Back to the Internet

So I haven't completely failed the blog concept (yet) - I just haven't had internet for the past two weeks.  During this time, I've had some awesome experiences, including a few days spent in a traditional farming community, a trip to Fez, and some time in the mountains.  Stories (and photos!) to come soon!

Fish, ports, and resorts

Despite our original plans, we are still in El Jadida for the time being.  It looks like we will be leaving here on Thursday and just pushing our original schedule back by a few days (cutting time off of Tetouan, which I've actually already visited).  The past few days have been very fishy, in a very literal sense.  Yesterday we watched some of the boats bringing fish into the city to sell - including some very large squid and crabs.  There were a whole bunch of young boys jumping off the piers and climbing back up the wooden ladders back to the port. 

From there, Wadih showed me a place (a restaurant, sort of) where you choose your fresh, whole fish right off of the grill and eat them.  Not only am I not really a fish lover in the first place, but the whole atmosphere was rather unappealing.  There were fish heads on the ground, fish spines all over the place, and a light dusting of fish scales on most visible surfaces.  People were very happily munching down on whole sardines and sucking the parts out of fish heads, though, and they seemed to do just fine with the heavy cloud of smoke from the fish grill.

I offered to try it out, but I'm sure Wadih could sense that my attempt to act adventurous was only thinly veiling a deep-seated gastronomical horror at the scene in front of us.  SO we went to a "real" restaurant across the street and got fried fish (no heads, no bones, no eyes) and pizza with calamari and shrimp.  Let it be known that I have indeed eaten a very large fish eyeball - once, at a dinner in D.C. - and I have absolutely no desire to ever repeat that experience as long as I live.

So that was my true local culinary experience.  Not quite Long John Silvers, but fun to see anyhow.

Last night we went to Mazagan, which is an enormous resort a few kilometers outside of El Jadida.  It's so huge, in fact, that it has its own helipad (and helicopter), movie theatre, golf course, spa, beach, night club, casino, and assortment of restaurants.  The actual resort was gorgeous - really beautiful - but also seemed rather removed from the actualities of life in Morocco.  It's a double-edged sword in many ways: gambling and alcohol are technically both prohibited in Islam, but both are abundant at Mazagan.  On the other hand, the resort provides hundreds of jobs for locals who might otherwise not have many employment opportunities.  Nonetheless, it felt good to get back to the hotel and "normal" life.

Time in El Jadida

Over the past few days we've been exploring the town of El Jadida, which used to be a Portuguese fort town until the 1700s.  Despite some uncharacteristic rain that kept us inside for a day, the weather has been lovely - warm during the day in the sun but cool at night.  Yesterday we visited the historic Portuguese cisterns, which made for some lovely photographs (see the album to the right).  Today we had intended to go to the port to see the men bring in the day's catch, but we ended up staying closer to the hotel.  I did, however, get some henna put on my hands, which was great.  I will say, however, that I'll be glad to leave here in a few days.  The city is pretty small and there's not a ton of things to do.  Anyhow, this is a pretty short post, but hopefully the pictures will tell their own story!

In Morocco

In Morocco is actually the title of a book by Edith Wharton, which I own but have yet to read.  Hoping to start it soon!

But yes, I am in Morocco, and having a fabulous time so far!  Yesterday was my birthday (the big 2-6), and it was certainly memorable...

I left Madrid around noon and flew into Casablanca, where I was supposed to meet Wadih at the airport.  Unfortunately, however, his train was delayed, and I didn't have a good way to get in touch with him.  The way that the Casablanca airport is set up, you actually leave the building to go out and meet your ride, and you can't get back in without showing a boarding pass for an outgoing flight.  So that meant that there were no phones around either.  After wandering around looking for Wadih (and standing out, for sure, among all of the Moroccans), I finally got the courage to ask a friendly-looking middle-aged woman to call him for me on her cell phone.  I of course, don't speak very much French or Arabic, so I sort of pointed at Wadih's phone number on a piece of paper and said something that translated approximately to "Number of boyfriend. Me no have phone. Please." But she figured it out, called, and not too long later, Wadih and I were reunited.  Thank goodness for her help!

So after that we got on the train to El Jadida, where Wadih works, only to have a 1.5 hour trip turn into a 3 hour trip when the train broke down in the middle of the trip.  Unfortunately for all of the people on board, yesterday was the last day of Ramadan, and the train broke down during the period where they were supposed to be breaking their fasts. With several hundred people stuck in a field on a train and no food with which to break the fast, everyone was remarkably good-natured and kind.  Somebody had a bag of dates, which they passed out to everyone to share, and I had a bag of dried blueberries, which Wadih distributed by telling people they were "American dates" (I don't think people really liked them, and I even heard one guy trying to explain what a blueberry is).  It was actually quite a lovely experience - breaking fast (I hadn't eaten since before I left Spain) with a train full of Moroccans. 

By the time we actually got to the hotel, it was dark.  The hotel sent a fruit basket up to our room as a welcome gift for me, and they prepared an amazing dinner of beef tajine (typical Moroccan food), eggs, yogurt, almond pastries, bread, tuna sandwiches, bread, honey coated desserts, and fresh squeezed juice.  Wadih had to "go to work" (i.e. play guitar at the hotel's outside terrace), so I sat with some people from Ireland and chatted while he was playing.  Half-way through, Wadih and the hotel staff brought out champagne and three small cakes for my birthday - everyone sang, and I got some beautiful earrings and a scarf and hat set (for cold weather in Paris) from Wadih.  We finished the night by hanging out in the garden and listening to music.  So a little bit crazy at the beginning... but by the end, a beautiful birthday :)

Today, we ate another fabulous breakfast (goodness, I love the food here!) and then went out to explore the medina, or old city, of El Jadida.  There are a series of Portuguese fortifications set against the Atlantic ocean that were beautiful (and reminiscent of Cadiz, for anyone who has been there).  Today is a special day in the Muslim world - Eid el Fitr signals the end of Ramadan and is the first time that people can eat and drink during the day.  Everyone was out in the streets, shops were closed, and people were visibly happy.  We found some young boys playing Gnawa music and sat with them for a little bit to listen.  Despite a nice breeze, it was pretty hot, so the afternoon consisted of lunch, nap, and then more music in the garden. 

The next couple of days will probably be fairly similar, as Wadih is finishing up his job here and has to play for a few more evenings.  Perhaps tomorrow will include a trip to the beach :)

Photos (and videos) to come! Peace, and thank you all for your birthday wishes!