The Beetle

My partner got my flu (it was Christmas and I had nothing to give him, and it’s good to share everything, right?) He’s feeling better today but for two days he was really knocked out.

The first day I went for a long walk, much longer than I had thought I would. I thought I was going up to a pass and coming down the other side, but the “other side” had many more possibilities than I expected and I almost wound up in the wrong valley. I had to play “berber girl” and hike up a goat path to find my way home (long live Google maps!)

Yesterday I just read and ate, and slept, too. I had been sick before with probably the same thing and it’s been good just to take it easy. Our hotel is lovely, with many little areas to hang out and read, or watch the spring fed river go by. My partner was up for a short walk in the morning, and after that, I went and spoke with the two climbing shops in the village about sending material to them from my school. (We are told to get rid of perfectly good, sometimes almost unused climbing gear simply because of its age. I use the material myself and find it a bit disgusting to be told to put it in the trash. We’ve been looking for a place that would take the stuff for a while.)

My partner’s illness means that the thing I’ve seen the most of Morocco is our room. It is large and colorful, with a large bathroom and “shower area” (no one seems to use shower stalls or curtains here; bathing means that the whole room gets damp.)

Today we will go visit the souk in the nearby town. My partner is up for that (his choice). I would like to just go drink a tea on a terrace and watch people go by, and maybe buy some of the lovely pastries they sell here.