a pretty heated discussion about human rights issues in Morocco and abroad. This class is a way for them to practice their English and an opportunity for me to learn more about life in Morocco, to practice a bit of Arabic, and to laugh. These women are a hoot!! They are also incredibly intelligent. It's amazing (and convicting) to hear these women easily switch between French, Arabic, and English in the same sentence, along with Dutch and German for a few of them.



These are not your typcial Moroccan women. They are the 'Vanderbilts' and 'Kennedys' of Moroccan society. Their husbands are politicians and lawyers. Their children are educated abroad in Europe or the US. One member's husband served as the Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt for a number of years. She has never ridden a train or in a taxi (which is insane because the taxi and train systems here run quite well and are the most common method of transportation). Meaning, someone has driven her everywhere she has ever wanted to go. Remarkably (for those of you who know a bit about Arab culture) one of the members has chosen not to marry and is herself a distinguished law professor. Although they might not be typical in regards to economic status, they certainly exemplify the typical Moroccan warmth and hospitality.

Casa's Mosque

Casablanca is home to the third largest mosque in the world, which is named after the former King, Hassan II. This mosque in Casablanca can hold 25,000 people; only the mosques in Mecca and Medina have larger capacities. It has a retracting roof for days when the weather is nice. Although it is smaller (in terms of square feet and capacity) than those other two mosques, its minaret makes it the tallest religious structure in the world. It is covered in beautiful, ornate designs, and 1/3 of the mosque was built overhanging the ocean (which you can't see from our photos).




They allow non-Muslims to tour the mosque during certain times of the day. So Ashley and I went yesterday morning (Monday), and we were able to take a few photos inside. The lighting was not so good, so have some compassion if things are blurry or dark.



The picture above is of the floor where men come to pray. Particularly on Fridays this area can be pretty close to full. The ropes set off the area where the King processes in to pray. At the end of this area is a niche that points toward Mecca (it looks kind of like a doorway in the center of the photo above), and to the right is a podium-like stand where an imam delivers the Friday-sermon. The picture below is of the terrace area where women pray. It's difficult to see in this photo, but there are slots in the walls of the terrace for the women to see through.


Below is a picture of the fountains used for washing, which is required of devotees for purification before prayer. There is a separate area for men and women, but this area was only used for tours (which, of course, are not conducted during prayer times). The purification process includes washing hands, arms, and the face three times. If I understood correctly, they also wash their forehead and behind their ears once (as opposed to three times).

Also, near the mosque is a theological school, but currently it is not in use. It is designed in similarly ornate patterns. This school forms a kind of U in the beginning of the vast courtyard area that you can see in the first picture of this post.