Casablanca

Which one is tooth paste and which is shaving cream? I found that out the hard way.

Hassan II Mosque-3rd largest in world.

Marrakech

Yves St. Laurent had a house in Marrakech...I didn't really know who he was, but I liked his pots.

I got suckered out of 50 dirhams by snake charmers.

I am seeing the storks for the first time myself just now.

The Viking and I

I have been in Tigmat for over 3 weeks now. I help Peter the Swede with his adobe house project. The majority is structurally completed and the work is most coating the walls with more mud layers, but also building planters for trees and flowers, laying concrete and such. This weekend I had a perfect day. The labor that'd usually make you sweat and your backside sore was quite refreshing due to the cool 20°C cloudy day, that was interrupted with rain. I was able to spend that afternoon drinking coffee and reading to the rain; a perfect combination.

Boone's Rainy day playlist is as follows:
Garbage-I'm only happy when it rains
Bob Dylan-A hard rains gonna fall
CCR-Who'll stop the rain?
Little Dragon-After the rain
and a bit of a stretch...
The Who-Love, reign o'er me

But what else do we do on the oasis? I suppose we chat a little. About IKEA? Pickled Herring? ABBA? Yes, those come up in conversation, but Swedes are more than just IKEA, Pickled Herring, and ABBA. I like to ask Peter the hippie why he thinks the world is quickly come to an end, and environmental catastrophe is on its way.
Sidenote: Let it be said that this area of the sahara which usually receives 3 days annually of rain has had 3 weeks this year. The farmers are quite thankful. They are having harvests bigger than they have ever seen. Too bad they don't know it is really iceberg juice that their crops are licking up, and that the ocean will be over their heads within our lifetime. :)


We also eat camel steaks bigger than your or my face. (The donors are pictured above)

Boone's end of the blog playlist:
a little diddy by Richie Havens, the famous cover artist, called "Here comes the sun".

Big dipper

I hope only my screen shows it this dark.

Greetings from Tigmat!

The lower Atlas mountains

Bijan and I have found a new home for the next ? days/months/years, Tigmat, an oasis close to the town Guelmim in the SW of Morocco.

But before we arrived in Tigmat we where in a town called Assa in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the Sahara. The plan was to go to a village called Foum El Hassan to look for the owner of a WWOOF farm who we tried to contact but he never responded. We arrived in Assa and expected to camp outside of town, however, a girl on the bus invited us to stay with her family. We were so excited to be taken in by a Moroccan family. They were incredibly generous. We sat on the floor lounge style and drank mint Moroccan tea, ate traditional Moroccan dishes, and were showered with perfume at their relatives houses. The same night we arrived we slept on the living room floor.

Sharifa and her family

Wild camels

Day two, we went to the clinic where the mother of the house works. Shortly afterward Bijan kindly drank a glass of Moroccan water he was too polite to turn down. After a nap we both awoke and he asked if I was feeling good which I was (I didn't drink any non-bottled water). Before long he was flushed, sweating, and hugging a turkish toilet (however, those who have used them know there isn't much to hug). That evening we took him to the hospital after he was feeling abdominal pains and suspected a kidney stone (which wouldn't be his first). The nurse brought in a shot and told him to drop his shorts because it wasn't headed for his arm. It turns out he did have a kidney stone, which he is still passing. So we had out first (and hopefully last hospital visit for our stay here, inshallah)

Putting up the clothe to keep the flies out but unfortunately the heat inside

We spent two more days in Assa and frantically debated what to do and where to go next. Fortunately, on the bus to Assa we met another foreigner, Peter, a middle aged Swede. We told him we were on the road looking for a bit of adventure and a place to work in exchange for food and shelter. In just so happening that Peter was building a mud/straw brick house in a beautiful oasis a bus stop before Assa. He offered a free place to stay and the possibility for work exchange. So we went to Guelmim and tried to telephone him but the number was incorrect. With few alternatives we hopped into a Taxi and headed for the oasis Tigmat. The driver dropped as off by a country road and told us to head down. So with our bags and all we walked into the desert refuge. We were directed to a gate by some locals but there was no answer at the door. We sat in the shade and ate the last of our sausage and oranges, hoping that Peter was going to return very soon. It wasn't too long before we heard a sneeze from behind the gate and we called out to the owner, Peter. He greeted us and invited us in...

Peter's cool mud/straw house

We have now been here a few days and we think we will stay for a while. The house is mostly constructed on the outsides. It is livable, but it is more like camping with a roof over your head. We are helping in small ways by watering the palm saplings, stacking the mud bricks neatly, and finishing the palm awning (which we had previous experience from the cabaña we built at our home in Spain).

I hope that in our time here we can learn the methods of mud/straw brick house construction (making the bricks, building, spackling with mud and lye, etc). If construction goes fast and I stay long enough, I might be able to help with the compost toilet construction and methods of other permaculture techiniques which I set out to learn. At the moment, we will see. In the meantime, I am reading Peter's book on Desert Gardening during the hot afternoon break and practicing French occasionally with Bijan, who fortunately is practically fluent. I wouldn't have made it far in Morocco without him since I only know a few greeting words in Arabic and French.

Adios España - Marhaban Morocco

My year in Spain teaching English has come to an end. I finished teaching last Thursday. I have had to say good-bye to good friends, colleagues, and students. Today, I am packed and ready to go tomorrow, but not home. Tomorrow, Bijan and I are heading to Morocco for ? days. I hope to work on WWOOF farms there and in Spain over the next 4 months in preparation for Peace Corps.

I applied to the Peace Corps recently, and the final thing I have to do is a medical and dental examination...however, I don't know when that will get completed since I will be "out of the office" for a little while. They have offered me an offer for Latin/South America in Agriculture starting in May '10. I was really hoping for Central Asia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, etc) but beggars can't be choosers.

Northern Exposure- Cantabria y Asturies

Day 7- Reinosa

a) We slept in the hills above Bilbao, which was a unique and terrifying experience. The next morning we were eager to hit the road and get out of Pais Vasco (even though it hosted the most memorable experiences of our trip). After several scheduling hassles we finally made our way out of Bilbao on Train towards Santander, Cantabria.

b) We planned on exiting sooner than Santander and hitchhiking from there to out destination in the south, Reinosa. However, a very cool train conductor let us ride the train an hour longer than we anticipated so that we could get closer to our destination.

c) We arrived in Torrelavega, directly north of our destination. We walked to the edge of town and Calvin told me to stick the thumb out. I declined. We were still within city limits and I don't like to bother people who are just going to their house, etc. However, I reluctantly stuck out the ole pulgar to satisfy the Cal-man. Sure enough, 10 sec. later a Land Rover was waiting for us on the side of the rode.

d) Hitchhike #12, Antonio and his wife pulled over (we got the feeling that is was more his wife's idea) She volunteered Antonio to take us on his trip to the south (which she was not accompanying him, he seemed thrilled). Antonio is a 50-something highschool teacher near Madrid (he looks like a mix between Jerry Garcia and my highschool government teacher, Charlie Daniel Triggs). He was SUPER informative. The ride went so fast. We explained the culture of the region and the habits of the pastors in the hills around us. We got so chatty that he drove us past out destination, which was fine because on the route backtracking he stopped to show us a 12th century church known for the sexually crude gargoyles. Shortly after he dropped us in Reinosa where we awaited the arrival of our Couchsurfing host.

e) Rob, a retired British naval officer was out CS host for the Cantabrian duration. He lives in a beautiful hamlet cottage in a small town on the outskirts of Reinosa. At his house, we were able to do laundry while he whipped up some fantastic risotto.

Day 8- Reinosa

a) A great portion of the day was spent walking around the Embalse de Ebro (a reservoir) with Rob and his English Setters, Coral & Mara.

b) After the long walk, we were treated to more great company and food. We ended up watching a Pink Panther movie in the evening.

Click here for more pictures of Cantabria...

Day 9- Asturies bound (Arenas de Cabrales)

a) The forecast for Asturies was rainy and snow in the higher altitudes. We tried to find couchsurfing locations in Santander but never received a response. We decided that we wanted to see Asturies and the Picos de Europa no matter what the conditions were. A train and a bus later we were in Panes.

b) Hitchhike #13, a young mountain biker from Huesca, Aragon in an orange VW. He took us to our next destination, Las Arenas de Cabrales.

c) In Las Arenas we found a cider-house and tried the famous cider and cabrales cheese of Asturias. We didn't know where we were going to stay so we thought about starting down the hiking trail, but we soon found that it gets steep and rocky, no place to pitch a tent. We turned back and searched the countryside around Las Arenas with a building that was under construction always in the back our mind, a last minute refuge. In the outskirts we found a cool country church next to a stream. A man was walking his dog and we asked him if there is anyone inside. He informed us that we just missed the priest. He gave us directions to his house and the description and make of his car. We quickly found the house and rang the bell. Pedro opened the door and I bumbled through our situation and our good intentions, but he bluntly (but kindly) asked "What do you desire?" "Can we sleep in the churchyard?" He told us definitely, so we snapped a shot with him and hit the road. We pitched our tent and made some food and called it a day.

Day 10- Ruta de Cares > Ribadesella

a) Walk the Ruta de Cares trail.

b) Hitchhike #14, Fabio and his wife were going to drive 10min to a cabin they were staying at for the weekend, however, they were super generous and drove us for like 45min to their hometown Riaño, which was actually not on our route, however, our crossroads were where we needed to turn was in the mountains, where it was snowing, and had little traffic for hitchhiking. So they took us to the bus station at Riaño. Since it was the holidays there weren't any buses going in our direction. Fabio and his wife felt kind of bad for taking us out of our way. But they were so generous, we didn't want them to feel bad or offer to take us more out of their way. They wished us luck and we parted ways.

c) So we started walking back the way we come from, hoping that we would get picked up. We arrived at a small village of one row of houses. There, we stopped in a restaurant for a meal (we were trying to do everything cheaply, however, being a Sunday and a holiday all of the grocery stores were closed-we were at the bay of the restaurant businesses). We each got a menu del día for €9, a little expensive, however, considering we got a bottle of wine, club soda, potato-boar soup, wild boar chops, dessert, and coffee, we were contented. We stayed inside to avoid the cold and digest the great meal, however, the road was calling. We waited on the road side for about an hour when a car finally slowed to take us.

d) Hitchhike #15, well wouldn't you know it if it wasn't Fabio and his wife journeying back to the cabin after restocking supplies in their town. We laughed at the situation and hopped inside. They could only take us to the crossroad in the mountain where it was still snowing. They wished us luck and left us there wagging our thumbs in the cold.

e) Hitchhike #16, fortunately a couple stopped to get us. The man works in wildlife conservation, specifically for the preservation of the Urogallo. In fact, when they dropped us off at Oseja de Sajambre he gave Calvin a stuffed animal version of the Urogallo. Buena gente.

f) In Oseja we waiting on the edge of town. The owner of the house we stood in front of, a little old lady, would peak out the door every now and again to see what we were up to...we were desperately hoping that she would invite us in and put us next to the fire...but it never happened.

g) Hitchhike #17, a middle-aged graphic designer from Gijon named Felix. As we were going down the road we stopped in a small town to get a special cheese that was his favorite and did a quick bottle of cider. He drove us all the way to Ribadesella on the coast. In town he took us to a restaurant that he hadn't visited since his childhood, there we ate a huge variety of tapas complete with a tour of cheeses. Afterwards, he dropped us off on the outskirts of town where we found a dark place to camp close to a sports complex.

h) This time we weren't in the woods, but within city limits, so we were extra cautious about people sneaking up on us in the night. We pitched the tent next to a wall with the river 5 ft on the other side. After out experiences outside city limits of Bilbao, we were super cautious about being in city limits, but there wasn't anything to do but sleep and hope. Mid-way through the night, there was a slap on the corner of the tent closest to my head. We both woke up and looked at each other. Cal usually thrashes in his sleep so I asked if it was him. However, when is trashes it is hard to wake him up, so him being awoken by the noise was a good sign that it wasn't him. He poked his head out of the door and looked around. He saw nothing, neither did we hear anything the rest of the night.

Day 11 & 12- Ribadesella > Gijon

a) The next morning we woke up at sunrise because we were worried a pedestrian might call us in if they saw us (although there wouldn't be any repercussions anyway...we just wanted to avoid the hassle). Cal exited the tent and asked "Boone, did you know there is a dead cat on the tent?"... Our theory is a young pack of teenagers found it and thought they would give it as a present to the poor hungry travelers. After packing we tried several exit points in town trying to hitch to Gijon. Unfortunately, Ribadesella is on the coast, making it more valuable property, which increases the number of BMWs, Mercedes, and other pijo autos...so nobody wanted to give a couple of weary beardies a lift. In the end we took the bus. In Gijon, we settled for getting a hostel for our two nights there. We spent most of our time hanging out and trying to spend the bare minimum possible.

Click here for pictures of Asturias...

Day 13- Departure

a) I had been looking forward to this day since half-way through the trip. Standing on the side of the road half the day, sleeping in the tent, and dodging the guardia is hard work, so I was ready to be home. We arrived at the airport about 2 hours before our departure and passed the time playing Uno and drinking cafe con leche. The time for departure came and went. Our flight was delayed for "technical reasons". More time passes and the announcement is made that the flight is canceled, so we immediately bolt to the ticket counter to see what they are offering. They put us on the next flight to Madrid with a connection with Sevilla (in fact, our theory is that they had space on other flights, so they canceled ours and sent us through connections on other flights to save $$$) Later in the evening we arrive in Sevilla, however, we arrive after the trains are circulating to our town Lebrija and the airline wouldn't buy us a taxi for the inconvenience (penny pinching capitalist swine :o) ) In Sevilla, we tried to call a friend or two but they didn't answer because it was late. At this point we are tired and as grouchy as can be. I told Cal I was going to go to parque María Luisa and would find some bushes to sleep in. Cal wasn't fond of the idea, but I was tired and determined. I did a lap in the park to scout and found a circle of bushes that looked high and thick enough to hide to men. I had Cal come inspect it while I lay in the center. He was surprised by the coverage it provided. We went back to get our gear where we left it. It was then that we felt the first few raindrops, which shot down our bush plan. It was already a few hours into day 14 of our trip, 2:00 am, and patience was already thin back in the airport in Gijon...We took shelter under a covered patio. Calvin wasn't too comfortable with sleeping in the park, but I was to tired and miserable to give a damn. I got out my sleeping pad and bag and went to sleep while Calvin sat on the bench. I woke up a few times and he was gone, but I saw him in the distance patrolling the perimeter. The next time I woke up he was sleeping on his mat next to me, shivering because he wouldn't get out his sleeping bag. (I asked him later why he didn't get it out, "I didn't want to be in an enclosed space if anyone came up on us.") We woke up at dawn and started the 1 hr walk to the place in town where my teachers meet. We waited there until the first batch came to carpool. I can only imagine what we smelled like (especially, since the night before we slept in a corner that smelled like urine).

Click here to see pictures of the Boone-Cal duo kicking ass and taking names...