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Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 Hello everyone, Steph and I had quite a vacation. We hung out at my house for Christmas, then left around the 28th. We took a bus to Marrakesh, stayed there for a night, then caught a grand taxi to Ste Fad'ma, a small Berber village in the middle of the Atlas Mountains. The hotel we stayed at was right over a river, which bubbled and gurgled all through the night, very peaceful. We had a great view of the mountains all around us. There was snow on the peaks and they were very majestic. On the 31st, we hitch-hiked to Okaimedon, the ski resort near there. We found very little snow, but the place was beautiful nonetheless. Our hitch-hiking was quite an adventure in itself, we were picked up relatively easily several times, we were even mistaken as Moroccan by a couple of guys!!!!! I'm goin' local, baby! Maybe it's my scarf that I've started wearing Berber-style, wrapped around my head, certainly not my earrings! When we were in Okeimedon, there was a Berber man whose truck was stuck in the mud. Steph and I asked if he needed help, he nodded and got in the truck. Steph and I got behind him and were pushing....SPLAAAAAATT!!!! We were covered in mud. Good solid stuff, and the sheep were not impressed. We made it back to Ste Fad'ma, and had our champagne and cheetos (thanks, Mom) The midnight hour came, and passed. Not a peep, not a sound.... The people in this sleepy town were very gracious, and invited us to tea (which is made different, spicier, in the mountains....very good) We liked the town so much, we stayed another day. Then we were off, back to Marrakesh, to see some of the sites there. We visited some tombs, palaces, took a ride in a caleche (horse-drawn carriage) and walked around J'mal F'nal, the center square and watched snake charmers and acrobats.
I
have sent lots of pictures, they will be on the web site soon. In case
you haven't checked lately, there are new pictures (the ones we thought
were lost, as well as a bunch of postcards from Fez and Meknes. You
should take a look at the site at: Steph and I decided to go on up north after Marrakesh. We stopped in Beni Mellal, then Azilal, which is right in the middle Atlas (We were in the High Atlas near Okeimedon before) From Azilal, where we were stuck for a day, Ramadan plays havoc with travelers, because no one does anything after 3 pm or so, we finally caught a taxi to Cascade d'Ouzoud. These are EXTREMELY impressive waterfalls. Ouzoud means olive in Tashelhait (Berber) There are, or used to be, lots of olive trees in the region. We got a room....just a room with a mattress on the floor for about the equivalent of 3 dollars. We took lots of photos (also on the way) There were these little huts at the top of the falls. A Berber woman took Steph and I inside to see the mills, they are water powered and used to grind up couscous into this fine flour. When she was done explaining everything, Steph tried to slip her some coins, but even before we got out the door, the woman handed the money over to some dude in a Jalaba outside. The men just stand around and collect the money, while the women do everything....Steph was not happy and neither was I, but baby steps, right? We decided we would hitch again. It was about 160 Kilometers to Marrakesh. We actually did very well. Even when we offered money, people wouldn't take it. We got back to Marakesh in the afternoon, and bought a ticket to Agadir for that evening at 8 pm. We had a few hours to kill, so we went to a bar in the neuveau medina. I forget the name, something like Madira, or the like. We stepped inside, and a man took us up in an elevator to the top floor. This place is the tallest building around (except for the mosques, of course) The view was incredible. The whole city, plus the mountains in the distance. We watched the sunset over Marrakesh.Sorry, we were out of film, I'm sure I'll go back. We headed back to the Bus depot. This particular company, Supratours, is the "best" in Morocco. They have very comfortable buses and are almost always on time. So when 8:40 rolled around, and we were still sitting there, I went up to the ticket guy and asked what the problem was. In French and Arabic, he explained that there was an accident and the bus wasn't coming. I would be able to get the bus at 10pm. "Oh, nice of you to tell us!!" I asked if there would be any problem with our tickets. "Makeinsh mooshkeel" (no problem) So Steph and I went and had another beer. We returned at 10.....10:20.......10:30.......11, "OK, what's the deal?" "makeinsh mooshkeel" "Right....." So, the bus finally shows a little after 11. Steph and I put our bags under the bus and wait (again) in line to get on. When we get up to the guy who is checking tickets (the same "no problem" guy, he says, "Oh, you must wait a minute" "What!!!!??" Apparently, now, he wants us to wait until all the other 10 O'clock people get on the bus, and IF there is a seat, then Maybe we can get on. In my most angry Arabic and French I can muster, I ran this guy up one side and down the other. But in this country, that's old hat and he just kept checking other people's tickets. I was very frustrated and tired and stomped off to....well....to wait, what the heck else was I to do? The bus filled up and then he tells Steph and I, as well as another couple (Moroccan) who were in the same situation, that there aren't any seats left. I'm really angry by this time, and the bus closes it's doors and starts to pull away. I ran after the bus, banging on the door, to let me get our bags off the bus. Try and picture me, an American, trying to use brute force to stop a bus, yelling in Arabic, "Our bags, our bags!!!" I got the bus to stop and I got our bags off. I came around the bus, just in time for the ticket guy to get in my face and say " Do you want to go to Agadir, or not?" I swear I almost punched him. "Oui!!!!" So he checks our tickets and tells us to get on the bus. We stow our stuff under the bus, again, and got on. Needless to say, we were glad to get home again. Traveling is fun, seeing new places and such. But Agadir has become my home, and it's very obvious how my comfort level has grown here when I come back and breath a sigh of relief. All in all, a great trip and a great vacation. It was nice to get back and see all the emails....Although trudging through 160 emails can be very time consuming (hence my delay on writing) Don't get me wrong, I love to hear from all of you. Hope the new year holds as much in store for you as it seems it does for me. I'll be starting up those new projects soon. I teach my advanced english for the professors here next week with Steph and we'll start the Argon project next month. Be sure to check the website often, there are LOTS of pictures on the way. B'salaama, |