In March I attended this year's FAWCO conference in Marrakech, Morocco (and although I didn't take the Marrakesh Express, my friends Ann and Hein did, in fact, take the train from Fez to Marrakech). This was quite the adventure for me, having never been on the continent of Africa (although close in Lanzarote) and never in an Arabic or Muslim country. The sights, sounds and smells were nothing like I'd experienced before. Monkeys, snake charmers, spices, prayer calls, bargaining, mint tea, cous cous and more - it was simply a delight.
I arrived two days prior to the conference so that I could do a bit of the tourist thing before we began our intense meetings. It was so great to see so many of my FAWCO friends that I see only during such conferences.
On the first day a few of us took a walk into town from the hotel into the main square and the Souk (the local market filled with merchants selling everything from spices, leatherwork, silver, copper goods and jewelry) where I learned about the art of bargaining from my friend Johanna who, having lived in Saudi Arabia, is very skilled at the process. We also stopped at a restaurant in the square for some tradition mint tea and some lunch before heading back to the hotel to be ready for an afternoon tour that had been organized to Bahia Place and Majorelle Garden.
I'm still finishing my films but hope to get the remainder posted quickly.
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