After lunch, we finally load up into the jeeps to go to the desert (after a stop and a spontaneous dance party). Our jeeps leave the regular road and start off into the desert. We fly over dunes and race the other jeeps... Suddenly we come upon our camp. It is a circle of tents, with a big one at its head. In the center there is a camp fire and over to the side there is a bath room that actually has a ceramic toilet in it (although the running water doesn't work). Our tent has four mattresses and is gorgeously decorated with cloths and carpets. We rush off
to our camels since the sun is about to set. Riding a camel is very different than riding a horse or a donkey. First of all, you get on while the camel is sitting down, so the most exciting part is when the camel gets up. Second of all, it's gait is highly uncomfortable. It was fun though, going towards the sunset, playing in the sand, finally getting to see desert that did not have any vegetation (I felt so strange, I should be happy to see vegetation; vegetation is life, yet I wanted to see the desert I had only seen in movies, the kind that really was only sand. We come back and already there are the musicians. I have never heard anything quite like it. The only instruments were drums, yet there was a lot of yelling, dog noises, the really loud sound that women
make in Arabic countries... I don't know if that makes any sense, but it was cool. After that we have dinner and meet a Swiss man who has decided to explore the desert for 10 days by himself (he has a guide and three camels, but he didn't come with anyone). What struck me when talking to him was his surprise that Americans would come to Morocco to study Arabic. I didn't realize that even Europeans think of us as ignorant and unwilling to learn. After dinner there was more music, and then our guides took out their drums and the two boys in our group took out their guitars and we played music around the fire. I was slightly distracted by what I was later told was called the Saharan TV... the stars in the night sky. I finally understand why the milky way is called the milky way. It makes you realize just how few stars one normally sees in the night sky, especially in places like Atlanta or Boston.
to our camels since the sun is about to set. Riding a camel is very different than riding a horse or a donkey. First of all, you get on while the camel is sitting down, so the most exciting part is when the camel gets up. Second of all, it's gait is highly uncomfortable. It was fun though, going towards the sunset, playing in the sand, finally getting to see desert that did not have any vegetation (I felt so strange, I should be happy to see vegetation; vegetation is life, yet I wanted to see the desert I had only seen in movies, the kind that really was only sand. We come back and already there are the musicians. I have never heard anything quite like it. The only instruments were drums, yet there was a lot of yelling, dog noises, the really loud sound that women
make in Arabic countries... I don't know if that makes any sense, but it was cool. After that we have dinner and meet a Swiss man who has decided to explore the desert for 10 days by himself (he has a guide and three camels, but he didn't come with anyone). What struck me when talking to him was his surprise that Americans would come to Morocco to study Arabic. I didn't realize that even Europeans think of us as ignorant and unwilling to learn. After dinner there was more music, and then our guides took out their drums and the two boys in our group took out their guitars and we played music around the fire. I was slightly distracted by what I was later told was called the Saharan TV... the stars in the night sky. I finally understand why the milky way is called the milky way. It makes you realize just how few stars one normally sees in the night sky, especially in places like Atlanta or Boston.
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