An English teacher's blog about his travels and his digital art.

Day: February 22, 2010

Moroccan Mosque

I forgot to offer my condolences to all of my Moroccan friends for the devastating loss of life in the collapse of the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque. I pray that those of you I know are all well, Insha’Allah.

For those who haven’t heard, the mosque disaster occurred in Meknes, where I worked for a year. At last count, 41 people have died and many more have been injured. My heart goes out to all of those who have been affected. Here’s a link to a photo I took of the old city of Meknes from a position across the wadi, where I lived in the new section of town. Although I don’t know where the Bab Berdieyinne Mosque might be in that photo, I’m sure it’s one of those pictured. If anyone views the shot, let me know if you see it. Again, my condolences to anyone affected by this disaster.

Signs of Spring

Finally, we’re getting some nice weather, with the temperature today in the mid-50s (12-13C) and expected to stay around there and/or close to 60 most of this week. Unfortunately, the forecast calls for rain Thursday and Friday. Still, the balmy days are arriving just when I have a week vacation. Very nice. I did a nice, long jog today in my running shorts and a t-shirt, the first time I’ve been able to do that since who knows when. It was great to soak up some sun, recharging my batteries, so to speak. I hope to get out and take a few rides on my new bicycle and take some photos. I also noticed some flower buds ready to open on some of the shrubbery, so signs of spring are fueling my impatience for the real deal to get here.

I was busy most of the weekend grading 143 essay papers. The university is offering a special class, which I taught last semester, for the incoming freshmen. It’s a 2-semester course with instruction for the all-important TOEIC exam (important in Korea, anyway), conversational English and tourism English that might be useful during the 2012 Expo here. To qualify for one of the 80 spots in the class, however, students had to write two picture description essays and two general essays (write about your best friend and write about your favorite school subject); I graded the latter portion. It took several hours, but I was paid nicely for the time spent. Now, no more school work until the start of the semester on March 2nd. More later.

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