Thursday, September 29, 2022
Senegal, Senegal
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Africa Stomach
I seem to be ahead of Conan in regard to my health because I am now able to sit up and type this. For me, it started two nights ago when C and I got a chance to go out solo (leaving Sila back at the surf camp) and visit an ex-pat club that had music. Beforehand, though, we stopped at a place for "the best hamburgers" (really, Senegal, the BEST hamburgers?). I was feeling a bit off and when I rose from dinner, I felt like passing out. Thankfully, I didn't, and it seemed to pass...until the sharts came. Not sure what a shart is? Google it. Anyway, yesterday wasn't too bad, and I was able to take another surf lesson, but then I started to decline and sleep last night was non-existent.
Conan's African stomach hit yesterday evening during sleep, and he said he "peed out his butthole" about seven times. Sorry, everyone--I know this is probably more than you would like to know or read, but it's real. Anyway, he is next to me, moaning and for some reason, we both can't lie on our right side (doctor friends...any reason that is?). He's eaten two bananas today; I've had one.
So there you go--that's what's happening on our glorious around-the-world adventures! I'd give you pictures, but I don't think you want to see what's going on here. Sila's enjoying taking advantage of both of his parents not monitoring his screen time, and I have a feeling he's played more than his allotted 30-minutes of Roblox. Oh well.
Send good, healing thoughts!
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Hello, Senegal!
Thursday, September 15, 2022
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!
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
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.