Everyone is just about to rise for the day and prepare to get on the plane. We're coming home...

We are in the land of blue and white. Sidi Ifni has these old crumbly Spanish influenced buildings that look very horror-esque. We've been student leading and Abby and I are in charge of budget so we are furiously writing down every purchase.

I just dyed my hair with henna so it is a nice shiny orangey but my head smells like henna. The first time I tried to dye it I like any normal person bought the henna for hair, thinking it would turn my hair red. I didn't know that hair henna just conditions the hair and maybe tints it a liitttlle bit. So after a very messy and globby experience my hair just maybe felt softer and it was a bit disapointing. This time I bought the correct henna which is just body henna and real gloves this time and I kept it on overnight so that it would intensify and voila! My hair is excellently coloured now.

This student led business has made me really appreciate Kempie and Michelle's work to make everything run smoothly. We have people divided up to do transport, food, hotels, budget and etc but Kempie and Michelle do everything which is really admirable.

The American election is I guess tomorrow so the whole group is really into it...CaNADian elections already happened so it's not really my concerns, although probably it indirectly affects Canada.
Tomorrow we move onto Taroudant and hopefully some accessible internet! Cross your fingers for whoever you wish to win !

Jenny

I must preface this post with my zeal at the thought of public transportation; in San Francisco, I felt so moved by my experiences on the Muni, the local bus, that my roommate and I wrote a series of vignettes entitled “Adventures on the Muni”. In India, I collected newspaper clippings of the various tragedies involving electrocution due to the locals sitting atop moving trains (I longed to be one with the locals and sit atop the overspilling trains but had to make due with the newspaper cutouts seeing as my grandmother forbade me from even the thought of riding the local trains). In Manhattan, my experiences extend from someone threatening me with “imma stick this knife in you, if you bump me one more time” to being surrounded by a quartet of harmonizing vocalists. Certain experiences have since transformed my pure pleasure at public transit into a more skeptical enthusiasm, however I cannot deny that almost every experience, is a full-of-kinks adventure.

November First. The start of a new month, a new city, and new leaders. With our departure from Essaouira we felt the “winds of change”.
I naively remarked to Ella that we had been lucky with weather thus far on the journey, thinking that we were leaving behind the storm front which had approached Essaouira just as we had with the rains in Fes before Marrakesh and Marrakesh before the High Atlas. Alas! Such was not our fate as we took our voyaging into our own hands. The bad weather seemed to be travelling with us as we walked through festering puddles with our 20 lb packs strapped to our backs, braced ourselves against the damp air and held out in soaking wet clothing and dirt coated feet.

I suppose it taught me a think or two about appreciating comforts however.

Isabella

Hamak bizef or shwiya? Transl: very crazy or a little

Whenever i mention my homestay mother, L'aziza, the uniform response is for people to express that she is a bit "off". Its been something I take for granted when mentioning my host mother, and let is slide with a knowing chuckle. She is undeniably quite the character.
L'aziza had in the past requested my empty water bottles for various uses; however, now, I have begun to hand my empty bottles to her without being asked to. And each time, i give her an empty bottle, she wishes me "may god give you a good husband", i discovered thanks to the translation of my homestay sister.
Upping the crazy meter, however, a few days ago, L'aziza bade the family goodnight and went up to the second floor to sleep. About fifteen minutes upon her retreat however, we were jolted by her shrill cry of "eh Lamia!" (her daughter) and the pelting of apples from the above terrace. An important point to keep in mind firstly, is that the distance between the first and the second floors of my homestay isn't slight--at least six meters, so dropping apples from the terrace of the second floor to the first is hardly an effective method of transport (if in fact that is what l'aziza was going for) because any apple would break upon contact with the ground. Secondly, l'aziza had half peeled the apples, so we hardly found the dirty remnants appetizing when we picked them up off the ground. Lastly, however, and perhaps the most puzzling was that Lamia already had a basket of fruit on her lap downstairs, which l'aziza had handed her before going to bed. So what L'aziza thought she would want with more apples is beyond me.
Perhaps there's more to the exclamations of "L'aziza Hamak" than I had realized before....

Isabella

We all look forward to reuniting with our families tomorrow evening!

Alex

More to come soon...

Enjoying Mint Tea at Cafe Halfa

Taking in the view of the Straits

Checking out the latest Moroccan/Spanish fusion designs

A visit to the fascinating museum in the Kasbah, Dar El Makhzen, which tracks the history of Tangier as well as some interesting information on the great traveler, Ibn Batuta

This evening, we will have a lecture on 20th Century Tangier and perhaps a local movie viewing. Tomorrow we will spend our last day with a visit to the Caves of Hercules and Cap Spartel as well as a visit to the American Legation, a museum dedicated to the long standing relationship between the US and Morocco.

The group ate lunch today at "Darna", a restaurant rehabilitator for dispossessed Moroccan women, and will enjoy some mint tea overlooking the ocean at the famed ex-Beat hangout of Cafe Hafa.

Because of its strategic location, Tangier attracted the interest of many western powers and was deemed an "International Zone" in the 20th century, with several countries establishing a presence (and profiting from banking) before Morocco gained independece in 1956. Tangier's unusual status also made it a magnet for hedonists, con artists, exiles, and artists seeking inspiration on the African continent. The American Beat writers were especially drawn to Tangier's libertine ambience with Alan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs spending time here. Tangier also became the adopted home of the late great American author, Paul Bowles, most famous for his existential novel, "The Sheltering Sky." Today, Tangier is undergoing a makeover, with significant investments in its tourism and trade infrastructure: plans are to re-introduce Tangier as a major resort rivaling Spain's Costa del Sol while also transforming its port facilities into one of Africa's largest.

Alex

Learning the process of the distillation of Myrtle

Alex

We will miss you, Fes, and all of the people who have enriched our lives here.

Thank you Halima, Toufique, Meryeme, Soukaina, Oumaima, Ahmed, and Amine. I love you all very much and wish you the best now and always.

Feel that kiis (hammam scrub). Isabella explores the deeper cultural significance as well as the everyday practices of the hammam (public bathes) experience in Morocco.

Ella demonstrates the technique for Moroccan wood painting.

Look what I made! Ella reveals her handmade Moroccan wedding earring.

Ben explains fascinating and complex issues of Moroccan history.

Coley prepares a delectable Moroccan juice for us all to enjoy!

Catherine shares her newfound knowledge of Islam with the group

Check out those hands! Tessa shows off the henna styles she has learned.

Jenny serenades us with a song on the Andalusian lute.

Abby explains her mixed media painting and her experience apprenticing with a local artist.

Check out those moves! Tessa and Isabella shake their bodies during their oriental/bellydancing performance.

1. I Like To Mule It
2. Mule River
3. Please Don't Stop The Mule-sic
4. My Mule My Man
5. My Hobz Don't Lie
6. Mule Glorious Mule
7. I Kissed A Barbie (Tashelheit remix)
8. In Da Hobz
9. Tanjini in a Bottle
10. Berber-Ann

I am sorry if these make little to no sense to all you out there, perhaps we were a little delirious up there in the mountains.

Alex