R.I.P Russell

Firstly, as most of you have figured out by the title, my poor fish Russell passed away this week. Actually I think the correct term would be committed suicide (we found his lifeless body on the floor next to the tank.) It was a very sad time, and I have to admit a few tears were shed. He was the best friend a housewife could have and he will be sorely missed. On the other hand, it does solve the problem of how we were going to move him to our new place...

That’s right, in a few days we will be saying goodbye to our amazing palace that we have called home for the past 4 months and moving into an apartment in the old town. For those of you who have been to Fes, it’s about 2 minutes from the blue gate, right in the middle of the butcher section, next to the butcher that has a cage full of bunnies and pigeons (for pets, I’m sure..) Our street is one that Karim would describe as being too small for ‘fat Americans’, so I better not eat too much while I’m there otherwise I may get stuck! I’m really looking forward to being able to explore the medina, learning the streets and alleys so I don’t get lost and just generally soaking up the atmosphere (and getting to play with all the cats!) What I’m not looking forward to is packing up all our stuff for the move. It’s crazy how much stuff you can accumulate in the space of 4 months!

Speaking of crazy – how amazing is it to eat and drink during the day! Ramadan ended about a week ago and it took a bit of time to get used to. I would have to think twice every time I went to eat or drink something, but now everything is back to normal! At the end of Ramadan was Eid, where everyone spends the day visiting family and friends, dressed in their new clothes and fresh haircuts. I had a new jellaba made with matching slippers and Karim and I spent most of the day with his family – where I met even more of his extended family (I’ve never known anyone with so many uncles!)

And with the end of Ramadan we were finally able to crack open the bottle of champagne I had bought in Spain and toast our engagement – nearly 6 weeks after Karim proposed! Better late than never though, and we enjoyed a lovely romantic candlelight dinner. The champagne was nice, but the highlight for me was definitely the crepes I made for dessert. Lemon and sugar would have to be the best flavour combination in the world! Karim definitely saw a new side of me that night as I fanatically licked my plate clean, but assured me he still wanted to marry me anyway! 

R.I.P Russell, loving fish, devoted friend

I'm glad one of us likes cooking!

Gigantic peach!

Eid - my new jellaba

Eid clothes

Finally we get to pop the bubbly!

How romantic...

Engaged!