At Home in Sidi Bouzid
Last month, @michelios and I flew from Paris to Casablanca, then took a grand taxi further south to a town called Sidi Bouzid, just below El Jadida on the Atlantic coast. We were traveling with our three dogs, which presented some challenges. But not as many as we'd expected. Morocco is much more dog friendly than we thought it would be. Here in Sidi Bouzid, dogs are as popular as companions as they are in the U.S. So we feel right at home!
So much at home, in fact, that we may end up actually relocating here. There's the matter of a long stay visa, which we have not even begun to apply for. I'm told it can be a complicated and lengthy process, depending on the jurisdiction. But our time in Morocco has been so good that it has become very appealing to think of living here full time. The climate is agreeable, the cost of living is affordable, and the people are amazing. We have even found a very skilled veterinarian to care for our dogs, a pharmacist to keep my prescriptions filled (to help me manage lupus,) and now...a house!
We paid our first month's rent today on a gorgeous place in Sidi Bouzid. The home is fully furnished and all utility services are included in the rent. Our cost of living here in Morocco is a fraction of what it would be in the U.S. or France, where Michel is from. Yet our standard of living is much better here than anything I've ever known--the house is beautiful. Food here is delicious and healthy, and the beach is a five minute walk from our front door. It's so close that we can open the windows and hear waves crashing against the shore.
How has the rest of the world not discovered Morocco yet?
These are photos of the house we've rented. We haven't started moving in yet. But once we do, I'm afraid I may never want to move out!
Just look at this gorgeous stonework. The colors!
We have a front garden that's completely tiled and walled on all sides for security and privacy.
And a back garden that is also tiled and walled--no grass to mow ever!
The living room is traditional Moroccan with a really nice dash of flatscreen technology there on the left hand side. LOL
I haven't seen a double sink since I left the U.S. But I have one now!
This is the part that really blows my mind. Two bathrooms, and not one but two bidets. I don't even know how to use the things. Had to Google it. Strange, the information you can find on the internet. LOL
The closet space in both bedrooms is unreal. I only got photos from the master bedroom, but the smaller bedroom has the same kind of superstorage. I've never seen anything like it, but I love it!
The ceilings in this house are works of art. Look at the detail. First is the entryway and living room ceiling.
Then there's the door at the top of some steps that the ornate ceiling is designed to accomodate.
In the interest of balance and continuity, all corners of the room's ceiling bear the same design.
This light fixture from the master bedroom is absolutely beautiful.
And, of course, our three dogs--the official threshold welcoming committee.
I am very happy to be in Sidi Bouzid and to be part of this Moroccan community on the blockchain. I believe this country has a lot to offer and has the potential to develop into nearly anything it wants to be. I'm glad that life events brought me here.
Find me on the Web:
http://www.authordianeryan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/rhonda.kay.79
https://www.facebook.com/authordianeryan/
https://www.steemhousepublishing.com/
That's absolutely beautiful, Rhonda. Good for you!
Morocco - remember the Bing Crosby song? -
We're off on the road to Morocco
This taxi is tough on the spine (hit me with a band-aid, Dad)
Your photos remind me of The Alhambra Palace And Fortress In Granada, Spain--I kid you not--maybe your new home isn't quite THAT spacious, but it's that beautiful, for sure.
Ok, more of the Crosby-Hope lyrics:
We could be arrested is the parting line.
I've loved that song for many decades.
And I love it that you get to BE HERE in such an exotic, warm, and wonderful land!
Gotta admit--I'd never even heard of that song until now.
Saw their wives in half, though? YIKES. I hope that's not a custom I haven't heard about. 😳
LOL! That's Hollywood for ya.... dredge any crazy stereotype you can.
Road to Morocco (1942) - Rotten Tomatoes
Plot Summary
Starving vagabond Jeff (Bing Crosby) sells best friend Orville (Bob Hope) into slavery in a Moroccan marketplace to buy food. Searching for his partner after an attack of conscience, Jeff discovers that Orville is now engaged to the gorgeous Princess Shalmar (Dorothy Lamour), whose astrologers have told her that her first husband will die violently, leaving her free to marry her beloved Sheik Mullay Kasim (Anthony Quinn). But when the princess falls for Jeff, things get complicated.
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Hi rhondak,
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I'm amazed at your great joy of staying in Morocco. Because even if you don't stay at least you're thinking about it.
It's incredible to realize that the internet is not everything and that without the internet we can feel desolate or incommunicado.
I hope you keep telling us, here, that great adventure that is Morocco: its people, its customs, its parties, its colors and its flavors. A cordial greeting @rhondak
A cordial greeting to you as well, @marcybetancourt! It's good to hear from you! :-)
I'm going to contact the American consulate in Casablanca on Monday to see if they have any advice about long stay visas in Morocco. Contacting the Moroccan embassy won't do much good, since it's the individual jurisdictions that deal with carte sejour. But I may be able to glean enough information about the process to make up my mind one way or another. I just know there's work to be done here that I am uniquely qualified to do, and I believe I was led here by a higher calling. So if all the legal and technical aspects fall into place the way everything else has, I'm pulling the trigger and moving to Morocco.
I wish you every success in your legal efforts to stay in Morocco.
The most important thing is that the whole family is well ... including dogs!