Counting Sheep

Last night I came home to what sounded like high heels clicking across the roof and an occasional “Baaaaaaaaa” “Baaaaaaayaaaaaaaahhhh” echoing down the stairs. Yes, I have sheep on my ceiling… not just one, but two adorable fluffy sheep above my head. Let me tell you, they have nothing to do with helping me sleep! On the contrary unfortunately… not that I really need help sleeping anyways. After dinner I went up to visit them on the roof and they were all cuddled up together on a pile of grass and hay, apparently they had cost the Marouazi family quite a lot of money so this is a pretty big deal for them. The sheep stared at me quietly with eyes that don’t seem to see anything but are still stupidly cute somehow. Mama Kaltoum came up and told me they were only 7 months old and were very attached to each other. She proceeded to tell me that they had gone to buy one of the sheep and it wouldn’t stop bleating until they brought over the other one too. She said one was for baba Ali and the other was for Mohammad… each guy gets a sheep here I guess. I asked her how they got them home and she said they put them in the back seat of the car so of course I asked her if they put on their seatbelts and she said that they indeed put on the sheep’s seatbelts. How precious… I took a pic of Mama Kaltoum fixing the tie on one of the sheep’s legs because it was too tight. They took pictures of me trying to pet the sheep but the sheep kept hiding their heads in the corner as if to say “I know you act nice now but your going to eat me on Wednesday!!!” The smaller sheep would also put it’s head on the other and the bigger one would look at me in the most menacing look a sheep can possibly give… which in reality was pretty darn cute and resembled a sullen 5 year old guarding his favorite teddy bear from the washing machine. Eventually I figured out they both hated their noses being touched but loved a good rub behind the ears (don’t we all? Hahah..).

        So I bonded with some sheep last night, no big deal. I’m going to pay dearly for it on Wednesday and somehow the lamb may not taste as good knowing I’m eating my darling little ceiling sheep. I love animals but I refuse to be a vegetarian, meat is just too good… I don’t know if I can watch them get killed though. Is it worse to kill it for fun/ unnecessary ritual or not be able to watch it die, but eat it anyway? …sigh… one of those moral struggles I may not have a conclusion to. I will admit I have fantasized about letting the fluffy things free but they would have no chance out there on the streets of Rabat where children get really excited every time they see a lamb or a goat and rush to it… there’s no way to disguise my sheepies, they wouldn’t  make very good cows… maybe poodles? …I’ll keep plotting I guess...


Speaking of plotting, I've been going around to pretty much EVERYONE at school to find someone to travel with me to Agadir this weekend but most people are going on the camel trip or spending it with their host families. I spoke to the Italian girls Valeria and Lavinia (I may have mangled their names but I think I'm close lol) about traveling the next two weekends together but this weekend they are going on the camels so that doesn't solve the problem of THIS weekend :/ ...they also want me and Jackie to meet up with them in Italy and are helping me figure out the best places to go and in what order. That has helped tremendously! It's good to have an idea of what to do there and have more people to see :) WELL, I'm going to figure out more travel plans... wish me luck!