Merzouga

Dead Turkey

I know I have been off the radar for a bit. Some of that is sheer laziness, but there has also been a lot going on. I spent a little time at home in the States - a little reverse culture shock this time, but quickly settled back into many of the comforts (plus I discovered that I can run like the wind back at home now that I have been "training" - and I do use that word loosely - at higher altitude!).

Happy retirement Dad!

I returned to Morocco just in time to have to say goodbye to another sitemate. At least we finally ate that damn turkey not long before he left. Kebab style.

Can you spot the anorexic turkey?

So this past week, I have been taking my "re-integration" into Assoul slowly, although I realize that I am at a pretty good place in my life here if - even after feeling like I really broke my groove with a trip to the States - getting out and about town again, for the most part, does seem to lift my mood a bit. (Yoga, reading, and DVD escapism get me the rest of the way, more or less…)

I brought back some seashells to share with friends in Assoul. This isn't something they've seen a lot of, and there isn't even really a word for it in Tamazight, so they're called imzyan n islman (literally, "fish ears"). It took a while to explain to my friend Mina (who went to the beach with me last summer) that they weren't actually fish ears, but that the fish live inside (we didn't even get into the fact that these fish don't look anything like sardines -- the only fish that ever make it to Assoul!).

And this weekend, I finally made it down to the desert dunes of Merzouga (most of the desert around me is rocky, but this is what you might imagine the Moroccan desert to look like!). I rode a camel (a first), slept under the stars, and had various adventures that cannot all be reported here... (although my face is feeling remarkably exfoliated after a little sandblasting). It was gorgeous, and a much needed mini-vacation after a bumpy return from the States!

[Pix to follow - unlike my buddy Laura, I opted not to carry my computer out into all of that sand!]