Final Renovations

We have finally gotten to our final project on the house: making a sitting area on the roof for people to enjoy the weather/scenery while eating a fabulous lunch that they prepared. It's also an ideal place to smoke a cigar, if that is something that you enjoy doing.

So this past weekend was spent tearing up all the ugly colored cement and replacing it with traditional roof tile. Then repainting the walls on the roof to cover up all the splattered cement particles. That part of the project is done and I had the wonderful opportunity of lifting around 65 buckets full of tile 3 floors up to the roof. That was my upper body workout for the week.

The final part left of the final renovation project is having my tent made and sitting area prepared. This should take a few more days, but by the end of next week, I will have a roof "living room" that I can be very proud of. The next thing I need to find is a personal waiter to bring the coffee and tea.

As soon as that gets done, I will paste some more pictures. Then you will definitely want to come over just for the view.

More Recent Guests

As you know, I enjoy people. I love hearing their stories and getting a better idea on their backgrounds. I like to laugh and tell of some of my own experiences. At the same time, I am very introverted and get worn out by the end of each class. Often I come home exhausted to a confused wife. "How are you so tired? Nisrine did all the teaching and Adil washed all the dishes. What did you do? Walk some food up to the roof?" Those extroverts will never understand how much energy it takes for people like us to talk.

But what's really funny is that I love my job. I love meeting all these new people. I hope I always have a job that is directly related to people. Even though I have to muster all my energy before each and every class, I wouldn't change a thing.

At 5:00AM, I will try and remember some of our more recent clients.

** Riad Reviews - We have some friends living in a neighboring city that run a business called "Riad Reviews." This web-based profession allows them to gather reviews from guests at riads all over Morocco and post them on Riad's individual sites. If you are interested in coming this way and are looking for Riads Fes or maybe Riads in Marrakech take a look at their site to hear what other folks have had to say: RiadReviews.com

** First-time Bastilla makers - We had our first bastilla making party a couple of weeks ago with a repeat customer. His girlfriend was visiting and they came for a class. Nisrine was itching to make this dish, so we got after it. If you have never eaten bastilla in your life, add that to your "Bucket List."

** Pumpkin Patch in downtown L.A. - One lady just visited us who owns a Pumpkin Patch and Christmas Tree lot in the middle of Los Angeles. I was so fascinated with that idea that it was hard to focus on Moroccan culture and history. Obviously her visit came in February and not in November!

** Basketball Coaches - Pictured are 5 basketball coaches from North Carolina that were interested in taking a cooking class. They did an amazing job preparing Couscous with Chicken while not making Nisrine feel like the shortest person in the world.

There you have some of my more recent clients. Everyone has a story. And I love getting to know people and learning from them some of the things that they have learned in their lives.

It's all about Advertising

This is one of the most important things for any type of business. You need to get your name and your product into other people's minds. That's all there is to it. Sell your product!!! And anyone that has ever started and operated a small business knows that it takes a while get on the radar.

Whether it be from word of mouth, relationship, free postings, trades with other businesses or full-on paid advertising, the goal is to bombard as many people as you possibly can with your business concept and strong reviews from previous clients.

The goal during our first year of "Savor Morocco" has been to get word out from Casablanca over to Fes and in the surrounding villages. There are many ex-pats here always looking to do something new and fun. Plus, since Morocco is an amazing place to visit, many of the ex-pats have visiting family and friends.

Another incredible advertising tool that I have recently embarked upon has been Trip Advisor. Travelers love to look at sites like these as they are planning their upcoming trips. I looked at the section "Attractions" for our city and only saw 2. The Roman Ruins and the shopping area called the Medina. How can we get anyone in our city if there is nothing to do.

Because of that, I contacted the people at the site and requested to advertise under that section. If you have a moment, take a look at what several of our recent clients have had to say about their experience at "Savor Morocco":

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293735-d1308553-Reviews-Savor_Morocco-Meknes.html

In the last couple of weeks, we have already have a few folks contact us after hearing about the experience from this site. There is really nothing better than free advertising, except maybe some free BBQ.