Falls and Flamethrowers

Hello friends,

What a wonderful few days we've been having! Yesterday (Thursday) was wonderful. We went to see the waterfall in Ouzoud, a three hour drive from Marrakech. After a picnic lunch, a group of us took a hike around the falls and then made our way down to the bottom. We spent hours playing in the pool beneath the falls and watching Moroccan boys hurl themselves off of huge rocks into the waters. Our guide swears he saw some Barbary macaques playing near us, but thankfully none of them made off with any of our packs. We were all sad when it was time to leave, but we used the bus ride back as an opportunity to catch up on rest before the extravaganza that the owner of our riad had planned for the evening...

We enjoyed such a wonderful party that night! The innkeeper, an amazingly kind woman and very talented chef, prepared food that could have fed a small army. We feasted upon Moroccan salads of tomato and pepper, eggplant, chicken tajine, and delicious khubz (the bread served at almost every meal here). Desert was huge platters of bananas, peaches, apricots, and cookies. While we ate in the private courtyard of our gorgeous riad, we were serenaded by a trio of Gnoua musicians. Their music was so lively, everyone was on their feet by the end of the night, holding hands and literally leaping around the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. A surprise performer came at the end...a flamethrower! Wielding flaming batons, he was thrilling. After a long day in the sunshine and waters, our evening was full of eating and dancing, a true Moroccan feast to end our stay in Marrakech.

We are currently in the seaside, hippie town of Essaouira. We got here around 2PM, after visiting a cooperative of single women who manufacture argan oil and other natural products. We feasted on fresh seafood right on the water, then toured the town. After a long evening of shopping, we are settling into our rooms before heading to the beach tomorrow morning.

We can't believe our trip is almost coming to an end! A month in Morocco, and while we all know so much more than we did before we began, there still is so much to learn. It's interesting to see our increased knowledge of this country's culture in our everyday exchanges in restaurants and shops...I think we have all become much more comfortable in this place, and it's bittersweet to be coming home soon.

This is probably my last blog post, so see you back in the U.S. soon!