Wow. Finally, nearly 7 days later, after a mid-morning (read: trying to shuck the headache) nap, tonight I finally feel almost human again! That was, by far, the nastiest upper respiratory crud I’ve had in years, maybe even decades. Two days ago the headache was so bad it took one of Heidi’s $33/pill migraine meds to break the cycle, which it did after sleeping most of the day, on and off.
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| The ship’s wake at dawn. |
Anyway, on to better things. Last night was the Cultural Pre-Port lecture on Morocco, and included information on religion, food, clothing, music, and customs of the Moroccan people. Morocco is very much a conglomeration of different peoples, and is considered the ‘West’ of the African continent (obviously literally, but figuratively as well). Tonight was the Logistical Pre-Port lecture, and included things like what to do/not do, where to go/not go, what to eat/not eat, etc. You know, stuff like pickpockets can be a problem on local buses, toilets are more than likely to be ‘traditional’, a tasty-looking filo dough treat may contain pigeon. Just your typical streetwise that we pick up by kindergarten.
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| Another life ring image, just for the fun of it. |
Tomorrow is our city orientation, which includes an interior tour of the Hassan II mosque, some thousands of square feet of which are apparently built above the Atlantic Ocean. At about 1pm we are then free to roam Casablanca, and we’ll probably find someplace to eat dinner before returning to the ship. The following day we leave for our two day trip which first brings us to Marrakesh by train for an overnight in a traditional riad. The following day we head up the Ourika Valley into the Atlas Mountains, and hike between Berber villages, and may have time to spend with a family or two. Our last day in Port we’ll likely do some exploring, as the kids are hankerin’ for their own ping pong paddles, as am I.