Salam Aleikum
Hi, i'm writing this blog page to share information with all you wanderlust souls out there. Living in Morocco comes with lots of bizarre and unexpected events, which i thought you may enjoy reading about and sharing in the laughter.
My family and I moved to Marrakech 3 years ago from London. The beginning of a huge adventure for us. Choosing which country was right for us to live in had been an extremely long and tiring process. Having made a choice to move to Marrakech, was in itself a big box ticked. We had two criteria lists, one for our business (opening and running a guesthouse) and one for personal. On top of this it had to feel right at a soul level for my husband and I, both who are from very different backgrounds.
Phase two of our journey then began. Setting up home in Morocco, also a non English speaking country with a very different culture to ours. Marrakech is a real melting pot of; languages, tribes, rich, poor, city slickers, country peasants. It sometimes reminds me of that place Luke Skywalker went to, to buy that space ship, with all those different intergalactic aliens. (Any one know what it was called?) After months of beauroctratic paperwork, rendez vous with people who don't turn up and renting from an unpleasant woman for a large amount of money, we have bought ourselves a villa. This was not on the plan as we didn't want to tie up our capital in a home. I now realise it is one of the best things we could have done. When you've had a really difficult day here to be able to close the door and relax in your own place really balances you.
Creating the Guest House
We had decided to buy land and build a country guesthouse as per our business plan, about 10 double rooms and suites. The dream was to create a holistic retreat and build our house on the same plot. We were going to have an organic vegetable garden and provide a moroccan spa.
Land in Marrakech particularly, has gone mad. Prices going up daily, lots of people fishing but not really wanting to sell. There is also a problem here of title. ie not much land is titled and to buy land without a title is very difficult, unless you have a lot of time on your hands and like a gamble. We looked at more land than you can shake a stick at, drank more mint tea than you can imagine and got totally no where. It can take weeks to even get a price. You may be being shown a piece of land that isn't for sale or has already been sold. After a year of this my husband said 'that is it!, we are buying a riad!'
I had a total nervous breakdown and couldn't talk to anyone for three days. He then said this doesn't have to be the end.......
We are
two weeks away from our first guests,
which is very exciting but
also manic as
anything!
Today no
water in
the whole of Marrakech,
difficult when you have
been charging around and
desperate for a
shower.
Lucky we put an extra
cold water tank
of the roof. I don't think Marcus should be doing this after a back injury recovery!
Even Ahmed who popped in,
couldn't resist joining in
the tile scraping.
Wow,
looking good,
the recently tadelakt hall
with my niches,
finished and lit
at last.
What shall I put in
them?
alabasta vases
from Egypt or
West African masks, or
maybe huge fossils from the Atlas
mountains,
what do
you think?
Plunge pool
awaiting,
stunning bronze
fountain, en route!
We are two weeks away from our first guests, which is very exciting but also manic as anything! Today no water in the whole of Marrakech, difficult when you have been charging around and desperate for a shower. Lucky we put an extra cold water tank of the roof. I don't think Marcus should be doing this after a back injury recovery!
Even Ahmed who popped in, couldn't resist joining in the tile scraping.
Wow, looking good, the recently tadelakt hall with my niches, finished and lit at last. What shall I put in them? alabasta vases from Egypt or West African masks, or maybe huge fossils from the Atlas mountains, what do you think?
Plunge pool awaiting, stunning bronze fountain, en route! 
Posts
2 comments:
wow!! your work looks awesome. especially the pool. One can be jealous! I wish you the best of luck with your "accomodition";)
Wow Emma, it's looking incredible! I wish I could see the pics in the post above (they have little red crosses). i think the masks or pottery would look amazing in those little cut-outs - we just did something similar on our living room wall only nowhere near as impressive as yours! can't wait to see it all done!
Belinda x
www.renovateanddecorate.blogspot.com
www.minimeez.blogspot.com
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