Two more days in Essaouira

Ach! I have so much to write and so little time to write it, particularly since I have to download, edit, then upload photos again into the blog. Suffice it to say that things are looking up...I haven't spent all my money yet (though I did splurge and actually buy a piece of Moroccan furniture.) I am saddle sore, but that is good news since it happened on a two-hour horse back ride in which I found myself standing in a saddle as the horse and I flew down deserted beaches outside of Essaouira at full gallop. And the last little bit of good news is that I haven't been hospitalized yet for a stomach bug. Woo hoo.

Tuesday started out with a city tour by our guide Aziz, who took us through the port to see the fishermen and the wholesalers coming to buy fish. We wandered through both the touristy streets and the "local" streets and ended up at a buttress overlooking the ocean. The Portugese left the biggest mark upon Essaouira several hundred years ago and the main part of the medina is/was heavily fortified. The city is crawling with stray cats, beggars, hippie French nationals, and old whizened fishermen. After the morning tour we branched out on our own so that I could finally get some vegetable couscous for lunch and then we starting looking through the souks, though it wasn't until Wednesday that we actually opened up our wallets. The non-tourist streets were absolutely packed with people from 5:15-6:00 pm as husbands and wives were out buying the food for the meal to break the fast. We inched along the edge of the street hanging on to each other and trying to avoid the carts full of vegetables pushing through the throng with cries of "Labak!" (warning). The streets cleared out by 6:30 as people rush home to break the fast. At that point I enjoyed the night air by going for a nightly run, which was soon offset by a lovely Italian meal in which the Moroccan waiter used the words "autodidact" and "physionomy" in casual conversation with me. This whole country has a real talent for languages. The entire country speaks both Moroccan Arabic and French along with their native tongue which is usually a form of Berber. Then on top of that they learn English and Standard Arabic and probably a smattering of other things. Amazing!

On Wednesday the bus took us to the countryside to see a real authentic weekly market in which men travel hours by donkey to come purchase vegetables, pots, and livestock from traveling salesmen. From there we went to a woman's collective in which they harvest the oil of the argan nut (see photo of goat looking for food in the argan tree) for food oils and cosmetic creams. I actually bought some cream for use in my hair thinking that it would calm the frizz. Now it just looks like I haven't washed my hair for a week since it is so greasy. ;-0!

After lunch Mom and I were picked up for our horseback ride at Ranch de Diabat and after the galloping on the beach I attempted to converse with the guide in Arabic, since he knew no English and I know zero French. Where is my sister when I need her!? In the evening we went back to stores that we had seen yesterday and unfortunately now have to figure out how we are going to get everything home. Its all good.
Tomorrow we are back to Casablanca to pick up the rest of the tour group who didn't do the "pre-trip" and then on to Rabat. I will write more then!