Meet me at the Casbah, part II
We are here! After a L-O-N-G 18 hours from leaving Chicago, we arrived in Fes, Morocco on Friday night. Brand new airport, very small. (Just in case you are interested, my favorite airports are Gatwick & Heathrow which are not really airports...flying from there is incidental to the shopping!!!).
Meeting Tim was pretty emotional. I held back and did not blubber all over his shirt, much to his relief. Neither did Bob. Though I'm not sure Bob has ever blubbered in his whole life.
We ate at an amazing Italian restaurant -- I had pizza with anchovies which assured me that no one would want to share. They didn't.
Yesterday we met up with a wonderful tour guide who spoke perfect English, and he took us all over the Medina (the old, walled city). We are staying with friends in New Town -- it has absolutely gorgeous homes -- looks very Floridian, I think -- almost like an eastern Boca Raton or Palm Beach. Tim's house is a story for another blog (!) -- a riad in the Medina which he shares with one, two or three other guys, depending on who is coming and who is going. Anyway, back to the tour.
As you are driving by the old city, it looks the same color as the hills -- a dun color, almost -- the houses blending into one another and all blending into the side of the mountain. But in the Medina, your overwhelming sensation is that of color. From the djelabas (sp??) of the women to the scarves, tablecloths, shoes, leather goods, and cloths -- it is the most colorful place I've ever been. When we visited the weavers, I couldn't decide between any number of cloths -- they were all so lovely.
My favorite place? The pharmacie which was actually an herbal place. We went there because they thought Bob would like it. He did, but I LOVED it!! 4 seeds of cardamom crushed with one filament of saffron mixed in water and taken three times a week is guaranteed to increase milk supply. Fenugreek does decrease blood sugar, increases milk supply, and increases appetite -- should be given to all skinny people!!
Went to the tannery -- now THAT was an experience. (Pictures will be forthcoming later -- I can't download them to this computer). And to a ceramic/pottery place where we saw how they make the intricate ceramic tiles that grace almost all of Fes.
Great Moroccan lunch -- I had tajine chicken with olives and lemon -- it was delicous.
Sigh. All in all, a most amazing day.
Sunday -- more of the same -- this time just with Tim and hanging out in "his" section of the Medina where I met a number of his friends. The morning started with a house church service which was wonderful, and I met his friend Megan who is actually from Wheaton College -- taking a year off to learn Arabic.
Tonight? Field of Dreams, dinner is from the US -- we brought cheese, Triscuits and summer sausage for Tim which he deigned to share with us.
I love it here.....
Tomorrow is our three hour lesson in Arabic.
Meanwhile,
Yeshua malekee.
Meeting Tim was pretty emotional. I held back and did not blubber all over his shirt, much to his relief. Neither did Bob. Though I'm not sure Bob has ever blubbered in his whole life.
We ate at an amazing Italian restaurant -- I had pizza with anchovies which assured me that no one would want to share. They didn't.
Yesterday we met up with a wonderful tour guide who spoke perfect English, and he took us all over the Medina (the old, walled city). We are staying with friends in New Town -- it has absolutely gorgeous homes -- looks very Floridian, I think -- almost like an eastern Boca Raton or Palm Beach. Tim's house is a story for another blog (!) -- a riad in the Medina which he shares with one, two or three other guys, depending on who is coming and who is going. Anyway, back to the tour.
As you are driving by the old city, it looks the same color as the hills -- a dun color, almost -- the houses blending into one another and all blending into the side of the mountain. But in the Medina, your overwhelming sensation is that of color. From the djelabas (sp??) of the women to the scarves, tablecloths, shoes, leather goods, and cloths -- it is the most colorful place I've ever been. When we visited the weavers, I couldn't decide between any number of cloths -- they were all so lovely.
My favorite place? The pharmacie which was actually an herbal place. We went there because they thought Bob would like it. He did, but I LOVED it!! 4 seeds of cardamom crushed with one filament of saffron mixed in water and taken three times a week is guaranteed to increase milk supply. Fenugreek does decrease blood sugar, increases milk supply, and increases appetite -- should be given to all skinny people!!
Went to the tannery -- now THAT was an experience. (Pictures will be forthcoming later -- I can't download them to this computer). And to a ceramic/pottery place where we saw how they make the intricate ceramic tiles that grace almost all of Fes.
Great Moroccan lunch -- I had tajine chicken with olives and lemon -- it was delicous.
Sigh. All in all, a most amazing day.
Sunday -- more of the same -- this time just with Tim and hanging out in "his" section of the Medina where I met a number of his friends. The morning started with a house church service which was wonderful, and I met his friend Megan who is actually from Wheaton College -- taking a year off to learn Arabic.
Tonight? Field of Dreams, dinner is from the US -- we brought cheese, Triscuits and summer sausage for Tim which he deigned to share with us.
I love it here.....
Tomorrow is our three hour lesson in Arabic.
Meanwhile,
Yeshua malekee.
posted by Grammie Jan @ 1:30 PM
1 Comments:
Cardamon & saffron? whoda thunk?! We'll have to run that through the IRB to get a randomized study done. Glad to hear you're having a great time. It was great to meet you & your cohorts in WV.
Jenny M in WV
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