Trip to Spain and Morocco
I just got back from a week and a half trip to Morocco, only to go straight to work for 2 days, and then race motorcycles for 2 days. You'd think I'd give myself some time to get over jet-lag, but ... well, it was all worth it.
Spain was great. We travelled along the Southern coast of Spain in Andalucia, which has a very heavy Moorish (Islamic) influence. The architecture is simply amazing. The detail work on the Alhambra in Granada is mind-boggling. It seems like every square inch of the palace is covered in intricate Arabic calligraphy praising Allah. Since Islam in general looks down on depictions of humans and animals, the decorations are entirely calligraphy and geometric designs, which are quite beautiful to look at.
My favorite part about Spain, however, was the language. After having spent so much time studying Chinese and Japanese with so little to show for it, it was a pleasure to be in a foreign country where I could actually read! Even though I haven't studied Spanish for almost 15 years, I was still able to follow the political articles in the local newspaper, El Pais. While Japanese is much easier to read than Chinese, I can still barely make out signs on the street, much less a newspaper article. The vocabulary is just too daunting. Of course, since Spanish and English are so closely related, it makes things a lot easier.
After Spain, we took the ferry from near Gibraltar to Tangiers, and then hopped on an overnight train down to Marrakesh. Marrakesh has a huge medieval market place which is simply astonishing. You can buy anything you want there, assuming you can haggle well enough for it.
Djema el-fna and the market area surrounding it looks exactly like a scene from Tattoine in Star Wars. Reddish-mud covered buildings with narrow winding alleyways, and all of the older generation wear full length robes with pointed hoods (djellaba), just like Obi-wan. We kept turning corners only to run into various wizened old men in brown robes who would have been perfect for any of the Jedi parts. I picked one up for myself because they are simply too amazing. You can't buy anything like that in the States.
The main square is teeming with performers and storytellers, as well as people selling all sorts of things. Many of the acts are purely for tourists, but the majority of the action is aimed towards the locals, since few tourists have much hope of understanding the Moroccan Arabic stories being told. At night the square really comes alive as the air cools down and people sit down to eat at the market stalls. It's a very vibrant place.
Even though it's a bargaining based marketplace, the locals are incredibly friendly and polite. While I did have one or two vendors go overboard trying to sell me something, most simply smiled and told me "Buy or no buy, it doesn't matter". They also give the Cantonese shopkeepers in San Francisco's Chinatown a run for their money in terms of linguistic skill. Since most of the tourists are from Europe and Morocco was part of the French empire, everyone speaks French, but many also speak Spanish and English quite well. Most of the tourist menus were in French only, so my limited understanding of French based on a 2 week journey to France over 15 years ago got quite a workout.
The heat was out of this world, especially since it was only winter, and it gets much much worse in the summer. I can't imagine travelling there during the hot season. Even with the local siesta, I don't think I'd be able to do much of anything during the day.
On the way back, we stopped off for a couple of hours in Tangiers, which had been described to us as the Tijuana of Africa. Thankfully, we found that it wasn't nearly that bad, although we were travelling before lunch, and in the low season.
Both Morocco and Spain were great places to visit, and Spain really rekindled my interest in Spanish.
Spain was great. We travelled along the Southern coast of Spain in Andalucia, which has a very heavy Moorish (Islamic) influence. The architecture is simply amazing. The detail work on the Alhambra in Granada is mind-boggling. It seems like every square inch of the palace is covered in intricate Arabic calligraphy praising Allah. Since Islam in general looks down on depictions of humans and animals, the decorations are entirely calligraphy and geometric designs, which are quite beautiful to look at.
My favorite part about Spain, however, was the language. After having spent so much time studying Chinese and Japanese with so little to show for it, it was a pleasure to be in a foreign country where I could actually read! Even though I haven't studied Spanish for almost 15 years, I was still able to follow the political articles in the local newspaper, El Pais. While Japanese is much easier to read than Chinese, I can still barely make out signs on the street, much less a newspaper article. The vocabulary is just too daunting. Of course, since Spanish and English are so closely related, it makes things a lot easier.
After Spain, we took the ferry from near Gibraltar to Tangiers, and then hopped on an overnight train down to Marrakesh. Marrakesh has a huge medieval market place which is simply astonishing. You can buy anything you want there, assuming you can haggle well enough for it.
Djema el-fna and the market area surrounding it looks exactly like a scene from Tattoine in Star Wars. Reddish-mud covered buildings with narrow winding alleyways, and all of the older generation wear full length robes with pointed hoods (djellaba), just like Obi-wan. We kept turning corners only to run into various wizened old men in brown robes who would have been perfect for any of the Jedi parts. I picked one up for myself because they are simply too amazing. You can't buy anything like that in the States.
The main square is teeming with performers and storytellers, as well as people selling all sorts of things. Many of the acts are purely for tourists, but the majority of the action is aimed towards the locals, since few tourists have much hope of understanding the Moroccan Arabic stories being told. At night the square really comes alive as the air cools down and people sit down to eat at the market stalls. It's a very vibrant place.
Even though it's a bargaining based marketplace, the locals are incredibly friendly and polite. While I did have one or two vendors go overboard trying to sell me something, most simply smiled and told me "Buy or no buy, it doesn't matter". They also give the Cantonese shopkeepers in San Francisco's Chinatown a run for their money in terms of linguistic skill. Since most of the tourists are from Europe and Morocco was part of the French empire, everyone speaks French, but many also speak Spanish and English quite well. Most of the tourist menus were in French only, so my limited understanding of French based on a 2 week journey to France over 15 years ago got quite a workout.
The heat was out of this world, especially since it was only winter, and it gets much much worse in the summer. I can't imagine travelling there during the hot season. Even with the local siesta, I don't think I'd be able to do much of anything during the day.
On the way back, we stopped off for a couple of hours in Tangiers, which had been described to us as the Tijuana of Africa. Thankfully, we found that it wasn't nearly that bad, although we were travelling before lunch, and in the low season.
Both Morocco and Spain were great places to visit, and Spain really rekindled my interest in Spanish.
posted by Don at 8:26 PM
0 comments
