Roumenia & Bulgaria

This August, I went to a place I wouldn't have picked myself: Eastern Europe. Didn't know what to expect (gray communist blocks, huge Coca Colas neons, lots of vodka?), and wasn't necessarily too eager to discover it in person either.

But, as Thomas' sister has a Bulgarian companion and, with their two kids, they've bought a house there to spend summer holidays in the mountains, it was the opportunity to go and explore! We first spend three days in Bukarest, then Annick joined us with Zoélie and we drove down to the Bulgarian coast, close to Varna, and met up with the Zedjev family, as well as Thomas' mom to spend a week alternating excursions and house renovations. But clearly, with three kids varying from 1 to 4 years, the holiday was mostly ruled by the kids' schedules and interests. 

So, it was great to spend some more time with Thomas side of the family, to have a nice break from Ramadan in Morocco and a more relaxed and real holiday then when we go back to Belgium. On the other hand, I doubt Eastern Europe will ever be my favorite region of the world and it was still more of a family get together than a real holiday. The very first time I spend a holiday with "the-inlaws", which takes some settling in, nice as they may be... ;)

Birthday braai

Yep, another year has gone by, and I turned 34... Since the day itself, 13th, we had our performance, I decided to have a birthday thing the day after, the Thursday 14th, with Claire, another France Volontaire, who has her birthday very close to mine and we have a lot of friends. in common.
Considering options and themes for the "event" (a picnic somewhere, animation on the Bouregreg for the 1 year anniversary of the Rabat tramway, horse riding, jazz concert...), I decided to opt for a barbecue. I figured, since we still didn't have one, it would be the perfect opportunity to invest. Little did I know that this was the gift my friends had already picked out for me. Anyway, it wasn't too big of a surprise then when I came home and found a beautiful barbie, but doesn't mean it wasn't appreciated even more so.
I also got two collages, one from our friends and one of me in various gloomey corps positions, taken in Casablanca Anciens Abbatoires, which inspired Marion to make a Bunny/bruno suicides...

Originally intended for about 25 guests, I guess in total about 40 to 50 people showed up, so emergency pizzas had to be delivered. There was a nice mix between the people from the theater, our other France Volontaires, and the UN crowd from Thomas' work. At one point I looked around, and said to myself that I was really lucky to have so many nice and good friends.
Click here for more pix.

The show must go on: Cosmopolitan Theater

Since February, I've started picking up a youth passion of mine: theater. A similar project to the one I am doing (using video and multimedia to work regarding intercultural conflicts between young Moroccans and sub-Saharan migrants) uses theater instead. Try outs were end of February, and around 15 people were selected, all with a certain link to migration or urban areas. It's either Moroccans that have lived abroad, sub-Saharan migrants established in Morocco or European expats living in Morocco (such as myself).

Though I originally went to the casting with little hope or intention to be selected, but more as a favor to a friend, I got picked and, with some reservations towards time constraints, decided to give it a shot. There is no pre-established script and much of it is based on our own personal stories and experiences. I've been digging up many stories from my Haiti-Dominican Republic time.

It's fun being creative in this area again, though I must admit it's sometimes tricky to simply follow the dynamics and not always understand where it's heading. The director has this vision where each of us doesn't display his/her abilities, but shares this strength  with others who will play that. For instance, I play capoeira, but will show others how to do it and they'll act it out. A Dutch girl and a Nigerian woman play these two Moroccan women greeting and kissing and hugging each other. We're rapping in the background while the real rapper is being beaten up.

Rehearsals are intensifying and I'm not sure I'll be able to stay involved at this rhythm, as work is also taking up a lot of my time. We're supposed to perform on the 2nd of June, at the National Theater, so time is running short. But either way, it's been fun to meet, to play and we'll see what comes out of it...