Skipped through Meknes very quickly (mostly because we were overwhelmed by the excess of Chinese factory-produced imitation goods) and moved on to a very small town, Moulay Idriss. It's a pilgrimage destination and I read that 5 pilgrimages to Moulay Idriss is equivalent to one hajj, but most people I talk to here say that's heresy. It's literally a town on a hill with one small main square and more labyrinthian alleys. Going on a morning jog here was blissful--sun, wide open green pastures, mountains, cliffs, olive (?) trees, flocks of sheep, mule & master plowing fields...

went to the neighboring roman ruins which were OK, but less than inspiring. I'm always suspicious of restorations and touchups. Intersting thing, though, is that people actually LIVED in thes Roman city until the Earthquake of Lisbon in the 17 or 1800s. No, they were not Romans. The Romans never succeeded in defeating the "Berber tribes" at least partly due to difficulty in attacking them in their high mountain locations. But i'll try to keep my (probably erroneous) history to a minimum on this blog.

took a taxi for 3 hours in a nasty rainstorm (totally gray day, sheets of water, serious road flooding in a 20-yr old Mercedes with non-functioning windshield wipers) to Chefchaouen, one of a few large towns in the rif mountains, famous for its reefer. All the walls, doors, streets are painted different shades of BOLUE (by law, as Marrakech was PINK by law). supposedly the color keep mosquitoes away but this must be the best kept secret in africa because i can think of tons of mosquito-infested places that AREN'T blue. but chaouen, in all its azure beauty, has been COLD and wet, so we've spent a good amount of time looking for restaurants with fireplaces (only 2) rather than exporing the Rif Mountains. I'm glad to be here in winter, though, because with warmer weather comes masses of tourists and dreadocked travellers and I'm not one for tourist towns anyway. It's been great to be able to use my Spanish here (because i'm further north) although I contintue to become more and more aware of how quickly i am losing it. still struggling a little bit with when to respond/engage with others who initiate conversation with me. sometimes it's a sale, someties the male/female interest, sometimes curiosity, sometimes friendliness. the last 2 always reward me with a memorable encounter, pleasant conversation, or fun event, the trouble is discerning one thing from another...

in a few days i meet some friends of a couple I know from ithaca, very much looking forward to that (in Rabat, the capital).