Yet again I a little behind on this blogging thing! We have just been so busy and by the end of the night I am pretty much done for. As promised I will give you all some exciting updates. We got the chance to go down even further down into southern Morocco. We were in Taroudant, Taliouine and Ouarzazate. While we were in Ouarzazate we stayed at a really cool hotel overlooking the city. It had this pool that had windows looking into the restaurant! Supposedly, it is because the hotel use to be a nude hotel and people could see the naked people swimming around in the pool while eating supper. Well we took the plunge, not naked though, and swam around and took pictures of us underwater in the restaurant. Fun times! People most likely thought we were crazy because it was freezing outside! That is actually the second time we got to swim in Morocco though! Both times were pretty chilly. : )
So later that night we were in for a BIG surprise. In Morocco most of the rooms in hotels or restaurants are very relaxed and made for lounging. With pillows and short tables and lots of beautiful wood ceiling carvings and colors! So we went to this room in our hotel and got to see a snake charmer and belly dancer! We also got to try Moroccan beer! It is called Casablanca and was pretty good. I got video of the snake charmer and belly dancer. We had a cobra, sidewinder and some nice snake. It was the snake he liked to put on people. : ) Jill our Collegiate FFA leader and a guy named Eric were not fans of the snakes! Jill curled up with her feet up on the couch and Eric screamed when they put the snake on him. It was such a cool thing to see. Then the snake charmer must have though the snakes weren’t enough because then he started to poke needles in his mouth and spitting hot water through the holes. This was crazy! I actually had to look away a couple times because he was bleeding. Now I know you all wanted to know that! : ) When the belly dancer came out we let the boys give her moolah. It was still very cool to get to see these parts of their culture. After that we stayed up a little longer and danced with some Arab friends.
The next morning (at least I think this the right order), we went to visit the headquarters for the Transhumance for Biodiversity Conservation in the Southern High Atlas. It was basically a project that was in place to conserve the most diverse flora and fauna in Morocco. People in this region are traditionally Transhumance or nomads. They are sheep herders who move their sheep to the best grazing lands each season. Their life is extremely difficult. They don’t have schools, medical care, or veterinarian care. This way of life is disappearing and along with it a lot of their plants and animals are becoming extinct. So the Transhumance project is one that is pushing people to return to that lifestyle. It kind of boggles my mind that they wish to send people back in time and technology but it would be the best thing for the environment and the people in the long run. The Transhumance project is now providing mobile schools, hospitals and vet clinics for these people in hopes of attracting more people.
So later that night we were in for a BIG surprise. In Morocco most of the rooms in hotels or restaurants are very relaxed and made for lounging. With pillows and short tables and lots of beautiful wood ceiling carvings and colors! So we went to this room in our hotel and got to see a snake charmer and belly dancer! We also got to try Moroccan beer! It is called Casablanca and was pretty good. I got video of the snake charmer and belly dancer. We had a cobra, sidewinder and some nice snake. It was the snake he liked to put on people. : ) Jill our Collegiate FFA leader and a guy named Eric were not fans of the snakes! Jill curled up with her feet up on the couch and Eric screamed when they put the snake on him. It was such a cool thing to see. Then the snake charmer must have though the snakes weren’t enough because then he started to poke needles in his mouth and spitting hot water through the holes. This was crazy! I actually had to look away a couple times because he was bleeding. Now I know you all wanted to know that! : ) When the belly dancer came out we let the boys give her moolah. It was still very cool to get to see these parts of their culture. After that we stayed up a little longer and danced with some Arab friends.
The next morning (at least I think this the right order), we went to visit the headquarters for the Transhumance for Biodiversity Conservation in the Southern High Atlas. It was basically a project that was in place to conserve the most diverse flora and fauna in Morocco. People in this region are traditionally Transhumance or nomads. They are sheep herders who move their sheep to the best grazing lands each season. Their life is extremely difficult. They don’t have schools, medical care, or veterinarian care. This way of life is disappearing and along with it a lot of their plants and animals are becoming extinct. So the Transhumance project is one that is pushing people to return to that lifestyle. It kind of boggles my mind that they wish to send people back in time and technology but it would be the best thing for the environment and the people in the long run. The Transhumance project is now providing mobile schools, hospitals and vet clinics for these people in hopes of attracting more people.
At the project headquarter we also got to visit with a lady who was in the Peace Corp. She had been working with her village to get running water and try to make things better for the people. She was actually at the end of her 2 year service term. It was interesting to hear from a person who was actually living with the people and living like the people. Especially, since I have considered Peace Corp after college.
Don’t worry Mom, I think I am still going to teach!So after all that in the morning, we got to do some shopping! I bought two beautiful Berber rugs. I am keeping one and am not sure who gets the second. I just got so caught up in the bargaining process with the men that I ended up buying two. But I got the second for 500 Durams less than he originally quoted me. It was crazy, the men were rolling out rugs left and right and they were all so amazing. I made friends with this one guy, the one selling me the rugs. He told me I had expensive taste and would laugh when I argued with him on the price. It was a really fun experience. The only bad thing is that I now have to lug around two heavy rugs!
As if the rugs weren’t enough excitement we decide to go to the Kasbash. It is a Moroccan castle. It was a nice little tour. The main thing to note was as the castle went higher the doors and ceilings became shorter and shorter to support the weight. They are made from clay. They had really nice ceiling carvings.
Well I think I will end this post and add more to the next.The Traveling Bogart,
Kasie
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