Teepee For My Bunghole

After the surf I went around to a hammam. This is a place where you’re in a tiled steam room on the floor throwing hot and cold water over yourself and soaping yourself and maybe using a scrub or getting it done for you (or maybe even getting a Moroccan massage). You feel kak clean and relaxed afterwards, I didn’t even feel sad that I was overcharged by the massage bra. It is jas – especially after cold fucking water showers in the hostel (with no shower head I might add).

Oh, and its men and women separate and you wear a boxer or some type of shorts. At 10 dirham (R6 or $1) to enter, bringing your own scrub and soap and doing it yourself, I’m considering going to one every day instead of these bastard showers from hell.

I’m still in Rabat. As part of my second interview I was supposd to give a test lesson over the internet to a student today. I initially agreed to today because I forgot what day it was and Wednesday would have been better for me. Now it turns out that France has a holiday today so I have to wait till tomorrow.

Yesterday I caught a surf just next to a pier they’re still building. There’s massive developments in the beach area and from the billboards it looks like its going to be befuck. Anyway the surf was maybe 2.5 foot onshore (in non-surfer language that means it was small and crappy) and mostly the locals caught the waves. It was a right off the pier with a tiny take off section (in non-surfer language thats just gibberish) so by the time 12 people were in the water it was crowded.

Surf is too small now but hopefully the wind drops with the growing swell. The spot looks like it can be great though when conditions are right. Some of these locals can for fucking sure rip up the waves.

So I’m in Rabat now. An hour north of Casablanca and more modern though quieter. Picture it as the progeny of Pretoria shagging Casablanca. Wide streets, relaxed atmosphere, everything closed by 10pm.

I’ve seen some Roman ruins, the King’s palace (though I don’t know who the current king is), an archeological museum and stuff places I didn’t what it was when I was looking at it – but it was cool.

The internet cafe machines have usb ports here, so I think I might show you some pics soon.

By the way these Morrocans are kinda nutty. You think at first that its the language barrier and then afterwards you realise that they’re a bunch of characters. Ya sometimes this place is like an Asterix and Obelix comic. Like when you see a bunch of kids kicking a kid on the floor and some tourist wants to intervene and the Moroccans say that the kids are just playing. These Moroccans are crazy. 

I’m staying now in the Youth Hostel just outside the medina. Very cool vibe, met some interesting people from various places on various missions. Its always nice to sit in hostels and to talk to other people about where they’ve been and where they’re going and where they’re from. The hostel is on a square in a great area.

The food’s been mostly mal. Not much food is visually appealing but I suppose that’ll change once I start to know what I’m looking at.

Gheema seems to be the spice of choice here and you’ll get it in most dishes (even tea!). You’ll even get a small bowlful to use like we would use salt or pepper. The chips are good too and server with  small dollup of lekker mustard.

Last night a meal for two of tajine, some other dish, chips, bread and a litre water came to 43 dirham (about R25/$4.5)

Tajine is a type of dish prepared in shallow clay bowls and can have vegetables, meat eggs, etc. Good stuff!

Hardest part of this journey so far is still the toilets (but not in the hostel) and this messed up keyboards. Also will have to figure out a way to post photos because the internet cafes don’t make it easy.

In an hour, me and this Turkish girl from the hostel  are going for Friday Jumuah to the King Hassan Mosque (largest mosque outside Saudi Arabia, world tallest minaret).

Okay, I’m in Casablanca fighting with these funny keyboards with letters all over the place.

Landed last night and got to Hotel Terminus with not too much hassle. 28 degrees, now that’s what I’m talking about! Seeing the city from the train it looks like a mix of poor and rich and much like other third world cities I’ve seen.

Woke up 5am this morning with a nosebleed and needing to take a dump. When I realised where I am, the dump started looking like a mission and a half. While I stopped the nosebleed I thought about it. First off, this hotel had those glorified holes in the ground toilets and I’m not finicky about most things but I do like to shit in comfort. Its just the way I am. Secondly, how the hell do you actually use those things?

Om kom vannie bom, it took me 2 minutes to kak and half an hour trying to figure out how to clean my ass. And this is with some diarrheaic American knocking on the door every 5 minutes. I would have shouted that there’s a toilet around the corner but some people take such advice as invitations to hold conversations. As much as I hate to hold conversations when I’m sitting comfortably taking a crap, imagine how I would have hated that crunched over as I was.

Spending this morning looking for another cheap hotel but with better toilets.

Impressions of Casablanca:

• Nice
• Not clean, not dirty
• Can’t figure out traffic or roadsigns
• Reminds me of downtown Rio
• Easy to get around
• Will spend some days here to check it out
• The medina (market) looks ancient and fucking cool 

My cell number +21210758626, figuring out how to load credit at present.

Okay, so here I am in another country. Although theoretically I’m not in the UK because I don’t smaak the hassle of going through passports control. Luckily Heathrow airport is kak big and there’s lots to look at. I’m here for 9 hours and feeling very much like Tom Hanks in The Terminal.

I’m off to get brunch – I hear there’s actually decent coffee around here. Still amazed by the amount of workers who aren’t English. But other than that ‘duty free’ sections are much the same the world over in airports

Okay, so this is it. Inevitably when leaving you check on all the stuff you’re not going to be able to do for a long time and you try to do them. Of course, there’re lots of things I still want to do in Cape Town, but also part of my deciding to leave was that I had done most of the major stuff I wanted to do here. So I can’t think of anything I really really want to do before I leave.

Lots of tiny outstanding items that itch at the back of my mind but in the long run, I figure it’s really not gonna matter all that much. I’ve had farewell lunches and suppers and a farewell gathering with friends. Now I’m starting to say goodbye to family. Never been much of a family bra though so I’m wondering if I’ll put in enough effort to get to all of them (plus my family is vark big).

Some of the items I need, I haven’t bought. Mainly because sometimes I rather go without if I don’t get the exactly the product I want. Jeans and takkies (sneakers) for instance. Levi’s changed their original 501 jeans cut slightly. I know this because I’ve been wearing the same style for 15 years about and was plenty pissed off when I tried to replace my current jeans and it fit differently. So I’m going to Morocco with jeans (a jean pant?) breaking apart because the new style doesn’t cut it and I just don’t smaak the whole effort of trying different brands and styles.

Since my takkies was nationalised last year I’ve been looking for other takkies. I don’t mind trying on takkies because it’s less effort and the size on display usually fits me. But yessus it’s kak difficult trying to find plain comfortable takkies that’s not white. I even looked online for my old style of Nike’s but I found nothing. I tried to compromise and bought a pair of white Adidas but only wore them a couple of times. Not to mention that white colour made me cringe every time I put them on.

So now I’m going to Morocco with broken jeans and no takkies. But hey, hopefully in Morocco there are styles that appeal more to me and also the Levi 501 cut is still original. I’ll never know till I go…

Home stretch to take off. I’m missioning on my shengen visa this week as well because some stuff came up that might make me do a side trip to Sweden. Hopefully I can find a way to make it. Besides that I’m meeting mense for suppers and learning teaching English in the mornings. Also putting all the finishing preparations in place.

To-do List

• internet banking
• mail shauna
• shengen (sp?) visa
• exchange multitool
• sell old wetsuits
• buy backpack
• pack up room

Gotta go, laters, G.

This is it, you know. This week isn’t the same as last week and next week won’t be the same as this. It’s not often that you go through these watershed moments in your life. Mostly it’s times like leaving school or finishing varsity or something like that.

Well that’s how I feel, like I just passed matric, like I have the world waiting for me. Lots of planning and preparations still to get through before I’m ready for Morocco but mentally I’m in the perfect frame of mind. For weeks I’ve been stressing about whether this is a good idea or not, but now this unfounded feeling of liberation has gotten hold of me.

You should try it.

Yesterday I went to the airport to see some siblings off on their holiday to South East Asia. Last night I went to the Snoop Dogg Concert. Today is not going to be like yesterday, nor is the day after that. Don’t even talk when the 16th comes. That’s going to be a whole other trip altogether.

Thought for the Day:

A man that has risked his life knows careers are worthless, and a man who will not risk his career has a worthless life.

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