sunny side up

so the last post was a bit dry perhaps..here are some other various tales, musings, ramblings and other "whatever-isms" that you might enjoy.. or not:

Mustafa, our driver in Morocco has the same first name as a good friend of ours back home..

camels poo as they walk..they poo in little bite sized clumps..and, to the delight of everyone in back, it always seems to be the camel in the front of the camel train that poos the most ..Helen and I took turns in front..we had the pooiest camels..of course..

the stars in the desert are unlike stars you see anywhere else..they are bright, clear and most importantly, they are innumerable..the cosmos is structured, it is bigger than you or I could ever possibly imagine..you can see the lateral wing of our home, the milky way...and it is big and deep..and it is a terrible waste of space if we are in fact alone..god is great..and so are the alien civilizations that rules the unfathomable depths of the abyss..

morocco suffers terribly from pollution and desertification..it's unfortunate..the country it seems, in its attempts to sip from the cup of western wealth, seems to be turning itself into a dried up canker sore..

despite this, and despite bush and despite terrorism...Muslims and the Arab world have a valid claim to culture and insight, they are not savages..it was the Arabs who invented zero..it was the Arabs who, when the catholic church was flexing its stranglehold on Europe, kept the arts and sciences of the ancient alive, only later to be consumed by the crusades and subsequent renaissance masters at Oxford and Florence.. it is unfortunate however that Islam sanctions violence in the name of god..this is a drawback to their case

Politics seems to be alive and well in Europe (they apparently hate NATO and the US)..which is good given the complete and utter lack of a US political interest..although I did see that Rove resigned recently which is good..now we just have to repair the damage...not that anyone really cares..

Greece is a funny place..it is simultaneously western and yet still sort of second-worldy (please forgive the imperialist tone here).. the younger generation of Greeks seem quite westernized..familiarized with all the accouterments of western lifestyle and excess..but the older Greeks are a different story..they seem pushy..almost selfish..but not a selfishness that is born out of greed..but a selfishness that is born out of decades of struggle and survival..they push and they crowd the lines at the bus stations..they push us from behind causing us to stumble with our heavy packs..they push and they crowd at the restaurants as if the restaurant is going to run out of food and they will be sent home (again) hungry..its weird the divide that separates these kids from their grandparents...the parents of course..those of the same generation as my parents seem (as my parents have) to have been able able to capitalize on the position of the country as a tourist trap and have all opened up domatia's or restaurants or other tourist shops..

some however still fish for a living: walking in the streets the waiters and hosts of various restaurants and cafes call and beckon you in for food or drink "hello my friend..please come sit down"...a lot of times this bait seems to work and catch customers... the guy who runs our hostel (Peter) drives down to the harbor every night the ferry comes to catch backpackers as they get of the boat..again, his nets of cheap dorm beds seem to bring in a healthy catch of 15 people a night...they are fisherman.

ironically, real fresh fish are xtremely hard to come by in greece..most seafood is fozen and expensive.

what else?

oh yeah, beaches in Europe are topless and men wear bikini briefs to the beach..this environment is of course a mixed blessing..in ways..also back hair apparently is not seen in any disdainful manner here...as long as you are tanned and fit..

in Greece you are not supposed to flush the used toilet paper down the toilet..instead you are to place it in the foot-peddled trash can conveniently located next to the john..a custom that Helen has readily adopted but that I am still having a hard time adjusting to..

Greek buses are cramped and often there is standing room only..add humidity and 90 degree heat and you have a party in your armpits.. so says I..

like the Moroccan tagine, there is the food at the Greek taverna..your pick of souvlaka, fried fish or pork roast..it all seems rather heavy and fried given the heat..I stick to the cucumber, tomato and feta salads most of the time..Helen sticks to the spaghetti..which despite the fact that it is on the menu is still probably a sore insult to the Greeks, that most tourist will instead prefer Italian food over Greek...

Mopeds...hate these friken things..they are loud, they belch exhaust and they swerve in and out of foot traffic with disdain..Helen has already been hit by one in Morocco..but everyone and their mom uses them here..ugh..they should be banned or all converted to electric at least..

Mediterranean water..beautiful and a blue that seems to make you forget everything else..the waters beckon and call me..the clarity, the warmth, the saltiness..if only I were a fish..I would be home.

the US dollar sucks right now..terrible time to travel..here's how it works..double the cost (European inflation) then add 40% (exchange rate)..ugh..way over budget we are..coming home early I guess..

Or....I had the thought the other day that since I could not beat the falling US dollar that I would instead find a way to profit from it's decline..the answer was simple..stay abroad and work..earn euros or pounds instead and use the devalued exchange rate to pay off our mortgages at a discount rate..only problem is the language barrier..most of Europe uses English as a second language..an Esperanto of sorts..that allows the Danes to communicate with the Greeks..in addition to solid coding skills, most employers on international monster.com are looking for English language skills in addition to the national language as well as other solid technical skills of which I posses none..I feel sorely unprepared to compete in any global market..the cozy blanket of orange county seems a welcome reprieve to this realization..hrm...medium fish in a small pond perhaps..

visual stimuli..its the little things as always..miss television and video games (Civ 4)..been reading a lot lately, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Robert Ludlum..its not the same though.. anyway Greece is cool..thinking about opening a Domatia here..

for now, we're camped out in Rhodes for a couple of days as we await the ferry to Fethiye Turkey...killed a cockroach in our room last night..the beds are lumpy and the sheets are threadbare and stained..par for course..

for more pics try Kelly's site at:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcNmbNszcNWHC

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellyslynn

cheers..............................................................

the other half

So after Marrakesh we decided to head south and east...into the desert..as in the Sahara. Most of Morocco is desert as it turns out.

we hired a taxi and a driver..Mustafa..and made our way towards Zagora on the western flank of the Sahara..

So after a 6 hour car ride through mudhut cities and no-mans lands we arrived at a nice oasis resort for a night to prepared for our camping excursion the next day. (as a comment here I'll suggest that these mudhuts despite their seemingly primitive nature are actually quite advanced..no other modern material has yet to come close to matching their heat negating powers as we found out). We hired some camels and a real live desert nomad named Najid to escort us to his camp for the night. Najid and his son Arish were the real deal, they were really nomads living in the wastelands of the Sahara, they were only in town (Zagora) for the tourist season to do exactly this...run tourist out to the desert for the night and bring them back safely. This is the part of the story that I admit that despite my best attempts to feel rough and cool at the notion of camping in the desert that once we actually arrived at our destination and set up camp that I realized how inconsequential and how extremely unfit I was for any sort of 'real' or 'on your own', 'man versus nature' survival I was and that there was no way I could ever live this nomadic desert life. Helen and Kelly in some weird twist of roles found the entire adventure delightful and new.

So after a 3 hour camel ride we found the spot, set up camp and parked the camels of to the side. We then proceeded to watch the sunset and were entertained by Arish as he sang tribal songs and danced. Najid cooked us a traditional nomad dinner of tajine which despite its excellent flavor left me wondering how and where nomads find carrots and potatoes in the desert (although we did pass several watermelon plants along the way out).

so anyway, Arish sang and danced for us as we clapped along..it was weird and wonderful at the same time...escorted by people who had almost no concept of western lifestyle..yet enthusiastically willing to share what little they had..it felt like Laurence of Arabia or the English patient..or at least this is what is it was supposed to feel like..for all I know it could have been some great farce in which we were the main actors..playing our anglophone parts of colonial conquest..

Nonetheless, it was brilliant. I shared my headlamp with Najid and his son as the sun went down and this little piece of technology amazed them both and caused many smiles...Kelly shared her fruit flavored Mike and Ike's with Arish which he treated as a pot of gold. As we talked to them we learned that Najid had in fact been born and spent the early part of his life surviving in the Sahara and that after several years of living a nomadic life in the desert and after starting a family of his own that he decided he was tired of this life and that he decided to move into the city and promote his desert skill to his advantage..aka desert camping trips for tourists..props to him.

Anyway, we slept outside in the desert..watching the sun set and the stars rise..with wind blowing sand in our faces and the smell of camels lingering in the distance. Again, it was brilliant..the stars were amazing, we saw a shooting star together, the camels were great..and the tagine and mint tea served for dinner was excellent..we wont forget this anytime soon I don't think.

Oh, also, in Zagora I got my hair cut (you try going to an Islamic monarchy and let a local hold a straight razor to your American neck..I do admit I was a teensy bit nervous), we went swimming and we spent half an afternoon looking at hundreds of Berber carpets presented by another desert tribe..the blue men. After the desert we and Mustafa our driver (how cool is that) we drove up to Fez were we planned our departure from Morocco.

blue men selling us (trying) carpet

Helen, Kelly and Arish

Camel Shadow..

Arish parking Camels...

Mudhut city on the way to Zagora

helen and elvis camel

Arish and sand dune

Arish (Al Queda) playing the tin pot

our camp

Off the map

Ok so Morocco is not really off all maps..it was just off our foldup map that we had been relying on for the previous several months..so in a sense we were now flying blind..it felt good.

After arriving in Tangier from Spain via the "2hr" ferry which actually took close to 4 hrs we immediately hopped the overnight train to Marrakesh, capital of the south. Feeling the need to up our standards as those around us fell we splurged 70euro on some first class couchettes..sleeper cars. First class my ass..these things were filthy and dank; the bunks were these old 1" thick mattresses on top of plywood with a few stained sheets littered with an assortment of strange hairs..before the train took off I asked the conductor in my really bad french "c'est premiere class?", "Oui" he replied..but as he did I could hear all the other travellers in the other couchettes scoffing...I could tell they were thinking the same thing..70euro..so not worth it..

We ended up sharing our cabin with a local lady who was carrying a very sick infant with her and after pleading for an hour into a cell phone at the beginning of the trip ended up crying herself to sleep..that was our first night..sticky hot, then freezing cold as the air conditioning apparently went into overdrive..trying to sleep on nasty bunks while the sounds of muffled sobs and a gurgling cough from the kid mixed with the steady chug of the train. And thus began our Moroccan adventure.

We arrived in Marrakesh early the next morning found a place to stay in the heart of the Medina and spent the next several days exploring the Souks and Djemma El Fna square.

Zonkers. That's what we have say about Marrakesh ..it's a complete frikin gong show here..you name it..it has has it. Snake Charmers, Boiled snails, Sheep head soup, fine Berber Carpet, imitation Prada, monkeys in cages, piles upon piles of saffron, teeth for sale, and men and women dressed like Jedi nights everywhere. Morocco comes in just about every color, smell and sound...its a complete assault on the senses. Walking through the souks you are confronted with smells of saffron, then of urine, then of frying fish then Jasmin, sewage and exhaust, then back to roasting lamb. Shoulder to shoulder people, donkey carts and motor bikes scurry about these crowded streets going about their days. There's lots of commotion and shouting and several times a day the many mosques that dot the Medina erupt into the call to prayers across their loud speakers. Despite the otherwise dirty public areas Marrakesh can also be very beautiful in spots. The main mosque in the area had beautiful rose gardens, some of the restaurants and souk shops we incredibly ornate and the Riads were always a welcome sanctuary.

After we picked up Kelly from the airport we ended up staying in a 'Riad' called Riad Catalina that was very nice..an oasis of calm in the midst of the Medina. The Riads are these old buildings built when women we not meant to be seen..so they are quite large structures completely devoid of any windows to the outside..instead they are turned outside-in with their centers opening up into massive courtyards in the middle usually crowded with palm trees, streams, pools, fountains, beautiful fabris and tiles framing eating and lounging areas etc..very soothing havens after a hectic day in the Medina. The food was also good and safe for the most part, although we did get sick of eating tagines and kabobs every day.

Instead of trying to describe the sights and sounds in any more detail I instead offer a brief photo tour of the area...bear in mind as you look at these photos that as we are walking in the souks we are being constantly harangued to come look and buy and that half of these photos we taken in super stealth mode while the other half cost me 1 or 2 dirham (30 cents) to get (Moroccans have zero qualms about charging tourists for any and everything...taking pictures, asking directions or standing in a crowd watching a street show will illicit touts demanding money..after several days it was kind of a pain in the ass actually)..

anyway..on to the pics. enjoy.

inside one of the Palais

tile detail

riad catalina

a moroccan pigeon

a mosque entrance

art display in the art and gastronomy souk

our first riad..

kotubia mosque

standard streeet vendor fare

bab something of other..a gate into the walled city

date, apricots, figs et al for sale
sheep or cow heads
dinner in the square
spices
card game in souks
monkey cages
snake charmers
a souk

in the souks

the square