Reflections

I am in my fourth week here.Things are really starting to jell and I feel more at home.

When I was making plans for this trip Houssaine (the Baali family) welcomed me to stay at their place, but I insisted on staying by myself in a hotel.  It was then that Houssaine said that it would be better if I had a house so that I would not feel like a foreigner.  Well, let me tell you I think he meant a tourist, not a foreigner because here I am really a foreigner, but definitely not a tourist. 

Now, after three weeks, the man across the street where I buy my bread greets me with great enthusiasm, but in Italian!  The clerks at the Super Marche know me.  The men at my local supermarket know me.  Even some waiters at my fave cafes know me. I actually had a conversation with the man at the fixed priced store today.  This is unusual because here, in this very conservative Berber city, men and women do not connect, even in casual conversation.  At least, that is the way I see it.   I feel comfortable taking the taxi home and can even recognize my neighbourhood when I am right there.I no longer need the note Houssaine wrote for me to give the taxi driver.  Today I ventured out of my comfort zone and then walked to the square and had some idea of where I was going.  

This is really a test to see how well I adapt to LIVING in an environment where there is almost no English, spoken or understood, by the majority. 

Only Quebec has any presence here.  I noticed that in 2001 and it hasn't changed much.  I met a woman from Morocco, at Charles de Gaulle Airport coming in, and when I told her I was from Canada she said how could that be when I spoke English.  English Canada does a poor job promoting tourism to and fro, that's for sure.

I feel confident enough now to embark on my solo trek to Tan Tan.  I am taking the road less travelled and not going by way of Marrakesh and Agadir (been there, done that too many times).  I am going by way of Taroudant by bus.  The journey will take twelve to sixteen hours, but I plan to spend the night in two or three places, so perhaps it will take me three or four days or more.

It is a good feeling to be ready to head out as a solo female who doesn't speak Arabic,

Berber or any French to count.