Off Again...

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We are off on our travels again so there may not be an update for a week or so. Right now I am sitting in a small cosy gite on the steep side of a valley under Morocco's highest mountain; Jebel Toubkal. When we arrived last night we were met and escorted to our gite by a boy and a mule.

Tomorrow we set off on a 3 day hike to an adjoining valley staying in Berber villages on route. Accompanied by mule and guide. We have little idea of what to expect or where we will be sleeping...

Stories and pics to follow soon.

And, for those who were concerned, Snowy is doing fine in his very very grand temporary home in Meknes, with a student who didn't talk about anything other than his impending visit for the last 3 days of school.

Our First Pet...

Many people express great surprise at our lack of desire for children. Many try and convince us we will, 'one day'... A kind mother of one of my students said we should 'at least try', we might like it. This made me laugh, there is no 'try' with children, there is do or don't. You can't say 'well, I tried, I don't like it, can you take it back?'

Those who know us well know that all we really want is a dog. Sadly dogs can be even trickier than children to look after, and before I cause uproar with this statement I need to point out that we travel. A lot. A dog is not quite as easy to take on a plane or find a bed for. What makes it worse is that in Morocco dogs are seen as dirty; many people don't even want to touch them, let alone have them in their house. A dog in a house is said to invite in evil spirits. We're not going to find too many volunteers to dog sit for us here.

It is for this reason that we have never had a pet. Apart from the odd gecko that is. In school this semester my class is doing the living environment. We went through two weeks of having birds, reptiles, fish, insects and molluscs brought into the class by one young boy who is a definite David Attenborough in the making and who happens to have very understanding parents that open their house to an incredible range of animals. What he lacked though was a mammal that was calm enough for class handling; his dog wees on the floor when stressed, something I didn't really fancy, not even for the noble purpose of science education. It was this dilemma that got me thinking about getting a class pet.

After much deliberation about animals kept in cages and the need for two for company, we got a white male Syrian Hamster. Thankfully they are territorial and need to be kept alone. I had visions of, hamster novice that I am, mistakenly putting a boy and a girl together and then ending up with a much bigger science education lesson than planned. We had bought a cage for him from Spain the weekend before he arrived, and when he was brought into school by my budding David Attenborough in a water jug I was rather perturbed. Not only was he far bigger than I expected, far too big for the cage, he was long and ratty looking; white with red eyes, and he stank of wee. This was not the cute addition to the class I had anticipated. 

With a few adaptations to the cage (I had to make a ladder out of BBQ skewers as he was too big for the hole to get on the slide), our hamster soon settled into his small but cosy cage. I asked the students to think of a name and write on papers to be picked out of a hat. When I pulled out 'Snowy' three kids simultaneously shouted “Yay, that's mine!”. They then continued to bicker about who actually got to name him all the way to computer class, but Snowy it was.

To my surprise hamsters sleep all day and party all night. Our new class pet likes to bury himself so deep in a bed of white tissue that you don't even know he is in the cage. He wakes up about 8.00 in the evening and then is well and truly partied out by the time the kids get in to school in the morning. If he is seen during the day it is only to sleepwalk to his water or fall asleep in a corner with food in his hands. When woken by overexcited children, or more likely their teacher, he opens one sleepy eye and then the other to peer at you, unamused, before going back to sleep.

I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed with our acquisition. This was not the educational interaction that I had intended. Saying that he gave himself a good bath and we all quickly got attached to our sleepy little friend. So attached that when the first weekend came I found I couldn't bear to leave him all alone in school. I carried him home in his cage wrapped in a jacket through blisteringly cold wind, talking to him all the way to keep him calm. If anyone one else was brave enough to face the weather they would have thought I was nuts.

 It was only during this first weekend, when I went to a friend's and came home at 1.00 in the morning, I saw that our boring little mammal had morphed into a frantic overeager gymnast. I now know that hamsters sleep most of the day and spend most of the night hanging upside down on the bars at the top of their cage, well at least that's what ours does. This frenetic energy made us go out and get him a cage twice the size, where he can now spend hours running in his wheel or doing cliff-hanger impressions of the top of the cage. Our boring little hamster is actually full of character and is more addictive to watch than the TV. You find yourself having to rewind things you have missed while watching him clown around, chatter for your attention or walk around bumping into things with a cheek bulging at odd angles, stuffed with an over sized piece of carrot. After that first weekend trip home we have found that we can't leave him in school on his own each night to perform his tricks to an empty room. He gets carried back and forth in his second home each morning and afternoon. At home the three of us have a sofa each to watch TV from. He is becoming a very spoilt little hamster.

Being a pet owner for the first time has not been stress-free. It was only after a week of having him and then doing some internet checking that I found out that we had been caring for him all wrong. This distressed me greatly, 'had I scarred him for life?', would he ever recover from our over exuberant handling? When he woke up after one particularly deep sleep his eyes were all wonky... Thinking I best be pro-active, I did the stupid thing of Googling it and found our hamster was probably dying. Obviously the same applies for hamsters and self internet diagnosis as does for humans. Why had I never appreciated how difficult animal care was? It seems that at every turn there was a chance I could kill our precious little man. When Nick came to me during a party we were having at ours and said quietly 'I have just thrown the hamster across the room", explaining that it had clamped its teeth into his finger which he quickly yanked away, inadvertently sending Snowy flying. Like any blinkered parent I found myself making excuses for his out of character behaviour... he was stressed by the noise, all the people unnerved him. The worst thing was that as well as being shocked by the fact that there was blood everywhere, I was somewhat relieved that it was Nick's. It is so much easier to patch up a finger than a hamster.

As for keeping animals in cages... I’m still not sure. But I know that if we didn't have him some kid in town would have him in a small and probably dirty cage judging on how the majority of people care for animals out here. With us he is clean, safe and entertained. Surely that's got to count for something? If we were to just let him go he would either freeze or get eaten by a kestrel.

But now we are back to that old concern....the holidays... who gets the class pet? One parent has suggested we put him in the freezer to see if he hibernates.

I wonder how easy it would be to pack him in a suitcase.

Holiday Highlights

If you read the previous post you may have gathered that I am now somewhat sold on the benefits of Spanish and Portuguese holidays. Endless blue skies and a food a wine lover's delight, there is lots to enjoy. Having grown up a country girl and spent much of my time in Bangkok craving wide open spaces, it was something of a surprise to me that the highlights of both Spain and Portugal were exploring the cities. Then again in reflection, it is perhaps not such a great surprise when you think that other than the cities and towns, you are left with Mediterranean and Atlantic coast beaches (dirty and windswept respectively and both Arctic by my standards), or sleepy mountain villages.

During our trip the places that stood out were Ronda and Seville in Spain, and Lisbon in Portugal. These three locations all share some of the same features; great food and drink, narrow cobbled streets, character filled buildings, an abundance of Mediterranean culture and lets not forget that wonderful endless blue sky. As well as all this, each place has its own uniqueness and offers something different.

Seville

The Andalucian capital of Seville swelters in intense heat and is not best placed for any kind of breeze. The mid-day streets, quiet and empty of locals, are left to the tourists who don't know better and swealter. During July and August many locals leave for cooler climates or embrace the siesta experience. Businesses shut down and people retreat indoors for up to five hours. 

Seville has something for everyone. It concentrates all that is good about Andalusia; medieval winding streets, plazas filled with orange trees, is the home of flamenco, has a huge range of historical landmarks and there is high street and boutique shopping galore. 

 

Possibly the best thing about Seville though is the night-life. After snoozing away the hot hours, the streets come alive as the sun descends. The people of Seville really know how to enjoy themselves and as with the day time activities there is something for everyone. Posh restaurants interspersed with old and new tapas bars serving award winning nibbles, bar streets that stretch as far as the eye can see, and this was just our local area. We went to one unassuming little tapas bar that had taken over the church plaza across the road. Vacated tables and chairs here were quickly filled by locals trailing dogs. This is definitely my kind of dog walking.

Lisbon

In stark contrast to Seville, Portugal's understated star attraction is surprisingly cool at this time of year with a constant breeze that travels in from the Atlantic and up the Rio Tejo to keep Lisbon at a refreshing 25-30 degrees in the day and 20-25 degrees at night. This relative chill catches many unawares and clothes shops must do a bustling trade in extra layers sold to unprepared tourists. 

Lisbon has a profound effect on its visitors, with it reportedly found that over 90% of people wish to return. So just what is it about the Portuguese capital that sets it apart from other cities? The first thing that strikes you about Lisbon is the colour. Built partly on hills, the colourful buildings appear to tumble down into the water. The contrast of orange roofed, white washed cottages interspersed with brightly tiled town houses and grand Gothic churches are all complemented by the bright blue sky and the deep blue river. Steep tree lined one way streets are filled with the ringing bells of rickety yellow trams, a visiting driver's nightmare. This is a modern city with a village feel. It has an air of Sydney and what I imagine Rio to be like, but far more laid back.

 

While exploring the town centre it is hard not to get distracted, as we did, very, by the opportunities for Port and wine tasting. It is possible to go from one side of the road to another testing Tawnys and LBV's. All we were doing was walking to a friend's apartment, the 10 minute walk took us about an hour. I now have a new found love of Port. Thankfully it's not just seen as an old man's drink out there. I’ll just have to drink it in private when back home.

As well as the relaxed cafés and restaurants that can be found on every corner (apart from on a certain night where we were looking for a cheap eat and seemed to walk for 40 minutes without spotting anything better than a greasy spoon Café... even classy cities have them), there is the famed Bairro Alta area where you can enjoy fine food, music and pint and a half mojitos for €5. Here beautiful people spill out into the streets until they have drunk too much to remain beautiful, but by that point nobody really cares.

The draw of Lisbon is very acute. Even the fact that the city is rife with pick-pockets was not enough to put us off. Well maybe, just for a short while, after some huge Eastern European thug shouted in our faces that he was going to find us and '**** us up later' when Nick called him out for stealing someone's wallet on the tram. Regardless of all this drama we still found ourselves scouring the internet for possible job opportunities in the area even before we left. Lisbon is a city that takes hold of you. 

Ronda

Saving the best for last? With all that Lisbon offers it might be hard to believe that the small Andalucian mountain town of Ronda could top it as our favourite place to visit. Andalucia’s fastest growing town is full of historical charm, dramatic views and arguably the best tapas bar we've ever visited. These days with us it all eventually boils down to the quality of the food and drink. 

Ronda is the home of modern bullfighting and was the first place where a man got of his horse in order to come face to face with a bull. To be fair I still figure they should have left the bull alone either with a horse or on foot. Perched precariously on the edge of a plateau and divided by a 120 metre canyon, the two parts of the old town are linked by a grand Roman bridge. This bridge is about 220 years old and took forty years to build. It is architecturally stunning and is made up of three tiers of arches. What is perhaps most impressive about the bridge is the fact that it is still used today as a main thoroughfare. 

 

Ernest Hemingway once described Ronda, one of his seemingly endless summer holiday destinations, as 'the perfect place to honeymoon'. With its history, hidden plazas and dramatic views it is undoubtedly a very romantic city. While this wasn't completely lost on us, we arrived there after days in British styled Fuengirola with one thing and one thing only on our minds... tapas bars. It took us about half an hour to park the car and find the hotel before we hit our first tapas bar. While unlike Ceuta and Mellia the tapas are not free, they are the cheapest we have come across in our travels of mainland Spain. Perhaps it was the €1 beer €1 tapas deals that sealed our love of the place. We ate and drank until we could eat and drink no more. It was at that point we turned the corner on the way home to find the holy grail of tapas bars. Set into a brick arch with old barrels as tables outside, Entrevinos is distinct for offering twenty Ronda produced wines by the glass as well as a wide selection of gourmet style dishes. Actually, maybe my love for Ronda comes from the squid ink pasta and calamari or duck breast in Madeira sauce for €1.50. Not sure how we can work it into our travel plans to go back, but we'll try. 

 

With this new love of Europe it is hard to see how we will tear ourselves away from our convenient spot in north Morocco. Anyone know any jobs going in Europe?