Friday, October 23, 2009

Number 4

Made it to foreign soil. Specifically, Spain and Morocco. (Spain was more of a drive-through destination, but made it there nevertheless. I have passport stamps and everything.)

Saw some beautiful places, met some beautiful people, and learned some hard lessons.

Being a tourist is easy--being a traveler is much harder. And while I knew this before I left, I didn't realize its full meaning until I was thrust again into the pull and sway of the intersection between my expectations and a foreign culture.

Navigating my way physically, logistically, and emotionally without losing my mind (or sense of self or the basic foundation upon which I had based my world view) turned out to be quite the trick.

Feeling too exhausted to sketch or write in my journal, I took to making lists about the journey.

The short, bulleted format of a list seemed much more doable--no poignant prose required. And so, today, I give to you a new list, created over my lunch break, while I looked through the 834 photos I personally took during the four-week journey, and whittled them down to a favorite eight.

List Number One: My favorite 8 photos

1. Women enter the souks through a main Bab; Marrakech

2. The derb (alleyway) outside our riad (guesthouse); Marrakech

3. Ali Ben Yousseff Medersa; Marrakech


4. Sunset over the Saharan desert; two days' walk outside of M'Hamid

5. one of our camels snacking on a acacia tree; one day's walk outside M'Hamid

6. A cat snoozes on rugs for sale in Essouaria


7. Legzira Beach; midway between Sidi Ifni and Mirleft

8. A donkey waits for his owner; somewhere along the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco


More lists to come.