back in madrid, we feasted at our favorite restaurant, la maceira, where we drank white wine from little white bowls.
30 January, 2005
spain
we arrived in sevilla in the evening, and promptly found a room in the abbot's quarters, around the corner from the largest cathedral in the world (pictured here). it was built around a mosque that the moors left. we went inside the next day.
morocco
a glass of moroccan tea, which is lots of tea leaves, super saturated with sugar, and fresh mint, helps warm the slight chill from the mountains while soaking up the dying sun.
morocco
these ladies were chatting up timon, all giggles, practicing their english. when i came around the corner and they shrieked, realizing that i was his girlfriend. i took their photo and then gave them the camera to pour over their images. time to buy one of those travel printers...
morocco
an alley in the medina of chefchaouen. we spent our days literally walking these alleyways and looking around. life here, though frequented by tourists, is still traditional. we had to remember to not hold hands or show public affection as this appears much different to the arabs.
morocco
chefchaouen is a beautiful old city in the rif mountains of morocco. the french lapiz, blue color adorning the doorways and windows, we found out deters mosquitoes. most of the alleyways looked like this one - calm. though many streets were steep, as the city is built into the side of the mountain. we had the most beautiful time here. exactly the sort of vacation keely and i enjoy.
morocco
compare this with unis's photo with timon. i'm thinking through my smiling teeth, "why is he putting his arm around me, and not timon?". unis was wonderful. i think he felt american women don't mind this kind of close physicality. i did mind, though not terribly. timon rightly pointed out that i should have explained that american women actually aren't comfortable with it.
morocco
we met unis off the beaten goat and people path while hiking under the rif mountain peaks outside of chefchaouen. he invited us to his home for tea, but he had to go to town for afternoon prayer first. a little later we hiked another 20 minutes up the path to his farm. he is 23 but farming full time, sharing a 2 room thatched hut built from scrap metal on the side of the mountain with a friend (they have a door between the 2 rooms). he said they had a radio and had good parties at night. he had to walk, it took 15 minutes, to a house nearby to get more water for us. we inspected the details of his home. the 2ft square kitchen with a propane hiking stove.
we spent more than an hour conversing in broken spanish, which we all tried to speak, not knowing arabic, and him not knowing english. we taught each other words and talked as much as we could about our lives. then we walked down the path towards town and stopped to watch the sunset on a hill while afternoon prayer was ricocheting off the mountains. mosques are as prevalent as churches in the midwest of the u.s. so we could hear 5 different calls to prayer all coming from different directions while sitting in the grass. it was amazing. thanks for the hospitality unis.
morocco
those are all olive trees, soon to be marinated with cumin and served before dinner at all the yummy cafes.
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