Brief interuption in the present: I am in a tiny fishing/surfing village and had just thought 10 min. ago how i broke my streak by not meeting any jews in this town yet.
Guess who i happen to sit beside in an internet cafe?
bingo.
im cursed. or blessed.
it all depends how you look at it.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
isnt that ice cream cold?
After a VERY VERY long day (5 hour bus ride, 2.5 hour ferry ride, 12 hour train) I finally arrived in marakesh. i was in africa baby.
i already knew that morrooans were friendly since i had befriended a ferry worker with whom i manage to have a 2 hour convesation with in french. he told me all about his life and i wish him well in his goal to marry a european girl.
after spending 2 hours trying to find a hotel room (being a fee spirit has its downside) i set out to explore.
a square that had been empty at 8am became filled with ppl,donkeys, scooters, carsm orange juice stands , date stands by 11.
marrakesh fascinates me. its so diverse3, but not diver4se the way toronto is with chinse, indian, was[, jew, philipine an every other oulour under the sun.
morocco is interesting b/ they are all moroocon, yet different.
beggers with no teeth, young boys in jeans and g-star sweatshirts, women in various states of head coverings, from the entire face, to just the hair, men in djellabsm basically resse that button up in front wih pointy hoodsm morrocon slippers, high heels....it just goes on.
young, old, poor, dirt poor, rich, students, beggars, dnkey drivers m merchants all mix into this city.
i started off my day with an ice cream the best decision i have made so far.
this guy started talking to me in frenchm aking why i was eating ice cream so early and wasnt it cold?
we ended up spending 3 days togehter...and not in the way that you think.
he showed me around morocoo.
we walked around and he bought me organic oranges (moroco cant generally afford pesticides) and then took me to his uncles shop.
i refused to buy a carpet in his uncles shop but that was still ok.
we had mint tea in the carpet shop ad some mexians joined us who were his friend..
mint tea is a morocoon institution. thjere is this whole etiquette around it that i am hopeless with.
they also pour it from like 3 feet above the cup.
its delish tho.
then i decided to go to hamman.
definitely a CLOSE UP look at the culture.
incase u dont know, hammans are public bathhouses.
not every house has running water and muslims are required to keep clean (they were way cleaner then the chrisitans in the middle ages who took a bath like once a year)
i didnt really know what to expect.
i bought this black soap and a scrubbing glove. the black soap is this ancient goop they spoon into saran wrap for you.
the ancient women at the front didnt speak much french or english, and my arabic is not quite up to scratch, so we communicated with hand gestures.
get naked, she said.
um...fully naked? I asked
everything , she commanded
alrighty.
apparantly these uber modest muslims strip communally (single sex).
this women made me sit on a mat, in a steaming hot room while i rubbed black soap over me. i had no idea where to look.
this nice girl who spoke english spoke to me for a bit. akwaaarrrd.
then the women came over, took the scrubbing glove and a big bucket of water and started scrubbing me down.
and i mean scrubbing.
i thought she was ripping my skin off.
she contorted me into positions over her naked ancient body to scrub every part of me.
this is not for shy ppl.
skin fell off of me in balls of black goop.
then she gave me a 'massage' whie i was lying on the floor, on a plastic mat, infront of 15 other naked muslim womenm until a bucket of hot water got poured over me again and again.
sweet.
i hopped back into my clothes, dazed and drowsed.
later that aftertoon i went back to that guys uncles rug shop and smoked hookah and drank tequila and played in his cellar with the mexians, a british guy and a swedish couple.
i was so drowsy from the hammam tho i went back to my freezing hotel room early when the pervy night watch guy wished me goodnight.
i already knew that morrooans were friendly since i had befriended a ferry worker with whom i manage to have a 2 hour convesation with in french. he told me all about his life and i wish him well in his goal to marry a european girl.
after spending 2 hours trying to find a hotel room (being a fee spirit has its downside) i set out to explore.
a square that had been empty at 8am became filled with ppl,donkeys, scooters, carsm orange juice stands , date stands by 11.
marrakesh fascinates me. its so diverse3, but not diver4se the way toronto is with chinse, indian, was[, jew, philipine an every other oulour under the sun.
morocco is interesting b/ they are all moroocon, yet different.
beggers with no teeth, young boys in jeans and g-star sweatshirts, women in various states of head coverings, from the entire face, to just the hair, men in djellabsm basically resse that button up in front wih pointy hoodsm morrocon slippers, high heels....it just goes on.
young, old, poor, dirt poor, rich, students, beggars, dnkey drivers m merchants all mix into this city.
i started off my day with an ice cream the best decision i have made so far.
this guy started talking to me in frenchm aking why i was eating ice cream so early and wasnt it cold?
we ended up spending 3 days togehter...and not in the way that you think.
he showed me around morocoo.
we walked around and he bought me organic oranges (moroco cant generally afford pesticides) and then took me to his uncles shop.
i refused to buy a carpet in his uncles shop but that was still ok.
we had mint tea in the carpet shop ad some mexians joined us who were his friend..
mint tea is a morocoon institution. thjere is this whole etiquette around it that i am hopeless with.
they also pour it from like 3 feet above the cup.
its delish tho.
then i decided to go to hamman.
definitely a CLOSE UP look at the culture.
incase u dont know, hammans are public bathhouses.
not every house has running water and muslims are required to keep clean (they were way cleaner then the chrisitans in the middle ages who took a bath like once a year)
i didnt really know what to expect.
i bought this black soap and a scrubbing glove. the black soap is this ancient goop they spoon into saran wrap for you.
the ancient women at the front didnt speak much french or english, and my arabic is not quite up to scratch, so we communicated with hand gestures.
get naked, she said.
um...fully naked? I asked
everything , she commanded
alrighty.
apparantly these uber modest muslims strip communally (single sex).
this women made me sit on a mat, in a steaming hot room while i rubbed black soap over me. i had no idea where to look.
this nice girl who spoke english spoke to me for a bit. akwaaarrrd.
then the women came over, took the scrubbing glove and a big bucket of water and started scrubbing me down.
and i mean scrubbing.
i thought she was ripping my skin off.
she contorted me into positions over her naked ancient body to scrub every part of me.
this is not for shy ppl.
skin fell off of me in balls of black goop.
then she gave me a 'massage' whie i was lying on the floor, on a plastic mat, infront of 15 other naked muslim womenm until a bucket of hot water got poured over me again and again.
sweet.
i hopped back into my clothes, dazed and drowsed.
later that aftertoon i went back to that guys uncles rug shop and smoked hookah and drank tequila and played in his cellar with the mexians, a british guy and a swedish couple.
i was so drowsy from the hammam tho i went back to my freezing hotel room early when the pervy night watch guy wished me goodnight.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Smell like Sulphur
Oh my goodness.
i feel the need to blog so when Im old and wrinkly and confined to my bed i can read this and remember.
After missing 2 buses, getting asked out by a Man from the Nigerian Ibu tribe and almost having a breakdown in the Madrid bus station while my temporary traveling buddy, another american jewm annoyed me, i finally FINALLY arrived in Granada.
I went to Granada where i missed the most visited monument in spain, the Alahmbra because it was sold out 8900 ppl are allowed in a day. it was low season. it was sold out by 11 oclock. doesnt that scare anyone? tourists are taking over the world!!
but i met a lot of cooler people in Funky Backpackers hotel. I'll talk about the highlights so i can get to MORROCO where i am now.
Granada is a beautfil city. it reminds me of greece. winding alleyways, short, squat white buildings, small brown dirty children playing in the narrow streets in front of their houses. its easy and fun to get lost. the view is great (greece still has the best view of anywhere ive been though). The alahambra, a massive Moorish palace built in the 8th century or so, is floodlight at night.
so i wanted to do an excursion since i was there for 3 days, which is a lot in a small city. my hostel was offering thermal hotsprings for 10 euro. It sounded like a lot of money, but i just wanted to do something that night.
but...the more questions you asked the receptionsit./, the sketicher it got.
Where is it?
In the middle of nowhere.
How long have you been running this?
A month
Who runs it?
A friend of the daughter of a women who works at the hostel.
What should i bring?
Clothes that you dont mind getting totally ruined and stained
How many people are going?
just you three (me, a canadian girl and an american guy)
righhhtttt.......lets say it all together now! SKETCH.
so we got picked up in the mdidle of a square in 5 degree weather in a beat up mercedes by a young black/german/spanish guy.
he drove us literally through the wilderness into an olive grove. he told us people got nervous around the time when he starts to drive through a ditch.
when we got 'there', there was an rv, distant fires that were probably 'hippies' and a circular thing with a pipe going into it spilling water.
so there i was, in the middle of an olive grove, about to dip into a pool of water that was stinking like rotten eggs while several naked spainards smoked spliffs a few metres away.
so i dived right in.
the water was defintiliy thermal. it felt amazing after freezing my ass off in my stupidtiy of not bringing a jacket on this trip.
it turned into a really good nigth. we were just drinking in this thermal springs, with only locals, who apprantly have zero hangups about nudity. then the american guy asked the spainard for a spliff, (which was terrible since europe has shitty weed.)
and then these people come up to us and start talking to us. guess who they were?
no really..tkae a guess...
well i had yet to fulfil my Jew Quota for Granada, so naturally my last night there i spent it with ISRAELIS.
dammit
i raelly have to write my essay now but i will get back with tales from afria. because, there are oh so many.
i feel the need to blog so when Im old and wrinkly and confined to my bed i can read this and remember.
After missing 2 buses, getting asked out by a Man from the Nigerian Ibu tribe and almost having a breakdown in the Madrid bus station while my temporary traveling buddy, another american jewm annoyed me, i finally FINALLY arrived in Granada.
I went to Granada where i missed the most visited monument in spain, the Alahmbra because it was sold out 8900 ppl are allowed in a day. it was low season. it was sold out by 11 oclock. doesnt that scare anyone? tourists are taking over the world!!
but i met a lot of cooler people in Funky Backpackers hotel. I'll talk about the highlights so i can get to MORROCO where i am now.
Granada is a beautfil city. it reminds me of greece. winding alleyways, short, squat white buildings, small brown dirty children playing in the narrow streets in front of their houses. its easy and fun to get lost. the view is great (greece still has the best view of anywhere ive been though). The alahambra, a massive Moorish palace built in the 8th century or so, is floodlight at night.
so i wanted to do an excursion since i was there for 3 days, which is a lot in a small city. my hostel was offering thermal hotsprings for 10 euro. It sounded like a lot of money, but i just wanted to do something that night.
but...the more questions you asked the receptionsit./, the sketicher it got.
Where is it?
In the middle of nowhere.
How long have you been running this?
A month
Who runs it?
A friend of the daughter of a women who works at the hostel.
What should i bring?
Clothes that you dont mind getting totally ruined and stained
How many people are going?
just you three (me, a canadian girl and an american guy)
righhhtttt.......lets say it all together now! SKETCH.
so we got picked up in the mdidle of a square in 5 degree weather in a beat up mercedes by a young black/german/spanish guy.
he drove us literally through the wilderness into an olive grove. he told us people got nervous around the time when he starts to drive through a ditch.
when we got 'there', there was an rv, distant fires that were probably 'hippies' and a circular thing with a pipe going into it spilling water.
so there i was, in the middle of an olive grove, about to dip into a pool of water that was stinking like rotten eggs while several naked spainards smoked spliffs a few metres away.
so i dived right in.
the water was defintiliy thermal. it felt amazing after freezing my ass off in my stupidtiy of not bringing a jacket on this trip.
it turned into a really good nigth. we were just drinking in this thermal springs, with only locals, who apprantly have zero hangups about nudity. then the american guy asked the spainard for a spliff, (which was terrible since europe has shitty weed.)
and then these people come up to us and start talking to us. guess who they were?
no really..tkae a guess...
well i had yet to fulfil my Jew Quota for Granada, so naturally my last night there i spent it with ISRAELIS.
dammit
i raelly have to write my essay now but i will get back with tales from afria. because, there are oh so many.
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