Lillies of the Field

Well, I spent the last week traveling around Morocco, visiting old friends, spending time in Marrakech and going to a cool Rose Festival in a town on the edge of the great African Sahara desert. I had a great time.

Marrakech was much the same as before, but I enjoyed it. Its kind of a tourist trap so its hard to not get charged too much for stuff, but I guess thats all part of the game. I went to the Mecca of American-esque grocery stores, the 'Wal-Mart of Morocco', Marjane. I was blown away, for the second time, by all the things they had. I felt as though I could have actually been in Wal-Mart.

Its funny to be in a situation like that after only having small corner stores from which to do your grocery shopping. You think you miss the big-box retailer experience so much, you dream of it.... and then you're there, and its all overpriced and unecessary stuff for sale. Besides, I never really liked Wal-Mart.

I ended up getting only candy and a little tupperware container. Ha ha. Oh well, my intentions were good.

After a night in Marrakech (or as we call it, Kech - thats with an 'SH' sound on the end) I went to Ourzazette to hang out with a friend. I helped her a little to make cupcakes and cookies. It was fun.

Then we went on to the Rose Festival in Kla'a Mgouna. It was a really great experience. The festival is known to nearly all Moroccans. There were very few tourists at the festival so it made for a really cool, authentic experience.

At the Festival they had many Rose products for sale: rose water, rose cream, rose perfume... everything. They had a short parade, which, somehow I manged to miss, and many booths set up for vendors (see photos below).

I think one of the highlights of the trip was riding on a bus home in the afternoon. Prices were raised because of the increased traffic in the area. I saw a super funny older man lead a small rebellion in the back of the bus protesting the price increase.

As the bus rolled on through the gentle hills and valleys of the desert he continued to be the main feature of the back of the bus. He was settling disputes, cracking jokes, leading chants and other songs... this man did it all.

I didnt understand any of it because he was speaking the local dialect but I was laughing at his antics. After a while I put in my headphones and slipped away. When I returned and removed the headphones the man was still the ringleader of the back of the bus. Every now and then someone would make a meowww-ing sound and everyone would roar with laughter. The the older man would respond with a growling sound and everyone would roar with laughter again.

Ive never seen such a thing on a bus in Morocco before. I really enjoyed the experience. The raised bus fare was easily worth the in-bus entertainment. The bus line should consider hiring this guy.

Evenutally I was back in Kech again and enduing the tourist traps. When I woke up it was cloudy and cool - a welcomed blessing in Kech. As I finally returned home in the early afternoon it was cloudy and cool at home as well.

I recently got a kitten from a friend (see photo below) and my host brother took care of the cat while I was away. I was happy to find the cat alive and not only well but a little bigger than I had remembered him.

Life in Morocco is great. I really enjoy living here and helping the youth of Morocco develop and be productive.