Moments of Peace

Le Palais Royal



This is my running buddy Tom.



This pool was filled with eels - a guy who lives/works there threw in some eggs for some of the other volunteers so they would come and feed. Cool.




Not bad for a bunch of old rocks, huh?


I especially liked the decor on this part.

9/19/09 - 9/22/09

So because of Ramadan there is this huge long weekend that is really wonderful. Traveling is difficult during Ramadan anyway due to the wonky train/bus schedules, but this weekend it's especially impossible. So, we all decided to hang out in Rabat and see all the tourist sites here. So, we went to the Palais Royal as well as Chella Gardens, both of which provided me with some beautiful views to behold and glorious silence to (not) hear.

Saturday afternoon Chloe, Viola, and I went out for a walk, and ended up meeting up with Henry, Simon, and Thierrie (another Frenchman much older than the rest of us who goes by Titi). We just kept walking and found ourselves close to le Palais Royal, and decided to go take a peek. Le Palais Royal was gorgeous, but a little underwhelming. We were also shocked at how easy it was to get into. Our bags weren't checked, we didn't all have our passports, but they let us right in after Simon did a little schmoozing with them. Granted, we weren't inside the palace itself, but we were close enough to have been able to throw something inside. The most striking thing about it was how quiet it was inside the gates. I don't notice how noisy everything is until I find a moment of silence. It was also very green inside the gates, a color lacking in the brown and red landscape of old casbah walls and concrete roads.

The Chella Gardens used to be known as the Necropolis of Chella, before the Romans moved farther inland and began to use the place as a burial ground for Royalty. Sultans then came along and added decorations to the tombs, giving it a more Moroccan flare. It was absolutely amazing to be there. Though it is an ancient site, there is very little roped off, and even then it is done rather carelessly and by means easily circumvented. It was easy for us to climb up into old trees and onto the casbah walls. I loved how unkempt and unregulated things were there. It made me feel like the place was still alive and made me think about the infinity of time. Whenever I'm at the beach I feel in touch with the infinity of space - but here I was thinking about all the events that have occurred in the same spot over hundreds of years. Pretty cool.

Monday Viola, Chloe, and I made another trip down to Skhirat Beach even though traveling was kind of unpleasant. Although, I was extremely surprised to see the woman next to me very unapologetically whip out her huge nursing breast to feed her baby on the crowded bus. Apparently that's not a big deal here, because it's not sexualized the way we tend to sexualize all nudity in the west (again interesting considering how revealing our clothing is compared to here). The thought is "Well duh, the baby has to eat." I like that.

No really big plans for today - we are simply trying to get used to "life after Ramadan." It's strange to be able to do things during the day. Last night I tried to head to the internet cafe just before 9 and my host parents looked at me like I was crazy...I stayed home. After some very slowly and simply spoken French I learned that we should be in by 10 each night because since it's after Ramadan it goes back to normal where it's dangerous later rather than between 7:30 and 9. Even Titi, who is 48 has to be home by 10.

I guess you never outgrow some things!