Tuesday, March 11, 2008
PS
I have to say that I feel I made Raji proud with the length of that last post... (sorry that is an inside joke for some people...)
jumping the continents
Ok-- first thing is first-- we have moved on to spain. So typing is about 100 times easier, so hopefully i can do a bit better than the short little posts thus far.
wendy and I spent our last day in Marrakech exporing the ¨new city¨ that is, the city built by the french in the 1920´s. lots of lovely pink art deco buildings. Have I mentioned that all the buildings in Marrakech are painted pink? and I do mean all of them. It felt like a bit of a shock, to be in the more modern part of the city, after spending the last week wandering the kasbahs and medinas of the old city. every modern convenience you could want, all there. cell phones and spas and La Vie en Rose stores.
We went back to the big square and the hawkers food stalls in the old city for diner. sat at our favorite tea stall and watched the huge crowd that came out on a Sunday night. Thousands of people, lots of families, and not a few stunned looking tourists. My stomach wasn´t the best, so we didn´t have a big feed, but did try some tasty snails cooked in a spicy broth. And bought the best dates of my life (the fruit, not the activity!)!
we struck up a conversation with a berber fellow named Hassan, who was interesting to chat with, as he was really open to answering all of our questions about some of the things that we had seen in Morocco. turns out the offers of camels that we were getting were not marraige offers, but more along the lines of a ´sugar daddy´sorta thing. good to have that cleared up!
on the flip side of that conversation, Hassan took quite a shining to me, and we found him waiting for us outside of our guest house the next morning. He had gifts of jewlery and flowers for both of us. apparently our chatting with him left the wrong impression, and he was in full-on wooing mode. I feel a little bad about that, and have to say that I was a little relieved to be leaving for spain that morning. I´ve already received an email from him, full of hugs and kisses, so, I guess i have to set that straight soon.
so here we are in Madrid. It´s 15c and so i´m a little chilly- i only brought one pair of pants, and all the spanish ladies are looking disparingly at me in my flip flops. we rented an appartment in the old part of town, which is a treat. there is laundry! and separate bedrooms! and there is a nice little bar RIGHT accross the street where the lady who runs the place with an iron fist seems to think that our lack of spanish is charming. heaven.
Madrid hs thrown up some roadblocks though: money and keys. Let me explain:
Keys:
we got two sets of key to our appartment. being safety minded girls, upon noticing that you have to have a key to get OUT of the appartment, we decided to put a set in the door to make sure we could get out if there was a fire or something. So, we leave, with our other set of keys, and at that moment realize that if there is a set in the door, our keys don´t work. we are locked out. and all our of stuff is locked in. Gah.
We called our landlady, who helpfully was only two floors up, and she explained that we were very stupid, but that she would call the locksmith. We retired to the aforementioned bar across the street to wait. we had a beer. (and let me pause here to say mmmm beer. Morocco being dry and all, the beer was tasty!). Then we had another. Then it was 9pm, and the locksmith came to tell me kindly that i was very stupid, and that for him to work about 45seconds of his magic, it would cost us $450. GAH some more. While the landlady says she thinks that the rental company´s insurance will cover that, i don´t know how we will work that out in the limited time we have here, and with the language barrier. It might just end up being a very expensive lesson.
As you can well imagine, we then retired for a few more beer, and our first spanish tapas. Delicious. We had ´patatas con Brava´which are just yummy potatoes in spicy creamy sauce, and more carbs, with a dish of eggs, potatoes and chorizo. it was the perfect comfort food to drown our foolish sorrows in! welcome to Madrid!
Money:
wendy and I have both had all of our bank accounts frozen in the last 24 hours. apparently large withdrawls of cash from ATMs in Morocco twigged as suspicious for someone--i guess i´m glad someone is watching my account. we are in the process of clearing that up, but it has been a drag. the prospect of being cashless here is a little scary!
Today we walked around Madrid and saw the catedral and the palace etc. But I´ll tell you about that later. I hear a bodega calling my name....
wendy and I spent our last day in Marrakech exporing the ¨new city¨ that is, the city built by the french in the 1920´s. lots of lovely pink art deco buildings. Have I mentioned that all the buildings in Marrakech are painted pink? and I do mean all of them. It felt like a bit of a shock, to be in the more modern part of the city, after spending the last week wandering the kasbahs and medinas of the old city. every modern convenience you could want, all there. cell phones and spas and La Vie en Rose stores.
We went back to the big square and the hawkers food stalls in the old city for diner. sat at our favorite tea stall and watched the huge crowd that came out on a Sunday night. Thousands of people, lots of families, and not a few stunned looking tourists. My stomach wasn´t the best, so we didn´t have a big feed, but did try some tasty snails cooked in a spicy broth. And bought the best dates of my life (the fruit, not the activity!)!
we struck up a conversation with a berber fellow named Hassan, who was interesting to chat with, as he was really open to answering all of our questions about some of the things that we had seen in Morocco. turns out the offers of camels that we were getting were not marraige offers, but more along the lines of a ´sugar daddy´sorta thing. good to have that cleared up!
on the flip side of that conversation, Hassan took quite a shining to me, and we found him waiting for us outside of our guest house the next morning. He had gifts of jewlery and flowers for both of us. apparently our chatting with him left the wrong impression, and he was in full-on wooing mode. I feel a little bad about that, and have to say that I was a little relieved to be leaving for spain that morning. I´ve already received an email from him, full of hugs and kisses, so, I guess i have to set that straight soon.
so here we are in Madrid. It´s 15c and so i´m a little chilly- i only brought one pair of pants, and all the spanish ladies are looking disparingly at me in my flip flops. we rented an appartment in the old part of town, which is a treat. there is laundry! and separate bedrooms! and there is a nice little bar RIGHT accross the street where the lady who runs the place with an iron fist seems to think that our lack of spanish is charming. heaven.
Madrid hs thrown up some roadblocks though: money and keys. Let me explain:
Keys:
we got two sets of key to our appartment. being safety minded girls, upon noticing that you have to have a key to get OUT of the appartment, we decided to put a set in the door to make sure we could get out if there was a fire or something. So, we leave, with our other set of keys, and at that moment realize that if there is a set in the door, our keys don´t work. we are locked out. and all our of stuff is locked in. Gah.
We called our landlady, who helpfully was only two floors up, and she explained that we were very stupid, but that she would call the locksmith. We retired to the aforementioned bar across the street to wait. we had a beer. (and let me pause here to say mmmm beer. Morocco being dry and all, the beer was tasty!). Then we had another. Then it was 9pm, and the locksmith came to tell me kindly that i was very stupid, and that for him to work about 45seconds of his magic, it would cost us $450. GAH some more. While the landlady says she thinks that the rental company´s insurance will cover that, i don´t know how we will work that out in the limited time we have here, and with the language barrier. It might just end up being a very expensive lesson.
As you can well imagine, we then retired for a few more beer, and our first spanish tapas. Delicious. We had ´patatas con Brava´which are just yummy potatoes in spicy creamy sauce, and more carbs, with a dish of eggs, potatoes and chorizo. it was the perfect comfort food to drown our foolish sorrows in! welcome to Madrid!
Money:
wendy and I have both had all of our bank accounts frozen in the last 24 hours. apparently large withdrawls of cash from ATMs in Morocco twigged as suspicious for someone--i guess i´m glad someone is watching my account. we are in the process of clearing that up, but it has been a drag. the prospect of being cashless here is a little scary!
Today we walked around Madrid and saw the catedral and the palace etc. But I´ll tell you about that later. I hear a bodega calling my name....
Sunday, March 9, 2008
ok, we are back in Marrakech after a very early moring bus ride back to the city.
the morning stqrted with a shot of adrenaline- at 5 something AM wendy realized that our passports were locked in the riad (hotel) safe, despite the fact thqt we had checked out the night before given how early we had to leave. long story short I found the proprietor of the house and woke him up? and we got them back and to the bus on time.
the bus ride gave me time to (1) enjoy the fablous sunrise-- i think only africa produces these sunrises where the sun looks like an orange fire ball of massive proportions; and (2) marvel at how the berbers were able to live off this land. it is all rock. all of it. think moonscape. yet they seem to have farms and goats and the occasional green things growing. it does make it more understandable how the ancient world never conquored this place--you would have to be tough as nails and supremely adapted to make it.
DB
the morning stqrted with a shot of adrenaline- at 5 something AM wendy realized that our passports were locked in the riad (hotel) safe, despite the fact thqt we had checked out the night before given how early we had to leave. long story short I found the proprietor of the house and woke him up? and we got them back and to the bus on time.
the bus ride gave me time to (1) enjoy the fablous sunrise-- i think only africa produces these sunrises where the sun looks like an orange fire ball of massive proportions; and (2) marvel at how the berbers were able to live off this land. it is all rock. all of it. think moonscape. yet they seem to have farms and goats and the occasional green things growing. it does make it more understandable how the ancient world never conquored this place--you would have to be tough as nails and supremely adapted to make it.
DB
Friday, March 7, 2008
Essouria
team 5000 Camels is on the move. today we had a long sweaty bus ride to the coast of Morocco. but it was worth it- we are in a lovely seaside town that is about a hundred times more laid back than Marrakech. think white washed buildings with blue shutters, fish grilled while you wait on the boardwalk (fresh fresh fresh dorado and red snapper today for lunch) and little twisty lanes full of leather shops and (wendy's weakness) berber silver. the only down side is the wind off the ocean is chilly... which makes this place big with the surfers, but not right for the clothes i packed.
maybe I will get a kaftan after all.
maybe I will get a kaftan after all.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
winning over the locals
W and I went to the square tonight for dinner and our usual nightcap of tea or orange juice.
at our favorite tea stand, one of the young guys working there challenged us to an arm wrestle! i have no idea why- though it has become clear that the men here admire strong women. W lost her round, but i then took up the challenge. imagine all the people within 30 feet (locals, tourists, all the tea guys) cheering us on. 60 seconds later- I WON!
needless to say (1) W and i laughed pretty hard after that and (2) the tea was free.
at our favorite tea stand, one of the young guys working there challenged us to an arm wrestle! i have no idea why- though it has become clear that the men here admire strong women. W lost her round, but i then took up the challenge. imagine all the people within 30 feet (locals, tourists, all the tea guys) cheering us on. 60 seconds later- I WON!
needless to say (1) W and i laughed pretty hard after that and (2) the tea was free.
Marakech - making deals
i bought Graeme some wee shoes in the market today: they call them 'berber adidas' and are these bright little red and yellow leather numbers. today we went to the dyers souk and the slipper souk. i was a greqt disappointment for the slipper sellers, as i wanted to buy but they don't make pretty girly slippers in my size. you could tell the stall owners took it as a proffesional failing that there was a customer there willing to buy, and no sale could be made.
today's best marriage offer was 10,000 camels and 2 traditional moroccan houses. i gotta say, the men here are very handsome. all of them. I don't find the women as striking, but they might keep all the pretty ones locked up!
tonight we had dinner in the main market at the little stalls. it was totally yum. ginger and cinnamon tea, kebabs, aubergine, calamari, etc etc. thank god we walk all day or they would have to roll me on the plane. (though i must admit to passing on the boiled lamb head!)
today's best marriage offer was 10,000 camels and 2 traditional moroccan houses. i gotta say, the men here are very handsome. all of them. I don't find the women as striking, but they might keep all the pretty ones locked up!
tonight we had dinner in the main market at the little stalls. it was totally yum. ginger and cinnamon tea, kebabs, aubergine, calamari, etc etc. thank god we walk all day or they would have to roll me on the plane. (though i must admit to passing on the boiled lamb head!)
Marakech - the beginning
hello all
first things first_ after about 60 hours in the same tshirt and undies, my bag arrived in marrakesh. HUZZAH. i had to pretty much promise to marry a guy at the lost luggqge counter to get it back, but i have it now. otherwise i was facing the prospect of travelling the next three weeks in my new selection of kaftans!
marracech is mad and i am on total sensory overload. everything here is brighter; more crowded, more fragrent, more heartfelt, etc. yesterday we got enjoyably lost in the souks, where everything is for sale for the right price (tempting: pet cameleon) and visited a koranic school where the arctitecture and tile work blew my mind (lots and lots of pictures there). today we had q cooking class all day and i now have in my possession the recipie for the best couscous EVER. oh, and one for shortbread with seasme and orange flower water.
only bqd side is that the jet lag is lingering and i have been up at all hours. but that does mean i got to watch the sunrise and listen to the call to prayer from the roof terrace this morning!
again, i would type more, but all the keys are in the 'wrong' place. so slow!
first things first_ after about 60 hours in the same tshirt and undies, my bag arrived in marrakesh. HUZZAH. i had to pretty much promise to marry a guy at the lost luggqge counter to get it back, but i have it now. otherwise i was facing the prospect of travelling the next three weeks in my new selection of kaftans!
marracech is mad and i am on total sensory overload. everything here is brighter; more crowded, more fragrent, more heartfelt, etc. yesterday we got enjoyably lost in the souks, where everything is for sale for the right price (tempting: pet cameleon) and visited a koranic school where the arctitecture and tile work blew my mind (lots and lots of pictures there). today we had q cooking class all day and i now have in my possession the recipie for the best couscous EVER. oh, and one for shortbread with seasme and orange flower water.
only bqd side is that the jet lag is lingering and i have been up at all hours. but that does mean i got to watch the sunrise and listen to the call to prayer from the roof terrace this morning!
again, i would type more, but all the keys are in the 'wrong' place. so slow!
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