(10) Into Africa

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What a wonderful world. I flew only an hour from Lisbon and we transferred to a little prop plane. On the plane I met a Russian named Boris. He had only his guitar and pack. When we got outside of the airport to hail a taxi the heat was stifling. I felt like I was in Las Vegas but hotter. Fancy town. We were dropped in the central crazy area of Marrakesh, Morocco.

People were staring and questioning. I had a lot on my mind and my plate of what I wanted to do but first it was time to eat. Me and my new friend went to a restaurant and ordered the native dish of Tagine. They mix veggies in with lamb or other meats and let it steam in a ceramic dish. The result is savory succulent healthy goodness for under 2 US dollars.

Wandering around I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones Film. The smells and sights were new and amazing. There was a vibe to being somewhere new and exploring its freshness. The colors. I felt like I wanted to touch everything. The locals wanted me to touch and buy everything. They were selling everything from tour packages to nail clippers.

Then we went to the Medina! It is a square and open air market the size of 10 city blocks. The days are so hot that everyone waits til 10 at night to go out to socialize, eat and shop. And this is where they come to from villages all around. They have been doing this for thousands of years. In fact it felt like I was going back thousands of years. There is great geographical significance to honor an amazing city. The area is important and sacred because of its location. It is where the plains and lowlands meet the Atlas mountains. It is a major Muslim citadel as well. The history is upheld very well because the religion demands it.

The Medina! There is a man with desert hawks. Another man has a cobra who he is "charming" with a mystic tune on his flute. There is a cute desert rat looking being. A bird that looks like an ugly mini-ostrich.

When the natives see you as a possible European they speak French automatically to you. Boris was fluent in French because he was an aristocratic Russian, so I was sheltered by not having to practice my sketchy 3rd language.

We ate small plates of various yummy dishes in the center of the Medina where there were communal cafeteria style tables in the open air. Even the food was vividly colored.

As we walked around in awe there were groups of Musicians. There were storytellers with fires. There were dancers. There were circus acts. There were groups with boomboxes having open night parties.

It was a gathering of people in all senses of the word and the world. I couldn't help but feel a camaraderie with all the people around me, though society and culture showed we were different. Best of all perhaps was that they sold fresh squeezed orange juice for about 20 cents a glass! I am a big fan of the Jus d"Orange as those Frenchy Arabs called it. It was blazing hot and water doesn't satisfy as well as OJ....Tropicana: you wanna sponsor me?

SURFTRAVEL TIP #7 All your friends are always around. They just take in different human forms.

I was beginning to feel a bit homesick since I had now been traveling over 3 months. But there were always people around me. The Russian and I had met, realized we share similar philosophies and became great travel friends. There were people at the hostel that were fun to hang out with and looking for the great open road as well. I was delving into the true journey. I became less of a tourist and more of a nomad from being on the road so long. The yearning was sharpening and the learning was becoming greater

Faith is All.

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