Our Hay Riad (Rabat) Neighborhood

Bonjour,

So we are packing up to leave now, which feels pretty weird -- a little "unreal" as Anna and Tommy have put it -- for all of us.

Before we go, though, I wanted to share some pictures of the gates in our quartier (neighborhood), Hay Riad.

There are lots of beautiful homes in this area, but they are largely hidden behind tall walls and big gates, so you don't see much of them. But people do express some of their style with the design of their gates and doors.

Many have flowers or ornamental grasses growing above the gate door.

But as lovely as some homes (or at least the gates) are, this is still a developing country. So right next to a fancy home, you might see a vacant lot filled with leaves, branches, some broken glass, or even a small herd of sheep and cows, like this nice group grazing near the Marjane the other day.

We also have a large, green forest nearby. It's very quiet, and maybe not a terribly safe place to walk alone. But it is pretty.

Bob loves it when I take his picture for the blog.

And Tommy loves to throw sticks.

Here's one of our neighborhood mosques. Lately, I've been hearing the 4 a.m. call to prayer a lot more; it seems louder.

But not much more of that for us...

A bientot,

Kim