Reason 404 Why I Love Morocco: I can sit in a crowded taxi with my arm around a strange man and his hand on my knee without all the Western fears of male/male intimacy.
Peace Corps
Aside
Reason 612 Why I Love (Rural) Morocco: To quote more than a few shop owners, who more often than not just hang a sheet or lean a broom across the front of their shop when they go home for lunch, “There are no thieves here.”
Africa, Culture, History, Life, Peace Corps, Travel
Azemmour
• 0 Comments
Note: This post was begun months ago during the end of summer, but life became complicated so its final edits and publication were postponed again and again. Every week, it seems, I discover yet another amazing aspect of Morocco. Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve had a chance to explore the coastline…
Aside
Reason 318 Why I Love Morocco: Many people I meet for the first time while walking around insist I stay with them next time I’m in town.
Culture, History, Nature, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Aghbalou N’Kerdouss
• 5 Comments
Tucked up into the Atlas Mountains near the Amazigh hotbeds of Goulmima and Tinjdad, is a remarkable little village called Aghbalou N’Kerdous. Situated near a year-long creek that provides ample water for crops, the town, despite the altitude, has been thriving for ages. The word “aghbalou,” pronounced with a slight ‘r’ after the ‘a’ so that…
Aside
Reason 584 Why I Love Morocco: The hot season and the watermelon season are in near perfect alignment.
Culture, History, Life, Nature, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Local Ksars (Ksor)
• 0 Comments
Yesterday, I went with my friend, Slimane, on an extended bike ride to explore some local Ksars, or Ksor to use the Arabic plural. Ksars are older, enclosed communities whose expansive structures used traditional construction methods, such as mud, hay, and palm trunks. Think of them as expanding apartment complexes that emerged organically around oases. Some…
Culture, History, Nature, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Chellah
• 1 Comment
Within Rabat, the capital of Morocco, are the remains of an ancient city called Chellah. Originally Phoenician and Carthaginian, then Roman, then Muslim, the ruins are fairly well-preserved. Eventually, the site became a cemetery, or necropolis, as the Muslims favored nearby Salé. The site also contains a lovely botanical garden and has become a favored…
Aside
Hard at work
Reason 742 Why I love Morocco: It’s difficult to find an audience for complaining. The general consensus is “everything is as it should be.”
The other day, it was 110°F/45°C. As I went about doing my errands suffering and complaining to locals about the temperature, every response was, “Thank God for the heat.”
Culture, Life, Peace Corps, Travel
Dar Dyalna, Our Home
• 7 Comments
For the first time in what seems like ages, we will finally have a place to call our own, our dar dyalna, our home. Though our home stays with Moroccan families have been incredible, there is nothing quite like having one’s own space. Ever since we left our jobs last summer, we have, more or…
