Marrakesh Morning

I've made it at last. I am sitting on my balcony overlooking a busy Marrakesh morning down below. Directly across from me is another apartment building with a collection of satellite dishes, air conditioning units, pigeons, and cats. Off to the right is an enormous cemetery, and off to the left is Avenue Mohammed V, one of the busiest streets in Marrakesh. I am in the heart of Gueliz, a trendy, European-feeling part of the city, with H&M, McDonalds and Starbucks all just down the street. The medina walls that encircle the old city are just a 5 minute walk, and Koutoubia Mosque towers over it all. The benefit of living so close to the mosque is that it is visible from everywhere, so I should never get lost. On the flip side, it was 5:40 a.m. when I woke up to the first call to prayer. But, let's backtrack.

Yesterday morning, I was still in Rabat. I said goodbye to my fellow Fellow as she headed off for her final destination of Oujda, and I jumped in a van with Rachid, our driver, and Abdellatif from the embassy, to head to Casablanca for a meeting. After coffee, more new faces and new information, we enjoyed an amazing Moroccan Friday couscous.

Apparently Friday couscous is a particularly special tradition in this country known for couscous any day of the week. On Friday, anything that is left over from the week gets made into a giant stew and served on top of couscous, resulting in a savory surprise feast. In my couscous I identified zucchini, ochra, sweet potato, potato, carrots, another green squash of some kind, something like cabbage, a big chunk of beef on the bone, chick peas, lima beans, a brown bean that I wasn't familiar with, carmelized onions and raisins, cinnamon and spices, all covered in a tasty sauce. I managed to eat about half of it before I was completely stuffed. It was accompanied by a glass of butter

milk, which I worked hard to enjoy (it's 90 degrees mind you), and obligatory selection of olives and bread. It's time to find a way to exercise in this country without offending anyone or dying of heat exhaustion. That will be my challenge this week in Marrakesh - to find a place to work off all of the tasty calories I am finding at every turn.

Finally, we rolled out of the restaurant and headed for Marrakesh with a quick stop for the tourist (me!) at Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world. Your challenge for the day is to name the other two! This mosque sits right on the ocean in Casablanca, and, apart from the striking view of the mosque on the water, I was stuck by a remarkably cool wind blowing on me for the first time in days. Unfortunately, however, the cool breath of salt air was short-lived as there were many miles to Marrakesh ahead of us.

Once we escaped the city traffic of Casablanca, the landscape turned desert-like very quickly as we headed south. For two and a half hours we sped through a land with very little vegetation, occasional groups of goats and donkeys, and, astonishingly, small groups of stone houses in what seemed like a places struggling to support life of any kind - plant or animal. And then Marrakesh appeared. Palm trees sprouted up on the horizon. Patches of green materialized. Reddish clay buildings rose up from the dry ground, and the traffic slowed. I had arrived at last. I felt kind of giddy staring out the window - trying to temper my expectations of the absolutely magical Marrakesh I have been dreaming of for months. Abdellatif asked me if I felt "the vibe" yet - the Marrakesh vibe. I didn't. It felt a lot like Arizona. And then I saw it, the Koutoubia Mosque directly ahead, yet miles away. In the flat landscape of Marrakesh, it stands out like a beacon on the horizon. I felt the "the vibe" and settled in for the magical ride.