Paradise Found

I took a real vacation this weekend.  My friend and I took a trip out to a small beach town called Asilah.

Our first free weekend a couple people began planning a trip to Tanger and Chefchouen and then next thing you know, everyone was going.  The trip was fine, but we were constantly running into students traveling in groups of 9 and arguing where and what and when they were going to do what.

Last time it made sense - first time trying to get around the country, easier to just all travel together.  But this week, it was like sheep.  A couple people mention Casablanca and all of a sudden everyone is making plans to go to Casa.  But my friend invited me privately to go to Asilah.  We had passed it on the way to Tanger and we could see the sea from the train.  A grumpy couple of middle aged canadian archaeologists said it was their favorite location and got off at that stop.

So we went, just the two of us, no other CLS students.  No other students at all as far as we could tell.

We stayed in a little bed and breakfast, Dar Manara, run by a spanish lady.  Neither my friend nor I know any spanish but between her french and my arabic we were able to check in and figure out the time for breakfast.  We picked this place because it had air conditioning and breakfast and wifi but the air conditioning  was what sold us.  We slept in an 18 degree breezy room.  The lady did warn me not to leave it on for more than an hour or so or else, and I quote: "whboom" *gesture of something exploding* so I'm not sure what she was trying to convey would happen if we left it on too long, hopefully she wasn't really saying that the air conditioner or electricity or something would explode, but just to be safe we only kept it on for an hour at a time.  It was a cozy little room anyway.

On Thursday evening I went by a patisserie and bought cookies for our travels on Friday (for lunch really) (I hoped they would sell something more substantial) but we couldn't eat on the train on Friday so I assumed we'd get into them when we got to the hotel.  But of course, I left all of the cookies on the train next to my seat.  But it's ok because my friend had brought a couple snacks and it was 7pm anyway by the time we got in.

We went out after fatour, around 9 and places were just starting to open up.  We ate at an open air restaurant.  Paella.  I'd never had it before.  My friend, who has been to Spain, said the spices weren't spanish, but it was the first rice I've had in months!  People in Meknes are known as " the bread people" or "breadies" if you want a literal translation.  Every meal consists mostly of bread in one form or another and often if there's something other than bread on the table, bread's the only utensil you get.

Yesterday we woke up, had a hearty breakfast of bread cooked two different ways (I think bread is a pretty standard breakfast even outside of Meknes), one was a baguette and the other was kind of like a pancake sliced in half.  It's all bubbly on top.  With orange juice, jam, and REAL COFFFEEE  non of that nescafe stuff!

Then we went out and found the beach.  We estimate that we walked about 5 miles on the beach.  My jeans are soaked inside and out with sand all the way up to the knees.  But it was so worth it.  We saw a couple sandy colored crabs.  A little ways up the beach were some rocks and little pools of water and there were shell fish like the kind you might find living on a whale.  

That which you might find living on a whale

We got back to the hotel and showered.  Then we went out to a patisserie (in my defense it was the only place that was open at 2pm!) and we bought a big box full of cookies which we ate for lunch on the terrace of our bed and breakfast.  Then we took an afternoon nap and then we went back up to the terrace again.  We went out again around 9, this time to a well known spanish restaurant for a real fish meal.  I got a swordfish steak the size of my face (literally!) for $8.  The waiter loved that we spoke Arabic.  There were no moroccans in the place.  Asilah seems to be mostly frequented by grumpy middle aged spaniards and middle aged american ex-pats. 

I have decided that I'm going to live in Asilah one day.  I've never felt so comfortable anywhere else.  Quiet. No cars.  No donkeys.  Beach and beach breeze.  Very few tourists.  Murals on most walls.  I could live there.  Live a simple life with wifi and an air conditioner and cookies from that little shop for lunch every day.  Ok, I suppose I could compromise and only eat there for lunch during Ramadan.. :-p

It was a wonderful weekend.  I kept looking around corners expecting to run into a group of 9 students from CLS all trying to travel together through the narrow alleys, but there was no one to bump into.  No reminder whatsoever that we had any other obligations other than to enjoy the sea breeze and our air conditioned room.

On the train home, you could tell we were nearing Meknes because the sunflowers stopped looking toward the sun and were looking toward the ground instead.  It's so hot here.  But the worst was that the compartment we were in didn't have air conditioning.  We paid for first class but we ended up sitting in our own sweat for 3 and a half hours.  It was not fun.  And I broke the rules and drank a bit because I was starting to feel sick.  I decided I'd rather offend the other people in the compartment than let myself get sick from dehydration and heat just to be culturally sensitive.  I think I made the right decision.

I don't believe I have school tomorrow!  I'm so tired.  And my reading for tonight is a 3 page article titled "Has poetry died?" and some review of old grammar with some notes on obscure exceptions to the grammar.  Our teacher isn't testing us on the grammar from this book, it's all obscure and mostly inapplicable to anything we'll ever say, write, or read.

On the note of school, I'm considering taking one or two mental health days.  I didn't really sleep this weekend.  It could have been something about the hotel, but I was dead tired both nights and still couldn't get to sleep.  I'm still taking my medications religiously but I'm a little concerned that the stress of turning in 3 papers, a presentation, and an exam this past Friday on top of packing and planning this trip may have put a strain on me.  

I might talk to my host mom, see what she has planned for tomorrow.  Taking a preventative mental health day is fine as long as there's something pleasant to do.  I'm not at a point where I need to take a day and sleep, I'm still healthy, I just feel like I need to take a day and relax.