So as I sit here listening to the PDX rain, 27 hours after departing Morocco and tired beyond belief, I cant help but think this… that 4 nights ago we were escorted into the Sahara desert by camels (handsome, so handsome!!!) where we witnessed a sunset that turned the sand to an orange so inexplicable it seems preposterous a color like that would even exist. Prior to that we swallowed the sights, smells and sounds of Marrakech where snakes were charmed and monkeys, in my humble opinion, were horribly abused (chains! cages! costumes!) yet also witnessed the changing of the guard from Jemaa el fna daytime to its hyde-like brother at nighttime… juice and nut vendors down, restaurant stands (chaos.. pure chaos!) up. Then finishing with sweet and beautiful Fes (Fez). If it were a human it would be a she, if she resembled the confluence of it all…. camel heads freshly chopped off the body if you got to the meat market early enough (such was our fate), mint given to you as you enter the tanneries so the smell didnt overwhelm you as you looked over the dying vats, with chemicals that would require us Westerners to wear rubber bodysuits (pigeon shit and lime, anyone?), but these boys worked in there with their full arms and legs wading in it. Of the cow hides that needed color (yellow, the most expensive… they are saffron-based which is very premium!). An octogenarian using nothing but his toe and a tool to make a comb out of hooves, weavers making the most brilliant silk scarves (we saw boxes of silkworms feeding on mulberry leaves)… and a spice and oil specialist that hypnotized us in his shop for over an hour (my best girlfriends shall benefit from this visit!!!). Its all a bit too much, thinking about the trip. A slice, a very important slice, of my family all took this together, and im tired beyond belief but revved up beyond explanation. As my brother said our last night all together… we cannot control the situation into which we are born. I/we were born into such happenstance. We must see/give/learn… always. There is so much more. There is so much more. Ellen Drake Corradini Paul Corradini David Brown Mike Corradini
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 04:52:35 +0000
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