From Algeria to Morocco

I learned this past 10 days that travel companions are not condusive to consistent blog posts :)!!!  Inch’allah I will do better going forward 🙂

This morning I said good-bye to Algeria and experienced my first rain fall there.  It was tremendous!  Streets were overflowing with water and the highway was a a stand still due to drainage systems that were gushing onto the roadway.  Everyone and everything was soaked.  It could have been explained by a mere weather pattern, but I like to think that Algeira was a bit sad to see me leave. 🙂  I was sad to leave her.

Tonight I am in Casablanca, Morocco.  My lovely, little hotel is in the center of town.  I just got back from a stroll through the Central Market (which I plan to go back to in the morning after a stop at the patisserie for some pain au chocolat and cafe au lait) and a little snack and drink at the Hyatt.  Perhaps I was cheating a bit by going to the Hyatt….it was quite luxurious and all the wine was overpriced…but I was looking for conversation and I knew there would be English speakers there (travel is a bit about strategy at times!).  I couldn’t have hoped for a more marvelous time. The most memorable part of visiting any place, new or old, is ALWAYS the people encountered.  Tonight I spent an engaging evening with several interesting people, a gentleman from Algeria (we got on great as I just flew in from Algers) and a young Lebonese reporter from MBC news (the country only has 4 million people…but it feels more like 400 million!  I have met more Lebonese on this trip than any other country!!).  Conversation went from introductions to politics to religion to life to love….a fun observation discussed was around why so many muslims drink wine/alcohol but don’t eat pork 🙂 (at least this is true of muslims I know). It was decided that by not eating pork, but drinking wine, one was not sinning a lot…just a little :)….ah, we all have our excuses 🙂 (I was also told that I am really muslim too, because I believe in God…I just sin a lot, a lot.  Not only do I drink wine but I also eat pork…and then there is the issue of believing in Jesus :)).  We laughed a lot, and I have come home tired but happy with the new friends I have made.

Below are pictures of my last days in Algeria:

Learning how to make couscous with Adel’s sister, Nardjesse. The whole process takes a good 1 1/2 to 2 hours…and the couscous is so much more involved than I expected!  I am use to just opening one of the instant couscous boxes I get in the grocery store and adding water!

This is step 3 of like 20 different steps.

After the couscous is steamed for a time, it is put in the basin to smooth all the lumps out by hand.  It then goes back into the steamer for a spell and the process is repeated. I documented all the subsequent steps as well. The result is wonderful…couscous is incredibly light…I was surprised how much I ate without feeling overly full!!

The finished product!

Everyone was quite impressed with our team effort….now to recreate it back in Seattle! Nardjesse was quite adament about properly displaying all the braised meat and veggies on top of the couscous….presentation is everything!  Oh, and that simple salad with lettuce and tomatos was delicious…that is standard when couscous is served as well.

On our road trip to see the Mediterranean we passed through a winding canyon that is known to have monkeys!  And guess what, we saw about 6 of them!  As you can see they are not scared of people (because most everyone feeds them from their car window…which went a bit against everything I was told growing up – Do NOT feed wild animals..oh well, when in Algeria do as the Algerians) so the picture opportunities were endless.

This was our fruit stand stop. 

On the left hand side of this picture there are some orange tomato like looking fruit…we ended up buying one so we could try it.  although it looked like a tomato, it actually was quite sweet…and had the texture of a plum.  It was really quite good…we never figured out the name, but it didn’t last long in the car between the 5 of us :).  The canyon that we drove through is back in the mountains in the distance.  It was a beautiful drive.

The Med!

I kept being told that the places we would go to would be cold, but every day in Algeria was sunny and relatively warm.  The day we went to Bejaia was no different…it was a glorious afternoon and the water was crystal clear.  There was no time for swimming…but there is always next time, right?!

Before the French in Algeria, there were the Romans.

These ruins are in a town called Timgad…only about 30 minutes outside of Batna, where I stayed most of my time in Algeria.  This was a Roman colonial town that was build in 100 A.D. It is known to be one of the best examples of the grid plan that was used by the Romans when planning a city.  Much of the artifacts from this city are in France as the French took them as their own during occupation.  Algeria is working on getting them back.

Oh!  I am wearing my hair down this day BECAUSE I went to the Hammam in the morning before the trip to the ruins.  I actually went by myself and was taken care of by all the ladies inside the Hammam….somehow I still spent 3 hours there :).  As part of the experience, one of the woman insisted that she blow out my hair….OMG, she did an amazing job!  I just loved my hair that day, and it was the first time I hadn’t pulled back in about a month!  My 3 hour experience at the Hammam with massage, scrub, blow dry and water only cost 450 Dinnars (or about $5!!!)

This was our ride to Algers! 

The trip from Batna to Algers should be about 4 hours…the guys, Adel and Tarek, did it in about 2 1/2!  Thankfully I was asleep in the back seat (we left late at night to avoid traffic into Algers which can be a nightmare….like any other city in the world).

Notice the Algerian flag painted on the wall in front of the new Peugeot.  Algerians are incredibly prideful people and there are images of their flag and national colors EVERYWHERE.

In front of the Post Office in Algers.

Algers is a very beautiful city that has a Parisian feel….I spent my last day in Algeria walking its streets and visiting a few of its monuments and museums.

Don’t I look like such a little traveler in this picture….ugh!

I told my friend that visiting Algeria felt more like visiting home versus visiting a distant, foreign land.  Everywhere I went I was treated like I was family…I don’t think I paid for a thing (minus 2 hammams!) and was showered with gifts.  I go home rich in dates 🙂 and new friendships from Africa’s second largest country.

Tomorrow I leave for Issaquah’s Sister City, Chefchaouen.  I hope to reconnect with friends there and wind the streets in the beautiful old medina with all its blue walls and doors.

I leave Africa soon…too soon.