Hi friends!
We are starting our fourth week of life here in Casablanca! Moroccans are some of the friendliest & caring people I have ever encountered. They are a loving group of people, & it is common to see women lock arms as they walk, or even men holding hands, always quick to embrace each other. For the women, it is often three kisses on the cheek, one on the left & two on the right. I am constantly meeting kind strangers who are eager to introduce us to their families over a meal in their homes after a short conversation on the bus, or even while walking down the street. Our neighbors are bringing us something almost every time we see them, a plate of pomegranate or almonds, & even msemen, Morocco’s breakfast staple, a kind of bread similar to a tortilla. I am constantly amazed by the Morocco’s generosity & hospitality.
One of my favorite things about Morocco is the mint tea, made from green Chinese gunpowder loose-leaf. The Moroccan way of serving it is to poor it from a height, creating light foam on the surface, which apparently creates even more flavor & cools it down. Usually the one serving the tea will toss it back & forth between the glass & the pot until it is precisely how they would like it to taste. Most of my favorite memories here so far have been with a glass of mint tea in front of me.
Just last week we went to a town called Chefchaouen, a city that is covered in blue & white paint with some new friends of ours. They also took us to Akchour, where we drank orange juice & mint tea in a creek & some of the guys went swimming! We were able to be there for two days, so it was fun to get out of Casablanca to see a different side of Moroccan culture. You can see some of the photos from the day with this link!
This month we have connected with a small house church & have been teaching them some english. They have also shown us a university nearby where we can connect with students. Between the church, students, & all the friends we have met in-between we stay very busy. I cannot go into too much detail about what all we do here, & exactly who we meet, but it has been an amazing time to see the Lord work in so many different ways.
Thank you all so much for your support & encouragement! I am so thankful every day to think that I have all of you at home praying & cheering us on. I will be updating again soon, as we are about to head to a different location in a couple weeks!
Much love,
Em
