Steve hijacks the blog

"After visiting Laura a few weeks ago, here were some of my impressions from Morocco.


"As I tend to just think in tangibles- times, places, people,
activities - blogposts and writings tend to come off as a mapped
itinerary, and so I'll try to give the ideas, emotions, and abstracts
of the trip to Fes.
Pre-trip Steve was nervous to enter a different culture without the
ability to talk and exchange ideas clearly. Getting into enough
trouble AND speaking the language in my own country was almost bad
enough, but these concerns were put away the moment I snuck up behind
Laura in the airport. I had forgotten the confidence
and strength my better half can give. The "find somebody who speaks
English" game started out well and we got a ride to the hotel by an
Argentinian man coming back from his son's soccer practice. People
just seem to be nice in Europe. We had tapas (potato chips?)
at a tiny bar, grabbed a bite to eat, and hit the salsa club until
3am, and dropped tired back into the hotel to catch the flight to Fes.

"The city of Fes was packed with bustling honking cars and wondrous
smells. We got me settled in real quick, and set off to the medina
to people watch and cruise around. Mules, tourists, carts of goods,
laughing kids, all beneath the soldier's gate. Very relaxing and
great way to start the trip. We went to a smattering of shops each
with unique and amazing aspects. Jowad owned the first shop we went to
and was the happiest and most energetic of all the Moroccans I met. I
was hugged, hello'd, and how are you'd 20 times in 3 minutes, and a
few more times every time we passed him in the medina from that day
on. The spice shop's air was hung with interesting aromas, the
shelved walls covered in vials and jars filled with all kinds of
colored liquids. Finally, there was a metalwork shop in which the
owner was sitting on a small wooden stool in the back engraving a
plate. Each tap with the little hammer made a tiny mark on a large
elaborate plate which must have taken months to make. Around the shop
were hundreds of intricate pieces of jewelry, teapots, and plates. It
was like standing in the middle of a life's work.

"The best experiences were meeting the people I had heard so much
about. Laura's students were incredibly respectful, fun, and
intelligent. I was amazed at their insights and thoughts on politics
and other social issues while walking to grab pizza. Really impressed
with Wadie, Simo, and Hamza. Dinner at Amina's is the most memorable
part of the entire trip. Amina and her family are so full of love,
smiles, and laughter I could hardly take it in. I still beam at the
thought of all the pictures, djellabas, and sweet words. The time
went by so fast (must have been at least 6 hours) and, though I
understood very little of what was being said, I couldn't stop
laughing and smiling with them. I was also renamed Sna'an. The food
was amazing, and Dries' song backed up by Khadija and Amina was
inspiring and unworldly. Mr. Amina and Norridine carried themselves
with such distinction, but also tender love for their family. Best
night of Morocco, easily.

"The pace of life in Morocco was very nice, and all things that were
worth doing were worth spending time doing whether it be coffee with
Malika (4 hours), haggling with shopkeeps (just long enough to get a
good price), and cityscape viewing from the Myranid Tombs (duration of
a storm). It was a nice change from America, but the organizer in me
doesn't know how it would be to live there. The most unique
experience of Morocco came after an overnight bus trip south. We
paraded through the red sands of the Sahara which seemed to go on for
an eternity of dunes. Laura is right in saying that camels are
deceptively large creatures and incredibly cool to ride on. The stay
in the tents was nice and I was tired from the sun (and apparently
also a blanket thief).

We hopped a ride towards Marrakesh and spent some time in a town
waiting for the bus, and struck up the longest English conversation I
had in months with Lucky (at least I think that's what he said) and
Sheela (spelling?) from Australia and Ireland who had spent some time
in the area and happened to cross our paths. Wonderful people that I
hope are doing well. We then took the scariest bus ride I've ever
taken through the winding, guardrailless, cliffside, hairpin-turning,
pitch black roads of the Atlas mountains arriving in Marrakesh too
late to explore =(

"We spent the last day in Spain cruising the art museum, fighting with
a taxi cab driver, and smiling
despite the rain. The streets of Spain were nice and had a quintet
that played while we ate breakfast snacks. Or was that the first
Spain landing? Meh. We slept in and I caught the flight back home,
leaving with a mixture of fullfilment having seen Laura and her
Moroccan world, but sadness knowing I wouldn't see her for quite some
time (actually it would only be a couple of weeks, but I didn't know
it at the time, I'm in Turkey right now and trying to find a time to
see her again).

Bullet point synopsis!

Favorite foods: Shebikiah, mint tea, and avacado smoothie
Cultural surprises: The feeling of a country unified under a common
religion, hospitality culture I want to take home with me, subtle
rules (like taxis)
Favorite smells: Not the tannery, streetside food vendors
Amazed by: Laura's Arabic knowledge, handmade crafts, religious
devotion, others' kindness
Strokes of luck: Austrians, Tab-to-lower-seat in backseat of taxi,
lightning at the Myranids
Thoughtful points: Camel driver who said he'd go to America if he
could but matter-of-factly that this is where'd he'd stay (without a
choice) and how many others expressed this point, common trust and the
pros and cons of barter systems and small neighborhoods, position on
social stigmas cultural infringement and rights to expression

Ok, thanks for letting me hijack the blog. I love you very much
Laura, thanks for showing me your world.

. ~Steve

A T1ME article on a situation here

click here to view

The Short Version

Seriously, don't tell the students, but vacation time is a pretty good perk of being a teacher.

We had our first 'spring break' this week, for the Eid El Mouloud, the prophet Mohamed's birthday. I thought they didn't celebrate birthdays, but whatever. Steve came to visit from New York, and I got the pleasure of touring him around my city. Whether strolling the medina, visiting friends, or just sitting in a cafe, everyone here was excited to meet him. We spent an amazing time at Amina's family's house, where they made a huge fuss over him. Everyone was completely unable to remember/pronounce his name, so he was dubbed "Teeth," because it sounded like "Steve," which quickly became the Arabic "Snaan."

After leaving Fes, we took a night bus to Riazani and discovered that they guy Steve was staying with, Dan, another American, was also riding the bus south for a separate desert tour. Steve and I arrived in Riasani and were picked up by a very tall land rover that drove us out on a deserted road. Just as I was contemplating how easy it would be to kidnap us in this situation, the land rover turned off the empty road and out into the more empty desert. We rode for another half hour through the dunes and brushy shrubs before arriving at a few street signs planted in the middle of the sand, one of which directed us in the front door of the Auberge of the Blue Men, where we stayed.

We explored the desert a little on foot before walking with the "camel-man" into the desert where he caught our camels for us. They weren't wild, but it was a dramatic feeling to walk into the desert to catch a camel. For those of you who have not rode camels, you should know this: they are TALL. The saddle on a camel wraps around the hump and has a metal crossbar at the front to hold on to, and you need to hold on to it. Getting up and down is like a roller coaster. The walking is easy enough, but still very high from the unforgiving sand. We had fun spying on the little tracks of the desert critters traced in the sand as we walked through what was apparently the tallest set of dunes in the Sahara.

We spent the night in a Berber encampment in the middle of the dunes, in tents that were made of blankets draped over logs. We walked around, enjoying the amazing stars and listening to some Berber drum circles, and woke up the next morning for the sunrise.

After riding back to the Auberge on our trusty stinky mounts, we hitched a ride with the Austrians to the Dades gorges. We met some cool people and sat at a cafe for about 5 hours before leaving for Marrakesh on the night bus. It was great to have Steve visiting for as long as he could, and I was very glad to travel with him on the crazy desert excursion. I'm going to ask him to post something on this blog as well.