Thoughts of a Traveler

So since I last posted not much free time has been available. I’ve been traveling, then my family came in town, then I have exams and I’m also trying to pack up my stuff after being here for 4 months.

Just so you know I was traveling well (as you might be able to tell my the photo), and

spending my last week well. I leave on Friday and until then I’ll be just as busy.

I think I’m going to get in some serious tumbling time on the airplane and in layovers, so prepare yourselves!

If I had time to stop and think I might post more in my last weeks in Morocco, but alas we leave all the fun stuff to the end don’t we?

I’ll probably catch up a little once I’m back state-side and don’t have homework, traveling, and many other things to squish in to 24 hours a day.

I had hoped to post a few pictures from my weekend in the Middle Atlas Mountains, but the internet is slow and temperamental so we’ll see if we can get a few up here at all. Despite the torrents of rain, it was a beautiful place. Tiny towns sat on hillsides with small plots to farm vegetables to sell in the “big cities” flanking them. Cows, donkeys and chickens are the closest thing I have seen in Morocco to house pets, because in the mountains every family has one and takes especially good care of them. We visited women’s associations that hand made, and sold dried herbs, oils and soaps, rugs and finally honey.

The last day of our weekend was spent on a “nature walk” where we scaled the face of a mountain. One thing that constantly surprises me is how much the Moroccan Mountains look like Tennessee. The vegetation might be slightly difference but there are the rocky creeks that run down the mountain, and the giant cliffs that give you a panorama view over the valleys. Even just being in the fresh air, away from the cities, it relaxing and in the mountains there’s plenty of it, but to get a serious exercise for the first time in longer than I would like to admit was welcomed with open arms. After the endorphins kicked in of course, we did hit a bit of a wall when I looked up and just saw this:

We are lunch at the top of the mountain then made our way back to the real world. I think if it hadn’t been so cold I would have been more than eager to spend a significant portion of my life living in the woods. I would have my buddies down here to keep me warm!

I do hope that this wasn’t my last trip up these mountains, they were honestly stunning. This weekend I’m headed up to the Rif mountains to continue my moroccan hiking experience. Insh’allah it will be warm enough to do a bit of swimming in the mountain top pools!!

One of the most beautiful towns I have visited so far was Asilah. It has a relatively large ex-pat community and draws artists from all over the world. The city walls are littered with murals, and the streets aren’t littered with garbage.

We decided to take a horse cart to the beach. 1 1/2 hours later we arrived at a secluded beach literally in the middle of nowhere. But the scenery on the way there was worth the time.

When I say horse drawn cart, I mean a horse attached to a plank of wood with wheels. The photo below might paint you a better picture. Also, when you have reached your destination the shade made by the cart offers a great place to eat lunch.

And of course we couldn’t resist the awesome prices on local goods. This is a picture of the group with (mostly) things we bought, and our favorite shop owner in town. Sadly the drums were not part of our purchases. This shop however had anything you could want, if only I had had more money on me, I might have bough him out.

Below is an example of one of the murals. There are too many to post here, but it’s nice for once to see a strong artist community in Morocco. I’ve missed that since I’ve been here. Art for the most part is seen as a distraction from school, family and other duties. It’s not banned or anything, and there are plenty of Moroccan artists, but it could use a big helping hand. Creativity doesn’t get the support it need here, tradition is top priority, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but without change, a society will die.