Carnival-Moroccan Style

Carnival!

What an extravagant, colorful, and carefree celebration!  This festive season typically takes place in February before lent, but like many things in Morocco, we're running a little late.  April seems like a good month for a Carnival celebration, right?  Each year the boy's school kicks off their spring break with an amazing Carnival party.  Last year we were a little caught off guard, but this year we came ready to celebrate!

Preschool Paparazzi ready for action!

Abraham was the only kid in his class who would not put on his hat.  Can you find him?  They asked me to come back and try to talk some sense into the kid, but he's a stubborn one.  I'm not sure whom he gets it from...  It was all over after he saw me taking this picture.  He broke the ridiculously cute formation and ran to mama.  Jamil comforted him amongst the chaos so that I could join the paparazzi and capture Gabriel's red carpet catwalk.  Below: Abraham wasn't the only child a little disturbed by this parade, but at least she's crying with her hat on. ;)

And here they come... the big 4 year old class with their elaborate chapeaux de gâteau (cake hats) and home made maracas.

Just take a look at the detail on these hats!  Impressive!

Round 2:  Oh yes, there's even more!  Although my boys typically nap during the afternoon, we have learned that they do not want to miss out on school parties.  This school knows how to throw a grande fête!  After a lunch at home, the kids changed into their costume of choice.  Last year, I was not aware of the scale of a Moroccan preschool's carnival celebration, and my boys happily went to school in their superman and batman pajamas.  Soon afterwards, Gabriel was asking for costumes with built in muscles.  This year, we were ready to impress!  I ordered Gabriel a new Iron Man costume and Abraham a Captain America costume.  Now let me tell you, these costumes came in the mail the day of the party!!!  I rushed to the mail room during lunch in a desperate act to retrieve them before the afternoon celebration.  You can imagine my relief as I opened the packages.  You can also imagine my frustration when Gabriel preferred to wear his year old, ripped up, Spiderman costume.  I don't blame him though.  As you can see from the pictures, Spiderman was once again a huge hit.  Although I desire for my son to be original, I slightly felt sorry for the boys in his class who weren't wearing spiderman.

Abraham adores his 4 teachers, and he is loved at this school!

We're going to miss this sweet school and all of the amazing teachers and staff!  Thank you for your patience with the English speaking Musa boys.  For our family, you have opened a beautiful door into Moroccan culture and have taught our children French.  What a truly amazing gift!