A scene from Essaouira

On one of our mornings in Essaouira, T, Brian, Sara and I were walking outside the Medina. We walked by an elderly man standing carefully and somewhat precariously in front of his wheelchair. Both the man and the wheelchair appeared dirty and worn. The man was surrounded by a ring of Medina cats, and he was gently handing them scraps of meat from a plastic bag.

I cannot completely explain why, but this was one of the times that my heart was filled with an intense and mysterious love for Morocco. That this man, clearly on the edges (or maybe in the gutters) of society would take the time to care for perhaps the only beings with lowlier lives than his – it touched me greatly.

I didn't need to take a picture. It's a scene I won't forget.

Essaouira

Since arriving in Morocco, T and I have made it a habit to ask people what their favorite places are to visit here.

By far, Essaouira has been the most mentioned city. And last weekend, T and I finally got to go there (with our friends Brian and Sara).

Essaouira (pronounced something like ES-U-WIR-UH) is a popular but peaceful coastal resort town quite a distance south of Ifrane. The only crummy part of our trip was the getting there and getting back.

Brian and Sara, ready in their djellabas for some Morocco travel.

To get there, we took a night bus from Ifrane to Marrakesh. The bus left Ifrane at 9:30 in the evening and arrived in Marrakesh around 4:30 the next morning. the bus was crowded and a bit smelly. We went through mountains. We had one bathroom break. It was not my favorite trip ever. In Marrakesh, we had to spent four hours at the bus station. That was followed by another three-hour bus ride that got us into Essaouira around noon.

It was worth the wait.

Still here

I'm still here, everyone. Besides a recent day trip to Fez with friends (which I still may write about later), I just haven't done anything "blog worthy" lately.

What I have done is gotten myself beneath a nearly unmanageable pile of schoolwork by taking five difficult online classes. What I have done is turned down hikes, book discussions, and coffee breaks to study for exams. What I have done is gotten my first "C" on an assignment because, despite turning down all opportunities for distractions, despite the fact that I don't have a job, despite the fact that I hire someone to do my laundry and dishes and cooking, I didn't have the time that I needed to put into it.

And what do I keep thinking? I wish I had worked less hard when I was in college the first time around, when the stakes weren't as high as they are now. When I was in college 10 years ago (okay, more than 10 years ago), I also turned down social events to do school work. But I didn't need to. I didn't need to get A's in every class. I didn't need to read every chapter of every textbook that was assigned.

That's a strange confession to make: I worked too hard in college.

Now, I have to get A's and B's in all of my classes if I want to have any chance of pursuing my desired career. There's no class like Introduction to Theatre on my schedule (sorry, theater professors) to provide some relief from the "heavy" classes. And while I know I'm not "old," my brain and body aren't as flexible now as they were back then, and I do have to work harder.

So what was my point? Oh, yes. I'm still here. In Morocco. At least, that's where I was the last time I checked.