Well, I’m on vacation. Again Seems like I do a lot of that here, but then it’s been a pretty slow summer back at the ranch.
So I spent the first few days of my last Moroccan vacation (for now, I should say) in the northern coastal town of Asilah. Like Essaouira, Asilah abounds with Portuguese influence, although as a vacation spot, unlike Essouaira, it remains dominated by Moroccans. Still, my stay there involved reasonably peaceful days, punctuated by some gorgeous seaside strolls (sans camera, I’m afraid, in an attempt to lighten my load), a little sunbathing, and exploring what may be the most sterile medina I have ever entered (I have to agree with my guidebook on this point). Interestingly, stroll is about all I do (and sometimes eat, of course – shrimp yum!). While I have been known to make the occasional impulse buy during my almost 2-year stay in this country (September 13 marks the anniversary), I have yet to go on a major souvenir/gift-buying binge! My apologies, in advance, to friends and family, just in case the shopping bug permanently fails to bite!
Wednesday, I headed up to Tangier. Perhaps to seek a little literary inspiration, given my failure to write (1) blog updates, (2) grad school statements of purpose, (3) any epic e-mails (although surely the usual recipients of those are probably enjoying the respite!), or (4) anything otherwise thoughtful or interesting.
I’d been to Tangier once before – a brief overnight stay on my way to Spain via ferry. Suffice it to say that under those circumstances, the city didn’t do much for me. This time, however, I booked a slightly pricier (or perhaps I should say, “less cheap”) pension outside of the medina. A breezy, polite little place that is making things all the more comfortable. So I could go walk around the city’s not-quite-as-sterile medina, and then return to some relative peace and quiet. Not to mention there are actually museums and fancy restaurants here!
So I spent the first few days of my last Moroccan vacation (for now, I should say) in the northern coastal town of Asilah. Like Essaouira, Asilah abounds with Portuguese influence, although as a vacation spot, unlike Essouaira, it remains dominated by Moroccans. Still, my stay there involved reasonably peaceful days, punctuated by some gorgeous seaside strolls (sans camera, I’m afraid, in an attempt to lighten my load), a little sunbathing, and exploring what may be the most sterile medina I have ever entered (I have to agree with my guidebook on this point). Interestingly, stroll is about all I do (and sometimes eat, of course – shrimp yum!). While I have been known to make the occasional impulse buy during my almost 2-year stay in this country (September 13 marks the anniversary), I have yet to go on a major souvenir/gift-buying binge! My apologies, in advance, to friends and family, just in case the shopping bug permanently fails to bite!
Wednesday, I headed up to Tangier. Perhaps to seek a little literary inspiration, given my failure to write (1) blog updates, (2) grad school statements of purpose, (3) any epic e-mails (although surely the usual recipients of those are probably enjoying the respite!), or (4) anything otherwise thoughtful or interesting.
I’d been to Tangier once before – a brief overnight stay on my way to Spain via ferry. Suffice it to say that under those circumstances, the city didn’t do much for me. This time, however, I booked a slightly pricier (or perhaps I should say, “less cheap”) pension outside of the medina. A breezy, polite little place that is making things all the more comfortable. So I could go walk around the city’s not-quite-as-sterile medina, and then return to some relative peace and quiet. Not to mention there are actually museums and fancy restaurants here!
View from Terrasse des Paresseux in Tangier.
My weird cemetary thing: I had company at St. Andrew's Church.
Perhaps, literary inspiration permitting, more updates will follow, as I have a few more days of leisure travel before heading to Rabat for a meeting next week. (Meetings or not, Rabat is always a welcome break for me!). Normal travel stresses notwithstanding (I’ll leave griping about those for another day as well), I have very much enjoyed the change of scenery. This part of the country always feels so much more developed than my home in Errachidia…
Random thought for the week: I miss rain. A good, solid rain. Every time I watch a movie or TV show with a good rainstorm, I feel so nostalgic. It’s not that it never rains here, or that it isn’t sometimes horribly inconvenient and dirty when it does, but it’s a rare enough event that, as I grow more and more anxious about returning to the States, it is one of those little things that I realize that I never realized I would miss the way I do!
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