And there's more..

30 augustus 2016 - Chefchaouen, Marokko

Chefchaouen - Day 29: I love you

The daily invitations to hold hands, kiss or even get married still confuse me. My answer is always the same polite 'No, thank you, I'm not interested'. There is always a respons of disbelief and a sincere 'Huh, why not?'. To give the invitation more strength an 'I love you' is added. Then a confusing discussion follows about my reasons of why not and his reasons of why we should indeed start a relationship. Finally we decide it must be a cultural difference, and we agree to disagree about what's 'normal' to us. Sometimes the discussion ends here, but often he keeps trying forever. There's no need to say that there (unfortunately!) won't be a future of friendship in these cases. It's still unclear to me what the Maroccan meanings of 'I love you' and 'I like you' are exactly. I've been told there is a difference though. At least romance seems to play a different part..

Day 30: Grateful in Chefchouaen

The more I talk to people here, the more I realize how lucky I am to be travelling. It's a good thing to be born in Holland. Every day I am more grateful for being here and to be able to travel around the world. And for this reason I try to enjoy every moment of it. Suddenly the overpriced taxi's and long waits for the bus don't seem to be that bad anymore. I've been grateful for a lot of things in the past few weeks. In short, it's a time of gratefulness & I truly hope that everyone will find their own way to fulfill their dreams.

Day 31: Chefchouan to Rabat
I'm leaving Chefchaouen for Rabat today. The 7am bus I'm sitting in is very comfy; for just 10 euros you can prepare for a 5-hour busride with gorgeous views :) I'm sure going to miss it & I'm already thinking about when I'll get the chance to return. Yesterday was a day of complete relaxation. I drank a coffee, listened to my music, watched a movie; and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing after a month of busy schedules. And I'm also very much enjoying the cleanliness of my clothes (I washed them yesterday in a real machine -jeeeej!- for the first time since I left!!).

By now I have a list of words I can speak in Darija (the Maroccan Arabic). Salaam aleikum. Kiffentaa? Le bes! ^^
I always though of it as an ugly language with a lot of harsh sounds. But something changed. Suddenly I find it almost beautiful and I'm even starting to like the music (not yet the traditional Chaabi - look for it on youtube - but at least the populair songs;)).

3 Reacties

  1. Mams:
    30 augustus 2016
    Zoooo, weer mooi gezegd lief nu maar volop genieten van alles om je heen en wie weet waar je nog eens terug komt!!!!Deze mooie herinneringen heb je vast!!! Fijn dat je ons zo laat mee genieten, dus geniet geniet geniet!!! ❤️
  2. Yvonne de Roode:
    30 augustus 2016
    Mijn vorige reactie is op onverklaarbare wijze niet gepost,maar ik volg je reis en belevenissen natuurlijk wel.
    Begin jaren 80 heb ik ook zo'n reis door Marokko gemaakt, weliswaar iets georganiseerder, maar toch veel gezien, en genoten.
    Kan me dus wel een voorstelling maken van sommige dingen die je ervaart.
    Zoals de Noord-Afrikaanse mannen aandacht Als je er toe in staat bent, vergeet dan ook Marrakech niet.( tip)
    Nikki, veel plezier nog
  3. Diedeke:
    30 augustus 2016
    Hoi Nikki, wat een toffe verhalen zeg! Bijzonder om zo te lezen. Hoop dat je heel erg veel kunt genieten daar:)
    Wa aleikum salaam!