Wednesday 17th - day sixteen Zak took the french couch surfers into the forest today for a short walk. They wanted to see monkeys in the wild and they did. I stayed home. They left later in the day. Thursday 18th - day seventeen It's official! I'm turning into a hibernating bear! Each day I sleep longer and eat less. A lot of food is not necessary when the only physical thing I do is get out of bed, shower, catch a taxi to Zak's parents for breakfast, walk the short distance to the cafe, drink coffee for a few hours then return home and eat again only to sleep the day away again. That's the cycle of routine I have now fallen into. Friday 19th - day eighteen Tonight as we sat in the cafe, ... read more

Friday 12th - day eleven Same routine, nothing to report. Why does orange come out pink? I remembered a little story I can tell you about to bulk out this non event day a little. Remember the other day when I told you about the flash hail storm we had and I mentioned that I had just put in a load of washing, and then I got drenched closing the wooden shutters to prevent the window panes from being broken by the hail? Well since I was so wet from the rain anyway, I decided to go and have a hot shower. In the little blue room is also the water outlet for the washing machine so as I stood there shampooing my hair I was suddenly startled by a burst of water being emptied into ... read more

Friday 5th Awoke at 1.30 pm today, a little later than the last few days. At least my ears have stopped ringing from last nights entertainment. Sorry folks nothing much to report about for today. Much the same routine as the last couple of days. I've still managed to stick to the complete fasting - nil by mouth - during the daylight hours. It's actually a lot easier than I expected, but remember I am not actually doing anything during the day that requires sustenance. Me and most of the rest of the country! Saturday 6th Slept even later today until 2.30pm, granted I did not go to bed until almost 7am!! Am starting to keep the hours of a Vampire!! Or more like a nocturnal sloth really would be closer to the mark. It's very ... read more

Wednesday Today again I woke at 1pm having gone to bed just before 6am - got sucked into a good movie on the box. It is a little warmer today so hopefully this will not make it harder to resist the urge to have a drink - but I will if I need it. I had to walk to the post office as I wanted to get some stamps to send off a post card. Of course the post office was closed as they are keeping Ramadan hours and closed earlier than usual but it was a nice little walk for me. I had to go via the center and the waiter from the Cedar Hotel cafe (the only cafe in the center open all day) was trying to call me over to have a coffee. ... read more

Monday 1st, day before Ramadan It's the first of the month and as the moon has not been sighted here yet, unlike the rest of the Muslim world, Morocco is not starting Ramadan until tomorrow. Fine with me. It's an nice warm, sunny day so I opt to join our American couch surfer Jonathan for a short hike (yes me hike!) in the nearby forest. The mountain guide of the house (namely Zak) could not be bothered with a walk today so he has given verbal instructions to my new guide, who is fresh from New York City and I'm hoping armed with a good sense of direction or skills of a boy scout in case we get lost. We head up out of town and Jonathan seems to be following the verbal instructions like he ... read more