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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Marrakech Express


            Ok, so I might have failed slightly in doing a better job of updating this blog.  But don’t worry, I have many excuses, the main one being that for the last month or so I have been busy entertaining family and friends who were visiting (Hamduallah!).  It has been a crazy, busy, exhausting and wonderfully fun last few weeks.

However, before I dive into stories and tales of our adventures, I think I should do a little recap of what I have been up to since my last post.  I did manage to survive L’Eid and I also avoided having to eat any parts of the sheep that I couldn’t stomach (like brain or eyeball).  I probably didn’t eat the amount of meat that would satisfy any of my Moroccan hosts, but I did my best.  Besides the whole meat thing, I enjoyed the social and family/party aspects of the holiday.  Will I stick around for L’Eid next year?  Maybe not, but hey, at least I can say I experienced one…

After L’Eid, I took a (rather) long journey down to the southern part of Morocco known as Tata.  The word “known” is probably a slight exaggeration since many people in Morocco don’t even know where Tata is or that it’s a city at all (it’s pretty remote and excruciatingly hot during the summer so I guess people don’t necessarily have a lot of reasons to visit).  I loved Tata.  True, I chose to visit in late November because I’m not sure I would survive the summer temperatures that jump into the 130s (it is part of the Saharan desert after all), but the weather was wonderful when I went and the people were very friendly and nice.  The landscape was stark but very beautiful.  The Peace Corp Volunteers down in that part of the country are a special group and were so welcoming to all of us that made the trip down.  One of the volunteers hosted over 20 people for what turned out to be one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever had.  We had a 40lbs turkey, homemade tofurkey (which was super delicious), salads, green beans, stuffing and more pies and desserts than I have ever seen on one table.  The food was great and the company even better. 

Having my family visit was a bit of a whirlwind.  My dad was able to realize his dream of taking a picture with the snake charmers in the medina in Marrakech.  Unfortunately, I don’t think Marrakech is the same place it once was, the place which people in my parent’s generation heard about in songs like the Crosby Stills and Nash’s “Marrakech Express” and read in books like A Year in Marrakech byPeter Mayne. I think Marrakech used to be the place to be for people in their twenties.  Now, Marrakech is very crowded and many people in the old medina seem jaded and/or aggressive towards tourists; there are a ton of cars and the pollution can be very intense; there are tourists everywhere.  All the visitors that I have had that have come through Marrakech were glad to leave and many ended up with a very bad impression.  It’s too bad since there are so many nice parts of Morocco (and probably Marrakech too…I haven’t spent enough time exploring to find the gems outside of the crowded medina).  So I guess needless to say, I think my dad was slightly disappointed with Marrakech but definitely enjoyed Essaouira and meeting my host family (especially getting his hand kissed by my small host brother which is a standard greeting to an elder…he said something along the lines of having waited his whole life for that kind of treatment).  My mom and sister enjoyed the sights of Casablanca, including the 3rd biggest mosque in the world, Hassan II, which is sits along the beautiful coastline.  We all enjoyed the delicious food of Essaouira, including a very nice Christmas dinner at a restaurant with great views of the ocean.  They also enjoyed time with my host family and made out like bandits with lots of olive and argan oil prepared by my host family.  It really was excellent to have the people I love see where I live and what my town, work and host family are like.  I think it was also important for people in my community to see my parents visiting and enjoying all Morocco has to offer.

So, I think that’s enough blogging for now.  I’ll try my best to update more, but hey, life just might get in the way.  If any of you reading this have questions or want to know anything more specific about my village, work or way of life here, don’t hesitate to ask! 

Much love and peace in the new year.