Where are we now?

Still in Morocco, my friends. Still in Morocco. We're doing better though--we've finally slept off our jet lag, have found our groove (temporary, I'm sure, as most travelers know), and are actually beginning to enjoy Morocco...just in time to leave.

Where were we this past week?

Good question. As you know, we left to stay in a hotel in Casablanca to work with the downtown branch of the British Language Academy (where we are currently volunteering). The hotel was nice but the wrong choice; we should have rented an Airbnb (see below for current accommodations). However, we persevered. I got sick (just a minor head cold) and recovered just in time to take a 5-day trip with other volunteers.

How was traveling with fourteen 18-22 year olds?

Another good question. As I wrote a friend, you might initially think this would be a lot of fun, but you have to remember brains aren't fully developed yet. And, they're experiencing the world (for some) for the very first time. And they're a bit unsure of how to work in a group. Meeting the bus at 8:00 a.m.? Sure, if 8 really means 9 (because they all went out the night before and got home at 4:30 a.m.). Did they eat or get water or anything? Nope. Because.they.were.still.drunk. Hah! Anyway, we did have some highlights, and some taught Sila how to further his quest with his Rubik's cube. 

But where, oh where, did you go?

So many good questions. You're on a roll. Well, we started off by hitting a little seaside town. It wasn't that spectacular (think El Jadida but smaller). Then, we hit Tangier for the evening. This is the town where you can cross into from Spain, and you just have to take a ferry through the Strait of Gibraltar. It's nice, but we've been before. 

Then, off at 8 a.m. (really, 9:30--see section above) to some waterfalls (a little rock jumping and swimming in a slightly trashy river for us) and the blue city, Chefchaouen. This city is an iconic tourist city that paints its buildings blue. Some highlights included walking up and seeing sunset, buying a painting from a street artist, and then sitting on some chairs in a man-made river. It was weird but Sila seemed to enjoy climbing the rocks. The problem, though, with a city such as this is, as Conan astutely captured, "it's a shell city." In fact, he compared it to Key West, which is a great comparison--yes, people still live there but it's for the entire purpose of tourists. Chefchaouen has the same feel, and it's a place that made me realize there are so many places around the world where they are just selling stuff. The same old stuff. Anyway, I digress.

The next morning, the group decided 11:00 a.m. was a more realistic departure time because we were heading to the city of Fez for two nights, so why not get a later start? They're funny bunnies, I tell ya. Funny.bunnies. Fez is the place where there are famous tanneries, and men work 12 hour days to produce very soft leather for all your leather goods. It reeks, but it's still cool to see. The Medina is also a very large one (over 10,000 streets), and we learned so much about the city by taking a walking tour. We also saw sunset from up above before snuggling into our very comfy bed and cold room (ac is not standard here).

Great, but where are you now?

Back in Casa, my friends. Smartly, we decided to book an Airbnb, which is exactly what we needed. Space, routine, and quiet. The place is HUGE and all for a very whopping $55 a night. We're here until Tuesday, which is when we fly out to Senegal. Tomorrow, we plan on a Fun-day Friday, and we're going to the biggest mall in Africa! Who would have thought that a mall is something we would want to do? Actually, there is a lot of comfort in malls--they remind you of home. This isn't just a mall, though. There is an aquarium, atriums, and a movie theater (hoping to hit the release of The Woman King!). Check it out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco_Mall 

What did you eat for dinner tonight?

A relevant question, indeed, especially since I am finishing up this post right after dinner. Well, we did the classic "ooh, that looks good" (from someone's plate) and ordered one. The man repeated and almost seem to emphasize the dish to make sure we wanted it. Oh, yes. Yes, we do. What was it? Cow hoof. Slippery, slimy cow hoof. But, in true traveler style, we ate it. Well, some of it. Sila tried one bite, Conan a few more, and I probably ate the most (thanks, Ma, for raising me on cow parts--you were preparing me for some good eats abroad). Anyway, we forgot our phone, so you'll have to do with visiting this site that captures what we had: https://tastymorocco909421219.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/cow-feet-with-chickpeas/

Thanks for following along, friends. We miss and love you all!

Flyers, Donuts, and Casa (blanca, that is)

There is nothing like getting to know a place: you find your breakfast spot, as well as the best couscous ever, and the locals start to ignore you because they keep seeing you over and over again. Things really start to feel normal...until everything isn't (again).

Flyers

The school we had been hoping to be a part of in El Jadida is, well, still getting started back up after shutting down as a result of COVID. So what does that mean for us? Hmm, great question, my friends. It means NOTHING TO DO! All.day.long. 

Thankfully, however, one day we got to pass our flyers. And when I say "we," I really mean Sila. That boy is a pro with handing out flyers. He, in fact, loved it, which was great because Conan and I were dreading it (side note: when people try to hand you something in the street--a concert flyer or anything else--just take it. What's the worst that could happen?). In fact we actually bribed Sila with a fresh donut if he would pass out flyers. Sila, being a reward-child, was game, and not only did he pass out his flyers, he passed out ours. A win-win all around. We also really got to interact with the local people below our "apartment" (cough, beds in a school classroom), making some new friends as a result of our flyer-passing-out evening.

Donuts

If you really know me, you know that I'm not much of a sweets person, and donuts generally don't impress me. But not these donuts. These donuts are amazing. They're hot, chewy, and covered in fresh granulated sugar. Ah-maze-ing. 

Casablanca

After a late-night scare of someone breaking into our apartment (not what actually happened--it was our Workaway host, Harim, crashing on one of the extra beds), we decided El Jadida wasn't the spot for us. We LOVED the town overall and developed a good routine of working out in the morning while Sila played on the dilapidated basketball hoop, visiting the beach, and finding good local food. However, there was just no sense of purpose for us.

So after Harim scared the bejeezus out of us, we left the next day for the downtown Casa school. Having stayed in two of his "apartments," we decided to rent a hotel for this current week. This was a delicate cultural dance we had to do in order to not offend, but here we are in downtown Casablanca and supposed to work with students tonight. Wish us luck, my friends.

So that's where we are and, in general, what we have been doing since my last post. Our mental state, however, is a bit on the decline. Again, it's as if Conan and I have never traveled before. We're definitely calibrating and trying to figure out how to not just survive but thrive this year. Being on the road like this is hard. Very hard. But, we're learning and trying to be patient. We've even developed a mantra: Go where we want to go; stay where we want to stay; see what we want to see; do what we want to do. Prolific, for sure! Hah. 

 

Pictures: I Know Y'all Want to See Pictures

 

Four Places in One Week

 Wow. Just wow. What a week this has been. As you know from my last post, we had to switch hostels because they overbooked. Let me take you through the journey of our sleeping quarters this past week, my friends:

Bed Square and a hotel that I cannot remember the name: Overbooked and no room at the Inn

You basically know the deal with this one. They often get overbooked by Hostelworld, "so thank you for booking with us, but you must leave." This new room: hard-as-heck beds and a bathroom smell that would make any garbage man (or woman) gag. We were jet-lagged, though, so no big deal.

Another hotel (and no, I don't remember this name either)

Was this a step up? Absolutely. Soft bed, lovely smelling bathroom. But wait--let me tell you about the music. Each night we stayed there, there was a beautiful (but loud) African band playing upstairs. I want you to imagine horse clattering and loud bellowing...for three hours. Sigh, no sleep here.

Workaway stay--free apartment in Casablanca!

Part of our mission this year is to use our services for good. What are our services, you ask? Well teaching, of course! So, we signed up for three weeks volunteering our English-speaking mouths for Moroccans learning English. Basically, we just need to chat with them a few times a day. It's lovely--at least for the one day we did it.

Harim, our lovely host, showed us our apartment right next to the school. What did it entail, you ask? Well, three mattresses, some suspect sheets, and two pillows. Oh, and a lot of dirt. Needless to say, we didn't sleep well last night. 

Thankfully, Harim thought we would be better off in El Jadida (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Jadida), so we packed our bags and left at 8:00 a.m. this morning to drive to this city. This drive only took 4 hours because Harim had to do some errands: new neon lights for his pool and some new steel gates for his farm. Sigh. Travel--a beautiful blend of seeing new sights, nostalgia, and waiting....endless waiting.

Another free apartment in El Jadida

We have arrived to a better living situation (see below picture), and with a little soap, some scrubbing, and some reorganization, we can see ourselves finally staying put for the next three weeks (we have tickets out to Senegal on the 20th of September).

Whew. What a week and so many lessons learned. It's as if we haven't traveled before and all the things we knew vanished from our jet-lagged and tired brains. We'll get there, though. Thankfully, El Jadida is a port city, so there is some familiarity--palm trees and ocean breeze. Oh, and it's sardine season...have mercy!

Morocco or Bust!

We have arrived, dear followers! After one car, two planes, one train, one taxi, and one wandering around a purposely confusing old city (https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/cultural-space-of-jemaa-el-fna-square-00014), we arrived with a big sigh to our BOOKED hostel.

Unfortunately, the hostel overbooked us, but "No worries, my friend. We have another place for you." So, one short walk and one lesser quality hostel room, we got to set our backpacks down. After walking around for a bit and promising Sila we would come back for the famous night market (we didn't come back--promises broken: 1), we settled onto our hard beds and pretended we wouldn't fall asleep at 7:00 p.m. (we did). The beds might be the hardest surface I have ever slept on (other than a floor or bench). Thankfully, the Griffins like hard beds and a dark place.  

Today is another day, though, and we're feeling good. We saw a famous tomb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadian_Tombs), got some tea, and figured out our game plan for the next few days (we're staying...just in a new space).

That's it for now. I'm trying to figure out Sila's "education" for this week and help him navigate his first blog post: https://worldstories2022.blogspot.com/. If you know of good websites, games, and educational activities, post them below!

Ugh. Here is my first post! Griffins take off again.

Okay, friends. Here is my first f-ing post! Yes, I procrastinated, and no, I didn't forget about putting you all on my blog-distribution list. The truth of the matter is that I have been busy. So.very.busy.

Those who know me well know about my lists. I have lists for everything, and for the last two weeks, I have had a daily list that is insane in the membrane. Want to know what tomorrow's list looks like (the day BEFORE we leave)? Well, here it is!

And, if you're able to click on and enlarge it, you'll see some surprising last-minute stuff. Get visa photos? Really? We waited until the day before to get something so important? Yup, we did because in addition to all the lists, we have also been having fun. Pool parties, friend gatherings, music weekend with MAD Libs/Nicole/Monica, and dinner and dancing with the Riveras and Tucks.

Anyway, I digress. Most of you know that Conan, Sila, and I are (in theory) going around the world in the next 8-9 months. However, we know nothing about our trip other than the first two nights hotel. That's how we roll. So my reference to "in theory" means we have no idea where we'll actually go. We could end up never leaving Africa. Or, we could end up camping on Antartica. All are real possibilities.

So for those who don't know, we're starting in Morocco. We'll spend about a month there, and then there is talk about a quick trip to Europe before going deeper in Africa. 

So, I finally ripped the bandaid off. My first post is written. It's short, but it's where I'm at right now. I have another one in mind, so who knows when that will be written. I plan to make a blog-writing schedule. I'll have to put it on my next to-do list, though!

Well, I'm signing off. Wish us all good travel luck. We'll be thinking of you all. Let us know you're reading about our adventures, and come out and visit if you get a wild hair up your butt!!

The Love Project Manifesto

So here goes: I don't know much about manifestos, or the "rules" that govern them, and what I do know is through Jerry Maguire (and his rant against the man) and through a brewery called TrimTab, where I initially mocked their quest to change the world through drinking beer--a very American thing, indeed. If you want to check it out, you can here: http://trimtabbrewing.com/about_us/#post-370-title

Anyway, I have wandered. What has sparked me to write this manifesto (and to see it bloom in other areas of my life) is war, specifically war against our fellow man (or woman). As with most wars, I of course learned about it on Facebook. I hate Facebook, but yet get on it. I know; I know. But the other day I got on and saw the most sickening thing yet: people defending our "American-ness" and our rights by weighing in on the Syrian immigrants issue (specifically, bringing them to America). Long story short, I was SHOCKED by the ignorance, hatred, and exclusion I saw. People I was so-called "friends" with were posting petitions to sign, touting our safety was not to be jeopardized by bringing refugees to America. ARE YOU SERIOUS? Did people not learn our American history? Do we not remember how/why the Puritans got here, and do we not remember that we actually weren't here first, and that our country is built on the foundation of immigrants/refugees? Shocking.

Needless to say, that day, I unfriended a few people and vowed never to get on FB again. But, I soon realized, that doesn't make sense. How can I really make a difference if the gazillion people on FB don't see anything different than ignorance or hatred? So I am going about this a different way, and I'm pretty positive it won't make a difference, but I don't care. What I can do amidst this chaos is show love. Love for myself, my relationships, and for all people in this world. And I intend to do just that.

The Love Project

This manifesto is quite simple: focus on the love. With that comes a focus on the positive and on the happiness of each blessed moment we have on this earth. 

I will share my love in different ways, and I will live my life in a way that shapes a positive perspective of and toward my fellow man. If I can show and recognize the multitude of ways that love is present in my everyday life, then maybe I will make a difference. 

Love. Happiness. Peace.