TANGIER, MOROCCO PT.2

Can’t believe we are down to our last week in Tangier. It has been so amazing here, the weather has been perfect, and I will definitely be sad to leave. Next Sunday we will be heading back to Casablanca until September 1st. We still have some restaurants we want to try there and will continue to be occupied with work. Also, the gym we went to in June in Casa is pretty nice, so we will get some consistent workouts in. 

Humorous anecdote: our next-door neighbors here are very curious and we (primarily me) had the great pleasure of receiving a few lessons on local customs from a lady who was making it her job to snoop every day and see if I was revealing my legs on the terrace. There are female busybodies on every continent it seems! Anyway, our host ensured us that I was perfectly fine, and the woman was acting inappropriately by invading our privacy looking over the wall and staring at us whenever she pleased. She took some photos and has some video footage of me trying to respond to her in French (my French is atrocious). Naturally, the woman had zero issues with Ben wearing shorts and no shirt. Classic. An interesting cultural experience at any rate!

While in Casablanca in August, we will experience another major Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha or Eid el-Kbir, which is the “festival of sheep” or “big holiday.” In Islam, this holiday honors Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son, Ismael, to God (in the Old Testament it is Isaac). This year the holiday falls on August 11th through the 15th. I’ll write more about it after the fact, but it sounds like a lot of eating takes place, with every family purchasing a sheep and preparing various lamb dishes. 

In addition to some freelancing work, I have been taking free courses online through Coursera. I am thoroughly enjoying Ancient Rome: Archaeology and History of the Palatine Hill. If you have some free time and want to learn something new, I would highly recommend checking out Coursera. They have an app you can listen to/watch videos on as well. 

Speaking of Rome, after Sicily in September and Portugal in October, we will spend a few days in Florence and Rome.