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Thanks, Chief.



Despite the fact that I’ve been in Morocco for 5 months now, I’m technically considered a tourist. Nevermind the 1-year lease I just signed on my apartment, I am still in the mindset that I’m a resident here.  According to Moroccan Law, an American is allowed to visit for a period of up to 3 months. After the 3 months are up, the person must leave the country. Fine. Not a big deal. After my first 3 months, I dipped out and went to Spain for a few days. Upon entry back into Morocco, the customs official checked my passport and slammed down a fresh ink stamp onto it. Boom! Guess who just got another 3 months? Yep, me. Okay, well now my 2nd three months is about to be up and I really don’t feel like going anywhere. I’m happy here and I am just now  feeling settled, secure, and satisfied.  The good news is, I found a solution. A tourist can apply for an extension for another 3 months.  Yessss. So I took the bus from Tamraght to Agadir to file the paperwork with the police…only to find out I need to go to the station in Tamraght.  Excellent. I go to the policie station in Tamraght hoping to get the papers signed, filed, wham-bam thank you ma’am. Nope.



When I walked into the dusty, dirty, dimly-lit “station” I found it to be no more than the size of a bedroom with 2 adjoining “offices” aka closets. In the main room, I had to clear my throat extra loudly in order to wake the officers up.  One was dozing in front of what appeared to be some type of computer and the other one was sleeping on the queen-sized bed in the corner. Yes, that’s right, a full-on bed for taking naps. So there he was with shoes and socks kicked off, bare feet dangling off the edge—the whole nine. After about 10 minutes of speaking in Arabic, I understood that I had to get all of my documents certified and copied officially with stamps, signatures and a whole lot of waiting in line at the administration office. Where? Oh in Agadir of course. As the Moroccans say, “Note pro-blim.”

So the next day (and about my 100th trip to and fro) I wandered on into the station. Again. This time, I had everything I needed and I was ready to go. Certified papers the size of a phone book, passport copies, extras, blah blah blah.  So today I had an appointment to see the big boss. His office was something out of a movie. Smoke-stained yellow walls, stale air, and it was filled with furniture/equipment/paperwork from what seemed like some other era. Not bad. The demeanor of this guy was somewhat like the Godfather. After I handed him my folder full of papers, he tossed the folder on his desk, opened it up, and let his glasses slide down to the tip of his nose allowing his eyes to peer over the top edges. After 4 minutes of complete silence, he gradually reclined back in his thickly-cushioned 1950s office chair, the metal springs slowly creaking with each centimeter. With his Nike golf shirt untucked and glasses back in place, he stayed there for a while and eventually came back up to the upright position.  He lit up a cigarette, propped both elbows on the desk and slowwwwwly exhaled his smoke into the air. I stood there watching as the smoke danced circles all around the room forming swirling snakes of gray around me. As I stood waiting for his answer, I wondered what was going to happen next. He smashed his cig into the ashtray and told me he’d have to send the papers to Agadir and then Rabat for the final approval. I only have 10 days left and the post office here is less than speedy. I could probably walk the papers there faster. Luckily, I can get a temporary paper to say that I’m waiting on the regular papers to get processed. For now, I think I’ll go to the beach and let the waves clear my head…and the smoke out of my hair.

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Why Morocco?




The first question people ask me is, “Why Morocco?” and to that I have no answer. I've been thinking about this country since I was a little girl. Something has always pulled on my heart and I never knew why. When I moved to Los Angeles, people back home would ask me, “Why LA?” and to that I said I was looking for a change—a place with opportunities, things to do, new climate, a place that was fashionable, stylish, and by the ocean. I knew I could never live with snow and cold weather again so off to the West Coast I went. Following is a little background of how I came to live on the coast of Africa.

Part One: The City of Angels. I packed everything into my car and drove across the country with no plan, very little money, and I didn’t know anyone in LA. Somehow I just knew that I’d find a way. Before I got there, I sort of had this “dream list” of things I wanted to do and accomplish out there. At the time some of them seemed unrealistic but then again I had no idea how unrealistic Hollywood actually is.  Over the first few months I got to familiarize myself with the city and its people and I was amazed, shocked, intrigued and inspired. 



Pretty soon I found myself in situations I never imagined I’d be in—I was throwing weekly parties at the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills, designing custom bowling shoes for Gene Simmons, painting artwork for Kanye West, working on HBO shows like Big Love and True Blood, working production for different music videos and commercials, and I even got to work in the art department for an Eva Mendes movie. Not exactly what I expected to do when I left Kenosha.

That's a wrap!


After a while, I got tired of the pace of LA life.  I’ve always dreamt about Morocco and I found myself thinking about it more and more often. In September 2010 I decided I wanted to move there. I didn’t know how I was going to do it or what it would take, but I always love a good challenge. So I called my mom and said, “Mom, guess what? I’m moving. To Africa. By myself. In 3 months.” I’m sure you can imagine her reaction. My mom and dad have always supported me in every single thing I’ve wanted to do—whether they agreed with it or not. My mom said, “Jaim…at this point, nothing you do shocks me anymore.” So as long as I had the green light from both of my parents it was time to start planning.
I’ll make it really simple: I quit my job, sold everything besides what I could fit into one suitcase, and off I went. I of course flew home to Wisconsin to say goodbye to my family and friends and that’s when my adventure began.

My first stop was in Dublin. I had never really thought about going to Ireland before but most of the flights to London had layovers in Dub. So I figured as long as I’m going to be on Irish soil, I may as well stay and check it out for a few days. So that was fun. Next stop: London. I’ve been there before in the summer of 2005 and it was hot and gorgeous. This time, it was winter and freezing. I say it’s like Chicago—a Cubs game at Wrigley in the middle of July is nothing like standing in Millenium Park  in thu sub-zero temperatures of January. The season changes the whole experience. Either way, Londontown was fun. Now? Destination: Morocco…




Next Stop: Africa

The Airport:  My New Life

As I was descending the stairway from the plane to the runway, everything felt so surreal. It was so hard to comprehend that I was actually in Morocco. I was alone, but ready for my new life.


The December nighttime air was warm and clear. The sky was pitch-black and the stars sparkled like diamonds. I couldn’t believe I was under the African sky. It all felt like a movie. Everything I had dreamed about was coming true, and I was happier than I’d ever been.


Over the course of the next few months, my new life was like a fantasy. I did some amazing things that I never imagined I'd do. I traveled all over Morocco--to the countryside, Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Imsouene, Essaouria, El Jadida, Paradise Valley, and Taghazout—multiple times. 


There was a lot I had to adjust to and it definitely wasn’t easy. I suppose the people here will never understand what I went through until they see where I came from. We accept eachother’s different cultures and do the best we can to understand that everyone is different.

There are so many details I’m leaving out, but I can’t really summarize 4 months in a few paragraphs. From now on, I’m going to post about what is happening currently, and if you have any questions about anything from before or if you want more details about something, just let me know and I’ll post about it. I get so many questions from people all the time and I find myself answering the same things often. I figured if someone posts a comment or a question, it would be a good way for me to answer whatever you’d like to know.   :)

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