It's COLD

Chris and I went to the forest today, and after 4 hours of standing in freezing rain while the monkeys shivered in the trees above us we decided our time would be better spent at home (but not before warming up again at the Hammam). We won't be fleeing the forest every time it gets cold, but 35 degrees and heavy rain/mist is a bit much.

Abrahim (the landlord who lives downstairs) and Eto (his wife) installed the woodburning stove today. It's in Chris's room, which means Chris's room has become the de facto living room as long as the cold weather sticks around, and it's supposed to stick around for a while. We've set up various implements for drying forest gear around it, and have arranged the couches accordingly. It's nice to have the smell of cedar smoke in the apartment. Reminds me of home.

Eid el-Adha ended up turning into quite an affair for me. The family invited me downstairs for lunch, where we feasted on lamb stomach and intestines, as well as kabobs of meat wrapped in fat that they grilled on the spot in the living room. It was incredible. Afterwards they invited me to go on a walk to visit friends/family around the town.

After dropping in on a few houses in Azrou ("Sallam alaykum, la bes, bekher, etc...", we walked to a small village about a kilometer outside of town where Eto's family lives. It was a beautiful area, and something I would have doubtless never known about if I hadn't been shown it. I missed some fantastic pictures of the family and friends due to shyness, but grabbed a few on the way there and back:

On the way back to Azrou

Eto, A nephew (Muhammed), Abrahim, and wee-man (never got his name)

At every stop along the way we were offered tea, cakes, and crepes or some combination of the above (at one we had MORE LAMB).
I had a few hours to rest after we returned home before it was back downstairs for more food.
All in all it was a great holiday. It was not the equivalent of being at home for Thanksgiving of course, but certainly a wonderful accidental substitution. To be honest, the day took a lot out of me. It was difficult seeing people interact with close friends and family while I was completely unable to communicate on any meaningful level with anyone. Dave wasn't there to translate, and while Eto was able to explain who was who, conversations were largely limited to the single-sentence point-and-"see!" variety. Afterwards I felt not only like learning Arabic was all but impossible (many of the words I thought I had learned got blank stares), but like all I wanted was to talk in person with anyone who knew me as well as these wonderful people knew each other. I feel better now after a few days (yesterday was a really fantastic day with the group), but the feeling lingers.

Blake, as per requested, here's what we found on the roof a few nights ago:


All the yummy bits have been removed at this point. The head was by the door. I'm not sure what they're going to do with this.