Timing

As they say, timing is everything. 

One day:

The next:

One size fits all

You don't appreciate how eggs are sorted into various sizes (like medium, large, extra large, jumbo) until you live in a place where your eggs are sold altogether, resulting in this:

Scenes from an expat life

...when you see these shelves not in a bookstore's travel section but in a friend's living room.  

#ohtheplacesyoullgo

The Beatles in Morocco

If you had told me when I was a child that one day I would be walking through the aisles of a French-owned grocery store in Morocco in Africa while listening to the Beatles singing,  "it's been a hard days night" I probably would not of believed it.

Linguistic tajine

Another five-language experience: Arabic, Berber, English, French, Spanish

#tipofafrica

Keeping calm, part two

Infomaniac's motto:

In the linguistic garden

Four couples lounging by the pool, speaking four languages while the villa staff speak a fifth. (English, French, German, Italian, and Derija) #expatlife #lostintranslation

Does anyone really know what time it is? Part two

I don't without this clock that shows all the time zones in my life:

Dinosaur, gramophone, or papyrus scroll

Instagram:

What does this make Blogger? A big, lumbering, invisible dinosaur? Your great grandparents' gramophone? Or perhaps ancient papyrus scrolls?

Chocodate

One begins to see how you could get to chocolate-covered ants...

Signs of the times

I noticed a change when I recently transited through the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.  Can you spot it?

 

I heard it on the shuttle train announcements and saw it at the duty free store too:

1.9 billion Chinese speakers are making a difference.  

And in case you're wondering, there are 942 million English speakers (both as a first and second language).

What light does to color

Untouched photos:

International Chocolate Century part three

The French could have also helped me overcome my distaste of math when I was younger. 

Where were these choco numbers when I needed them???

International Chocolate Century part two

I don't know who gets credit for this wonderful concoction: chickpeas covered in chocolate :-) 

Protein, fiber, a slew of vitamins and minerals, and chocolate.

 

Question:  Is there any

food that isn't improved by chocolate???

In honor of International Chocolate Century (because a year isn't long enough)

One reason I'm Francophile: who else would come up with the idea of bran cereal mixed with chocolate shavings??

(The same country that came up with dense whole wheat bread studded with chocolate bits). That's what I call joie de vivre!

Keeping calm

One spot, three views

"It all depends on your point of view" illustrated by three pictures taken at the same time from the same spot.

looking east:

south:

and west:

The beauty of Fez--looking up

The beauty of Fez--carpets

The beauty of Fez--fabric

The beauty of Fez-- zellige tiles

 Zellige tiles--one of the more complicated crafts:
Cut out slabs of clay, then glaze and fire them.
Next, chip out uniform-sized pieces.
Then arrange them upside down in a design.

One of the most intricate zellige tile pieces I've seen: