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.
Tag Archive for Morocco
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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
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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…
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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.
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Small grammatical errors should be forgiven when one’s writing in his or her tertiary or quaternary language.
Reason 888 Why I Love Morocco: Almost everyone speaks at least two languages, most speak three, many speak four, and it’s not unusual to find someone who can speak as many as six or seven with reasonable fluency. Yet, to a person, all are equally, incredibly humble about this amazing talent..
Culture, History, Nature, Peace Corps, Photography, Travel
Aghbalou N’Kerdouss
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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…
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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)
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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
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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…
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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.”
