30 Hours Later

30 hours after we left our apartment, we finally are in our riad trying to connect to a weak connection emanating from lord knows where, but more importantly, we are in a beautiful riad.

The trip itself was fairly uneventful…you’d think that after 30 hours and four separate flights, something would have gone wrong. Hugh basically slept the entire journey, waking only to drink water or eat terrible plane food (or watch that new Karate Kid movie)–whether it was in the plane, on a hard metal chair, in a taxi, whatever.

Anyways–I’ve always had this strange fascination with Morocco. I’ve always wanted to go here. I couldn’t tell you why. I’ve never seen Casablanca, have no particular affinity for the food either. But with decades of dreams, it could be pretty easy to be disappointed. However, even at 2am it has not disappointed.

Our driver picked us up and briefly described the city, “this is the new city, it was built in 14th century. This is the old city, it was built in the 9th century,” We’d stare out the window at things I’ve only seen in movies. We noted the people who were out and about at 2am–he explained that since it’s Ramadan, people usually stay up really late and have two meals before sunrise. Then they sleep through much of the day. As a semi-professional napper, that’s a lifestyle I can handle.

We finally arrived at the medina and were met by people from the raid who lead us through narrow, winding roads. It was kind of like… Indiana Jones. Dusty, tan brick walls, a bit dirty… and then he opened a small, magical door and BAM! There was this whole world inside. A courtyard, trees, a fountain! He led us to our room on the second floor. I peeked out the window (which has no glass) and could see over the roofs of buildings, and a bright white moon. Amazing.

Breakfast is soon, so we’re planning to eat as much as possible to try and tide us over till sundown. They don’t typically expect Westerners to fast, but at the same time, we know that not many things will be open, so it’s better to be prepared.