Magreb and Me
Published by jakeallen January 11th, 2007 in jake.allen.ockhamist.com, Jake's Musings, Morocco, life update on Jake, picturesAll photos taken with my Treo, which is working now!!!
Common apartment maze (not mine, but nearby):
Looking at the city from a hill nearby last night:
Lady at Maroc Telecom helping a customer (not me):
Common street scene with random couch on the sidewalk:
Smurfy flea market:
Dinner in my apartment tonight. Take special notice of the Coca-Light!!! The almond chicken was really good. (I didn’t make it.) Those tangerine-like things are really good. They are picked more ripe yet delivered more fresh than in the USA. They are dirt-cheap . . . like $0.21 per kilo!!!!! Notice the butane gas in the hallway. It connects to the heater that heats my whole apartment. I have two small electric ones too. I still need to buy carpets to help with the cold.:
MADNESS!
Awesome pics Jake! Look forward to more as your life unfolds.
Thanks for posting the pics.
Coca-Light is is the international version of diet coke, right? I’ve heard that depending on the country, a variety of sweetner blends are used in it? What’s the ingredient list say?
Judging from the French, the Coke Light here is sweetened with aspartame. It looks like it is bottled in Casablanca. The taste is a little different than USA’s Diet Coke. It is a little more fake, I think. Some say it is sweeter here, but that’s not precise. I do not know what they use beyond aspartame and saccharine in other countries.
“Diet” does not translate very well. If I am reading the Arabic correctly (and I am new to it), the words are transliterated. “K-KOKAH LIT”. The double letter signifies the article, I think. I do not know why the alif in the middle makes the “o” sound in this instance, but it does sometimes. The Coke is in red, like in English, and the Lite is in black. It’s cool that I can read that already!
In the pictures of the city, you can see about three towers. However, with my eyes I could see many more. I am told that there are about 50-60 mosques in the city. Some of them are not used every day, and some are not used every Friday, but most are.
MADNESS!
Aaaaah!
I did not translate that correctly. The transliteration is “KoKAKoLA LIYT”, or Coca-cola Light. I did the vowels wrong. I am not sure why, exactly, but someone corrected me light night.
Madness!
The classes at our school enjoyed your pictures and captions very much! They are intrigued by your new environment. Thanks for the update!