anticipation & preparation: morocco
To prepare for my upcoming trip to Morocco, I started by booking a tour with G Adventures. I usually avoid tours like the plague, but it is a small group (15 or less people), inexpensive, takes care...
View Articlecall to place: morocco
I am captivated by Morocco. My fascination began with the 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much, with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day, where, during a family holiday in Morocco, Dr. Ben McKenna and his...
View Articlecall to place: egypt in 2007
It was May of 2007. I had just completed one year of my two-year Master’s Degree in International Commerce & Policy at George Mason University. During this first year, I had come to form in my...
View Articleanticipation & preparation: egypt in 2007
I didn’t do much to prepare for my July of 2007 trip to Egypt as the opportunity came up quite suddenly and I didn’t have time. I had studied Arabic from the fall of 2005 through fall semester of 2006...
View Articleon returning home from egypt in 2007
It was a July of seeing Egypt through through lavender-hued glasses; a July where all my pictures turned out purplish-pink and where my view of the world expanded exponentially. A July of studying...
View Articleon journey: a roundabout route to casablanca
Thursday, April 4: What a long morning of waiting and wrapping up loose ends. Mike came home from work early and drove me to the airport. I finally got through security at Washington-Dulles Airport at...
View Articleblues of morocco
The color blue is found throughout Morocco, on buildings, boats, ceramics, tiles, and Berber robes. In the town of Chefchaouen, there are several theories as to why all the walls were painted blue....
View Articleenticing moroccan markets
Some of the most beguiling things about Morocco are the markets filled to the brim with enticing and colorful decorative objects and foods. I fell prey to many of them, and came home with an extra bag...
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poetic journeys: aït-ben-haddou
Aït-Ben-Haddou This is I who stood on a scatter of carpets in a mudbrick Moroccan home and studied a poster of our guide when he was an extra in Gladiator. This is I who climbed between the ksar's mud...
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morocco’s architecture & interiors
Moroccan architecture is an exotic mixture of Islamic influence and Hispano-Moorish style. Islamic motifs include elaborate geometric patterns, Quranic verses in Islamic calligraphy, and zellij, or...
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on journey: morocco to rome
Marrakesh to Casablanca: I had arranged a car through G Adventures to take me from Marrakech to Casablanca for my flight to Rome. My driver, Mohammad, who surprisingly spoke mainly Spanish, arrived at...
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morocco: of the desert, dromedaries & berbers
From Merzouga, we took a “camel” trek out to the pre-Saharan steppes known as Erg Chebbi in the evening just before sunset. Berber guides, Aziz in blue, Moha in white, led our animals, actually known...
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casablanca, morocco: settling in & a walk to hassan ii mosque
Our first morning in Casablanca, Susan and I were up before 8:00, tossing on clothes to go in search of breakfast. At a cafe next door to our building, I had an espresso, yogurt with honey, and fresh...
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rick’s cafe & a walking tour of central casablanca
After visiting Hassan II Mosque, we took a petit taxi to Rick’s Cafe, where we sat at a table on the second floor overlooking an enclosed courtyard. I ordered vegetable pokhara, saffron rice, raita,...
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twenty-nineteen
In twenty-nineteen, I: Cracked a molar and suffered through a root canal and new crown. Took my first-ever drawing class, a found poetry class, a watercolor class and a bullet journal class. Went on a...
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an array of mosques
A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. Mosques typically contain an ornamental niche (mihrab) set into the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca, ablution facilities (where worshipers wash...
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casablanca: back to hassan ii, a walk along the corniche, & quartier des habous
The streets of Casablanca were deserted on Sunday morning. At Café de France, where we went for breakfast when we found our cafe next-door was closed, I enjoyed toast with cream cheese, olive oil and...
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farewell to casablanca’s satellite dishes & hello to fellow travelers
This morning, we said goodbye to the satellite dishes of Casablanca. It didn’t mean we were leaving Casablanca yet; it simply meant we were moving out of our Airbnb with its 7th floor patio and moving...
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morocco: casablanca to tangier to chefchaouen
On the first morning with our G Adventures group, we enjoyed an impressive breakfast spread at our Casablanca hotel: an omelet with peppers, tomato and white cheese, a slice of lemon cake, coffee and...
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morocco: the blue-washed chefchaouen
Susan and I started our “free day” in the blue-washed Chefchaouen, originally known as Chaouen (“peaks”). It was once isolated and xenophobic; Christians were threatened with death if they entered....
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