Back when we lived on Fort Morgan Road I remember looking forward to when family would visit because it meant we would get to act like tourists. Even though we lived right across from the beach we never enjoyed it as much as when cousins would come down from Birmingham or some other grim and beachless place. It is a similar situation here in Morocco. Even though I am in such an amazing place with tons of great stuff to see and do it is hard to appreciate it until you have a visitor to show around. Last week I had that opportunity when Elizabeth flew over from France where she has been teaching English. I didn't go anywhere new with her but I got to see a lot of my favorite places all over again through her eyes.

Here are a few highlights of our trip.

Here is Elizabeth holding a monkey in Marrakesh which was actually something of a lifetime dream for her. Uniquely, because of the snake charmers in the square, she was able to achieve a lifelong goal while facing a lifelong fear.

Some of the food offerings at one of the outdoor food stalls in Marrakesh.

View of the main square in Marrakesh from above.

Strange, mustachioed man tries pastilla,a sweet on the outside, chicken on the inside Moroccan delicacy.

The beach in Rabat.

≈Skins from the tannery laid out to dry in front of the Merenid Tombs in Fez.

I know I have been bad about posting lately. I have been traveling. I want to get off a quick one here since I am kinda backed up. These are pictures from a bicycle trip I took a couple of weeks ago. Me and some friends met in Midelt, a city about 150km south of here. We then rode our bikes out to this abandoned French mining city called Gaouli (the G is silent) which is located in a picturesque valley. We had a great time exploring some of the abandoned buildings and venturing (not too far) into a few of the mines.

Spring has finally come to the Atlas Mountains and it has brought a whole new variety of tasty fruits to the souk. These fruits are all delicious but can be put to other fun uses like this jack'o melon I created. Happy Spring.

Not too much has been going on lately except that a took a great bicycle trip with some friends. I didn't bring my camera on the trip and I am waiting to post on it until I receive the few pictures that a friend took.

In the meantime I have been rearranging things here in my house and I think I have them looking pretty good. Mostly I have been moving everything out of my darker/smaller backroom and into the brighter and nicer front room. I have also slowly acquired more and more furnishings. So I thought that it would be a good time to give you a look at where I live.

Here is the "living room" side of my main room. I bought those cushions yesteday at souk so they are the newest addition. (Also notice the fancy paper lantern over the light, thanks to Natalie)

Here is a look at the "bedroom" side of my room. You can see my desk and "duct tape chic" chair.

Finally a closer look at my couch and the handpainted table that I bought at souk here a couple of weeks ago. In all I am really happy with the way that I have my house now and hope to add little things as I go along.

Taxis just like this one are the life blood of the Moroccan transportation system. To get cheaply from place to place seven people (driver + 6 passengers) pack like sardines into one of these intrepid, old beaters. Here is how it works:

I want to go from my site to the nearby city of Azrou so I go down to the taxi stand. There will be a driver there yelling for passengers to Azrou. I tell him I want a spot and usually go ahead and sit down in the taxi. Then we wait for the taxi to fill up with the normal allotment of six passengers. Once full the taxi boss comes by and collects the money which is a set fare of 12 dh (about $1.50) per person. Once everyone has paid they cram in, (four people in the back seat and two people in the front passenger seat) and off we go. While it can be chaotic, dangerous, and smelly the taxi system works pretty well.

Unless this happens.

For the last four days there has been a nationwide transport strike. It started with taxis and has spread to most buses. The only thing running now is the national bus line which only connects big cities. I am not sure what the drivers are striking about, but I would guess they probably want higher fares instead of say, Easter Sunday off of work. Taxis are vital to my life here as well as to the lives of most Moroccans. I hope the drivers get what they want so I can enjoy a ride crammed into a backseat once again.

Edit: Apparently the strike is about stricter traffic laws. Not so sure I want the drivers to win this one anymore.

Not bad eh?

This is Volubilis which was once the furthest outpost of the Roman Empire. The city had twenty thousand residents and exported olive oil, grain, and ferocious beasts back to Rome by the shipload. Yes, I said ferocious beasts. Morocco was the source for many of the elephants, lions, and bears that fought and died in the Colosseum. Thanks to Roman efficiency all these awesome animals are now extinct in Morocco. Thanks a lot Ceaser.

(Notice the black and white cranes which I wrote about before.)

Even if they did kill all of Morocco's coolest animals the Romans did leave some pretty incredible ruins behind.

In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful areas of Morocco. The green hills and rolling plains are remind me of the scenery in Italian movies. Maybe this is why the Romans chose this place.

Volubilis was yet another entirely unique Moroccan experience. Standing under an arch a two thousand year old arch while gazing out onto such a beautiful landscape was one of those "Wow" moments that we all live for.

The past two weeks I have been very busy with spring camp and then a weekend trip. I will cover both here in back to back entries.

First spring camp:

For Moroccan Spring break the Ministry of Youth and Sport (the ministry that oversees all the youth centers in Morocco) runs about a dozen English camps all over Morocco. I was all set to coordinate a small camp in Mischlefin, a nearby ski station (that's right there is a ski station nearby it's that cold here), but because of snow covered road and a lack of funds the camp was relocated to Azrou and combined with the camp already scheduled there. Despite the change, which caused some over crowding, camp ended up going really. Most of the kids did not speak much English, but everyone learned something and everyone had a lot of fun.

I know for sure that the kids had a terrific week, because on the last night of camp after the talent show, almost all the campers, boys and girls, burst into tears. I knew the kids had a good time and would be sad to leave but I was not expecting the out pouring of emotion that ensued. A few girls were even passing out from their emotions, though I don't know how authentic this was since they were all fully recovered within a few minutes.

Camp was a busy and fun week. I got to hang out with a lot of Moroccan kids and work with several other great Peace Corps volunteers.

Thanks to some sesame ginger marinade sent to me by my sister I created this terrific Chinese style meal right in the comfort of my Moroccan home. This was also my first trip to buy "real" meat that is cut straight off of the beef leg hanging in front of the butcher instead of just chicken or ground beef. All in all a great meal.

A couple of weeks ago as when some Peace Corps staff went through my town they dropped off this brand new Trek bike. At the time it was too snowy to try it out, but since then the weather has gotten much better and I have begun to venture out into the country side around my town.

Moroccan drivers are not the most respectful towards bikers so I stay off the paved road as much as possible. Luckily there is this terrific dirt road that leads from my town through surrounding farmland to rural duwars (Moroccan word for small villages). You can see the houses in the distance these are truly isolated and rural homes with no electricity or running water. On my way I passed some women collecting water and using a donkey to haul it up to their homes.

This is one for the Peace Corps brochure. (Not bad for a picture taken by a rock.)

All this untouched wilderness just begs for man to leave his mark.

It has been a week and a half since Sarah left so I thought I would do one more post on our travel highlights, before moving on. This picture is from the beach in Essaouira (also spelled Essouria) a small city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It was in my opinion the highlight of our travels. The coastal, fishing town was strange and exotic while at the same time reminiscent of home and the Gulf Coast.

Along the port were old fortifications dating back to the time of Portuguese and Spanish occupation. A central theme of the city was also the color blue. The original name of the city Mogador is also the name of a rich blue dye, and the color popped up in surprising places, from fishing boats to doors, to a certain someone's shirt.

Traveling in Morocco can be exhausting but Essouria was a great place to relax, walk along the water, and eat some great seafood.

So with a little hint from Sarah and some great guesses, we come to the answer. The picture was taken at Atlas Studios outside Ouarzazate. Who would have guessed that Morocco has a thriving film industry?

The industry centers around the desert town of Ouzazete. Dozens of movies were made there starting with the sequel to Romancing the Stone, and continuing with Gladiator and The Mummy and recent movies such as Kingdom of Heaven and The Hills Have Eyes II.

The best part is that most of the coolest sets are still left standing, slowly decaying in the desert. For a small entrance fee we were allowed to go in and wander around at whim. It was a strange experience to walk out of Cleopatra's room and into the Old West. Or to see the huge castle from Kingdom of Heaven sitting in the distance. There was a tour later, but this was nothing compared to the fun we had just snooping around like time travelers.

Oh and I have no explanation for the black smoke in the distance. To that I can only say T.I.M (This Is Morocco).

What the Morocco? So I thought I would start a recurring feature on the blog, inspired by all the weird and crazy things I see and do here on a daily basis. The idea is I post a crazy picture with no explaination. Then, in the comments, you the blog reader, try and guess what in the Morocco is going on. After there are some guesses in I will clarify in a later post. Here is the first installment and Sarah, no fair guessing!

So here I am back in my snowy town. I got to see a lot of Morocco and more importantly a lot of a certain someone over the last two weeks, but now it's back to the slow simple life. I have to say I'm looking forward to some hours spent reading and writing after so much activity.

Sarah (pictured above enjoying an avocado/manjo juice concoction in Ouzazate.) got on a plane this morning heading back home. It was hard to see her go, but it was great to share my life here with someone I love. Feel free to pepper her with all your questions. I will blog more on our travels now that I am back to the slow life.

Sorry for the gap in posting. Sarah arrived a week ago and we have been traveling. We have seen a lot and will see even more before she goes, but I can safely say we had the coolest experience of the trip yesterday in the Sahara Desert.

After spending several days in my cold site (pictures in another post), Sarah and I headed south to (much) warmer climes. We ended up in the village of Merzouga where we took a camel trek into the desert.

After a couple hours on camelback our backsides were pretty worn out. Luckily we had arrived at our tent camp, literally in the middle of nowhere.

After dark, our guides cooked a great traditional Moroccan meal and broke out a drum and a banjo (!?) and sang some Berber songs. Finally, we tore ourselves away from a stunning night sky and bedded down against the cold desert night. Then early this morning it was back in the saddle and back to civilization.

This first week with Sarah has been great, but the desert trip was by far the highlight. If we had not already traveled together to Chernobyl I would say it was the most surreal experience we have ever had. As it is, we are building up quiet a list of unique experiences.

I have gotten a few comments wanting to see more of my house. I have been intentionally holding that back a bit since Sarah is coming to visit in just a few days and I want her to come in knowing as little as possible. Still, since I've been writing so much about food, I figured it couldn't hurt to give a glimpse of my kitchen.

Here in the foreground we see Tops Cola which is like RC cola for Moroccans. Behind that is my little stove, where miracles happen, and in the background are my two storage racks. I got one of them from this terrific used furniture market in Azrou, a nearby city. The other I just bought new at souk. Below all this lies probably the most dangerous thing that Peace Corps volunteers deal with.

Butagas. I am not sure how the Moroccans came up with that name for it (maybe it is butane?), but it is ubiquitous here. People use tanks like these as well as smaller versions for cooking, heating, hot water, and anything else that needs flammable gas. I have gotten pretty used to it but using one sure makes you aware of how nice it is not to have to light the stove with a lighter everytime, especially crappy Moroccan lighters when you have a cold thumb. But enough complaining, how about that tile!

P.S. I know the twisty pipe looks a bit haphazard, but please know that I have had plenty of training from Peace Corps on setting up this piece of equiptment. Also, that pipe is real stiff.

Since moving out of my host family's house, cooking has become a major part of my life. Not so much because it is a huge passion for me, but because there just aren't restaurants or take out in my town. Furthermore, the stores don't sell much of any prepared or ready to eat food. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are plenty of fresh vegetables and meat, but preparing them is entirely up to you. I've never been afraid of cooking and when I've dabbled in it I've usually been pretty successful. However, since I had a meal plan all through college I just never had much experience. All that is changing by the day. Here I present my latest creation: Reid's Miracle Soup!

I call it Miracle Soup because I didn't follow a recipe and did not really know if it would work since I had never made soup from scratch before. I just did what I imagined one would do to make soup. I had some meaty chicken bones left from another meal, I boiled them with salt and pepper added some potatoes and this awesome pumpkin-like squash that they have here. After about an hour boiling I smushed up the squash which provided texture and suddenly it became like a real, delicious soup. Miraculous.

First let me apologize for leaving that picture of my toilet up for so long. I took a trip to Fez and then when I got back my internet wasn't working. So, here is something pretty to cancel out the grossness.

Arriving in Morocco I noticed these large bundles of sticks on top of every tall structure: antennas, cell phone towers, and especially minarets. It didn't take me too long to solve the mystery of the bundles of sticks. The culprits are these huge, black and white birds.

They are a beautiful addition to the mosques that dot the countryside and no one seems to mind that the birds make their homes there.

So I won't go into too many details here, but this is a picture of my bathroom. Notice anything different? I sure do. Every time. This is definitely something that Morocco has wrong and America has right. Just try reading a magazine. Ok, I've already said too much.

(In case you are confused by the heading, this is called a Turkish Toilet. Avoid them at all costs.)

Living in Morocco has given me a whole new perspective on food. The way that food is raised and brought to market is less mechanized and complex here. You see crops growing everywhere and animals roam freely. Food is raised locally and naturally, not because of some grand philosophy, but because that is what has worked for centuries and what still works today.

Of course, I have only observed for a few months so I am no expert on the Moroccan agricultural system. However, I know that the farmer's market style of buying that many Americans are trying to resurrect never went away in this country. It is a part of daily life and the heart of the weekly souks.

I also know that I never came across a pile of chicken feet on the floor of the supermarket.

This is the freshest that chicken can get. At the souk there are several pins set up where you literally choose your chicken and have it killed, butchered, and defeathered right there. The first couple times I saw this it was pretty gross. But after being here a while these things begin to become normal and you start to wonder why we can't get chicken this fresh in America.

This is a guy working the defeathering machine. It basically has these big rubber blades that whack the feathers off. This comes after the chicken is killed and dipped in boiling water to loosen the feathers. The guys doing this stuff are a usually really cheerful.

Another big difference in how meat is eaten is the fact that in rural areas, every man knows how to butcher a sheep. Many people raise sheep in my area, but the reason that every adult man has this knowledge is due to the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. The details will wait for another post, but as many probably know, every family slaughters an animal, usually a male sheep, at the end of a long period fasting. During the following week every part of the animal is eaten in huge meals. This picture shows part of the sheep's head which is one of the Moroccan favorites which I did not find too appetizing.

Living in Morocco has brought me closer to the food I eat. At times this can be a bit gross, but in all I think that it has been an enlightening and healthy experience.

Souk is the most exciting thing that happens in my town. It is a weekly market where you can buy just about anything from a live turkey to a pair of khakis.

Souk day here is on Thursday. The day of souk varies for different towns so that vendors can coordinate when they go where. Small towns like mine become known for their souk day. When I tell a Moroccan where I live, a lot of time they will say, "Oh yeah you guys have souk on Thursday." Obviously souk is great for buying stuff but I also really enjoy just walking around. People come in to souk from tiny rural villages even more remote than here. Everyone is shopping and haggling and generally just enjoying the excitement. It reminds me of a county fair.

Today at souk I had this delicious fried fish lunch. There are several tents that set up at the souk where you can have lunch, but for some reason they all just sell fish. I am not sure why this is, maybe because fish is otherwise not available here unless it's in a can. I also bought some plastic to cover my leaky roof, a pair of pants, a set of plastic shelves for my kitchen, and two kilos of clementines (which are cheap, plentiful and delicious here).

So you see you can get just about anything at souk, it's almost like Wal-Mart pulls into town once a week... almost (there is no peanut butter).

Whenever the strangeness and the cold get to be too much and I want a taste of home, I just go to my favorite Hanut (small store) and buy a coke and a couple dirhams (Moroccan currency) of peanuts. Bingo! All-American snack, right here in rural Morocco. Sure, coke is just a huge faceless company, but on homesick days I'm sure glad its here.

So after much talk and many promises, I finally got around to putting up a blog so that all those interested can get an idea of where in the world I am and what my day to day life is like. My basic plan is to base the blog around pictures since this seems both fun and easy. This first post will focus on some of the basic features of my site (a Peace Corps term for the place where you are assigned).

As many of you might have heard through my incessant complaining, it is actually very cold here, despite the fact that I am in North Africa. I guess this is due to the elevation, which is nearly 7,000 feet, but I am not a meteorologist.

Another interesting feature of my town is the large number of animals wandering around. On any typical walk to the store I pass approximately 5.5 dogs, 2 cats, 4 donkeys, 8 chickens and 12 sheep. The animals run the gamut from very cute, like this dog, to repulsive, like a three-legged one-eyed cat that hangs out by the butcher.

Here are some donkeys. Just chilling. No big deal.

Here we see the rockiness and probably more importantly, the beauty of my site.

So there you have it, my piece of Morocco. It is freezing, rocky and chock full'o animals.