Grand Hotel Ifrane

... Kelly. I miss working out (and so do my flabby muscles!) and my routine and even (gulp!)...work. There is something comforting for me about knowing what to expect and knowing what I will be doing in a typical day. Maybe this makes me boring and unpredictable, but I can live with that. I miss not knowing about what is going on in the world and feeling a bit isolated ...

... border town was trashy. it wasa about a 15 minute taxi ride, with 4 people in the back seat and 2 in the front + the driver. and it cost .50 cents per person( about). once we got there we found a cafe that was out on stilts over the water and looked out over the ocean and the mountains, and a hill with something written in it in arabic(you know like SSHS SENIORS 2006, except for I have no idea what it said, since you know, i guess it takes more than just a day trip to ...

... have a couple of books they want to swap. Turns out, they are snowbirds (down here for the winter - this is their 8th year) and they run the book club! Result, I left 6 of ours and came away with 7 new ones. There were a lot of romantic novels and trashy airport novels, but I managed to bag a couple of Grisham novels and one that was recommended by The Richard and Judy Book Club. Whatever gets you through the day eh? Laters

So Karim lent Sadie's cousins Erica and Mike his car to go galavanting around for the week and they decided they wanted to see the Lake region close to Ifrane. Trying to find a lake with water in it seemed impossible at first but we found one. Ate lunch with peacocks, ducks and geese and enjoyed the solitude.

Oi, what a Tuesday. Four classes in a row is not fun whatsoever. It seems that although we're technically into our second week of classes that it is still the introductory period. The readings, assignments, and lectures at Al Akhawayn are quite simplified in comparison to Bonaventure. I suppose that is because English is the second, third or even fourth language of the student populous. I am still jealous of all of the polyglots. But my Dareeja ...

Not too much to report today. My roommate kept me awake for a long time last night and I woke up at seven thirty for class. Islamic Art and Architecture was good and it seems like the professor is very intelligible. Ran to the marche to exchange money and played frisbee the rest of the day. My ...

... able to say one word to them a little frustrating to say the least, we find out they are a brother and sister team from casablanca, they want to take photos with us ect ect. they both start throwing up as we get into the thick of the curvy mountain range, too many sweets maybe? we get to our "destination" at 3am in the morning 10kms away from where we wanted to be, the bus man telling us in spainsh taxis start at 5am, just wait here at the ...

... off our little road onto a dirt lane and headed up. We bounced, jostled, and wound our way over a little 4 wheel drive trail IN OUR MERCEDES VAN as it groaned and plugged its way back and back and back. The 30-35 km took over two hours to traverse. The scenery was beautiful (zweena) -the land much like Prescott - and then it was like the North Rim...the transit van is completely void of seats behind the front seat...just wooden benches along the sides so there is plenty of room for ...

Our trip to Fes el-Bali left us in a daze when we arrived into town at 5am with bruised backs from trying to conform to our hardened bus seats. Walking in the Medina {Funky Cold Medina...} we encountered so much hassling and taunts that I have changed my name to Toyo Watanabe and claimed heritage from Tokyo, Japan. With my new identity we strolled through the souq and ...

Well I've acquired the best possible guide for Morocco, and we've spent the last few days exploring the area and little towns around Meknes. Its great to get off the beaten track. In a few days I go to the Sahara for real this time. More photos later.