Feeling Smarter Already

It may have required a pre-departure glass of wine (or two), but last night jon and i embarked upon a quest of culinary oddities.  It began in the central souks, where overzealous waiters tried to hustle us into their outdoor restaurants.  We were not to be distracted though, and did not sidle onto a barstool until we were certain the establishment had what we were looking for.   Looking for indeed, as bellying up to the bar entailed our food to be looking back at us as well, at least as much as dismembered  goat (sheep?) heads can look back with their char-grilled eyes and their teeth hanging out of their mouths. 

No, it was not for those with weak stomachs, and a quick peek around showed no other foreigners present.  We ordered up the house specialty: a mixed plate of brains, tongue, and something unidentifiable.  First glance proved the brains to be soft and kind of smushy, while the tongue had a sinewy quality. 

To my surprise, nothing tasted quite as horrible as i expected, although it was different to separate mind from matter with the cook extracting choice cuts of other patrons right in front of us.  The brains were slimy and almost nutty, while the tongue tasted more clearly of meat.

We followed this up with a trip to a snail stand and got served a heaping bowl of snails to share.  Unlike my last snail experience, these snails had little faces.  They almost looked like cartoon characters, and so it was eerie to put them into my mouth.  I did though, and was pleased with the way they were spiced with nutmeg.

In the end nobody even got sick. 

I've got plenty of pictures to post, both from this and other adventures.  I'll do that soon.

Rockin the Kasbah

Made it to Morocco!  Thankfully the volcano ash didnt interrupt my flights, although it did cause quite a lot of confusion over the past few days, both in the states and here.  Because of the multitudes of people stranded in Morocco, I wound up getting a driving tour of a pretty large portion of the country in my first 72 hours here.  My initial thoughts were surprising...the diversity of scenery between dry Marrakech through the rolling hills of the greener port of Tangier to the lush foothills of the blue walls of Chefchaouen has disillusioned my expectations for the country.  It certainly has been a whirlwind of travel.  I will definitely be posting pictures as soon as I get organized a bit more.

There hasnt been much time yet to immerse in any one place, but I have been struck by both the beauty and the chaos of the market stalls, or souks.  Despite a cultural taboo of women showing too much skin in public you can always tell where granny panties are for sale by the large crowd of women pawing their way through them.  The souks specialize in anything you could possibly want, from sombreros to ace bandages to dollar store trinkets.  It does leave me to wonder how one gets into the business of selling toothpicks, or zippos, exclusively.  There is, however, an immense richness of local crafts, and I think it will be quite difficult to avoid decorating the apartment in the Moroccan style.

We are heading to the river tomorrow for my first rafting trip ever.  I am letting it be known here that Jon has promised not to intentionally tip me into the water.

More soon.

I know, I know

It has again been awhile. Here is a video of the Pau Carnaval celebrations to make up for it. I'll be back in the US in about 10 days.


Pau-Carnaval from ali on Vimeo.

ketchup!

Its not that I have been too busy, exactly, to finish updating this site on the rest of South East Asia and the first month of France (or to write much about the pictures have managed to post, for that matter). Although I suppose I have been busy, if busy is what you call not posting because I can't hold my computer over my belly that is so full of cheese, or not posting because I can't be bothered to tear myself away from the fresh French baguettes and array of cheese, or not posting because I am out buying, for laughably low prices, cheese. Have I mentioned cheese? I happen to really like it. In France they love cheese so much that it is its own course at dinner. And lunch. And it is precisely because of the time taken up in my day by the addition of the cheese course that I have not updated the three of you who read this on the rest of my trip(s). That, or laziness. Also, one or the other of those reasons is also cause for some extra weight I seem to have found since my arrival. mmmmmm cheese. It is so worth it.

Anyway, what I have decided is to skip adding a million posts about things that happened weeks ago and start from right now. If you are lucky I'll add in some of the other things when I get around to it.

One in every color

Hoi An, Vietnam was absolutely the most amazing city. The buildings were aging to a sunny chipped yellow and the people were amazingly friendly. It was a town of tailors, prepared to make anything you could possabily wish for in any color or style. The town was so charming. I wish we had more than just the 2 days to visit it. It was one of the few places that seemed untainted by the stream of tourists coming through. The people went on doing what they had always done without any McDonald's. It was one of the few places that seemed to go about a more traditional way of life without considering whether it was going to attract business or not.