Family Visit - Round Two

My mom and step dad (Randy) came to visit last week, and we had a great time showing them around!

Mom and I cooked this beef, prunes and almonds dish together. It turned out delicious, and they really enjoyed it!




We visited these Roman Ruins with mom and Randy as well - the weather was perfect, and we all enjoyed walking through the old city.



We took a horse carriage tour through a different city. We visited an old prison underground and an old grain storage building.

Family Visit - Round One

Last week my (Angela's) family came to visit. It was great to see them! We traveled to some other cities, and ate delicious food.


We spent one day on the beach. It was nice and quiet, and the beach was empty! When the camel owners heard that there were foreigners on the beach, they brought the camel out for us to ride. Too bad for them that we were not interested, but we did get some good pictures!


We kept our distance from the snake charmers


Walking through the market - it was raining, so there weren't that many people there.




We also visited some Roman ruins. We spent an entire afternoon walking through an old Roman city.



My mom and step dad, Randy, are here visiting now! I'll post round two after they leave.

Back in the groove

We're back into the swing of things over here, and enjoying our time with basketball, language learning and eating!

Karl has been working really hard on learning stories in Arabic to tell the basketball players after each practice. He memorizes two stories a week, and is doing great!



Most of these kids started playing basketball last year. They have improved so much, and are doing very well this year.


We spent last Saturday in a neighboring city, and walked through this market. It was super crowded, but always a good experience.

Switzerland... Part III

Here are the last of our pictures from Switzerland. We finished the week off with some more hiking, checking out some Roman Ruins and walking around Lyon, France for about 3 hours.


There were vineyards on the bottoms of most of the mountains in this part of Swizterland.


This was the view from our window at a B&B that we stayed at. Pretty nice! We sat outside on the terrace, drinking milk and eating chocolate a cheese.


This was an old Roman Amphitheater, and there is a castle in the background.

More Ruins:




In Geneva - it was another big city, but we enjoyed walking around.

Switzerland... Part II

So, from Interlaken we went to Vevey, Switzerland which is on the southern side of Lake Geneva. The train ride there was beautiful! In Vevey, we spent most of our time hiking in the surrounding areas, riding trains, drinking milk and eating chocolate/cheese.



Everything was so green!


Here we are in one of the many trains.


Our first adventure was in some farmland - the smell of manure was actually refreshing. This was Karl's favorite day!


There were radishes everywhere - we think they must use them for feed.


One day, we hiked from one town to another in the mountains. This was probably my (Angela's) favorite day. It ended up being about 13 miles, and we were tired at the end, but it was completely worth it. The fall colors were starting to come out, which was a great blessing for us since we don't see them here in N. Africa.




More cows!





I still have more pictures of the end of our trip. I will post them in a few days!

The most beautiful place in the world (in my opinion)... Switzerland Part I

We spent the last 9 days in Switzerland, and loved every minute of it! It was a great relaxing and refreshing time. The first 3 days were in Interlaken, which is a little town between two beautiful lakes. Enjoy the pics!




We enjoyed the great Swiss foods, including milk, cheese, chocolate and grapes. The milk was especially tasty since we can't get "fresh" milk here in North Africa. We love the Swiss label!




We took a train to the "Top of Europe" on the Jungfrau mountain. It was about 14,000 feet up, the highest we have ever been!


This is the mountain that we were on the top of!




Amazing views!


The train rides were all scenic. This was on the way back down the mountain, into some beautiful valleys. I LOVE Switzerland!





I'll be posting more of the rest of our trip soon!

Happy Holidays

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while - I just haven't taken that many pictures! We are leaving for Switzerland on Wednesday, and will post again once we return!



We're in the middle of the month of Ramadan, and have been learning all about it. The people here treat Ramadan a little bit like we treat Christmas. It's a time for families to be together, and for children to get gifts and new clothes. The majority of people here fast during the day for a month. They are able to eat once the sun goes down each night. They fast from food, drink, cigarettes, make-up and spouse relationships.

We have been invited a few times this week to break the fast with our friends. The food is delicious! The people here always break the fast with a class of milk and some dates. Afterward, they have some soup and pastry-type foods. We have heard that people actually gain weight during this time because of all the food they eat at night.