Marie Loerzel

Rock the Kasbah: a Memoir of Misadventure Marie Loerzel

Chronicling the journey of Marie Loerzel, a forty-something roller derby queen, American wife and mother of four who moves with her family to Morocco. Determined to escape the stress of American life for a couple of years, what she discovers are the tradeoffs and frustrations of living in Africa, where things get done slowly or not at all. Where navigating through a foreign land proves even more challenging without language skills in a country without street signs. Where expats with sketchy agendas exacerbate her already crippling social anxiety. Through it all, Marie documents the hilarious misadventures and cultural snafus in her blog, proving anonymity and relaxation non-existent, but a sense of humor and a side of crazy essential for survival. When Arab Spring explodes throughout Northern Africa, it brings with it new challenges, all while she's deciding the fate of her 20 year marriage and trying to raise her children to be empathic citizens of the world among the privileged, overindulged diplomats' kids in their social circle. Ultimately, she must fight to overcome her self-deprecating ways by belly dancing through them, rocking the kasbah and finding herself in the process.