ShimmyE
Emily Reigh Joined: May 17th 2006
Logged in: October 17th 2007
Logged in: October 17th 2007
Travel Blog Posts
Jimjaebang
Welcome to South Korea, the coldest place on the 38th parallel! The job website advertised exotic “sub” tropical Jeju island as a honeymoon destination likened to Hawai’i….but I never saw snow on palms and tangerine trees in Maui! Workwise, my days average thirteen hours and I am going on twenty-one days straight. I have a teaching assistant with me at all times that speaks mediocre English and spends most of her time text messaging, but nevertheless provides an important security blanket and assures that the kids don’t shout insanities or obscenities in Korean. The kids are notably more reverent and decorous than Americans students of the same age, though perhaps not to the degree that I expected. They roughhouse, shout and sneak away like any kids, but I have yet to hear anyone backtalk a teacher, ... read more
Sahara
I took a three day organized trip to the edge of the Sahara on the Algerian border. We rode camels into the middle of the desert and spent the night in Berber tents in the dunes. These are a few of the views along the way, the pictures say more than I ever could.... read more
Valley
Though Marrakech was entertaining, after a few days I was ready to wind off of the well-beaten tourist path and delve a little further into the less frequented parts of the country. I intended to go to the Cascades d´Ouzoud, waterfalls a few hours bus ride outside of Marrakech. I decided to take public transportation, which involved taking a bus to a small town, Azilal, and then a shared taxi (7 people smashed into a small, puttery, yellow Mercedes) the rest of the way. The bus ride ended up taking four hours, and at that point I thought that it was too late to wait for a taxi to fill up to take me there and try to find a hotel before dark. I searched out a hotel in Azilal, and found a very cheap place ... read more
Medicine Man
Though Casablanca didn´t meet the expectations that the film leaves, Marrakech could be a Hollywood set, almost too cliched to really perceive as real. It fit every stereotype that I had ever formed about Morocco, and is a paradise for the classic tourist. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that much of what it offers is every bit as much for the locals as for the visitors. The central square, Djeema al Fna, is distinguishes the city from others. It is on the edge of the labryinthine and expansive souq, and is busy by day but really booms as the sun goes down. At night, the entire square fills up with stalls and tables that function as temporary restaurants. They are tightly packed and the smells and smoke that rise from the grills take over the square. ... read more
Hassan II Mosque
After a total of two months in Italy, I flew to Casablanca. As the plane was landing, I was little girl giddy, with quotes from the film scrolling through my head... "I don´t mind a parasite, I object to a cut-rate one" ...."I´m a drunkard, that makes me a citizen of the world".... and gin-joints and beautiful frienships and so on... Casablanca was obviously not destined to meet my elevated and Hollywood-driven expectations. As the guide books said, there is a reason why most travelers skip Casablanca, but I wanted to see for myself. After arriving, I was followed for about an hour as I tried to find my hotel by an overly insistent man who had lived in Italy and only wanted to "praticare un po´di italiano." (I bought a guidebook in Italian, thinking that ... read more
La speranza di Allie
World cup madness hit hard after the USA-Italy debacle faded from memory. We watched most of the games in various piazzas around town, sitting on newspapers and smashed in between sweaty, screeching and overly-involved spectators. I buffed up on insults, which the Italians doled out without reprise to their players. All of the games ended with hugging complete strangers and sprays of beer and champagne. The final game was intense. When Zidane gave the infamous “testata” (head-butt) the people went wild. Racist slurs abounded. When Italy won the penalty kicks, the entire city erupted. Vespas with the tricolore were all over the streets and sidewalks, fans overtook buses and jumped on their roofs to ride through the city and all of the piazzas were filled with drum circles, dancing and fireworks. The next few days were ... read more
Il gruppo suona
Birthday party Tuscan style: a villa overlooking the hills, live music from the birthday boy's band, a wood-burning pizza oven and thirty pounds of pizza dough! ... read more
Cena da Mary
I am trying to convince myself that updating my wayward friends on the goings-on of my life is less offensive in the blog form than as a mass email. You are visiting of your own interest, boredom or tendency to procrastinate via internet. And I am without the painful thought of my babblings ending up in the electronic trashcan in pieces with the million dollar international bank transfers and male member enlargements. Here is a little background for those that I am not in close contact with and then I’ll get on to the part that you might actually read… For those whom I have seriously neglected, you might not know that I have spent the last two years in Oklahoma, despite the impassioned urgings of many “coastal” friends. I seem to boomerang back to the ... read more
