damn computers

Well we've had an amazing week, but we haven't been able to get access to a computer. So, tomorrow we head to Essouaria, our last stop, and then we'll have some time to update the blog and post some more pics.


-kaz

now with links!

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p215/omnidex/Morocco%202010/

ok, there is the direct link to photobucket. Couldn't get that to work before. And here is us with the World Cup.

Today is our last day tooling around Fez. Spent yesterday getting lost in the medina. Pretty crazy. I have no idea how anyone can find their way around in there. We made a purchase at the end of the day. The haggling skills are rusty, but I don't think I came out too bad. I had to laugh though because I was reminded of a phrase from our lonely planet book about haggling in Morocco. They remind you to not take offense at percieved insults. I think the phrase they used was insults with a smile. We bought a necklace for Shelley and as we were haggling the price, the shopkeeper kept giving Shelley an 'I'm not sure you married well.' look and would say, "Your husband. He has big heart, but small pockets." hahaha. I have to say I like haggling this way better than other experiences. This way you can kind of lightly insult back without worrying too much about offending and keep the conversation jovial and reduce the intense pressure of the sale a bit.

It was a fun and exhausting day. Despite the frantic nature of the medina and Morocco in general I have been impressed by how friendly the majority of people are. I can't count how many times we've just chatted with someone about misc. things on the street. Or fallen easily into an in depth conversation with a taxi driver. Well, as in depth as possible in broken and combined spanish, english, and french. Our arabic is coming along. Just a few phrases, but we practice pronunciation with anyone we can. Most Moroccans seemed to be amused at our attempts.

There is an overlook of the city near one of the old cemeteries that is supposed to have a gorgeous view during sunset. That's the plan tonight. But more urgent is laundry. I have been putting off doing laundry as the sink in our pension appears to be fastened to the wall solely with a thick bead of caulk. Dried, and crumbling caulk. I'm afraid to use it in case it decides to fall off the wall. So, it looks like I have another laundry shower to look forward to. At least the toilet is in the shower so I can sit down to do laundry! =)

Something cool

Curse this keyboard! I'm still getting used to this Moroccan keyboard setup.

Anyway, so I just wanted to throw up a quick post about something cool that happened to us in Ceuta, Spain. We got to get our picture taken with the world cup! The cup is touring Spain, and it happened to be in Ceuta at the same time as we were. We were walking down the street and noticed a stage set up with loud music playing and a line forming. After closer inspection we discovered that it was the World Cup, and the line was to get your pîcture taken with it.

I wanted to try and make it a funnier picture, but I kept having these visions of us trying to strike a victorious battlecry pose and somehow breaking off a piece of the cup, or dropping it and putting a dent in it. This followed by being swarmed by a mob of angry Spaniards who would chase us out of town. So, we just struck a normal pose. But, we got our picture taken using our camera of course and one of the professional photographers took one as well, so we might end up in the paper or something! Too cool!

Just Arrived in Fes!

Our few days in Spain were fantastic. Malaga and Ceuta are both vibrant, laid-back, friendly cities. Lush and tropical too. And we did reasonbly well with our rusty Spanish.

Crossing the border from Ceuta, Spain, into Morocco was a bit intimidating. Actually, the border crossing itself was fairly well organized...but the view immediately after crossing over felt somewhat chaotic...which I guess is typical for most any border. LOTS of people and cars. But we managed our way through it and got a taxi to Tangier.

We were only in Tangier an hour or so before we hopped on a bus to Fes. And in that time, we met a fluent English speaker who offered to lead us to tea and took us to a traditional Moroccan clothing store. We left empty handed, but it was fun to look. Reminded us of our days in Turkey and being led to the carpet shop with the offer of apple tea.

And now we are in Fes - a bustling city with a mix of modern and traditional. We have only been here a night, so still have much to see. Now, off to explore!

no internet cafes

so, apparently internet cafes are few and far between in Spain. Damn the advance of personal technology devices. I´m hoping they are a little more prevalent in Morocco. My guess would be that they are. Anyway, we misplaced our Morocco guide book on the plane ride over here. So, after hunting around in Ceuta we now have a new Morocco guide book, in Spanish! Yay! Well, I guess we get the Spanish language refresher we meant to do before the trip after all! Ah, what and adventure.

Hopefully, we can start blogging regularly once we cross the border. Tomorrow Morocco!

-Kaz