Friday, May 29, 2009

Dief (visitors)


How about a few highlights from my April trip around Northern Morocco with my first American visitors, Fred and Candy. We had a great time. My neighbors, who hosted a few meals for them, and I can’t stop talking about how much we miss them!

Here are a small amount of our wonderful adventures and discoveries:

-Putting on the hat as translator and negotiator was surprisingly fun (most of the time).

-Getting lost in the Meknes medina, and finding a “pit stop” in the unlit, unfinished room of a kind Moroccan woman.

-Making Texas chili and cornbread for my neighbors, served in a tajin of course.

-Bargaining for the best price on two beautiful Moroccan rugs at the big Tuesday Souk in my town.

-Listening to Nadiya’s brother play at a nightclub on the beach in Tangier.

-Learning my choice of phrases in English has become more Moroccan—“As you like it” became a running joke.

-Teaching Fred “may God grant you health also” in response to “may God grant you health” in Arabic.

-Startling my guests with my eagerness to dig my hands into the couscous and pop a nicely formed ball of the stuff in my mouth, Moroccan-style.

-Losing 50 dirhams to the slot machines at the casino in Tangier (Candy that is, not me).

-Driving through the beautiful Rif Mountains and staying in a hotel in ChefChaouen with a spectacular view of them.

-Eating snails on the street in Fes…with a safety pin.

-Sitting in a café overlooking Spain from across the straight while sipping mint tea.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gambling! Snails! Spain! Sounds like my Wednesday nights!!

Perhaps we can coordinate schedules to see each other from afar on the coasts of Spain/Morocco?

Loda said...

Wow Lis! awesome! I'm glad you had some visitors!! One day I hope to be one of them... we'll see. I also tried snails for the first time quite recently, they were surprisingly delicious!!! What did you think about them?

Loda said...

Oh yah, and you should definetly publish a photo book once you get back of all your pictures from your experiences in Morocco. they are all amazing!! I wish I had your eye for what makes a remarkable photo!! each one is more breathtaking than the last!

Lisa said...

Kyle- We will definitely have to coordinate our schedules. We'll make it a Wednesday night so we can be gambling/snail eating/view spain in sync.

Or better yet, we should cross the divide!

Dr. Laura- You definitely should be one of my visitors! How can you pass up a free guide to a beautiful country?
I thought the snails were good, but definitely overpowered by the spices they are stewed in. I'd be curious to try snail that you could actually taste the snail, how were yours prepared?
I'm glad you're enjoying my photos!