The Desert

Welp... Even though desert's are traditionally defined as barren wastelands, and very few people live in them, I decided I want to live in the desert. I had a blast during my trip to the Southeastern corner of Morocco. The trip started at about 2pm on Friday, after a four hour day of classes. With 1500 dirham, my passport, my sunglasses, and some clothes, I loaded the bus: destination Erfoud. Erfoud is a smaller Moroccan city, known for its conservative citizenry and its breath-taking fossils. After a six hour bus ride, anything would be a welcome destination, but Erfoud did not disappoint. We arrived at Hotel Tafilalet, at approximately 9:30pm, and we were immediately treated to a feast fit for kings. A grandiose buffet-style meal including, cucumbers, carrots, tomato and tuna salad, beef tajine, chicken tajine, vegetable tajine, lamb kidney tajine (surpisingly good...by the way), and 6 full size platters full of a garden variety of fruits. Needless to say my long trip was immediately forgotten. Our hosts danced to the sounds of drum beats and various metallic clacking devices until nearly 1am. It was a real treat. Saturday morning was spent in Erfoud, where I walked around with my friends Nick, Meaghen, and Jade. As we sauntered around the city, I couldn't help but notice the abundance of fossil shops. The fossils are primarily maritime, as this area used to be under seawater. Interestingly, just about everybody in the Erfoud has some link to the fossil trade, whether it be in digging, distribution, or sales. I am still amazed by the lack of regulations for fossil excavation. Perhaps I am viewing a different culture from an Amero-centric lens, but it seems that fossils are a sacred scientific discovery. Only scientists like Jack Horner uncover fossils, and it seems (I don't know the man personally) that he would be perturbed to know that fossils are being hoarded by Moroccan shop owners and negotiated away just like a touristy dagger or pair of Babush's. The group left Erfoud at about 4:30pm to head for Merzouga...right on the tip of the Sahara desert. Unfortunately, we did not get to sleep on the dunes in goat-hair tents, but the group was forced to stay in hotel rooms that remained oppressively hot even after the sun went down. The most amazing thing happened in the desert. As tacky as this sounds, I felt personally liberated after I climbed the tallest of the sand dunes within visibility. It was grueling...like riding a stair master, yet still having a goal to reach a higher elevation. It was exhausting. After getting to the top of the dune, however, I watched the sunset and looked on the microcosm that was our hotel. After getting little sleep, we rode camels to far away dune to watch the sun rise. Another beautiful moment, hopefully I captured it well in the pictures. The rest of Sunday we spent in a nearby Souk. The marketplace stretched indefinitely as we wandered through mountains of fruit, stacked neatly like an expansive urban development around the walk way. I was tempted to buy just about everything, but alas, I knew that a frugal disposition would pay dividends later.

I returned to my dorm room at about 8:00pm last night. My roommate, who spent the weekend in Jadida with his family, had already arrived. A freshly cooked rotisserie chicken under his right arm. But that's not all. In his left hand he carried a yellow bag, partially translucent, allowing me to give the stash of fruit hidden inside a cursory glance. What a meal! Samir brought even better tidings. He rented a car to drive around for 15 days. The car will be our mode of transportation when we go to Casablanca this weekend. I look forward to seeing the ocean (on a different continent) and having a look around at my roommates stomping grounds.

Stay tuned...