Marafresh

Well unfortunatly quite a bit of time has passed since I entered the last blog. After a long but peaceful train ride into Marakesh, I was pleasantly met by Hamza who had been the one who introduced me to Abdel Malek in Fes. He actully had car which was nice for a change. We picked up some groceries (at a bonified grocery store no doubt) and then went off to his house. For some reason Marakesh looks fake to me...Like over done California stucco arcitecture or something. But his neighborhood was very nice, and once again like Jojo's in Phoenix it was nice to be in a domesticated atmosphere. He and his extremely nice wife have three beautiful children which were gems. He is very involved in the Sufi community in Marakesh and so after we broke fast there was a beautiful dhikr (rememerence of God) session at his house where I also met Mohamed Yaqub-an American convert from northern California.
The next day I was wacked out tired so I slept most the day but upon waking up from a nap a pinched a nerve in my neck which completly locked up all the muscles in my upper back! Like an idiot I tried to play basketball later on and made it worse. The whole next day I laid in bed basically.
Eventually I made it out the day after and went to the major tourist/shopping area with Yaqub. Marakesh is the worst of the tourist areas because of the amount of effort that goes towards taking foriegners money. Never the less we found some good deals on leather sandals which are staple footwear around here. When you take your footgear off everytime you enter a house or mosque...they are necessary. But really besides the wonderful experience of staying with Hamza and later with Yaqub the parts of Marakesh that peoplke come to see are not my cup of tea.
Well the month of Ramadaan came and went and has left a bit of a hole in my life. Who would ever think that you would miss fasting. But alas it is true. In such a discipined month one finds an incredible amount of happiness and sharing which I have yet to be topped. The Eid...Clebration at the end of the month...was great. Abdl Malek made it down from Fes on his way to London which was a treat to get to see him again. The prayer took place outside with litealy tens of thousands of people. Later we got together at Hamza's for a very nice Lunch with a lot of his friends and family. Having coffe in the daytime was nice as was a large glass of water. You literally forget what it is like to eat durring the day.
I could not have asked for a better month with better people. It is one for the record books for sure.