around the world in 180 days

Marrakesh is hot. It’s not in the Sahara proper (I don’t think), amidst the oceans of sand dunes that the name Sahara evokes, but it is definitely an oasis in the midst of a desert. During the hottest part of the day (noon to about 4) Anna and I took to holing up in our airconditioned hotel room and playing cards until the heat subsided a bit. The temperatures peaked over 100 every single day we were there and it’s still only July. I get bonus points for going to the desert twice with Anna, heat lover that she is.

Anyway, the point is that we aren’t in Marrakesh anymore, we’re in Essaouira, a town three hours away on the Atlantic coast and Essaouira isn’t hot at all with temps peaking around 80. In fact, in the evening, it gets almost chilly, cooling off into the lower 60’s.

It isn’t just the weather that’s nice in Essaouira, the whole town is very pleasant. It’s a small fishing village that’s slowly turning to tourism. There’s a wide beach to the south and a picturesque Portugese-era wall surrounding the main part of the town. To the north, the Atlantic breaks on a rocky shoreline of rugged beauty. It lacks the rush and bustle of Marrakesh, and after a few days there, it’s nice to relax a bit. The only downside of the town is the wind, which blows off the ocean, rising to what seems like gale force in the afternoon. It makes the beach a little unpleasant, because the wind picks up sand and drives it everywhere. We sat out for about 2 hours today before getting our fill, brushing off and heading back to the hotel to shower up.

6 days and we’ll be home, if things go well. Steve sent me flight updates today, and things are starting to fill up, but it still looks pretty good for us. We’ll see on Friday/Saturday. There’s 3 non-stops to MSP and like 8 more to somewhere in the states, so we’ll make it on something. We’ll try to update everyone on exact times when we get closer, but we won’t really know which flight we’re on until we’re in the air. It’ll probably be something like “we’ll be on this flight, unless you hear different.”

As far as plans go once we get back, we haven’t firmed much up yet. Anna’s cousin Jamie is hosting something at her place in Roseville on the day we fly in. Anyone is welcome–if there are a lot of people interested who don’t know where she lives, post in the comments and I’ll put directions up.

I think we’re going to head down to Rochester on Monday and visit people down there for a couple of days, then head for Cass Lake on Thursday or Friday. This is subject to change, though, because Anna needs to schedule some meetings with St. Thomas and, with luck, I’ll have an interview to schedule. After that first weekend, we haven’t figured anything out. We will be making a trip to Duluth as soon as possible to see the town and all the friends we somehow decided to leave and I want very much to visit Mille Lacs quite soon as well. After we make the rounds, we will probably be spending the bulk of our time in Mpls. After the 15th or thereabouts, we’ll both have our cell phones again, so you can call us and we can call you.
Anyway, that’s how things look at the moment. 6 days is a long time, so things could change. I’ll try to keep things updated here, but we’ve got a lot of travel time in the next 6 days so internet access will be limited.

Edit: Now that I think about it, Jamie might not want directions to her house posted on the internet. Anyone who wants directions, let me know and I’ll email directions to you. (Already got you on the list, Tony).

Yesterday, I couldn’t switch to an English keyboard layout and today Anna can’t. Lucky me, I guess.

Anyway, Morocco and Marrakesh are a great place to end our trip. We are staying in the Medina, a huge, walled area of the old town that is centered on the Place Djemaâ el Fna, which is the largest square on the African continent and is filled with henna tatooers, snake charmers, monkey tamers, orange juice salesmen and spice sellers during the day. At night, it comes alive, flooding with locals who come to see the jugglers and other artists and listen to the storytellers, drummers and singers. There are also tons of street stalls that serve food that smells wonderful but that we haven’t yet tried.

Behind the square is an enourmous labyrinthine marketplace, the largest we’ve ever seen, called the “souqs,” which means shops. The vendors are aggressive, but not like India and it’s almost amusing to once again see the same tactics deployed in yet another part of the world. It’s as if all the small time vendors, people who work in markets around the world, have an annual convention where they exchange tips and advice on what works and what doesn’t. “Hello, friend! Have a look! Looking is free, looking is free. I give you cheap price!”

Still, the vendors here are just a bit more remarkable. As a sort of crossroads for southern Europe, albeit dominated by France, Morocco has a large blend of languages. Most vendors speak their native Moroccan Arabic (distinct from the Arabic spoken in the Gulf and elsewhere), their colonial French, perhaps a dialect of Berber, and a smattering of English, German and Dutch. I’m wearing a hat of the FC Bayern Munchen, so a lot of vendors think we’re German. I get a lot of “Enshuldigung,” which I just ignore, same as if they speak in English. I just find it amazing that so many street vendors, who probably haven’t had as much in the way of schooling as the average American, can speak 4, 5 or 6 languages fluently.

Morocco, or at least Marrakesh, is also a great place for oranges. The trees that line the streets are orange trees, with ripening fruit hanging on them, and you can’t throw a stone without hitting an orange vendor. The oranges are some of the best I’ve ever tasted, juicy and ripe and delicious and the juice they make out of them is phenomenal as well. I want to go eat another one right now . . .

We’ve got another day in Marrakesh before we go to Essouira, a smallish resort/fishing village on the Atlantic coast, 2.5 hours by bus from here. We’ll spend 3 nights there, returning to Marrakesh on Wednesday, before our flight to Frankfurt and the end of our vacation. We have 9 days left (maybe less, if we get on an earlier flight to MSP, which is possible) and we’re both happy to be in Morocco and happy to be going home.

Please forgive me, but this post will be short and error strewn. The keyboard on this computer is significantly different, yet similar enough to really mess with me. In most places, you can change it to an English keyboard and ... [Continue reading this entry]