Finally "vacationing!"
Sorry about the lack of contact. These last days have been crazy for me. I am finally here in Chefchaouen, in the Rif Mountains of Morocco. The most Berkeley place I've been to yet. Quite "chilled out"...it's also the biggest producer of marijuana for Europe, exporting the majority that goes up to the Continent and the UK. The city is squeaky clean and not too busy, but still full enough with a variety of backpackers from everywhere--that means cheap prices, good accommodation and a nice diversity of people. It also means a chance to hook up with fellow travelers and to share experiences, which is always nice.
So let me recap a bit on my last couple days here. It's hard to remember everything, but luckily I will (hopefully soon) have figured out how to post photos without freezing up whatever computer I am on, and that will jog my memory.
Last Saturday I spent a beautiful day in Essaouira--a nice port/beach city on the west coast (the best coast!) of Morocco (actually, I believe the northern coast is better, but I'm just showing my US roots). I woke up early and drove over with Aziz, a friend of mine in Marrakesh who was somewhat frightened of passing cars on the road at the beginning. After an hour or so he got up some courage and we managed to get to a more speedy 60 mph on the two-lane road. Needless to say, it took some time to get there, but I thougth that my parents would quite appreciate his caution as we puttered over there. After swimming a bit, lounging around on the beach and taking some photos we went and enjoyed a delicious fish lunch for two, all for less than $2 (that's what happens when you go with a Moroccan). After walking about the entire city and taking in a cup of mint tea, we drove back to Marrakesh. It was a lovely day.
That night I met up with another tourist I'd met on the trip. We had a cup of that delicious and famed orange juice on the place and then a cup of tea. It was nice to talk in English for a bit after talking almost purely in French for the previous five days or so. Throughout the last couple days I'd felt the creeping on of an illness, but had ignored it (per usual) until it overtook me. Sunday morning, I woke up fully ill and used the day to rest a bit (though not as much as I should have), as well as do laundry and prepare myself for the desert the next day.
Monday morning I headed out to the desert in the early morning driving through a number of cities--I'll list the big ones here: Ouarzazate, spent the night in the Todra Gorges, then Merzouga, where the road literally ends in the Sahara Desert. Hopped onto a camel there and road into the dunes for two hours...just as the sun was setting. Boy are camels uncomfortable. I'll just leave it at that. I could barely walk when I got off of mine, and the next day...my entire lower body was sore as heck.
That night we ate dinner in the desert and danced with the local Berbers as they played the drums around the fire. Out of a group of 14 people (mostly girls), leave it to one of the only guys there to snore all night and keep everyone awake. I didn't sleep much at all, but then again, neither did the guy (and to be honest, he's such a great person I can't really get upset with him about it). We "woke up" before dawn in order to catch the sunrise. I climbed up to the top of the nearby dune...and nearly died trying to do so. It was very deceptive--that dune. Climbing up only a quarter way, you felt you were halfway there, but the distance continued to grow and grow. I have no clue how Moses did it. Everyone in my group conked out...and 30 minutes into the climb I was the only one going, coughing up a lung in the process, my eyes bleary and burning from lack of sleep. A Spanish family was climbing up alongside me, and they gave me some strenght--or maybe stubborn pride--to keep going. At the top it was all worth it, and I have some great pictures.
Then it was onto the camels at 6:30 a.m....and at 9 a.m. onto the vans, and we were driving out of the desert. At 9:30 p.m. I got back into Marrakesh and dashed to my friend Massin's place to grab my stuff and he prepped his moto to zoom me over to the bus right before it left at 10 p.m. I checked my stuff in and he threw me a water bottle he'd just bought me for the ride. Into the bus I went, and off it (and I, luckily) went. At 5:45 a.m. I pulled into Fes and spent a extraordinarily hot and hectic day there. All I have to say about Fes is that it is highly highly overrated, and not that great--it's a smaller, seedier Marrakesh, with shadier guys...or so it seemed. I was glad to get out of there the next day, early in the morning (today, that is). I don't know if I didn't like Fes because Marrakesh had become home by then, or because it seemed just...dodgy. I suspect it's the latter.
Chefchaouen, on the other hand has been lovely. It's a peculiar city in that it has been relatively isolated from the rest of Morocco and has a great Spanish influence because it is so close to Spain up North. I believe I'll have a great chance at practicing Spanish here, as well as catching up on sleep and building up my strenght. I met two really down-to-earth Brits (a couple) at the bus station and we're rooming together here, which makes it cheaper, about $6 a night. Although it's relatively easy to get to Chefchaouen, it's quite hard to get out of here because most coaches are full and coming from other locales...I will have to figure that out tomorrow.
Anyway, that's all bare bones for now, though I think I will be able to update a tad more frequently now that I have found a net cafe (though pricier) with a better keyboard, connection...and I have some time...
On a more final note I would like to say something about prejudices and conceptions (of people/others/things) while traveling. It's been very interesting traveling as I am, who I am, with my history, background, religious, ethnic, nationality, etc...I run into a lot of interesting discrimination. For example, the Brits on my trip to the desert were very surprised to meet an American traveling in Morocco (most do not seem to know the first thing about the States or distances in the States--or, worse, they pretend to and make these broad generalizations). True, there are very few Americans traveling in Morocco. I've walked past one (accent), and actually ran into another one today in Chefchaouen. The Brits were, perhaps genuinely, surprised that Americans are even mildly informed about the world and though all they said to me was overwhelmingly complimentary as the days wore on...it was also quite double-edged. I mean, come on...could they really have such crude and crass generalizations of all Americans? Oh yes they do. And the crude and crass comes from listening to their imitations of our accents...ouch. I would have to say that others are no better, thinking Americans are all quite blandly the same, lack culture, live in a souless, materialistic country. There is very little thought put to context or actual informative facts when these ideas are stated. They are merely stated.
In all of this though and through all of this it has only made me more proud to be American, to be brought up in the United States and in California where, despite perhaps our problems with whatever, we are (for the most part) much more open minded about differences in cultures, races, ethnicities, religions and class (a big one, especially for the Brits).
With my last name and the "look of me"...everybody thinks I'm Moroccan here, and I fit in quite nicely if I want to and go around with a local or on my own. My basic Arabic is good enough as long as I don't banter with them (but Moroccans love banter, so I am often quickly found out). I'm hoping to study a bit more, though I should be working on that Spanish too. Good thing I'm in Chefchaouen.
Anyway, I should get going as it is getting late. I leave on Tuesday for Egypt and will be there for about three weeks. I only have a couple more days here and I'll probably take it easy and not dash about as much. Hope everybody is doing well, enjoying the last couple days of "summer" and/or the start of classes...
So let me recap a bit on my last couple days here. It's hard to remember everything, but luckily I will (hopefully soon) have figured out how to post photos without freezing up whatever computer I am on, and that will jog my memory.
Last Saturday I spent a beautiful day in Essaouira--a nice port/beach city on the west coast (the best coast!) of Morocco (actually, I believe the northern coast is better, but I'm just showing my US roots). I woke up early and drove over with Aziz, a friend of mine in Marrakesh who was somewhat frightened of passing cars on the road at the beginning. After an hour or so he got up some courage and we managed to get to a more speedy 60 mph on the two-lane road. Needless to say, it took some time to get there, but I thougth that my parents would quite appreciate his caution as we puttered over there. After swimming a bit, lounging around on the beach and taking some photos we went and enjoyed a delicious fish lunch for two, all for less than $2 (that's what happens when you go with a Moroccan). After walking about the entire city and taking in a cup of mint tea, we drove back to Marrakesh. It was a lovely day.
That night I met up with another tourist I'd met on the trip. We had a cup of that delicious and famed orange juice on the place and then a cup of tea. It was nice to talk in English for a bit after talking almost purely in French for the previous five days or so. Throughout the last couple days I'd felt the creeping on of an illness, but had ignored it (per usual) until it overtook me. Sunday morning, I woke up fully ill and used the day to rest a bit (though not as much as I should have), as well as do laundry and prepare myself for the desert the next day.
Monday morning I headed out to the desert in the early morning driving through a number of cities--I'll list the big ones here: Ouarzazate, spent the night in the Todra Gorges, then Merzouga, where the road literally ends in the Sahara Desert. Hopped onto a camel there and road into the dunes for two hours...just as the sun was setting. Boy are camels uncomfortable. I'll just leave it at that. I could barely walk when I got off of mine, and the next day...my entire lower body was sore as heck.
That night we ate dinner in the desert and danced with the local Berbers as they played the drums around the fire. Out of a group of 14 people (mostly girls), leave it to one of the only guys there to snore all night and keep everyone awake. I didn't sleep much at all, but then again, neither did the guy (and to be honest, he's such a great person I can't really get upset with him about it). We "woke up" before dawn in order to catch the sunrise. I climbed up to the top of the nearby dune...and nearly died trying to do so. It was very deceptive--that dune. Climbing up only a quarter way, you felt you were halfway there, but the distance continued to grow and grow. I have no clue how Moses did it. Everyone in my group conked out...and 30 minutes into the climb I was the only one going, coughing up a lung in the process, my eyes bleary and burning from lack of sleep. A Spanish family was climbing up alongside me, and they gave me some strenght--or maybe stubborn pride--to keep going. At the top it was all worth it, and I have some great pictures.
Then it was onto the camels at 6:30 a.m....and at 9 a.m. onto the vans, and we were driving out of the desert. At 9:30 p.m. I got back into Marrakesh and dashed to my friend Massin's place to grab my stuff and he prepped his moto to zoom me over to the bus right before it left at 10 p.m. I checked my stuff in and he threw me a water bottle he'd just bought me for the ride. Into the bus I went, and off it (and I, luckily) went. At 5:45 a.m. I pulled into Fes and spent a extraordinarily hot and hectic day there. All I have to say about Fes is that it is highly highly overrated, and not that great--it's a smaller, seedier Marrakesh, with shadier guys...or so it seemed. I was glad to get out of there the next day, early in the morning (today, that is). I don't know if I didn't like Fes because Marrakesh had become home by then, or because it seemed just...dodgy. I suspect it's the latter.
Chefchaouen, on the other hand has been lovely. It's a peculiar city in that it has been relatively isolated from the rest of Morocco and has a great Spanish influence because it is so close to Spain up North. I believe I'll have a great chance at practicing Spanish here, as well as catching up on sleep and building up my strenght. I met two really down-to-earth Brits (a couple) at the bus station and we're rooming together here, which makes it cheaper, about $6 a night. Although it's relatively easy to get to Chefchaouen, it's quite hard to get out of here because most coaches are full and coming from other locales...I will have to figure that out tomorrow.
Anyway, that's all bare bones for now, though I think I will be able to update a tad more frequently now that I have found a net cafe (though pricier) with a better keyboard, connection...and I have some time...
On a more final note I would like to say something about prejudices and conceptions (of people/others/things) while traveling. It's been very interesting traveling as I am, who I am, with my history, background, religious, ethnic, nationality, etc...I run into a lot of interesting discrimination. For example, the Brits on my trip to the desert were very surprised to meet an American traveling in Morocco (most do not seem to know the first thing about the States or distances in the States--or, worse, they pretend to and make these broad generalizations). True, there are very few Americans traveling in Morocco. I've walked past one (accent), and actually ran into another one today in Chefchaouen. The Brits were, perhaps genuinely, surprised that Americans are even mildly informed about the world and though all they said to me was overwhelmingly complimentary as the days wore on...it was also quite double-edged. I mean, come on...could they really have such crude and crass generalizations of all Americans? Oh yes they do. And the crude and crass comes from listening to their imitations of our accents...ouch. I would have to say that others are no better, thinking Americans are all quite blandly the same, lack culture, live in a souless, materialistic country. There is very little thought put to context or actual informative facts when these ideas are stated. They are merely stated.
In all of this though and through all of this it has only made me more proud to be American, to be brought up in the United States and in California where, despite perhaps our problems with whatever, we are (for the most part) much more open minded about differences in cultures, races, ethnicities, religions and class (a big one, especially for the Brits).
With my last name and the "look of me"...everybody thinks I'm Moroccan here, and I fit in quite nicely if I want to and go around with a local or on my own. My basic Arabic is good enough as long as I don't banter with them (but Moroccans love banter, so I am often quickly found out). I'm hoping to study a bit more, though I should be working on that Spanish too. Good thing I'm in Chefchaouen.
Anyway, I should get going as it is getting late. I leave on Tuesday for Egypt and will be there for about three weeks. I only have a couple more days here and I'll probably take it easy and not dash about as much. Hope everybody is doing well, enjoying the last couple days of "summer" and/or the start of classes...
posted by IJW at 4:40 AM
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