Sunday, April 22, 2012

The People (Morocco Pt2)

From the time I arrived in Morocco till I left each person I met fortified my faith in humanity. The warmth, concern and easy nature of these people-Moroccan or otherwise-provided a soft place for me to land after the tiring/draining term I had.

Yousef-my unofficial tour guide from Agadir. He and I met through others and he decided to show me around Marrakech on his little scooter. We had a great time.


The above two pics are of dinner with folks I met through couchsurfers.com. These people were from all over the world and the conversations we had were absolutely wonderful.

My roomies-one from the Philippines and a mother/daughter team from the UK. Lots of conversation about so many topics-women's issues to love of travel to passion for work.

Jayme-one of the roomies I went sightseeing with. I was amazed by the conversations she and I had. It felt like talking to one of my friends from the states.

The two Jamals...we made tagine with beef in the Menara Gardens. 



My boys...Jamal, Mirwen and Robert. Mirwen is a hippie from Iraq-yea I was surprised. He had just come back from a 4 month stint in India. Robert is from Slovakia and is in a state of change which made for great conversations about what really matters in life. Jamal is Moroccan. He's from a small village in the Atlas Mountains and was a great source of information.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Morocco-pt.1

I arrived in Marrakech with a very simple idea...to be open and have fun. I let go of my normal need for planning and had written down two things I simple had to do while there. First on the list was to cook a traditional Moroccan meal(whatever that was lol) and second to visit a spa. That was it. I let go of the tourist mentality of hotels, guided tours and "safe activities" and embraced whatever came to me. Let me say this was the best decision I've made in a long time. I loved every minute of my time in Morocco...so much so there were tears in my eyes as I walked away this morning. Never before have I connected with a place and people so deeply so instantly. Over the next few days I'll be uploading pics of my time in this great place...let's get started.

The dorm I stayed in...my bed was the far right. I was the first one there so I got to choose the best bed lol. Everything was very new 'cause the hostel had only been open 3 weeks.
Shot of the breakfast/dinner area. This hostel is a riad which means there is an open ceiling in the middle-lots of natural light.
These hats hung from the ceiling as decoration and a game. The game is a betting game. You choose a hat and stand where you think it'll land. If you choose right and it lands on your head you get money if you don't you give some money. I didn't play.

One of the chill out lounges.


The other lounge.

Stay tuned for more pics and videos.