A ROSE by any other name...

You are like a rose stemming from the hand of God;
Pull back the petals to reveal the beauty within.

Refreshing Re Treat?

You bet'cha! The orange juice was just one of the many refreshing aspects of this trip.

Group Art

The creative what'cha'macallit pose inspired by one of our members

Boys

These boys are great! The one on the right is one of my saxophone players! :)

The Retreat Gang

We may not look tough, but if there's any doubt in your mind, we'll take you to our leader.

Tourism?

I haven't looked up the definition of tourist, but I've always cringed at the word.
I have come to the realization, however, that everyone is probably a tourist as some point or another. Afterall, I did assist in keeping this city's tourist proceeds coming in. Here is one of the shops that I succumbed to.

Gem in the Ruft

The city is a network of buildings and of pathways leading up and down steep inclines---a city full of people....working day in and day out to keep tourism proceeds coming in.

Wheat is Healthy

And I was still hungry....

Raodside Snack

My friend Autumn and I stopped for a flower snapshot. Yummy!

Hold on! Look who's driving!

Norm, our fearless driver. Driving can be fun!

Fly By 007

Here we are, two cars packed full of passengers, and two of these passengers wielding walky talkies.......travel entertainment. We are on our way to a hopefully relaxing retreat in the mountain city of Chouen.

Lemonade Characters

From left to right: sleeping beauty, the little old woman who lived in a shoe,

chicken little (in the white), and rooster.

Lemonade Goats and Pigs

Some of the stars of the show: the goats, the pigs, and Hicham (our sound tech.). The spectacular goat costumes, including horns and real sheep's skin, were being finished five minutes before the performance. Record timing!

Lemonade Musical

The 1st/3rd grade musical presentation of "Lemonade" was so much fun. Here's a group shot of several of the students.

After the Storm

It had been nine hours since we left the refuge near the peak of Mt.Toubkal. We had come through snow, rain, and land slides. We had spent about two hours dressed up as mountain women in a souvenir shop before making the decision to hire a guide to take us an alternate route around the flood. This was no normal hiking trail, however. It involved forging rivers, climbing without ropes at high elevations, and traipsing through mud and over loose rock on the sides of bald mountains. The top picture shows what we came through, and the bottom picture shows a village that marked the beginning of a new hope that came alive in us when we saw it. We were thankful to be alive. It was so obvious that God had protected us, for there had been many times when one of the twelve of us could have fallen down the mountain, been swept away by the river, or fallen off of a cliff. One of the men in our group was in his 60's and was suffering from muscular deterioration---yet, he made it! God truly did answer our prayers. Though the nine hours of survival were traumatic and difficult, I am glad that I went through them, for, this was one time when I COULD NOT depend on myself. I had to depend on God, and that was so good for me. We left the mountain praising God in our hearts and remarking to one another how at awe we were of God's obvious protection over us.

Wanna-Be Mountain Women

Surviving Mt.Toubkal

After our 5 hour strenuous hike up the mountain, we reached the snow covered refuge lying at the base of the peak. It snowed through the night, and it was still snowing when four of us began our descent. Little did we know that danger was ahead of us. The snow eventually turned into rain, and all of this precipitation was making it's way down the mountain in trickles, streams, and rivers. Land slides began to occur, and what we thought was thunder, we later learned was a boulder rolling down the mountain side! So, by the time we reached the village at the half-way-mark, we were drenched and cold. My hands had begun to go numb, and I was concerned about the risk of hypothermia. I went to the nearest village shop and bought myself a warm shirt and carpet (which served as a skirt). A man wrapped my head in a scarf, and then proceeded to help the other ladies find clothes that they could change into. Eventually, we were all tucked under this woolen blanket. Ahhhh....

God's Word on the Mount

After hiking for about four hours, we took a breather while Karen read to us from the Psalms. What a beautiful moment this was!

A Where's Waldo Moment?

Do you see our guide?
He doesn't exactly look like Waldo, but he sure did remind me of Waldo. Several times throughout the course of our hike, we saw him up above us, barely visible as he peeked over the edge of a rock to make sure that we were still making progress.

Teeth

Lauren, Lisa, and I taking care of our teeth before the Mt.Toubkal hike

Wedding Nights

Here I am with a friend at a wedding.

This was an all-nighter---weddings here often are.

I went to my first local wedding with an American friend who's friend's brother was the groom. The wedding began at about 8 and was still going strong at 1 a.m. It was at that moment in time that my friend and I realized that we would be there the whole rest of the morning. Sure enough, we didn't end up leaving until 7 a.m. What did we do all of that time? We listened to loud singing and drums, danced, saw the bride and groom lifted on pillars and then seated on thrones, saw the bride come out in several colorful dresses, and danced and ate some more. Two courses of food were brought out: chicken and lamb. Mint tea and cookies were also served. What an incredible and memoriable evening/morning.

This little girl stood on our table and amazed us with her dancing abilities.