Morocco

Saw:
The Atlas Mountains up close. really close. One can easily see why they were the home of so many myths and legends.

Did:
Circled over 7 miles of urban Marrakech, seeing both its bold tourist side, and the elusive "other side". It was interesting how much there was to experience beyond visual sense. like sight, there were sounds and smells completely foregin that combined to make this all seem like another world.

Learned:
The main attraction of Marrakech is its old Medina or market. As we have travelled through so many moroccan cities and towns, its uncanny how its so often the markets, places for the exchange of stuff, that are always the center and the place of most activity. This seems odd considering its relative poverty and strict religion when its put in comparison with europe, where the church or cathedral was always the center of town.

Saw:
the massive zagora palm oasis right on the edge of the sahara.

did:
rode camels into the desert where we spent the night in a traditional berber tent set right on the dunes. (the berbers were the indigenous, nomadic moroccans before the arabs came.)

learned:
after my little attempts at observation and talking with locals, my initial analysis of moroccan islam is: "degrees of
adherance". there are more rules and codes of conduct to this religion than i think anyone knows, but it seems its all a matter of how much you want to obey. so much of it, it seems, is strict adherance by the devout, and a sort of looking the other way when the less devout dont follow a certain stipulation. i think this interestingly parallels
Chrisitanity. There are levels of commitment. the diehards do their thing but they´re not allowed command over the nominal believers. adhering to only what you want softens the edges of religion, and it makes it into what you want. follow the pieces you like, leave out what you dont like under the guise of trying to not be an extreme fundamentalist.

Saw:
The Atlas Film Studio, right smack in the middle of arid nothingness. Part home to movies The Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Cleopatra, and Passion of the Christ.

Did:
Wandered through the locals´ non-tourist market. Top selling items were shoes (not usually available in pairs), live chickens, plastic tubs, not so fresh fruit, and any (and every) part of a sheep or goat you could want.

Learned:
As we continue to absorb not only Moroccan architecture, moroccan lifestyle, culture, and history, i am increasingly aware of my natural and immediate tendancy to compare and contrast with the US. "What is the same" and "What is different" is always my primary mode of analysis. I wonder if there isnt a more accurate, more beneficial, or
at least different way to see all this. The Christian lens should never be removed. But the judgemental lens (which so readily flows from comparative analysis) can and maybe should be. Who am i, after all, to judge? Did i choose to be born in the US? can i realy see all the angles?

Saw:
the 900 foot deep Todra Gorge

Did:
Countinued this surreal journey deeper into southern Morocco. Our professor doesnt know where we are goin, our driver doesnt speak english, and we students dont know anything but to get into the van when told to. it is quite an adventure.

Learned:
As we travel through this unknown country, i have watched how God continually makes provision for us, and in connection with that I have become somewhat enamored with the book of Esther. As a piece of literature, it is beautiful in its foreshadowing, between-the-lines message, and recurring themes (gallows, feasting, kings rewars, etc.) But i think it is even more remarkable precisely BECAUSE God is not mentioned, yet He is so active. As i drive through a muslim country in a van full of atheisitc students, who would have guessed that God would suddenly be so eminently present: providing and protecting us. the odds say we should be stranded in a flood, and odds say the Jews in Esther´s Persia should have been slaughtered. But we aren´t playing the odds here, and neither did the character of Mordecai. nestled in Eshter 4:14 is what i think the core of the book: a settled conviction that God
will bring deliverance. period. Mordecai´s words to Esther are also words to me. God is busy delivering. will i use my position to be a part of such deliverance?

Saw:
The most jaw dropping array of stars imagianable. in the middle of the desert, there is a pure darkness coupled with a completly vacant horizon. one can definately see why constellations were such a means of direction.

Did:
On our way to ride camels, we spent three hours backed up in a town on the edge of the Sahara, waiting for a flash-flooded road to re-submerge. I know it sounds like i made that up, but is true.

Learned:
While waiting for the flood to die down, we had a chance to wander this tiny village of Aousous. Here we left the tourist-circuit and could really see what true architecture and culture in 21st century morocco looks like. it was an eye-opening mix of black and white differences, and things exactly the same as everyday life in the US.