FB Update : Benji ...

... enjoyed a great dual Uncle Daoud-is-engaged / Man-about-to-go-on-his-Haj-to-Mecca party last night. First course was only meat, but then they brought enormous piles of melons, watermelon, grapes, almonds, sugar cookies.

Then, half the people walked around and the other half fell asleep on the roof in the light of the bright moon peeking out at us from behind the clouds. Nice first day back in Nkob!

Tomorrow, traveling to Eljdida for camp, I'll be glad to be settled in one place for more than 2 days.

Photos from Marissa

Fellow Tennesseean/ Zagora-ista, Draa-valley brother!

This is where Jeremy was hanging out in that first photo.

All these photos are from the bike ride earlier in March-ish.


Sam's right -- that blue turban really does suit me, huh? Too bad it got stolen along with my other stuff. Next I'll try to find another blue one, but with the black tip!

Youth Development Peace Corps volunteer, this is what we live for!

Try this at home! It looks more complicated than it really is, and it's darn yummy

(Author of this recipe) writes that vegetarian tagines are not common in Morocco, but they can still be found among Berber communities. The Berbers are among the earliest settlers in Morocco. This recipe can be made in a traditional clay tagine pot or in a covered pot.


Vegetable Tagine
Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large potato, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
2 sliced onions
6 to 8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
2 tomatoes, sliced into rounds
1 cup peas
1 tablespoon diced poblano pepper
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In ovenproof pot (with a lid) or tagine, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook until onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to pot, stir, cover and place in preheated oven. Cook 30 to 40 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Waka Waka

Embedding was disabled on the official clip, so click and go there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRDgVGHB6eM

My #1 role model...

Just got 2 tickets for the Madrid show, this video is something I'll have to come back and watch when I have more time!

Last year's Royal Sky Marathon-- lots of walking, looks like...

Looking forward to it, half with hope, half with dread--but glad to have something to focus on, to pull the best from within me somehow. Or not. But that's the hope. Looks awesome!

From this website:
http://www.podoandando.net/home_sezione.php?show=18&articolo=241


Tutto ok. E che immagini dentro! Il Colle dei Becchi, il Grande traverso, i nevai e il cielo del Colle della Porta, il lago Lillet, la gente sul Colle della Terra ! !
L'Himalaya non può essere meglio.

Everything's OK. And what images inside! The Colle dei Becchi, the Grande Traverso, the snow and sky, the lake and the people. The Himalayas couldn't be better.

Last year's Royal Sky Marathon

Good thing I spend half my time running up and down the hill behind the palmerie here.

Explanation of ¨Salam waylaykum¨ vs. ¨Salam waylayk¨

I heard this a few days ago from my host dad: ¨Salam waylaykum¨ means Peace be upon you all. It's a plural you, and you use it for Muslim people even when you only see one person standing there. Because it means Peace Be Upon You and God, who is always with Muslim people.

¨Salam waylayk¨ however, is reserved for people that are alone, that don't walk with God, so for that reason, it's a singular you. Peace be upon you, the implication being ... infidel.

I might be wrong, but this was interesting to here, especially him saying it in the sense, this is what we say to us, and this other is what we'd say to you.

But it doesn't particularly matter, I've never heard anyone use anything other than the plural version to me, and sometimes even the longer version that exists. I had my teacher a few months back write the longer version out... she had to be careful because if I practiced saying it aloud myself, I'd instantly be converted (the most fundamental thing in Islam is saying outloud to more than 2 people in a room that can be witnesses : There's no God but God and Mohamed is His Prophet). She didn't want me to accidentally convert unwittingly so she just wrote it on a paper for me.

But when I hear others saying this to me, wanting me to repeat it, I know better so I just sit and smile. The custom though, is that if a person starts saying the longer version, then you most say an even longer more elaborate version than whatever is the one they told you. This can turn into nearly a power/ dominance exchange, among the educated and the illiterate who maybe only know a little Arabic, even if they've memorized some of the most famous suras in their entirety.

You've maybe hear in the news about Madrassas where people memorize the Qu'ran without knowing any Arabic at all? It's because the script is so clear and precise that as long as you can pronounce the letters then you can begin memorizing the syllables that are maybe meaningless to you, though people believe the power is in the recitation itself, regardless if you catch the meaning, almost as if it is able to make itself understood without needing someone to explain what it means. Like any sacred chants from ancient times, people believed that the word itself is powerful, is self-explanatory, that even some objects there is only one word that can exist for that.

While in Sefrou, one of the few religious conversations I had during Ramadan the year before was that a Frenchman had been converted by hearing the Muezzin call to prayer, that even if he didn't speak or understand what the man was saying, (which always starts with Alluha Ahkbar!, God is Great! then turns into a high-pitched mechanized jumble--though when in Rabat last time, Fauve and I took a trip just to hear a famous Muezzin call that was exceedingly clear and operatic in his embellishments) it wasn't necessary because the message reached his heart anyway.

Interesting stuff in an interesting part of the world.