Week Four...

Hi blog reading friends!
We hope you are all doing well :)

This blog is about our time in Camelot, and we have been here one month today! One month, one kilo of peanuts, no major illness, 3 bars of Cadburys, and as many answered thoughts as insect bites (that’s a lot)! We have had a busy week, mostly because it is Christmas, I mean Halloween, I mean Eid! 

Eid info:
Eid alAdha is a huge celebration commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to God and God’s provision of a sacrificial sheep. Each family buys a goat or sheep and sacrifices it on Eid and then have a meal with their family, many of whom travel home from other cities or from Europe. Like at Christmastime, they visit friends and neighbours and exchange gifts, especially new clothes. There was a great atmosphere about Camelot in the build up and the streets were crowded from 7am to 10pm with shoppers and pop up stalls. And then come the morning of Eid (Friday) the place was deserted and we wondered if perhaps that lamb had returned?! Also like Christmastime the shops close for a few days and the kids have a week or two off school.
After Eid the teenage boys sometimes dress up in the sheep’s skin and head and run around scaring people. This is why Eid is also like Halloween. They are called the Billmawen and are common in the mountain villages, although we did see some here on Sunday. 

We were blessed to be invited to a family’s home with K&R and the kids and had a wonderful Tagine with beautiful people who made us feel so welcome and dressed me (Rachel) up in all sorts of traditional clothes. It was such a blessing to experience the pre& post meal hand washing, to drink lots of mint tea and to feel so welcome in a foreign land.

The Irish are here!
A group from DCM also arrived this weekend (and brought the rain!). They are ages 14 and up and are here for a week to serve and learn. DCM bring a group each year to work with the local association for street children and Noel is having a fun and busy week with them. I was cycling to school this morning and came across fifteen Irish guys wandering through Camelot. I spotted them from way off! 

Teaching
Teaching is going well and we’re all still having fun together! The Irish is coming along well and today we made pumpkin papier maché bowls and learned about the US Presidential Elections. Do you think they’re too young for The West Wing?!

Thoughts
We are really enjoying our language learning and feel good about our progress. But it can still be so disheartening. I am finding it particularly hard not being able to make friends.
Noel is doing lots with the association this week and feeling so much joy being able to work with the kids there. Last week he also met with the volunteer who teaches boxing and martial arts three times a week. He would love Noel’s help so we are so grateful for that opportunity and hope that many more like it will arise from this weeks contact.

We are thinking of all of you too so do keep in touch. (Or come visit!!!!)
We love and miss you all loads.
N&R

Week three...

This evening brings to an end our third week of adventure and discovery in Camelot! We are just back from a company retreat in a small town a couple of hours away. We were looking after the children and so after two days of sitting room obstacle courses, hide & seek and meeting some inspirational people we are feeling a healthy fatigue :)

It’s 7pm now, which is rush hour! People seem come out after dark to shop and socialise while it’s cooler. We are still discovering so much about life and culture here. There are many social norms that we have still to master or even notice! Rachel’s great discovery of the week is that underneath the beautiful dresses women wear here... they’re in their pajamas! She feels cheated at having thought they were all so elegant but also because she has been missing out on such convenience and comfort!

She has had another great week at school, where she is for about five hours each day. The children have been such a joy and she is loving seeing them learn and enjoying their subjects. Noel has given her a badge in advanced bravery for cycling to school on her own this week! She would love your thoughts as she has still to meet any local women and feels restricted by the language barrier.

During the week Noel again visited the association he hopes to help with and had some more meetings and met some more staff. He will return there this week so please think of him in this. Some friends from home who have volunteered there previously will be coming this week so if our father wishes we hope that this will be beneficial. He has also had some more language lessons so please think of us as we continue to learn! And spare a thought for the many locals we attempt to practice on! Noel would also love if you could continue to think of him as he continues to make & spend time with local friends, he hopes that these are people ready to hear the news.

Wednesday was our second wedding anniversary and it was such a joy to spend it in an amazing country. Noel surprised me with a trip to a resort in a town about thirty minutes away. We took a taxi for €1.50 and had our first experience of the taxi bus system! Four people squashed into the back and we were both man-handled into the front passenger seat! You’ve got to love the efficiency of space, remember when you could do that in Ireland?!

We appreciate all of your thoughts and we are thinking of you all also. This week we are especially remembering our SBC family. We are so excited today to hear of the first official morning at the Riasc Centre and wish so much in our hearts that we could have been there.

Do keep in touch!

N&R

One of many "coffee shops" in Camelot! 

Week two..

Week two has ended after a great Sunday trip one hundred years into the future, I mean to the city! We met some of the other workers at club (which happens about twice a month) and, much to the delight of the kids, went swimming at the beach and to McDonalds! It has been a very hot week, with another one forecast, so we were glad of the cooler air by the coast today. We were also glad to escape the flies that have enveloped our town as of late!

We have been practicing cycling through the busy, unruly streets of Camelot both for speed (as it’s normal here to walk very slowly) and to create a bit of a breeze for ourselves! We have also been practicing our language learning as Noel has begun his lessons. We have made our first traditional dish, a Tagine, so we are feeling increasingly settled in hamdulilah (thank God).

In an answer from our father Noel has had great opportunities to spend time visiting new local friends and playing football. He was also able to have a brief thought time with an American team who went to the mountain village with Roz and Becky. Tomorrow he has a meeting at the street children’s charity that he hopes to work with so please think of him.

Rachel has had a great second week of teaching and hopefully we can upload some pictures of school and of life here! Rachel would appreciate your thoughts as she tries to meet some local women and make some friends.

This week we are mostly grateful for excited hearts, answers to requests, open doors and no illness :) (just bites! And not only from the kids!)

Have a great week! N&R

1st traditional dish :)

The great escape!

Reuben likes "hanging out" with Noel!

Week One...

We have just finished “club” time with our family here and are having some down time after our first week in Camelot. Outside we can hear the call to prayer and some noisy goats and sheep. Many families have bought one for Eid alAdha, a muslim holiday which takes place in a couple of weeks, commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to God and God’s provision of a sacrificial sheep. 

It’s very hot today, about 35/40º so we’re staying inside with lot’s of water! We’re settling well into our new home and our neighbours are very friendly, especially the very cute little children who say “Bonjour Misure!” whenever we go past!

Rachel has completed week one of teaching and is loving it. This week the kids learned the Irish for when a dog barks and so have been running around “ag tafann” for the last few days! She would appreciate your thoughts for continued enjoyment, enthusiasm and energy :)

Noel was able to visit the street children’s charity he hopes to help at and got a tour of the place. He was also able to meet some of the staff and will hand in his c.v. officially during the next week. He would really appreciate your thoughts for them to be open to having him on board and using him. He has also made a few friends about the town and so would also appreciate your thoughts for discernment in knowing who to spend time with, for friendships to develop with and for good conversations to arise.

So far we are really loving the culture here in Camelot. It’s a whole new world for us! We go the market (the souk) or one of the many local small shops (hanut) most days for our bread (khubz) and water (Lma). The local people are very friendly and helpful and seem to really appreciate and get a good laugh from our attempt at the few sentences we’ve learned so far! Rachel is embracing the local garb and enjoying the new experience, albeit a bit warm under those head scarves!

This week we have been mostly grateful for friends, sunshine, new exciting experiences and great food :) And of course, looking back to our first blog post, for an answer to everyone of our points of thought!

We really appreciate all of your support and thoughts and are thinking of you all to. We have also noticed the Aerlingus flights sale and think that you should all come visit & experience it all for yourselves :)

Lots of love, talk soon (please use our gen mail acc or "whatsapp" Rachel!)

N&R

Hard at work during an art class!