The New Normal - Apartment Living in Casablanca

We've been in Morocco for more than 6 months now.  Routine has set in, as Richard and I have gotten used to the rhythm of life in Casablanca.  I have been teaching, and Richard has been running around shopping, cooking and basically taking care of everything else.  Minimal traveling has taken place lately, so I decided I would write a bit about our living space.  I really enjoy seeing other apartments and villas inhabited by colleagues and friends, so I thought you all might enjoy seeing ours.  

"God Bless this House" in Arabic

We access our 5th floor apartment usually by elevator.  It consists of three bedrooms, a bath and a half, kitchen, dining room, "American" living room, and "Moroccan" living room.  All of the rooms are located off the long hallway, which is shaped like a "U."  The windows are the type that open in with a handle, and each has an electrically-powered exterior blind (the blinds are great for room darkening and keeping the cold and city noises at bay).  We have plenty of room and are quite comfortable here.

Here's the entranceway (lots of beautiful wood):

Moroccan mirror in the hallway (open and closed):

        

When we first moved in, a new colleague exclaimed "Your kitchen looks just like a beehive!"  She would be right about that; the shape and color truly mimic that of a bee's abode.  The yellow tiling apparently was quite popular in Moroccan homes built in the 80's; we even noticed the kitchen at the U.S. Consulate's General's home has the same decoration.  We are thankful for the gas stove, a cold fridge and the new microwave.  Some kitchen items were here when we arrived, and we have purchased other necessities.  We store pots, pans, bowls, utensils, etc. in the lower cabinets and drawers.  But, as you can see from the pictures, the upper cabinets are placed quite high, so we really don't use them.  Instead, we keep our perishable food and paper products in the bedroom/office closet across the hall.  In addition, it should be noted that many Moroccan kitchens do not have hot water, including this one.  So, we fill up the basin with hot water from the bathroom sink to do our dishes, and rinse with cold.  Richard is able to prepare awesome meals in our honeycomb kitchen, so that's what counts.  

Our "beehive" kitchen

Cupboards just too high to reach (we do have a step ladder, just in case)

The dining room is just down the hall from the kitchen, and contains, a large hutch, two smaller hutches, plus another little cabinet.  A chandelier hangs over the dining room table, which fills up the balance of the room. Everything we need in terms of dishes, cups and glasses was here when we arrived.  We have had a few dinner parties in this room, and it works out perfectly.

Long hallway past dining room

Dining room (taken from the Moroccan living room; there is open space between the two)

The bedrooms are just as you might expect in any American home. The very firm mattresses are not exactly the size of those in the states, but I would say the bed we sleep in is around queen-sized. We have another bedroom with a full bed.  The third has a twin bed, but we basically use this room as an office, drying room, and pantry.  Off this room there is a little balcony with space for our drying rack, and a back flight of stairs to be used as a fire escape.  

Master bedroom (with our odd assortment of blankets to stay warm

Berber rugs in our bedroom that we bought on two different trips . . . 

Guest room

Office/pantry/single bedroom

Moroccan style is all about brightly-colored patterns.  From the rugs to the furniture, color abounds in our two large living spaces. Our "Moroccan" living room is decorated in reds, including a deep-red rug and plaid-colored fabric on the Moroccan sofas.  The large Moroccan couches fill all three walls, and were likely constructed right in the room.  The bases are made of wood, which is inlaid with beautiful patterns.  The large octagonal table, two square tables and two smaller octagonal tables match the pattern on the base of the sofas.  Also, included in the room are built-in shelves, a keyhole-shaped mirror, and a chandelier with matching sconces. Typically, Moroccans would use this space for guests to sleep if the bedrooms were full.  I think the comfortable couches in this room alone could sleep four!

Moroccan living room (taken from the dining room)

Table with beautiful inlaid wood (matches the Moroccan couch wood)

Corner table with inlaid wood to match

Keyhole mirror 

Our second living room can been seen as soon as you open the door to the apartment.  It could be considered typically American, with a couch, two easy chairs with ottomans, a coffee table, a few end tables, and a TV.   But, it still has a Moroccan feel as the furniture is covered with red fabric, a patterned rug protects the cement with vinyl tile floor, and fancy woodwork partially divides the room from the hall. There is also a chandelier in this room, as well as a fireplace, which we have not yet used.  An art-deco style mirror hangs over the narrow mantle, and two "guards" flank on either side.  The skinny newly-painted statues were added by our landlord recently.  The eyes of the men apparently scared their young son, as they "follow him around the room!"  Actually, when the family came to join us for a meal recently, we covered the heads of the statues with bags as a joke.  :-)

American-type living room (taken from Moroccan living room)

Couch, Berber blanket, pretty woodwork to the right

Cute little shelf

The TV et al (we brought 100+ DVD's with us; got to feed the addiction)

Here's looking at you kid!

Speaking of fireplaces, most Moroccan homes are not heated or air-conditioned.  We have gotten by just fine this "winter" with three space-heaters and warm blankets.  I have to admit it was rough on me when we first got here not having AC.  But, we made it through August and September with fans blowing and the windows wide open.

There's a lot of cool artwork in the apartment, that belonged to our landlord's parents.  Some of the framed pictures look Egyptian in style, and others just typically African.  We have also bought a few little paintings which we will bring home to the U.S.  Here are some pictures of the pictures.

These are painted on silk and look Egyptian to us

Interesting to find this picture in a Moroccan home

The key rings were welcome gifts from GWA; the toy compass goes with Richard everywhere

We bought the painting above and one following in Tangier

In order to access the washing machine, we go up one flight of stairs to the roof.  There is a little locked room there which contains our washer. After washing, we (I use that word "we" loosely, really I mean Richard) hang the clothes on the lines on the roof, or the drying rack in the apartment if it's raining (which is hardly ever). We also bought a few small yard chairs, and enjoy sitting on the roof to soak up some sun on occasion. The view from up on the roof is interesting; many old and new satellite dishes can be seen, the roofs of other houses with colorful laundry hanging, balconies with plants, buildings of all sorts, streets with cars and people, shops, street vendors . . . you name it.  This also includes the ocean, if the air is very clear and you look just the right way.

Clothes lines on the roof

Laundry on the roof (not pretty, but functional)

Roof view toward the south

The dishes on the roof

Up on the Roof patio


Looking into the building from the roof



Front view of the building; we're on the 5th Floor (the top)




Looking into the lobby area


Street Views:

If the truth be told, the best thing about our apartment is the owner and his family.  They have been wonderful to us, and we feel we have made life-long friends.  What else could you ask for?

Come visit us!  We have plenty of room.