In simple English now, Maroc is great!!![I dragged these ones from the archives... I don't think I could replicate it as it is full of the immediacy of the situation and the fact that I was writing it from a cyber cafe where the Moroccans were using the privacy of the curtained off cubicles to express their adolescent post-modernist affection for eachother!!]
1.
I am currently touring Morocco and this time I will not bore you with aimless essays on my endless observations of contemporary socio-cultural trends. Ahem, ok...
We made this one friend in the desert near Ouarzazate, south of Marrakesh and he was so cool, getting the best prices for us and dealing with all the moroccans in arabic on our behalf. pretty awesome. We will miss him when we take him back tomorrow.
We are currently in Essaouira and goin south after having been with my lovely siblings Paul, Mark and Ana and cousin Ian and had so many laughs driving around Morocco with these guys and especially alone with Mark in south morocco thru crazy mountains and meeting crazy ppl.
We also surfed perfect waves too as you will see from the attached pix and and that was so sick i am totally stoked - big swell comin in on thursday too.
Moroccan tagine stew and soup is so gorgeous!!!
After surfing some big waves in Tagazhout and getting nailed comin in against the rocks at Ankas and later catching up with Gary and his bro in the main town I headed south to Sidi Ifni which I soon found out had been a Spanish colony until 1969. Ppl were friendly and down to earth and surf was pumping so i stayed there for a week too.
2.
The latest episode is that I have been staying in the desert with a camel seller who is a tribesman in the area around Goulmime
. Its been pretty crazy as my friend I am travelling with met up with this guy in the last town and made friends with the camel seller, whose name is Mubarrak or somin.
We also met up with this young man earlier in a fishing village. We had just had a puncture and he put us up and cooked a first-class meal for us that left us so full up... He speaks 4 languages and is plotting to take his chances with the fishing boats and illegally emigrate to Europe. At 500 euros a pop it seems an easy option for people like Ali, whose daily income barely keeps him afloat with enough food to survive the week. Meanwhile, his friends in the Canaries work on slave wages and hours there, but then come back to their town having moved up a whole caste.
Needless to say, he fixed our puncture problem and got the trusty Renault Clio on its way again to Goulmime where we were having to deal with this guy...
The tribesman we stayed with was trying to convince him to travel the desert with a donkey and I think my Dutch mate, Ernst, has agreed to do so now. Should be an experience if he doesnt die of thirst or cold. Hehe!! [Actually he tried it... but both times the donkey just stopped in the middle of the desert got to its knees and wouldn't budge. He had to walk back all day until he got to Mubarrak and eventually got the bus. He then followed this by having some incredible adventures in Africa which made me feel quite proud to have met him and wanting to do some of that myself soon].
We also met up with this young man earlier in a fishing village. We had just had a puncture and he put us up and cooked a first-class meal for us that left us so full up... He speaks 4 languages and is plotting to take his chances with the fishing boats and illegally emigrate to Europe. At 500 euros a pop it seems an easy option for people like Ali, whose daily income barely keeps him afloat with enough food to survive the week. Meanwhile, his friends in the Canaries work on slave wages and hours there, but then come back to their town having moved up a whole caste.
Needless to say, he fixed our puncture problem and got the trusty Renault Clio on its way again to Goulmime where we were having to deal with this guy...
The tribesman we stayed with was trying to convince him to travel the desert with a donkey and I think my Dutch mate, Ernst, has agreed to do so now. Should be an experience if he doesnt die of thirst or cold. Hehe!! [Actually he tried it... but both times the donkey just stopped in the middle of the desert got to its knees and wouldn't budge. He had to walk back all day until he got to Mubarrak and eventually got the bus. He then followed this by having some incredible adventures in Africa which made me feel quite proud to have met him and wanting to do some of that myself soon].
We lived in a house made of clay which was really warm and ate a tagine which is like a big meat stew with vegetables. Very tasty and filled us up a lot. Learning a bit of Arabic and planning to go north back to Agadir tomorrow. Its been relaxed and quiet in the desert and have been able to communicate with the arabs and open up a new world I never knew was so accesible.
I have fond memories recalling those times we spent in the evening, poking my teeth with my nails as the chicken stuck in its crevices and my stomach rumbled as it digested the large amounts of meat and vegetables it had just consumed.
I suppose it is just that way in people's homes in Morocco. You cannot just say I am not hungry. Mubarrak would immediately grunt at me, gesturing with his hand... "Eat!"; My expression of apparent satisfaction was cordially ignored as he repeated the process with enough ferocity to make me take up the piece of bread next to me and dip it into that tasty bowl of tagine and take one more rummage into that exquisite mix of lovingly-cooked ingredients.
It is no surprise that I actually put on weight rather than lost it in Morocco.
Check all my Moroccan and latest pics on: www.picasaweb.google.com/john.culatto
I have fond memories recalling those times we spent in the evening, poking my teeth with my nails as the chicken stuck in its crevices and my stomach rumbled as it digested the large amounts of meat and vegetables it had just consumed.
I suppose it is just that way in people's homes in Morocco. You cannot just say I am not hungry. Mubarrak would immediately grunt at me, gesturing with his hand... "Eat!"; My expression of apparent satisfaction was cordially ignored as he repeated the process with enough ferocity to make me take up the piece of bread next to me and dip it into that tasty bowl of tagine and take one more rummage into that exquisite mix of lovingly-cooked ingredients.
It is no surprise that I actually put on weight rather than lost it in Morocco.
Check all my Moroccan and latest pics on: www.picasaweb.google.com/john.culatto
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