In Tangier

View over Tangier Bay

After an extremely laborious, but enjoyable summer teaching Spanish kids in the south of Spain, which I will write more on later, Ive defiitely earned my two weeks vacation. I met up in Tangier on Sunday with my friend Johanna, my sophomore year college roommate, who is doing Peace Corps in Southern Morocco. I came over by ferry from Tarifa, Spain. Im now having fun experiencing the sights and sounds of Morocco and watching Johanna get around in 2 different Moroccan Languages. Im glad to have her as my tour guide and travel buddy. Tomorrow we are headed either to Fez or Casablanca and afterwards Im off to Barcelona. Cant wait.

Me and Johanna in Tangier

Going to Morocco Today!

Tagines in the Main Square of Meknes

From a 1986 NY Times Article:

"It is only across a narrow strait from Spain, but it feels as
remote as a place in the ''Thousand and One Nights.'' Its medieval cities
survive, intact, unchanged and quite as lively as ever, but in the course of a
50-year French protectorate its people learned a second language so that someone
unfamiliar with Arabic can still manage. It is one of the oldest kingdoms in the
world and remains, despite its constitution, a well-nigh absolute monarchy. But
even those ancient customs seem young compared to the span of the country's
history: Morocco, today, offers a fascinating blend of cultures placed in a
variety of beautiful landscapes."

Read Full Article

Still Alive

So working at a Euro Summer camp is the most relevant example of overworked and underpaid since slavery, but I´m loving it nonetheless... especially after a few months of pure vacation. The site at Santi Pietri is beautiful, and in the few moments you´re not listening to screaming children and color war chants, it actually feels like a very nice vacation. That said, I´m averaging about 4 hours of sleep per night between lesson planning and all other crap, but the perks are amazing new friends and most recently, a whale watching trip on the Strait of Gibraltar, where you could see the coast of Africa. Most of the kids got seasick and slept below deck for the majority of the boat ride, which left us a few unexpected hours of peace and quiet to just enjoy.

We just sent our first round of campers home, and tomorrow come the second round. Today we had a few hours free time and went to a beautiful beach town called Conil on the Mediterranean. We had some much needed cocktails, which feel that much better when you´ve really earned them.

Headed out for the night but hopefully back to write soon (sometime during my 0 hours per day free time)