Quick update.

Hello Everyone,
I am safe and sound, and almost back in Canada. Morocco was a blast, and I will try to put up some pictures. In the meantime, I am going to cheat, and cut and paste one of my emails home onto the blog. Sorry!

Looking forward to touching base with everyone once I hit North America.

Hello;
First things first; the keyboards here are completely different so i am chicken pecking;;; and can t find thz period% I am more than safe and sound; i have yet to wipe that sh\t eating grin off myface,,,sorry for the language: It is truly an assault on the senseshere and i am loving every moment of it: It is so good to be wanderingaround a completely foreign environment§

I found a hotel right near the souqs and ventured through them and came out the other side zithnothing more than a bag of dried apricots§ I think I did pretty good;got past the sheep heads, the piles of spices and jezlery withoutbuying anything/ It s hard because you want to look at everything butas soon as they notice your eyes so much as linger on a certain storeyou are accosted and pulled in to come and try it on or to have ataste: I feel like I have gone from a Jane Austen novel in London tothe ,iddle of a story from 1001 nights

I wish this keyboard was easierto navigate; there are already so many stories to tell: My favourite moment so far is the soccer game I played with a group of 8)10 yearold boys in one of the public gardens§ §the flowers and oranges areincredible§; the ball they were playing with rolled out to me so Iflicked it up in the air and tossed it back, they started to laugh andclap and invited ,e to play§ you have to love the universality ofsport:

It is so great to be speaking french again: I am applying my#learn a new phrase with every transaction# philosophy and have beenrewarded with smiles at my attempts to say thank you and hello inarabic. Yay, just discovered the period.... but not the excla,ationmarkSo, I have been minimally harassed, the vendors are definitelyagressive but I find just walking along with a half smile and notacknowledging anyone seems to be the best strategy. Walking along thestreets has also resulted in a few %bonjours bonjours; vous voulezvous venez avec moi% from random men, but no marriage proposalsyet...but I just got here.

I had a great time in London and the narrow twisty souqs seem almost relaxing after the chaos of picadilly square etc: Mike and I took awonderful stroll through some of the major tourist scenes. It is anincredible feeling to walk in the setting of so many novels and of somuch history. I think my half hour is almost up; I a, doing well;thoroughly enjoying ,yself and already regretting that I am only herefor a couple of weeks:My apologies for the punctuation, or lack thereof: Life isexhilirating once again I think I am going to make my way towards theAtlantic coast tomorrow:
take care in your respective regions of theworld
cheers;bessalama

nat

Ok, so here is a second email.

Hello all;
I have finally found a pasable keyboard and if I had the time I could literally write a novel. I am going to try and showsome restraint.

tlojgeocvThe first one involves waiting for a bus quite a few days ago now. Iwas told the bus would be leaving in about half an hour (this isbefore i learned what half an hour means to morrocans!) I decided I wouldnt have enough time to wander very far so I found a shady wall to lean against and took out my knitting. It wasn t long before I felt someone near me; I glanced up from under my hat and into these dark,dark laughing eyes of a young Berber woman. She was interested in myknitting so I passed it over to her and her two friends; with the help of a ticket seller we were able to talk a bit. She expressed surprise that a western woman could knit; she then asked how many children I had and when I told her none,expressed her condolences! To meet theMoroccan men: play football, to meet the woman: knit!

I wish I had the time to convey my desert experience. I have definitely felt more isolated and removed from human habitation in northern BC and in Iceland, yet the foothills of the Sahara, shall we say, were impressive in their own right. I was apprhensive at first asI was headed out for 3 nights just me, a guide, and a dromedary (I wasquickly corrected that it is not a camel!) Then I thought, what§s theworse that could happen? Me, some strange guy, a landscape I am unfamiliar with...so then I quit thinking about what could happen, and decided to just enjoy. My guide, Omar was the same age as me and we got along well. He was surprised that my boyfriend would let me come by myself, and said that he was lucky to have §une belle gazelle§ likeme!

So many stories to tell; we would wake up for sunrise, walk in themorning, have a delicious §tajine§ for lunch, and rest during the heatof the day, then set up camp, watch the sunset amidst the dunes, and

Usually we would just walk in silence (yes, I can not talk for a fewhours!) and I would check out the plants, and flowers adsuch. Hewould pray 5 times a day and I would take that time to do my physio stretches (for which my knees and hips are thankful) When we stopped,we ended up talking about politics and religion, as I find those topics that we are supposed to stay away from so interesting. He saidhe was flattered that I was interested b/c most people don,t ask, Isaid most people are probably more polite! It was fun sharing storiesabout growing up in Canada vs his childhood spent in the desert (hisfamily has just recently given up their nomadic ways) At night we traded riddles and for half an hour I was the proud owner of Madou theDromedary!My camera died on the second day, and my memory card was al,mostfull.

The final night was spent in a more^permanent campwith othertourists and guides. We had a fun time by the fire, with everyonesinging and playing drums or watering cans. One of the funnier momentswaswhen we traded a §traditional canadian dance§ for a traditionalBerber dance. So; I learned some Arabic dancing; and there are now some camel guides that know some line dancing! Good times.I am no longer pasty white, I mean porcelain skinned. Everything but my face is still white, white, white but I don*t think my face has ever been so freckled!I have some great meal ideas to bring home and some incrediblememories. I am hoping that the buses line up tomorrowso that I can hit up some surf the next day and watch my tan wash away!I miss you all lots and look fwd to sharing my stories in person;);


So, that's that. I'll try posting some pictures when I get back home.