Since my stay in Morocco is coming to an end I am taking advantage of each weekend to travel and see as many places as I can. This often means I sacrifice sleep (remember, in Morocco time is cyclical and I'll just make it up later) but I experience a ton during a short few days.

Two weekends ago I went with Molly and my friend Sophia to a beautiful town situated at the end of what is called Paradise Vallee, a lush valley between high mountains that is replete with water holes for swimming. That was Saturday, and Sunday we went to Agadir with members of the association here. Voici les photos en bas:

Not bad graffiti. Vallee du Paradise = )

These rocks looked like they had melted from the top and dripped down over their edges before hardening. The magic of water mixed with gravity and lots and lots of time.

The Agadir beach. Quite a pleasant place with a nice view of the old city atop the hilltop in the background. An earthquake in 1960 destroyed the city which was rebuilt below and now sprawls along the coast.

A typical seafood dish found in many coastal cities and towns in Morocco.

Of view of the new city from the hilltop amidst the ruins of the old city.

This past weekend Abdessamad came again to visit me and we went to a few places southeast of Taroudant, including the coastal cities of Sidi Ifni and Mirleft, Guelmim where we went to an early morning camel market, and Tafraoute, one of the most beautiful and scenic towns in Morocco. Here are some photos!

I found my camel counterpart. I wonder if he also finds it hard to be in the Moroccan sun all day.

A typical early morning scene at markets around Morocco. People bring their livestock to sell and trade.

The traditional Moroccan Wal-Mart and my workmate Molly.

The blue and white city of Sidi Ifni

Abdessamad the magician.

I fasted all day and was so hungry I was looking for anything to eat!

The gorgeous town of Tafraoute surrounded with boulders in the strangest places. It looks as if the Gods forgot to put up their toys after they were done playing.

The famous painted rocks near Tafraoute. A Belgian artist did these.

A Very Moroccan Reunion

Being 10 hours by bus from Rabat, the city where I lived for a year, I have not yet been able to visit my friends and Moroccan family who are so dear to me. My friends in Rabat work and have families, but this didn't stop two of them from making the trek south to visit me last weekend. Abdessamad and Mbark, two of my best friends from my year in Morocco, drove to Taroudant when they finished work on Friday and they arrived a little after midnight. The main square was still quite busy with street performers, families promenading and shopping, and people crowded around food stands with different kinds of meat barbequing on smokey grills. After exchanging big hugs and looking and feeling each other over and showering each other with compliments, I asked what the plan was. Abdessamad laughed and said, "there is no plan." We went to a juice stand and got fresh fruit shakes, and we decided we'd drive to Tata, a city 4 hours away near the dessert. We talked and laughed and jammed most of the way there and arrived at 5am. After a 2 hour nap we stopped for breakfast and decided to hit the road and see where it would take us. After driving for a couple of hours through the gorgeous mountain roads, we decided to head to Ouarzazate, the Hollywood of Morocco (where The Mummy and other films were made), which was about 5 hours northeast of Tata. The best thing about a Moroccan journey is the journey itself. Plans are loosely made and spontaneous opportunities are devoured with delightful curiosity and vigor. As we made our way to Ouarzazate through the windy mountain roads, we stopped in several villages to get a coffee, shop in the local markets, or refill our spirit tanks with hot, tasty Moroccan food. We made it to Ouarzazate around 6pm, briefly toured the city, took pictures in front of the famous Ouarzazate studio, had some more coffee, and decided to hit the road to Marrakech where I would depart southwards to Taroudant and my friends north to their respective homes. The road to Marrakech is beautiful and nerve wracking as it winds through the High Atlas Mountains and the general rule when driving in Morocco is "drive where you can; pass when you can." Again we stopped in a perty little village to have a coffee and talk Moroccan culture (my friends have as much fun with my cultural ignorance as I do with what I find to be Morocco's fascinating cultural peculiarities). We made it into Marrakech a little before midnight, and my friends dropped me off at the bus station. I had to get a bus and a taxi to get home, and I arrived at 6:30am. Remember that it was Sunday morning and I hadn't slept since Thursday night (except for a couple hours Friday morning and Saturday night). But this is Morocco, and time is cyclical. I missed a couple nights' sleep, but this was not time lost; I would simply get it back later.

But my Moroccan weekend wasn't over yet. The center hosting my IPSP had scheduled a trip to a mountain village for Sunday, so at 7am - just after I had gotten home, washed my face, changed clothes, and drank more coffee - a couple men from the center arrived and we headed off. We drove for about 2 hours on paved and dirt roads to a village way up in the High Atlas Mountains. After breakfast we hiked up along an oasis created by natural springs, and came to a promontory that gave a spectacular view of the surrounding villages which dot the mountains. The water from the springs was cool and potable, which made for frequent and delightful refreshments. After walking around a rock quarry (owned by a Spanish company...new colonialism?) we headed back to get lunch. I was pretty spent at this point, but luckily Morocco also has somewhat of a siesta culture, and we all laid down and took a nap after lunch. I arrived home at 8pm Sunday night, with the only sleep since Friday morning being 3 different 2-hour periods. Luckily, though, this is Morocco, and time is cyclical ; )

Dates not quite ripe.

Parched Moroccan earth. Water is scarce and so it is directed with great precision, efficiency, and timing to different fields for various seasonal crops.

A neighborhood in Tata.

A roundabout and bus stop in Tata.

The roads through the mountains leaving Tata took us through some of the coolest rock formations. The mountainsides had lines that wound in all directions.

View of...umm...don't know what exactly...but it was part of an old neighborhood.

The winding mountain roads and my two buds.

A village situated on the hillside overlooking an oasis.

Town Council of Ighroum.

A Moroccan "Half Half" coffee setup with Abdessamad posing in the background.

Moroccan shenanigans. We were driving about 35mph when this happened.

In Morocco, there is no sense of danger. But what an awesome sense of life there surely is!

Abdessamad doing Islamic ablutions before prayer.

Mbark has a need for speed, and my diplomatic remarks about the importance of safety don't do much to slow down the vehicle. My friends had told me they hit 200 kilometers per hour on the way to meet me, so they wanted to show me. Once Mbark got up to 200kmh he told me to take a picture. I got my camera out as quickly as possible since I knew we'd stay at that speed until I snapped the shot.

Taking some model shots in Ouarzazate. Mom and Dad, you remember this square?

Moroccan studios!

You can make out a mosque (the tower) and another building in the background. I found this kind of scenery so beautiful.

The setting sun between the mountains as we traversed the high pass between Ouarzazate and Marrakech.

Yeah there wasn't really anything we were looking at over there, but it made for a good picture.

Yummy meal and refreshing nap, all in the same place!

Part of a village situated like a fort atop a hillside in the mountains.

This is how this particular village directs the spring water to the various fields for agricultural needs.

So potable, so derricious!

A water reservoir that the locals use as a swimming pool when it's full.

I done seen a frog I knows I has!

There the rascal be. And he had lots of leeches on him. I took off all the ones I could find and hoped the little booger would live a more selfish life after it stopped donating all his blood...or maybe I threw off the whole ecosystem of the puddle.

What we came across at the top of the oasis. This was another village on the other side of the mountain spine, and it was beautifully terraced.

Here's a treat; have a peek!

I haven't gotten around to writing much, but here are some pictures of recent happenings.

School is out and soccer games are everywhere! Teams line up to play and passion for "football" fills the air around these makeshift fields.

A break in the centuries-old wall that reveals the city within.

What a magnificent structure that has endured more years than the whole of the United States. I love to imagine all the things this wall has seen.

"Don't touch my country" - A political and social message using traditional imagery (the red hand of Fatima)

A gorgeously painted entrance to a school. Above the door is the name of the school is Arabic and Berber, the native language of many Moroccans now required to be taught in Moroccan schools where Berber populations are significant.

A beautiful view of the city as the evening approaches. Boys playing soccer with the mountains in the background.

Some of the fabulous folks I work with about to tear into a quiche I made for the weekly meeting. Success!

My favorite Moroccan dish - Pastilla. This one was made with chicken on the inside, and has a crispy crust smothered with crushed peanuts, cinnamon, and sugar. Oh yummy! And around the Pastilla were arranged homemade Kefta, which are essentially meat kebabs with herbs infused.

And here's a glimpse of my "office." Very Moroccan with the tiled walls and the couch that surrounds the walls.