Reason 513 Why I Love Morocco, especially after being abroad: There is a camaraderie, a genuine friendliness among people, even toward strangers. Just asking a question at the airport in broken Arabic gets a warm smile and friendly touch on the shoulder.
Awareness
Awareness, Culture, History, Life, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Tangier, Tanger, Tanja, طنجة
by Thomas Stanley • • 2 Comments
Tangier, Tanger, Tanja (طنجة), whatever you call it, is a city full of intrigue and secret histories, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. Yet, despite our investigation and openness to experience, it was much like every other large city. To be fair, the mystique was surely exaggerated in the first place. As a…
Awareness, Culture, Europe, Travel
A Turkish Bath
by Thomas Stanley • • 2 Comments
On Friday, we went to a bath house to experience a Turkish bath. There is no bath, per se, at least in the Western understanding. Rather, the term refers to the way one is washed and massaged by an attendant from head to toe. We were a bit nervous. We had looked at several, but…
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Reason 604 Why I Love Morocco: A man can look definitively masculine despite wearing what the West might see as a dress.
Awareness, Culture, History, Life, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Am I A Tourist?
by Thomas Stanley • • 2 Comments
Am I a tourist? What makes a tourist a tourist? How long must one live in a place to not be a tourist? Is it merely a state of mind, or something more substantial? If I wasn’t born in a particular place, will I forever be a tourist there? I have done my fair share of…
Awareness, Culture, Europe, History, Travel
Athens is Angry
by Thomas Stanley • • 0 Comments
Athens is angry, it seems. It’s a tempered anger, for the most part, but it is lies always below the surface. One always has the feeling of underlying tension, not with each other, but with people and social systems in power. This is most evident in the ubiquitous graffiti. In Greece, especially in major cities…
Awareness, Life, Nature, Observations, Peace Corps, Relationships, Travel
Elemental Living
by Thomas Stanley • • 2 Comments
Being in a new environment, one that often challenges my previous ways of living and understanding of my life, I was trying to find a way to frame my thinking in an effort to understand where and why I struggle. To that end, I’ve decided to harken back to traditional symbolic systems to see what…
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Reason 531 Why I Love Morocco: Midnight rides through the desert on a darkened bus enables an incredible view of the stars and moon without clouds or light pollution.
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Reason 3,333 Why I Love Morocco: Previously neglected foods are now main staples. i have eaten, or drank, more dates, olives, watermelon, oranges, eggs, fish, okra, tea, wine, couscous, honey, mint, and mutton in the last 5 years here than I did the whole 45 years before coming.
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Moroccan oranges at a local market
Reason 3,042 Why I Love Morocco: Orange season is long, abundant, and delicious.
