Wow, leaving Morocco today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. There are several new friends and people whom I will miss very much. Although these last few days have been difficult, I definitely enjoyed my time here, and I’ve come to love many things about this…
I arrived in Ouarzazate yesterday rather late in the evening, on the bus from M’Hamid via Zagora. I was happy that I knew exactly where I was going already, since I’d called ahead and talked to the guys at Hotel Baba about getting a room again and the hotel is…
The day after I returned from the desert, Hassan invited me to join him and his family at their house in the evening, to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan. I hadn’t really intended to still be in Morocco when Ramadan began, as I have been hearing horror stories about everything…
So I decided to go on a trip into the desert by safari Jeep. I didn’t want to go by camel because I’ve ridden a camel before (most recently in Dubai). It’s hot here in the desert, and I have no desire to travel in a ridiculously slow manner with…
Today, I jumped off a cliff. Twice. So for all those of you who have wished I would “go jump off a cliff,” in the past, the good news is, your wish was granted. The bad news is, I was attached to a dude with a parachute. Also, bad news…
The past couple of days have been pretty chill. I needed it, I think, after the chaos and commotion of the music festival, fantastic though it was. I’ve been staying at the Riad Le Lieu in Tiznit, a lovely little hotel just inside the kasbah. After getting me checked in…
Leaving Essaouira was hard, and the suckiness of the actual journey only reinforced for me the idea that maybe I should have stayed longer. The day started out so well…. When Ana and I got up on our last day in Essaouira, we were just in time to go meet…
Anna and I had decided to stay an extra night in Essaouira after the festival ended and so we got a hotel room near the center square of town to share the next day. She’d been staying at another friend’s house the previous night or two, so we met up…
Ismael, Anna and I had made plans to meet up with Anas and Haitem over coffee the following morning. Coffee, was a leisurely experience, as most of our mornings thus far have been, with different friends popping in and out to join us for a coffee. I think my favorite…
The second day of the music festival, we decided to go to Sidi Kaouki, which is a town near to Essaouira known for having a particularly beautiful beach. Youness is a surfer, so he goes there a lot and wanted to show us the area. His sister decided to join us, along…
I arrived last night in Essaouira after a long, rather exhausting day of travel. I got up at 630 and left Chefchaouen (walk to square, take petite taxi to bus station). Then, I had a 6-hour-long bus ride to Casablanca. Partway through the trip, at one of the stops,…
Akchour is, indeed, spectacular. I am so glad I went even though it took a bit of doing to get there. First, I walked from my hotel in the kasbah in Chefchaouen to the square where I could get a petite taxi to take me to the place where I could catch…
After an long bus ride, I just arrived in Chefchaouen, a town in Northern Morocco up in the Rif mountains. It’s a beautiful town, known for the way most of the buildings have been painted blue and white. It looks a bit like I’d imagine a little mountain Santorini would be. I…
When I first arrived in Fes, Aziz picked me up at the train station and took me to his house, a riad in town near the Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate) where he lives with his family. He has a couple of homes here in town which he rents outs to…
One of the first places I went to visit in Rabat was a little garden near Nuria and Tarik’s home. It was absolutely beautiful. The next day, I headed out to see some more sights in town. One of the more famous things to see in Rabat is the tomb of…
So I arrived safely in Casablanca, Morocco. I had scheduled a couchsurfing stay with a guy named Anas who goes to university in Casa. He told me that I should take a train from the airport to a station nearer to his apartment. I managed to do that without too…
So, it turns out that my layover in Qatar was rather long. And it also happens to be a fact that Qatar Airlines is pretty awesome. When I arrived in Doha, I found out that the airlines would spring for me to stay in a hotel for the night…
I have to leave the Maldives today. I am very torn about it. I had a wonderful time here. I enjoyed the restful time I had, and loved the scuba diving. I liked the people I met and the experiences I had while I was here. I’ll be really sad to…
Today I went for another dive. It was a bit further out, to Angothi Thila, a reef known for having sharks and a lot of marine life, and it’s supposed to be worth it. It was. I had decided to rent an underwater camera they have available. It takes underwater…
Wow, those boat dives this morning were phenomenal, to say the least! I literally saw half of the cast of Finding Nemo down there! (Sharkbait, wooh ha ha!) I saw a couple of turtles and a couple of sharks. Also, the coral was incredible. I wanted to float down there forever. We took…
I just went scuba diving! For the first time in 20 years (okay 19, but who’s counting?) and I am so glad! I have heard wonderful things about the diving in Maldives. In addition to the fact that there is an abundance of sea life – fish, coral, invertebrates, sharks,…
So I’m finding that a week on a restful island paradise is just what I was looking for! This place fits the bill. The view out my bungalow is constantly changing and continuously spectacular, rain or shine. The island is small, and you can walk across it in about 15…
Okay, so I made it to the Maldives – after quite a bit of island hopping. I flew from India (after a layover in Chennai and a flight that stopped in Bengaluru and some other town I’ve never heard of before arriving in Male. From there, I transfered to local airline. I…
I have worked the last two days now at Kalighat, or Nirmal Hriday. This is the first home that Mother Teresa opened in Kolkata. Having volunteered there in 1998 for a couple of months, I was glad when the sister told me to go back there this weekend. I was…
So today I came to the Mother House by 7 am – just barely by seven. Since I’m staying in Hiland Park, I’m quite far away from the side of town where I needed to be, so I had to be up and at the bus station before 6. I…
This afternoon, I went to visit the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. This is where Mother Teresa is buried and where her order is headquartered. It is also filled with memories for me personally. The first time I came to the Mother House was in 1993. My extended…
Over the last week, I’ve been going around to different areas of Kolkata for multiple reasons. I’ve been hanging out with my sister and her friends in various locations – restaurants, clubs, malls, parks, – I’ve moved residences from one area of town to another, and I’ve gone back to…
