Sunday

Last night we had the most amazing African food at the hotel; cous cous with caramelized onions, raisins, and cinnamon on top with veggies and chickpeas and a spicy sauce. For a few moments, I forgot about the itching all over my face and arms! I know the food the first night was supposed to be the best, but this beat it by a mile. As for the "picos," I think these bites are African  mosquitos because we didn't see any bed bugs, which is good news! However, despite spraying the room with insecticide and closing all the access points, there were still massive amounts of bugs in the room. I hid under the covers, but it didn't work; more bites today. My face and arms and hands are so itchy. Ow.

This morning was an early start to drive the hour and a half to Chefchaouen, an old Jewish city high in the mountains. We started our time there with another lecture and discussion on the roles of women and men in Muslim culture, though it was only two hours. My group, comprised of American and Moroccan women, made a poster on a woman's right to accomplish things based on the differences in cultures, which was pretty interesting. Women here are so home-based and centered on taking care of the family, and they know that is what they're going to do their whole lives. I also noticed that there were far more boys playing futbol in the streets, which I only have to assume is because the girls are at home helping their mothers.

To cheer us up at the end of the lecture, however, we got Moroccan tea! As long as we get tea with our lectures I'm fine with it. I love the tea here so much that I bought some while we had some time to wander the streets- a huge bag for only 350.00- Dirhams, that is. The exchange rate is approximately 1€ to 100 Dirhams, but even with price inflation from the vendors things were really expensive. So cheap!

Chefchaouen is made strictly for walking; most streets are stairs and only two or three meters wide, so even motorcycles aren't a viable form of transportation, at least in the Medina (3000 year old) area. It's almost like San Francisco in how steep the hills are, too, though it makes sense considering the city is built in the valley of two mountains. The streets are amazing though because every house in painted blue, which comes from the original Jewish inhabitants millennia ago. It was so hard to not take a photo at every staircase, alleyway, and store, yet I'm still convinced my pictures won't do the colors justice. I purchased some of the colors in the form of a new plate for my collection, and also got a few little gifts for friends for Christmas time.

Post-lunch, which was at a decent Moroccan restaurant with more cous cous, we got to see a women's Taler cooperative where they make a sell their own fabric. Not only was it cool to see the weaving co-op since I love craft stuff, but it was so refreshing to see the women empowering themselves after the past few days of depression discussions about their role in society.

After the Taler co-op we went to a Henna co-op and got tattooed by women members! I have the most beautiful flower on my hand and forearm, and my name written in Arabic on the other side. It took the women less than 5 minutes to do each of ours; doing henna takes serious practice and talent. And I'm so glad we supported the co-op. The Smithie in me is very proud. Also, it was perfect timing to go inside since it started to rain. I haven't seem rain since I left home, and now I see it in the desert mountains of Africa?! This world and weather are too strange to not believe in global warming; I certainly don't know how else to explain the storms in Africa.

And now here I am, sitting in the back row of our bus trying desperately to not let my arm and hand touch anything. Typing on my phone is difficult, but at this point I'm so invested in this blog and want to make sure to get all my thoughts on digital paper before we do more activities that fill my brain with more things I want to write about. The busses here have back windows since there are no restrooms, so I'm watching the night sky pass by. The stars here rival Webb Lake; it's so dark and there's not a cloud in the sky. I feel like I've heard stories about this stars in the African desert, but now I'm living it. This is amazing- henna, bug bites, everything. I can't wait to post pictures.


Update: just back at hotel, as Sarah's computer is gone. She left t in the room in the bottom of her bag, and it's not there.