a lot at once

ok so things have changed a lot since the last post (no french keyboards are still a pain).

while on the train from rabat to fes i met a moroccan guy named amine (pronounced like amen if no syllable were stressed). nice enough guy but of course at first i thought he was on the take. he was dressed like a typical 20 sonething european with sneqkers and jeans and pullover. turns out he is actually an apprentice to be a train engineer. anyway we chat on the way to fes and he is kind enough to show me a hotel in his neighborhood and take me to the hamman (turkish bath). let me tell you after a scrub down at the hamman there is not a single dead skin cell on the body (and a few less live ones). after the hamman we went to eat grilled meats in a half loaf of flat bread then off to bed.

at seven a m i meet amine outside my hotel as planned, and he is again in jeans and designer sneakers _ only now he is also in jellaba as well, much to my surprise. off we go to old fez, a mideivel city with labyrinthe strets small only enough for donkey and person. we get crepes with honey prepqred by an olod berber lady, then take our breakfast off to an upper room tea house. there, an old man uses an old fashioned bloer to heat the coals under the huge kettle, from where our tea will be dispensed (think one of those old style percolators that people used to use to make coffee at a big church function or some such thing). while waiting, i looked outside the open window to the street below, where a man made a pile of mint into small bundles for sale, and donkeys passed picking up the morning trash. eventually the tea came _ chinese gunpowder tea, with sugar chopped from a large block, fresh mint, and a mysetious mint like herb i cannot quite place. we enjoyed the tea and crepes, and were off to further explore the enpt early morning medina.

we went to an artisnal market run by the government, where the shopkeeper seemed to think that i was a man tres honnete because i worked for the government _ i never get that at home! i ordered a rug for home, then amine and i met his friend who drives a taxi and we were off to see the countryside. a trip to moulay idriss? the holiest city in morocco because it hosts the sultan who brought islam to the nation. then to the nearby roman ruins at volubilis. really amazing to walk the streets and see the floor tile mosaics of a place that predates christ. from there we stopped in meknes, then an afternoon trip to the once jewish city of sefrou (most of the once large jewish community of morocco has moved to israel or at least casablanca). from there we went to bhalil. there is a small, nice waterfall nearby, but the highlight is the people who live in caves! they hqve built outer rooms around the cave entrances, but i enjoyed tea with an old berber woman who lives with her family in a cave;

after the last stop, amine and i went to a ver nice riyad in old fez _ bono stays there, so they boast. had a meal of moroccan salads, chichen pastilla, a kind of moroccan pot pie, and a lemon and olives chicken tajine.

most importantly, i have hired a driver for the next week, and amine has the week off and is coming along. tomorrow i head south to the mountains, en route to the sahara!

have a great monday, peace be upon you