To be honest, when we first arrived in Casablanca, my mind went into a sort of shock. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and even textures were totally alien to me and took me way out of my comfort zone. I had never lived in a city for any length of time, so not only was I adjusting to living in Morocco, but I was also trying to wrap my head around city life. Richard and I have lived in our city apartment for a little over a month, and I have learned to appreciate living both in a city and in Casablanca.
First, the city sights. What struck me immediately were the dirty streets with trash everywhere. Also, you see run-down buildings, which can be situated right next to quite nice apartments. Beggars in the streets are commonplace and I often see men picking through the dumpsters when I am out for my walk. Diseased feral cats and stray dogs are commonplace (more on that in my next post.)
The reason I bring all that up is because that is ALL I used to see. Now that my eyes have had a chance to adjust I am able to find some beauty in this large African city. The flower in the picture below pushing its way through the cracks is like my brain pushing my eyes to re-adjust to see the wonders around me, not just the bad stuff.
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| Beauty forcing its way in |
There are impressive flower hedges everywhere in the city. Here are some I pass on my daily walk around my neighborhood. These sprays of color are seen both on upscale dwellings, average apartments and also run-down buildings.
The following photos were taken in the neighborhood near CIPC, church.
The views seen from school are stunning; the ocean is surely a wonder to behold. I have seen some beautiful pictures posted by fellow GWA faculty members, including some awesome sunsets photos taken from their apartment balconies. Who knew I would come to enjoy the views from our apartment and around the neighborhood as well.
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| An apartment across the street has pretty plants on its balcony |
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| Garden in front of a bank around the corner |
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| The roof across the street is dotted with satellite dishes and colorful laundry hanging on the line |
Here are some shots looking out our apartment windows at night. So pretty in the evening.
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| Hanut (small store) across the street |
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| Building (with hanut on bottom floor) across the street) |
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Most of the buildings are 5 stories tall, plus a ground floor (I think by law); I'm not sure how this one was allowed to be built so tall. It is kitty corner from our apartment and is pretty in the lights of night.
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Looking out our back window onto the back apartments. One has a pretty serene patio umbrella for social times.
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| Looking out our back window onto the back apartments, people enjoying their patios at night. |
Somehow I had it in my mind that Casa would be devoid of trees, but that simply isn't true. There are many palm trees and other kinds of trees everywhere. I'm not sure how they survive with so little rain.
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| Palm tress line Ghandi |
I ran across the wall pictured below when Richard and I were catching a cab after church last Sunday. I love the way the cracks are pointed blue and how the flowers look against it.
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| Pretty wall with flowers |
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| Close up of the wall with flower |
Now for the "sounds." Some of the many sounds heard almost constantly are: car horns, motor cycles and mopeds, trucks, cars, dogs barking, store "garage doors" opening and closing (all hours of the day and night), kids yelling and playing, etc. To put it in a word, it's noisy here. If you know me, you probably are aware that I am a light sleeper. When we first moved in, we would close all the noise/light-blocking shades and the windows, and run a fan and white noise machine on top of that. It gets quite hot in the apartment with no windows open; like most Casa homes, we have no air conditioning. What a difference a month makes; the windows are always wide open now and I sleep like a rock! It's funny how the noise just kind of fades into the background now.
I do admit the one thing I will likely never get used to are the smells. You never know when some weird scent will hit you or where. Of course, passing a nasty dumpster is smelly, and I'm usually ready for that. But, there are just random smells that sneak up on you when you least expect it. Richard says he can be resting in his chair in the afternoon, and all manner of smells come through the window, from pleasant flower smells to the very nasty!
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| Oh yeah, this is Casa in a nutshell! |
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