Where's Ron?
Morocco, January-February 2017
Ron near Rotarua, NZ, January 2015
Sights and Experiences in Marrakesh
23 January 2017
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Another short message from Ron from Marrakesh. He spent a huge amount of time trying to figure out how to attach photos taken with his phone to email from his phone, only to discover (after I also tried and ending up calling our provider's tech support) that you can't do it using their Webmail in Firefox on an Android phone - there is no option for attaching files. Humpfh is all I have to say to that! However, as you will see, he did end up sending some photos, using both his gmail rather than his "regular" mail account and his computer.
Love to all,
Ellen
To see photos of Ron's dinner in Tangiers, plus photos from Marrakesh, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Sights and experiences in Marrakesh
To see more photos from Marrakesh, click on the thumbnail at the left.
22 January 2017
Marrakesh, MoroccoHello, my dear,
On Sat night I decided to go sit in a couple of coffee houses to experience whatever goes on there. However I don't know anymore after the experience than before, but I did make some progress in my current book I was reading on the Nook app on my phone: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Perhaps I will find out about the pipe on most of the tables. In one coffee house I heard it bubble and bubble as the guy smoked on it. I drank tea in both places.
I found a building all lit up and I could not get into the main area and found out today it takes reservations and it was a cabaret. Maybe I will try another night.
On a main intersection there was the National Theater and the train station diagonally across from each other. Before my visit to the coffee shops I toured the train station and I think it might be the most beautiful I have ever seen. Not the grandest, but beautiful.
Today I went back to see if I could find a schedule for the National Theater and while I was peaking through a window on the front I could see people inside. Someone came up and directed me way down to the end where there was a gate. They let me in for the event, there was no charge, and I was welcome to attend. While I had no idea what the event was, I of course accepted the offer and proceeded to enter and figure out what was going on. I found a beautiful ceiling inside and the place was packed with young students. Finally I made it to the room where the "event" appeared to be happening and it was packed with young people, everyone speaking. I had thought it had something to do with animation - but it turned out to be anime (Japanese cartoons). They were breaking the crowd up into groups of 5 to 8 and giving them a piece of paper to write down the info to identify the characters or icons or whatever. (At first I thought it was to identify animals). After the show I proceeded to wander around and found the exhibit tables of everything about anime - buttons, books, icons, characters, posters etc. One of the most unexpected events I have observed.
Afterwards I walked outside the part of the building I was in and discovered the main part of the theater which was under renovation. So I don't think there will be a show to attend.
People have wanted some description of the things I am seeing - however the descriptions would be difficult when I have no idea what I am seeing and can't understand the explanations given to me. So I will include a few pictures of some of the sights as a demonstration.
Good night. Too late. Too much time to figure out how to get pictures sent from my phone
Love and miss you,
Ron
Shopping, mailing, planning, and eating fish
30 January 2017
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Not much of a report from Ron, but it is what it is!
I've been busy fighting pipeline (see http://friendsofnelson.com/) and fighting Trump (petitions, phone calls, etc.)
Love to all,
Ellen
Shopping, mailing, planning, and eating fish
30 January 2017
Marrakesh, MoroccoHello, my dear,
Where does the time go.
I spend time surfing, watching CNN, eating fish, trying to figure out what to do, and more than half my time has passed and I don't have much to report.
My shopping and mailing is still hanging in the air. Post office closed today, Sat, and I need to know the sizes of the postal mailing boxes. One day in the post office I met a local woman with a package to mail as we were both waiting in a long line. She had been a student at the American School here and told me that a standard package up to 5 kilos would cost about $80 with no discount for under the 5 kilos. But I failed to find out the size of the box.
I have made a couple of trips to the Medina and purchased some small Moroccan tea glasses and some of those light fixtures I send you a picture of with the candles in them. Now I need to figure out if the box can hold any more. They are light but bulky.
Tonight I have been doing research on future plans - once I get rid of the stuff I have bought.
I was thinking of a trip tomorrow, Sunday, by local bus to the Ourika Valley but then just learned that the international marathons are tomorrow... but the Post office is not open until Monday so my day trip may be on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I have found a fish restaurant that I love and my best meal was a piece of perhaps salmon and a handful of large shrimp for $14. I took a picture and will try to send it to you. I also tried a medium sized sea bass but was not as pleased.
Tonight I have been surfing for hours trying to figure out my plans. The Wifi has not worked much of the time and I have been handicapped without it.
So I am thinking about a couple of short trips, one I mentioned above as a day trip and then a couple of days at the beach town of Essaouira and then perhaps moving on to Fes.
I am learning the buses in Marrakesh while I am still doing a lot of walking and avoiding taxis.
This has not been an adventure of meeting people, other than some other travelers. Most people speak French and very little English. At least the people I have been meeting. After I had stood for some time watching the people at the fish counter where the fish were being picked and weighed for orders and finally pointing to the fish and shrimp, I placed my order. Sitting next to me when it was brought to my seat was a guy who thought I was a local and he was trying to ask me what I had ordered. There were menus but they didn't help me. As a result I got exactly what I wanted prepared the way I wanted it with plenty of lemons available. Agh... the guy next to me turned out to be from China - and quite a traveler also.
Love you and look forward to your arrival.
Ron
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Last updated: 10 February 2017
