A Tagine or Two

After ten months of travelling, while resting in a Riad, we wondered what we were accomplishing.

Certainly, not what had been accomplished. We loved to look over old photos of where we had been.

A week in Essaouira, after exploring the delightful coastal town, we had several days just to ourselves, laying about.
Quite literally, laying on a couch, laying on a bed, laying on a rug. We had a Riad to ourselves, except of course for our awesome host Fatima, who would arrive in the morning, prepare breakfast, wish us well, then leave.

Our first morning, we ridiculously requested 8am for breakfast. When Fatima arrived at 9:30am apologetically. We promptly adjusted our breakfast time to 10am. The next six mornings she arrived around 9:30am, cooked eggs, warmed pastries, prepared coffee and played on her phone.

We were very grateful, we felt spoilt, undeserving. We made sure to clean all the dishes for her and then set up for the following morning.

Once Fatima had left, we would shower, then retire to the couch. A day or two of playing on our phones and the internet, we were quickly bored. A lounge cupboard was raided. We played Monopoly, Uno, Dominoes and a game called Hive. Though we didnt have the materials for this, Jamie craftily drew and painted the 22 pieces so we could play.

The town was small enough to walk around in a couple days. The beach was windy with kite surfers, the port bustling with boats. At the dock, we enjoyed pointing at the fresh fish, having it cooked on the spot and eating alongside salad and bread for only $5AUD.

The markets were quieter than Marrakech, the streets easier to navigate. In the evenings we cooked for ourselves and ate on the rooftop as seagulls cried from a distance.

We tried to improve our tagine technique. Though both agree we have more work to do. We love the large share tagine's and including prunes in the pot alongside the spices make it come to life.

Finally, with all the exploring done and still a couple days to be had before we leave for Casablanca, we asked ourselves, 'What are we accomplishing?'

We read, we snooze, we cook, we clean, we read and we rest. But at the end of each day, we feel like we have done nothing. We asked for some time to rest, it was valuable time as Ian had a minor head cold. But still, it felt like it was time being wasted.

It feels rude and unjust to say, but a lot has been seen. There will always be a lot. A lot here, and a lot there.
With so many in between. Working on paddocks, sitting in taxis, waiting on streets, eating in homes, playing on phones.

'What do you want to do with the time that you have left?'

We loved Essaouira. Highly recommended, a short flight from Europe and a lot going for it. Including a World music festival the weekend after we leave.

Now we sit on a bus to Casablanca. More to see, more to explore.
We may look into some WWOOFing places. There we feel like we accomplish something.