Well. I am wrapping up my time in Fez now and I must say…it has been amazing. An unbelievable vacation. I love the people I have met here, the things I have seen…hat to be disloyal , but for any number of reasons fez is just better than casablanca. I mean, Casablanca…there are some things to see, and it will always be ‘my’ moroccan city, but at the end of the day it is mostly city. Whereas Fez, granted, has that element but it also has much more of a cultural and artisinal feel. And the people are amazingly friendly. And yeah , there is the element of poor moroccans ‘preying’ on tourists as they try to make a living as unofficial guides. And general unwanted male attention. But I’m over it.

Managed to make some friends in the main market, over the course of these past few days as I did my very best to practice my new moroccan arabic skills (which are extremely limited but also ridiculously exciting to use) and so I went through the market last night and bought my souvenirs from said friends. It was a cool way to do things because now I have pretty things/mementos all in one.

One guy in particular has been beyond-the-call-of duty amazing, and he’s actually traveling back to casa with me today. Don’t worry-not what it sounds like. He has family there who he hasn’t seen in a while, so that is where he will be staying. CLEARLY. But…it will still be nice to have him around for the weekend!

I met him (rada) in the market a few days ago. He’s my age and an economics major, but his family has all kinds of tourist-centered businesses going on (everything from an auberge with camels and desert tours in the sahara to a traditional berber weaving and lamp making center) so he helps out in the summers-ever since he was little. I can’t imagine being 14 and leading groups of tourists out into the desert, cooking for them, etc but apparently that’s what he did and it’s not unusual here. The kid that helps out in the shop where I met rada is 14. FOURTEEN ! And he speaks little snippets of any number of languages-enough to make a sale.
On Wednesday, rada and I took a grand taxi out to the nearby town of safrou to see the waterfalls there. It’s a beautiful town. The waterfalls…well, can’t say as much for them. It was kind of crowded with mostly vacationing moroccan families. But the town itself was small, quiet, and very green-idyllic I think is a good word here.

Can’t say the same for the taxi, I'm afraid- though it was a good thing to experience once. see, the normal, little taxis drive within the limits of each city, and then you can take the bigger taxis to travel between cities. so we took the big taxi from fez to safrou, almost a half hour ride, for ten dirhams (a dollar twenty) each. thing was, there were six passengers in the car-four in the back and two in the front, and then the driver. it was...shall we say...cozy.


On the way back, we took a bus that I was fairly certain was going to fall apart at any minute. but it was fine. and it was all decked out with fake flowers and stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling be the driver-including a small furby! it was ridiculous...the connection between a sketchy bus ride in the middle of morocco to something I haven't thought about in YEARS! but really funny.

Spent yesterday evening hanging out with rada in the old city (medina) part of fez, where the market is and where rada pretty much knows everyone. seriously. he took me to a beautiful riad that has been converted into a restaurant. It was amazing-intricately carved and painted wood and complex mosaics were everywhere. lavish is the least of it. anyway, rada knew the owner so we sat with him and had coffe and I did the requisite song and dance by speaking arabic for everyone's entertainment. mostly, the restaurant owner was interested in discussing whether or not I was married and when I was planning to get married and...etc. all those fun things. but luckily, the explanation that I am still a student is perfectly acceptable here and we got to make small talk about other things instead. yessss.

life here...it's interesting.

traveling in a few hours- have to get my bags from the hotel at some point! one thing I am looking forward to about casa is the weather-it was really nice here for a few days but then got hot again. I am hoping that the atlantic ocean will do its thing and keep things (relatively) cool in casa...

can't believe how quickly this whole thing is coming to an end!!