Alana's Awesome Adventure

New Blog

2007-06-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am not going to be posting on this blog for the next couple of months. Robyn and I are riding our bikes to Utah and so for that trip we have created a new blog. So check it out at www.robynandalana.blogspot.com

oh yeah one more video....

2007-06-12T14:20:00.001-07:00

Here I am paddling with Robyn in the OC2

OC2 Video

Some videos

2007-06-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Although I dont have my videos from Morocco posted yet, I have some videos of Vancouver. Check them out:

Virgin Fest 2007

Kitsilano Beah

Granville Island Waterpark

Back in Vancouver

2007-06-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

So after almost be cut from my flight in London, I amde it back to Vancouver as planned. I had my interview with the Vancouver School Board, but I did not get the job. Actually I have had some fun looking at other options so it is not too bad. Since I have been back I have been hanging out with friends and family and getting ready for my bike trip with Robyn. I have also been very busy with tons of babysitting so that is great! I have also been look for a job in September. So I have been pretty busy. Here are some photos of Tess and I at Virgin fest, Lisa and Charley at the granville island water park and me paddling and a blue hern that has been hanging out in Alder Bay.

The rest of Morocco 2007

2007-06-12T12:20:00.001-07:00

So after Noora and Topi left, ALi and I spent a couple of days in Settat before heading back to Oujda. Pretty much as soon as we got back to Oujda we went down to Figuig to spend the weekned with his family there. It ended up getting extended to Tuesday morning because that way we could get a ride back to Oujda. While we were in Figuig we just kinda hung out. I learned to make couscous!...and then lost the paper where I wrote the directions...brilliant! When we got back to Oujda we were busy trying to finish the immigration stuff and Ali's family had a small lunch to celebrate his marriage (it was more for his mom, we were only there for about one hour). Then we went back to Settat and on to Marrakech where I caught my flight to London. Sad to leave :-( Oh and just before I left Melika (alis aunts, husbands, brithers wife) had her baby girl and I got to see her when she was less than 24hrs old...sooooo cute.

Yey Me!!!!

2007-05-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

I have an interview at the Vancouver School Board 16 hrs after my flight from Morocco arrives in Vancouver...wish me luck...SOOO excited, and a bit nervous too.

Vancouver Video

2007-05-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this video that Robyn made for me of the last time I was in Vancouver.

Vancouver Video

The Atlantic Coast With Noora and Topi

2007-05-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

The wedding celebrations ended at 6am and we were on the 7am train to Marrakech to meet up with my friends from Finland, Noora and Topi. The next day we met them and headed off to Essaouira, on the Atlantic ocean. As soon as we got of the bus we found a great little house for rent for 20 euros a night for the four of us. We ended up spending 5 nights in Essaouira, mainly hanging out on the beach, cooking tagines and yummy salads and wandering around the port and the Medina. One day we walked 35 kms along the beach to the next town to the south Sidi Kakoui, it was great cause the sand dunes almst touch the ocean! We left Essaouira for Safi early on the morning of my birthday adn I celebrated my birthday in Safi. We checked out the fortress and the medina. We also bought some beautiful Safi Pottery. The evening we went to the Hammam and out for a birthday dinner and cake at the hotel. The next day we went to El Jadida where we explored the Cite Portugais and then I slept alot cause I had a fever. We too a Grand Taxi to the next little beach town the next day and hung around there. That evening we tried to get to Settat, and although it proved to be extremley difficult even though it is only an hour and a half away it ended up taking like four hours....Moroccan buses. The next morning we took Noora and Topi to the train station and Alia nd i stayed on in Settat to paly with Rayan and visit with his family.

Our First wedding Celebration

2007-05-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

So Ali and I had a small wedding ceremony with his family in Oujda on the 2& of April. Moroccan weddings are so much fun. Start saving you money so that you can come to our big wedding celebration in Oujda Morocco in the summer of 2009. It is going to be AMAZING. Here are some photos.

A Week with with Nat and David

2007-05-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

After getting married, Ali and I headed to Meknes to meet with Nat and David and spend a week touring around with them. The first couple days were a repeat of the begining of the tour d'Ali, we saw the sights in Meknes, Fes, Voulibilis and Moulay Idriss. Nat and David had rented a car, which meant that we had time for some time for a couple side trips to places like Sidi Harazem, where the bottled water comes from and some little town, where after a bit of confusion we found the caves that are lived in by old people that were described in the guide. We set off in the car on the third day to check out some of the things between Meknes and Beni Mellal...our first stop was the Cedre Gourard and the BArnaby Apes near Azrou. then we stopped at this amazing place with a river and a waterfall for lunch, the setting was great but it was not the greatest Tagnie that we had eaten. We hung out in Beni Mellal that evening and then headed to the Cascade d'Ouzoud the next day. It is an amazing waterfall...when we were there it had been rainign so hard that instead of being its nromal blue watery colour, tghe water was a light brown, more like a mudfall. We had to be very careful when heading down cause the ground was really slippery, but it was cool still. That night we went to Marrakech where we stayed in the apartment of someone who we had met in Figuig. The next evening we went to visit Alis family in Settat, where Mina had prepared my favourite dish, rafissa. It was enormous, adn she had place three entire chickens on top! CRAZY amount of rafissa, but MMM MMM GOOD! We got up early on Saturday morning to see the Hassan 2 Mosque in Casablanca before Nat and DAvid had to head to the airport. After they left, ALi and I tried to get a Taxi tot he train station to return to Oujda, but we found out the hard way that taxis only pick up tourisits at the Mosque. They can make more money that way. We neded up walking to the train station, but we still got to Oujda as planned, about 12 hrs later.

THANKS NATHALIE AND DAVID IT WAS FUN!

Ali and I are Married

2007-05-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

I would never have guessed how difficult it was to get married in Morocco.After returning from Figuig, Ali and I spent four days in Oujda running back and forth between the police station, city hall and the courthouse. Honestly, it felt more like handing in a thesis than getting married, I was relieved that we had finally completed everyhting that was asked of us. I was a crazy long process, but we were happy to be finally married, two days later we set out to Meknes to meet my French but living in Spain friends, NAthalie and DAvid.

Getting there...

2007-04-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

After collecting all the papers that we needed we headed to the Adul in Oujda and he had enought time to quickly look through our papers to let us know that we were ready to start. Since it was a holiday, we could not do anyhting for the next couple of days so we took the opportunity to head down to figuig to celebrate Eid Almawled Ennabawi, or the birthday of the prophet Mohamed. THere was lots of drumming and dancing and people exploding things in the street. It was fun. After we just spend a couple of days wandering around Figuig and eating and we also met some Spanish tourists who were staying at Alis familys hotel and so I got to pratice some Spanish. We headed back to Oujda where we spent the next four days running around oujda getting our whole folder stamped and signed and authorized by too many different people. On Friday night we were in the aduls office and they brought in this 80 year old belgian who signed some papers as my father...not too sure about the replacement. Anyways since I didnt undersand Arabic, I had no idea til after at we were finally married...so we decided that we whould have a party...we were already planning a big wedding party in Morocco in the summer 2009...Inshallah. Start saving up your money. Then we decided that we wanted a celebration now since it was kinda anti-climatic getting married without a party. So we started planning a small one just with ALis family in Oujda for April 21st. But then we stopped cause we had to meet NAt and DAvid my friends from MAdrid, in Meknes, so we took the bus to Meknes...

The photos are of ALi and I and his family in Figuig

Are we married yet??????

2007-04-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

So if you have ever considered getting married to a Morrocian in Morocco, give yourself at least a month to get all the papers that you need and a goods chunk of money as well. So after spending a week getting things ready in SEttat, ALi and I thought we were pertty well prepared for Rabat, the Canadian embassy and getting the marriage act. Hmmmmm...not the case. We ended up spending a week in Rabat running around like crazy. We each needed about 15 different documents, and then each if those documents had to be stamped, signed, and stamped again by like three different people. Then some needed to be translated, notorized and anything else that they could possibly ask to make things expensive and difficult. At least while we were in Rabat we got to visit all the touris attactions, since official things tend to close in the evening so we had our evenings free. We hung out around the ocean for a bit and saw where the old kings are buried. Finally we got all the papers that we needed and headed back to Oujda, where ali is from, to see the adul, like a Morrocan Justice of the Peace.

Back to Morocco

2007-04-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

So I left Geneva early Sunday mroning, with a very grumpy taxi driver. I flew to MAdrid and spent the day with Nathalie and DAvid, hanging out at their place and at the outdoor market. In the evening I flew to MArrakech where ALi was witing at the airport. We had dinner in Jma El Fnaa, Harira with huge wodden spoons and dates followed by spicy tea, my fave Marrakech meal, and only about one euro for two people. The next day we were wanderiong around the city when we ran into some of ALis school friends from Oujda so we spent most of the day in a cafe with them. The next day we headed to Settat to see Ali's Grandma, Aunt, Oncles and cousin. We ended up spendin a week there, preparing stuff for the marriage and just hanging out. There was a small carnival that was in town and we went on a couple of rides. It was soo funny. ALi had never been on anything like them before and when the one that spins in the air started moving he was freaking out, his knuckles were white from gripping the bar so hard. But then he relaxed nad it was funny. THe other thing that I found really amusing was that when we went on the bumper cars... the Moroccains drive like mainaics on the street, but I think someone needs to explain to them that the point of bumper cars is to crash. They all drove around in a nice circle, being careful to avoid everyone else...how safe it would be if they drove like that on the roads. At first I could not stop laughing, but then once I had calmed down, I starrted crashing into everyone and they were all looking at me like I was the one who was crazy...anywayz...

The photos are of ALi's fmily in SEttat

Check it out

2007-04-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

This is a cool photo that I took of ALi yesterday. It is on the sand dunes near Eassouaira.

Back in Geneva

2007-03-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

So I am back in Geneva till Sunday. I has been nice to have some time to relax, I ahve been doind lots of reading, running and biking. Otherwise I have been hanging out with the kids (Robin and Julie) especially in the past week since both Muriel and Herve were in Australia. We had fun together, we went swimming, to the library, tp an indoor play centre (like Go Bananas) and to the grandafters work at the Swiss Televisions Station. I rode my bike to France a couple of time, which sounds more challenging than it actually is because I dont even think that it is more than 10kms. But I love the sound of it anyways. I have also been getting ready my application to apply to the Vancovuer School Board when I get home...so wish me luck. Last weekend we went to France to this Mountian Resort called something like Le Grand bornand, it was really nice, like a small, more realstic Whistler (more realistic meaning the the building were sctually chalets, not big fancy modern chalet lookalikes). I did not go boarding, but I spent the day walking on some trails and exploring the town, which was still very nice. I also sow a really good, but depressing movie with David called Blood Diamond, I would reccommend it.This Sunday I am heading to Morocoo!

the photos are of: A view of Lake Leman, Robin and Julie building the Knex Ferris Wheel, Le Grand Bornard x2 and a lizardy thing I saw and though was cute and out early

Finland....Frozen and Fun

2007-02-25T07:43:00.000-08:00

A couple days after arriving in Geneva, I left again for a week to go and visit my friend Noora, who I met in Nepal. After an entire day of travelling (which was mostly spent waiting in Stansted airport) I arrived in Tempere to an announcement that it was minus 18 degrees celcius. Well I met with Noora and we spent the night at ther parents house. The next day we went to her summer cabin, it is on a lake, that is completly frozen...we walked across it. Then we went into the sauna, apparently most houses in Finland have a sauna in them, I guess that it is very important given the climate. Noora is working as a Subsitute teacher, so i got to go to school with her. I did a presentation on my trip. Since I dont speak Finnish, Noora had to translate for me. It was a special day for the elementary school kids, right before thier big exams, the high school kids dress up in costumes and come to the elementary school on the back of a big truk and give out candy. The students were really excited. In the afternoon we took the grade five class cross country sikking...I was by far the worst...surprise, surprise. On Friday we went ice swimming in one of the frozen lakes near in Tempere. It was insane, there is a spot where there is a staircase into the water anda they have cleared the ice. First you sit in the sauna and then you go in the lake and then back to the sauna, but it is colder than I ahve ever been. But it was awesome. We sepent the weekend on a farm where Noora used to work with the horses. WE went driving the horses in the snow, which is kind of like being on a chariot type thing. It was amazing. I met a bunch of Nooras friends and family aqnd they were really nice, so thinks to everyone there! We also went ice skating on the lake, but we only had one pair of skates so I went while Noora walked and then Noora went while I walked. Finlad was a really cool place to visit...I could not believe all the snow. On my way back to Geneva, I had to spend the night in a London airport. When I got there, there were these two German guy who had boght tons of yohuhrt and then found out that they could not take it past security. SO they were eating it like crazy, I thnk that in 5 mins they each must have had at least 20 things of yoghurt and then they started giving it out to random people...it was really fuuny.

The photos are of: Noora and I, Cross Country Skiing, The lake where we went ice swimming, me ice swimming, driving Dolly Temper and skating on a frozen lake.

Manning Park

2007-02-14T03:04:00.000-08:00

While I was home in Vancouver I had my first attempt at cross country skiing (and Robyn at making a video). Check out Robyns film making debut, with ten minutes of countless scenecs of me falling down hills:

Alana learns to Cross Country ski

Check out these funny videos...

2007-02-14T03:02:00.000-08:00

Fainting Goats

Breakfast Club

Back to Geneva

2007-02-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

I am now back in Geneva staying with the Favres, the family who I au paired for two summers ago. I just arrived a couple of days ago, and I am having lots of fun catching up. We went cross country skiing on Saturday in France, adn I didnt even fall once...I was on skate skis, so I think maybe that helped, also Robin was an excellent teacher...Fun, fun. Yesterday we mad a pinata for Julies birthday. Now it is the school vacation for a week, so since everyone is busy with their different activities, I am heading to Finland for a week to visit my friend Noora who I met in Nepal...I cant wait to see Finland.

Home again, home again...back to Vancouver

2007-02-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

I headed back to Vancovuer on a whim for a couple of weeks. I arrived just in time for my sisters birthday party. It waas great because I got to see man people who I had not seen for a while...and Tess and Ryan and Uncle Rona nd Linda even came and got me from the airport. About twelve hours after landing in Vancovuer I got really sick (later I found out that I had picked up some parasites in Morocco) and did nothing but sleep and feel like crap for the first week back. After I started to feel a bit better, I had a great time...catching up with everyone. Basically lots of time was spent eating out...which is not goign to happen when I come home in May because I ended up spending too much money and not feeling so great. Also I got a new bike for the trip that Robyn and I are planning...it was a great deal adn it is a georgous bike...if you live in Vancovuer and you are looking for a bike, go to Bikes on the Drive (http://www.bikesonthedrive.com/)...they are great. I wne t cross country skiing for the first time (my first time ever on skis) and had a wonderful time, although most of it was spent falling. I got sick again for my last couple of days,,,I guess my body needed that time to rest and recover from the travelling...now I am in Geneva, back on the road....yeah.

I cant seem to get my other photos so for now there are only a few. They are of Playing cards at the Licolns, Uncle Ron and his present from Tess and I, Grandma and my new bike.

London

2007-02-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

I stopped in London for a couple of days to meet Abi, who I met in Mongolia. On my first night there we went otu for Indian food which was a nice change from Moroccan food (even though Moroccan food was delicious, its nice to have a variety). The next day Abi plotted a super walking tour of London for me on the map and I saw pretty much all the main attractions, inclusing the seriously anti-climatic and dissapointing Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Brdge, the Tate museum with its slide exhibit, -the British Museum, and The platform at Kings cross station from Harry Potter. That night we went to a Brizillian bar with some of Abis friends, it was too smokey and I could not stay for too long though. Sadly my camera was broken, so no photos...oh well. I think that London should be the pre-packeged sandwich capital of the world...its insane.

Mabrouk Eid

2007-02-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

On her way to Mohammedia, Zhor met me in Oujda and then we took the train to Mohammedia to spend Eid (not the one after Ramadan) with her family. Eid is one of the biggest Muslim festivals and it is when every family sacrifices a sheep and then eats pretty much nothing but sheep for three days. It is to remember when someone from the koran was told to kill his son to prove his loyalty to God but then intead it was replaced by a sheep at the last minute, so his son did not really have to die. This year, the big Eid started on the 31 of December, so we celebrated it along with New Years. The day before we went to the souk and bought all the stuff that we needed for the festival. Then the sheep was delivered and tied to the couch for teh night before the festival (that is just where thy tied him, you can keep it anywhere though. Then on the day od Eid every ffamily kills and prepares their sheep in a special way. For the first lunch there were kebabs with the inside organs. Then for dinner it was a tagine with the stomach, The next day Kebabs with the actual meat of the sheep. For dinner it was a tagine with sheep and dates. The next day, more kebabs and I cant remember what else....SOOOO much sheep. On New years eve we had a cake and Zhor and her Mom and sisters danced. On New Years day Zhors Mom and I did a polarbear swim in the ocean. Zhors Mom also made a beautiful Giliba, the traditional Moroccan clothing, for me. After Eid Ali came and got me and we headed to Settat to visit his Aunt, Uncles, cousin and grandma before spending a couple days in Marakech...then I left Morocco and headed for London on January 11.

A week in Oujda

2007-02-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, Ali and I headed back to Oujda. We spent the evening with his family...and playing with Fatima (his turtle) and then stayed up really late talking to my family in Vancovuer on skype. They finally got a webcam so it was nice to see everyone as well as to talk to them. On Christmas day we headed into th medina and shopped at the souk. There as no Christmas celebrations there, but it was kinda nice not to have to worry about the commercial side of Christmas. In Oujda we hung out, wandering around the medina most day and we spent some time with Alis sister and watched his brothers rugby game. It was warmer than Figuig, but still pretty cold.

Living in a Fridge

2007-02-11T04:04:00.000-08:00

It is not a good idea to leave my blog so long...it has been so long since Ali and I finished our tour and returned to Figuig, almost 2 months. Well after leaving Merouga, ali and I spent the next day travelling to Figuig, with a freezing night in Bourafa...bbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, too cold. When we got back to Figuig I was excited to see Zhor and Amina and Ismail. I spent the next couple of weeks hanging around Figuig with Ali and Zhor, and Amina and Ismail. It was really fun and relaxing, we ate sooo much yummy food. The other things was that it was really cold, I have never been so cold in my life...not even snow camping. To make it worse there was nowhere to get warm, inside was usually colder than outside since most houses are large and concrete and not heated. I did not want to get out of bed in the morning since it was the only time that I felt warm. The two weeks that I spent in Figuig passed really fast, although we did not do too much...oh yeah we bought a small sheep and then they killed it and roasted it over a fire and ate it, it was interesting, but I ate mainly the salad.

Last year at this time...

2006-12-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

...we were in Mexico by the pool...Ixtapa 2005!

2006-12-22T14:18:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ALL THE BEST IN 2007!

Ourzazate to Merzouga

2006-12-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

We took the night bus from Agadir to Ourzazate, which turned out to be a bad decision, since the only seats left happened to be next to the broken door, so I froze...night wind in the desert is COLD! Anyways, I was sick for the rest of the trip, but whatever. In Ourzazate there are the Atlas film studios, where they make a bunch of desert movies, including Gladiator. Otherwise ther eis not much else. The next day we headed to Tingher and the Tordga Gorges, where I hope to return someday to do some climbing. After we travelled to Erfoud for the night on this insan cross between a bus and a van that was so full of people that the driver sat on the laps of the two passengers who were sitting in the drivers seat. They even loaded a motorcycle on the top! There is absolutley nothing in Erfoud, butthat was ok since I was really sick and only wanted to sleep anyways. Then on to Merzouga, which was soooooooo cool. We spent three days there hiking up the sand dunes, riding camels and getting to know some of the locals. After Merzouga, we tried to get back to Figuig in a day, but ened up spending the night in freezing, boring, windy, cold Bourafa, eechhh! The next morniing we took the first bus to Figuig...and poof Le tour d'Ali is finished.

The photos are of a motorcycle being loaded on to the top of the bus-van type thing, Ali and I riding camels in Merzouga, The Torgda Gorges x2, Ali at the Atlas Flim Studios in Ourzazate, The guy who owned out hotel in Merzouga, Me on a camel in Merzouga, The dunes at Merzouga x2, Ourzazate, CAmel shadows in Merzouga and our guide taking a prayer break in Merzouga.

Marrakech to Agidir

2006-12-22T06:36:00.000-08:00

So after leaving Settat, Ali and I headded for Marakkech for a night, but we did not do too much since I am planning on going there in January. In the evening we wandered around Jma el Fna, teh popular square filled with dancers, snake charmers and food stalls and we also went to see the Koutibia Mosque. The next day we we went to the Minerat, some tombs and the souk. The we took a grand taxi into the Atlas Mountains again to spend the day at Setti Fatma, where there is good tagine and a beautiful waterfall. I was really beautiful scenery there. The next day was spent travelling back to Marrakech and then on to the beach at Agidir. Agidir is basically a beach resort town, but we spent two days there not doing much of anything other than walking and sitting on the beach.

The photos are of, me at the waterfall in Seiit Fatma, Breakfast in Agadir, A shadow in Markkech, Koutibia Mosque, the beach in Agadir, me on the beach in Agadir, Marakkech, a mosque in Agadir and Alia nd I eating tagine in Setti Fatma.

Azrou to Settat

2006-12-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

After leaving Meknes we headed south to Azrou, a town in the Atlas mountians, known for the Barnaby Apes and the Cedre Gourard, the largest Ceder tree in Africa or something like that. The monkeys were a highlight for both me an Ali...they were soooo cute and they came right up to you and took the food from your hand. The big ones fought off the little ones, so the lttle ones tugged on my skirt to get my attention, it was so cute. On the way back into town we had to stop cause the road was closed for the cross Morocco cycle race, so it was cool to get to watch that. The next day we headed to Beni Mellal, where there was not too much to see other than a nice little park called Ain Asserdoun. The next day we took a taxi to a small village in the hills and went ona bit of a walk, it was beautiful. Then we headded to Settat for a four day break with Ali's Grandma, Aunt, Uncle's and little cousin. I bought a warm jacket in Settat, since it is cold here...really cold and there is no heating. Otherwise in Settat we just hung out and I read an excellent book that I would highly reccommend called The Curious Incident to the Dog in The Nightime. READ IT!!!!!!

The photos are of a Barnabry Ape in Azrou, Ali and I outside of Beni Mellal, the Cedre Gourard in Azrou, two photos of the scenery outside of Beni Mellal on our walk, Ali and his cousin Ryan in Settat, Ali feeding the monkeys in Azrou, Azrou, the Kasbah in Beni Mellal, Ryan and Aicha...Ali's Grandma, Ain Asserdoun in Beni Mellal, The cycle race in Azrou, and me feeding the monkeys in Azrou.

Oujda to Meknes

2006-12-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

So on the way back from Mohammedhia, I met up with Ali in Oujda. Since we were both ready to head off, I only stayed one night with his family there before we headed off. Our first stop was Fes, where we spent time wandering around the endless alleys of the souk and got some roof top viewes of the tanneries. We also checked out teh ROyal Palace and saw a bunch of gates. The next day we headded to Meknes where we saw a bunch of old buildings, some tombs and a really cool square. We stayed a couple of days in Meknes, making a day trip to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss. Voulubilis is a site of ancient Roman ruins and Moulay Idriss is where there is a masolouem that I could not enter since I was not Muslim, but it was a beautiful town, and ALi took my camera and took some photos so that I could get an idea of what it looked like. I Meknes we ate some really yummy Tagine with Olives and lemons and veggies anc chicken....MMMMMMM.

The photos are of a door in Fes, Moulay Idriss, The doors of the Royal Palace in Fes, A Mosque in Meknes, the Tanneries in Fes, Voulubilis, Minaret in Moulay Idriss, Voulubilis, A random donkey in Fes, an old school building turned tourist attraction in Meknes and a carpet shop in Meknes.

Le Tour d'Ali

2006-12-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

So after leaving Darrin, I was not too sure what I was going to do...but I had met Ismail, he had plans for me. His nephew, Abdelali, who lives in Oujda, offered to accompany me on a tour of Morocoo. Talk about lucky, Ali was really nice and happy and he had always wanted to see more of Morocco too. We were able to see almost evey city that was suggested in the Footprint Guide and then some. It is the best way to see the country, with local!!!! The next bunch of post-s are going to be from the tour that we did, that I named Le tour d'Ali. Thanks Ali!

Some videos of Morocco, more to come

2006-12-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the first of the almost 50 videos that I took in Morocco...

Ferry to Melilla

Wallid on his bike

Wallid in the Water

Party in Saidia

Party in Saidia

Party in Saidia

Making couscous

More couscous

Figuig

Wedding

Wedding

Souk

Marriage

Souk

Zhor's dog black

Visiting Zhor's Family in Mohammedia

2006-12-17T12:56:00.000-08:00

Between terms at school, Zhor had a one week holiday, and so we went to visit her family in Mohammedia, a suburb of Casablanca, almost one days journey on the bus and train from Figuig. Whe we arrived I met her two sisters, Soukina and Aicha and her Mon, Fatima. The first thing that we did was to go to my first ever Hammam, a large public bathhouse. It is amazing, you scrub, scrub, scrub and all the dirt and dead skin comes off and I never realized how dirty I actually was. It takes about two hours and it is like being in a sauna...I felt really great after. The week was spent hanging out in Mohammedia, eating lots of really yummy Moroccan food and relaxing with Zhor and her family. On the weekend we went to the Souk and just before leaving, Fatima did some Henna for me on my hand and foot. We also happened to be around for a big car race and a national festival where they pratice a horse sport that I can't remember the name. But what they do is a whole group of people ride on a horse until the reach the end of a field and then, if they do it properly, they fire their guns at the same time. Zhor and I also went into Casablanca twice. On the second visit we went to the tallenst building in Morocco, something like 15 stories called the twin centre and to the Hassan Mosque, one of the biggest in the world. I cound not enter, but next time maybe I am going to disguise myself as a Muslim so that I can see inside, but we will see.

The photos are of the Hassan Mosque in Casablanca, Women buying Olives at the souk, me and Zhor's family, a mosque in Mohammedia, Zhor's Mom putting henna on her, Zhor's dog black, Zhor and I coming back from my first hammam, Spices at the souk, The hassan mosque in Casablanca, The beach in Casablanca, My foot with Henna, Zhor and I at the beach in Mohammedia, and The Hassan Mosque in Casablanca.

Falling in love with Figuig

2006-12-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

So on my second day in Figuig, I was walking down the street when I happend to run into Ismail, a Figuigian who seems to know everyone. After about 5 minutes I found myself in his car on the way to eat lunch with ihs family. That evening he took Darrin and I on a tour of Figuig and then back to his house to for dinner and to meet his wife Yamina. The next day they were making couscous, so we wentt o watc...it is actually quite a long, inolved process. At teh couscous making, I met a high school teaher, Zhor. She invited me to spend some time at her place and I told her that once I had left Darrin, I would return to Figuig and spend some time there and with her...as it turned out, I turned up on her dorstep with my backpack two days later. I spent the rest of the week in Figuig, staying with Zhor and spending time with Ismail and his family, trying to figure out what I was going to do. Figuig and Figuigians are the greatest. I really didn't know that I was looking for something when i left home, and I for sure didn't know what it was that I was looking for...but whatever it was, I have found it here in Morocco, after changing the original plans and headin off on my own. Morocco, as you will see in my next posts is a beautiful country, with teh most amazing people I have ever met. Ant to make it even better, they are Muslim mainly and givne what I see in the media at home it is the lost amazing opportunity to be able to experience living in a Muslim community first hand, really changes things and it has been the most valuable experience on my trip. If you have time, chenk out the Figuig website.

The photos are Yamina making couscous, Ismail and Yamina's house, a wedding, the mosque, Mohammed and Samad, Making couscous, Yamina and Ismail, the plam trees, lots and lots of couscous, and a boy in an alleyway.

South to Figuig

2006-12-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

After a couple of days in Saidia, Darrin and I headed south to an oaisis town on the Algerian border, Figuig. Things were not working our for me with Darrin, so I decided that Figuig was a good place to leave, since I had met some Figuigians and felt safe and happy there. It was a hard decision, since I lost lots of money, but over a month later, I know that I made the right decision.

The first to photos are of Figuig and then there is one of us eating in Ismail's garage and then there are two of Darrin's Landy.

Photos that I could not post on my other blog

2006-12-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

So here are a couple of photos from my last post on my old blog. They are: a view of Granada, a door in La Alhambra, the beach in Torrox, the campsite in France, and then three more of La Alhambra.

Welcoming Mohamed in Saidia

2006-12-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

So our first stop in Morocco was the beach town of Saidia on the Algerian border. At our campsite I quickly made friends with the family who was running it and spent the time palying with Wallid, the five year old, or in the house with Najima, the Mom and her baby Hannin. I went to visit Najima's family with her for a party. It was to celebrate the birth of her sister's baby, Mohamed. The house was full of women relatives, about 60 women, and tons of children running around. They spant the entire day eating and dancing and it was great. we were there for nearly 12 hours and it was quite the party! Good food and fun people, I would have loved to take more photos, but I had to be careful since many muslim women don't want t here photo taken or put online.

There photos are of a horse swimming on the other side of the hills is Algeria, Wallid, Najima and Hannin, Mohamed, then two of some kids at the party and the last one is of me holding Hannin...who was usually happy when she saw me, but not in the photo.

Malaga to Melilla

2006-12-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

After I got back from Madrid, Darrin was ready to head go so after the delay we caught the ferry from Malaga to Melilla...which is a part of Spain but on the African contenint...we got in really late at night and could not find a campsite, good thing I could speank spanish, there was a security guy who let us camp up near his post in a field. The next day was spent crossing the border into Morocco and driving along the coast to our first stop, Saidia, on the Algerian border.

The two photos of water are taken from the ferry as we were leaving Malaga, then there is one of downtown Melilla, and the other two are of the landy were we camped for the night.

Staying with Nat in Madrid

2006-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

So after Granada I caught the bus to Madrid, whe I hooked up with Nathalie, a girl who I met on the couchsurfing website. I was only planning on stay a couple of days, but because we got along well, Madrid was cool and I didn't really have anywhere else to go, I ended up staying almost a week. I spent the week checking out all of the sights that there were to check out in Madrid...well the ones that were free at least, cant exactly remmeber it all now since I have neglicted my blog for more than two months, but they were all amazing and I loved Madrid. In the evenings we went out with Nathalie's friends and ate and ate and ate some more. I randomly bought a new pair of climbing shoes one day that I will have to carry around with me until I get back to Thailand, but the were sooo nice and really cheap...big sale. I even had the chance to take a day trip to Toledo...as in Holy Toledo...which I always thought was in the Southern United States because you need that accent when you use the expression. Toledo is this really cute old city that used to be share by the Cathlocis, the Jews and the Muslims. So you can see all the religious buildings. The night that I left we watched two great movies, if you can get them with English subtitles, I would reccomend them: L'auberge Espanol and Les Poupees Russe. Nathalie...hope to see you in Geneva!!!!!

The top three photos are of Toledo, then it is the Debode Temple in Madrid, Me and Andrea eating dinner at Nats, Nat in the park, Madrid, Me with my reconstruction of the Debode Temple, A bunch of couchsurfers having coffee and Nat and I having tea.