More Ifrane

(We've been somewhat silent for a bit now, so I'm going to do a few short vignettes).

The past few weeks in Ifrane have gone reasonably well. Sam has been very busy and has had bouts of questioning her decision to be the sole counselor at a university that is completely outside of the American counseling paradigm. Things are inefficient and involve a bit of bureaucracy. Mental health is often not taken as seriously as it should be and carries even more of a stigma than in the States. And there's the sexism and the apparent futility of some of her (primarily female) clients’ situations. (One benefit of being a US citizen that Americans may not recognize is the ability to fairly easily travel to and work in nearly any country in the world, a luxury that Moroccans do not have). On the up side, Sam is very good at what she does and has periods of excitement where she feels she has really helped someone or has learned something new and is glad she is here.

Obviously my existence here is much less stressful. There are the day-to-day annoyances (shops being closed for no apparent reason and no indication of when they’ll re-open; the sub-par quality of a Moroccan dust pan), but nothing that could seriously affect anyone’s life. I've spent quite a bit of time paring down my thesis (74 pages to 25 pages) in the hopes of getting it published in "Landscape and Urban Planning", and actually sent a first draft of the manuscript to my advisor last week. I’m still talking with a geographer at Al Akhawayn that I mentioned earlier (Marzouk) who has a few projects he is hoping to get funded. Also, last week he asked if I’d want to brainstorm some proposal ideas with him to win some project seed money being offered by the university. He said we should focus on Ifrane, and I suggested that we focus on an environmental topic (water) to illustrate for the aged director of the Center for Environmental Issues and Regional Development at Al Akhawayn that, contrary to his belief, GIS is useful in environmental work. Marzouk and I are going to meet and talk next week. There is also a fine chance that I can teach or help teach a GIS class starting winter term.

I've been making my way to the marche nearly every day to grab groceries and such. I always try to get everything I need in one go, but eventually get tired of trying to find stuff and give up. There are a couple of store owners who I've gotten to know by name: they are always very friendly, and I try to get everything from them. However, I think a few store owners groan when they see me walk in because they are well aware of the assault of broken French they're going to be subjected to. The guy I buy cheese from, for example, always looks a little exasperated, but I haven't been able to find this kind of cheese anywhere else at the marche.

Two weekends ago, we stuck around Ifrane: Sam graded while I took a hike on Saturday (not very fair, eh?), then we both hit the souk and took another hike on Sunday. Aside from the pounds and pounds of vegetables and fruit we got at the souk, we also scored a tagine pot (picture above), which is an earthenware dish used to make various meat and vegetable meals. Ifrane is really a nice town to be in, especially after having visited other cities in Morocco. The biggest differentiator is the climate: Ifrane is at 4800 feet and is very cool, compared to cities in the valley that are pretty damn hot right now and are even hotter in the summer. There are also a lot of trees in Ifrane and the scenery is amazing. The hikes that we took over the weekend were within walking distance, in fact one is right out our back door. There are also several parks in Ifrane that are really nice to walk through. I think we both prefer living in the quiet Moroccan countryside and traveling to the frenetic cities, rather than the reverse, no matter how little there is to do in Ifrane.

I took some pictures on my day hike to a large hill behind our place. Check them out: Ifrane Dayhike.