I've been attempting to write a post for 4 days now. With no warning, the university email address I used to create this blog no longer had access to Blogger. It took a few days for me to get in touch with Northeastern's IT department to figure out what had happened.
When I finally reached them, the IT department asked if I received the email from them detailing exactly what I'd have to do to avoid loss of access to Google programs, and that if I didn't fulfill the required steps in time that I would have no option but to wait for Google to contact me. I responded no, that I did not receive the email from the Northeastern University It Department, because it was caught in the spam filter of my Northeastern University G-Apps account, WHICH WAS SET UP BY THE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY IT DEPARTMENT.
Somehow they failed to see the irony in this.
Anyways, it's been a good week.
This past weekend was spent in Assilah, a fishing town about 3 hours north of Rabat. Assilah is a beautiful town with an almost completely intact Phoenician wall:
And plenty of Spanish tourists, so for the first time my language skills were useful. We went to see the town itself, but also to travel to beaches nearby before it got too chilly. The guidebooks (and our Moroccan friends) said to visit Paradise Beach. Saturday morning we had a light and cheap breakfast at a cafe in town, then headed to a hanut to buy snacks for a day at the beach. The shop owner got to talking to Emily and told us he could find us transportation or we could walk, that it wasn't far. 20 minutes, he said. We flagged down a covered pickup and bartered for a bit before determining that it was just too expensive. The hanut owner told us of course we could walk, it was 5 kilometers, maybe. Off we went.
We elected to stay along the coast, which didn't have a road directly parallel to it. The views were excellent, the terrain not so much. Everyone was in beach gear (sandals, long skirts, sundresses), and after 10 minutes we were outside the city walls. Walking along the wild Moroccan countryside got to be a bit difficult. The plants seemed very focused on protection- literally everything had briars, prickers, or thorns.
A half hour later, we ran into a 'military' building surrounded by large, thick walls topped with barbed wire. The friendly (potential soldiers?) Moroccans at the gate told us not to worry, go around their compound and just keep going, it would only be another 2 kilometers. 20 minutes, they said.
A half hour after that, we got to a farm and met Mohamed. Mohamed inquired as to all our marital statuses, asked if we'd like to join him for tea later, and led us to the edge of his property where we picked up a dirt road (whoo!) that Mohamed promised would bring us to the beach in another kilometer. Less that 20 minutes, he said.
10 minutes later, a group of Moroccan men sped past us on a horse drawn cart, stopped a ways ahead, and picked us up and brought us to (finally!) the beach. We climbed down a 30-foot cliff to the beach itself, and were most definitely in paradise. It was the most beautiful beach I've been to, and worth the crazy journey.
On a happy and surprising note, my 50 dirham sandals managed the entire trip.
When I finally reached them, the IT department asked if I received the email from them detailing exactly what I'd have to do to avoid loss of access to Google programs, and that if I didn't fulfill the required steps in time that I would have no option but to wait for Google to contact me. I responded no, that I did not receive the email from the Northeastern University It Department, because it was caught in the spam filter of my Northeastern University G-Apps account, WHICH WAS SET UP BY THE NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY IT DEPARTMENT.
Somehow they failed to see the irony in this.
Anyways, it's been a good week.
This past weekend was spent in Assilah, a fishing town about 3 hours north of Rabat. Assilah is a beautiful town with an almost completely intact Phoenician wall:
We elected to stay along the coast, which didn't have a road directly parallel to it. The views were excellent, the terrain not so much. Everyone was in beach gear (sandals, long skirts, sundresses), and after 10 minutes we were outside the city walls. Walking along the wild Moroccan countryside got to be a bit difficult. The plants seemed very focused on protection- literally everything had briars, prickers, or thorns.
A half hour later, we ran into a 'military' building surrounded by large, thick walls topped with barbed wire. The friendly (potential soldiers?) Moroccans at the gate told us not to worry, go around their compound and just keep going, it would only be another 2 kilometers. 20 minutes, they said.
A half hour after that, we got to a farm and met Mohamed. Mohamed inquired as to all our marital statuses, asked if we'd like to join him for tea later, and led us to the edge of his property where we picked up a dirt road (whoo!) that Mohamed promised would bring us to the beach in another kilometer. Less that 20 minutes, he said.
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