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La Vita Grassa

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Location: Aarhus, Denmark

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

The Cutest Niece in the World

Of course...I'm not biased at all... but I do believe I have the cutest, brightest little niece in the world. Gracia Virginia.


With her cousin


GG, Mommy and Daddy (my gorgeous sis-in-law Laura, and my dear bro Nathan)


War paint on for kitchen duty


Hayrides with her Momma


She's a born celebrity.


Somebody knows how to tie her shoes "all by myself".

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Language test

In June we were supposed to take a language-proficiency test in Arabic. I tested at Intermediate-High. That was the same score I received six months previous, after 10 weeks in country. Not impressed.

I retook the test this past weekend. I scored an Advanced-Medium. "You're fluent, I feel like I'm speaking to a Moroccan!" Was the gentleman's comment after we got done with the formal discussion sessions. Yay! I can speak Arabic.

(Of course, there are always terrible days when I don't feel like I can articulate "How are you?" and vocabulary potential is endless when Classical Arabic is added to the picture, and some days I realize I don't know some silly word like "soft" and wonder how I think I can speak a language at all when I don't know such a basic word.)

Toubkal pics


Packing up our gear for takeoff from Imilil.












Backseat trekkers.














Foggy morning trek

















April braiding my hair early morning...



Freezing campsite at the refuge, half-way up the trail.





















Cuddling up after a long day's hiking.




Spectacular clouds



Path to the Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah



Mountain junkie