Saturday, April 15, 2006
Sardines
I am in Casablanca for the last couple of days of my Morocco trip.
I checked myself into my fairly deluxe hotel room (arranged for me by Amy via a local travel agent; thanks Amy), put the DND sign on the door, and didn't leave the room for almost 30 hours. I've been reading, writing, sleeping, enjoying the best internet connection I've had in a while, and generally resting up.
I finally made it out today, driven largely by hunger, expecting that the streets of Casablanca would surely offer some better cultural and culinary values than a third order placed with room service. I wandered into the local market, another typical Moroccan maze, and got lost for a minute, something that never happens at home. The couple of times I've gotten lost here, it seemed to be only because the Moroccan streets (if you can call them that; many are too narrow for any car to pass) violated the most basic laws of physics, topology, space, time and compassion.
I speak no Arabic and not really enough French to get by. I found a sandwich shop where a man was ordering sandwiches, which were being assembled on the counter. I'm trying to avoid wheat these days, since I seem to be mildly allergic to it (or anyway, as soon as I eat it, suddenly I have hay fever from something else). But one can't be choosy when there is no menu and about the limit of one's French is même chose, deux, sil vous plait. I ended up with nice French bread filled with cheese, something that could be generously described as bologna, and sardines. OK, this wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was palatable.
Why are you reading this? It is tres mundane. Sorry.
Not that I can promise an end to the mundanity as I press forward.
There are 5 calls to prayer here each day, starting around 4am. Being from southern California, I woke up early one morning after dreaming about packs of coyotes howling in the night. That's what my sleeping mind did with the sound.
I figured I had good timing getting out of L.A. for my hay fever season. Whatever it is in L.A. that makes me sneeze, it's blooming here too. Maybe not as much though.
I see a lot of tourists suffering with dysentery, complaining about it, waiting for it to end. As soon as I experience any hint thereof, I take some Cipro, and it goes right away. Seems pretty simple, and better than suffering. I mention it to Americans, and they say they don't have any. I mention that here, as in most non-so-called-"first-world" countries, you can buy it over the counter. They shrug and stick to their plan. I stick to mine.
Near the Casablanca airport, there are guards stationed every 250 meters or so. It's really not safe to stand anywhere within 15 meters of a freeway... and they don't. They stand in the weeds on the other side of the fence, under the hot sun, in their neat & clean, formal uniforms. I cannot imagine what is actually accomplished by this. I feel for them.
I checked myself into my fairly deluxe hotel room (arranged for me by Amy via a local travel agent; thanks Amy), put the DND sign on the door, and didn't leave the room for almost 30 hours. I've been reading, writing, sleeping, enjoying the best internet connection I've had in a while, and generally resting up.
I finally made it out today, driven largely by hunger, expecting that the streets of Casablanca would surely offer some better cultural and culinary values than a third order placed with room service. I wandered into the local market, another typical Moroccan maze, and got lost for a minute, something that never happens at home. The couple of times I've gotten lost here, it seemed to be only because the Moroccan streets (if you can call them that; many are too narrow for any car to pass) violated the most basic laws of physics, topology, space, time and compassion.
I speak no Arabic and not really enough French to get by. I found a sandwich shop where a man was ordering sandwiches, which were being assembled on the counter. I'm trying to avoid wheat these days, since I seem to be mildly allergic to it (or anyway, as soon as I eat it, suddenly I have hay fever from something else). But one can't be choosy when there is no menu and about the limit of one's French is même chose, deux, sil vous plait. I ended up with nice French bread filled with cheese, something that could be generously described as bologna, and sardines. OK, this wouldn't have been my first choice, but it was palatable.
Why are you reading this? It is tres mundane. Sorry.
Not that I can promise an end to the mundanity as I press forward.
There are 5 calls to prayer here each day, starting around 4am. Being from southern California, I woke up early one morning after dreaming about packs of coyotes howling in the night. That's what my sleeping mind did with the sound.
I figured I had good timing getting out of L.A. for my hay fever season. Whatever it is in L.A. that makes me sneeze, it's blooming here too. Maybe not as much though.
I see a lot of tourists suffering with dysentery, complaining about it, waiting for it to end. As soon as I experience any hint thereof, I take some Cipro, and it goes right away. Seems pretty simple, and better than suffering. I mention it to Americans, and they say they don't have any. I mention that here, as in most non-so-called-"first-world" countries, you can buy it over the counter. They shrug and stick to their plan. I stick to mine.
Near the Casablanca airport, there are guards stationed every 250 meters or so. It's really not safe to stand anywhere within 15 meters of a freeway... and they don't. They stand in the weeds on the other side of the fence, under the hot sun, in their neat & clean, formal uniforms. I cannot imagine what is actually accomplished by this. I feel for them.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Back to Marrakech
I am back in Marrakech for a couple of days, staying in the nicest Riad (converted Moroccan house) that I've been in so far. This has been the nicest part of my trip... I'm just on my own now, no fellow American entrepreneur tourists, just free to wander in the streets, the markets, the plazas, etc. I also have no guide, but the proprietor of the riad where I'm staying, a pleasant older Danish man named Peter, has been extremely welcoming and helpful. I'd say this has been the best part of my trip so far, and it's making me want to come back. Maybe I'll take up dealing in Moroccan carpets to finance my trips here.
As I've said before, I'm trying to make some sort of graceful transition from being a full-time businessperson into more of the performing arts, but I still have entrepreneurial blood, and everywhere I go I see opportunities and possibilities. On this last part of the trip I've made some really interesting contacts too, so who knows.
I've seen some lovely ceramics being done here, leather work, carpets, tanneries, tile, brass, furniture...
American tourists are targets here, not so much for theft as far as I can tell, but for shameless overcharging. They'll happily ask $2500 for a carpet, then negotiate down to $1500, telling you that is a rock-bottom wholesale price that leaves them just barely breaking even. Then when you get back to the states you can find something similar there for $1000 if you shop around... which means the dealers are paying quite a bit less, when you consider markups, shipping, overhead, etc. Last night I had a small streetside restaurant try to charge me about $40 for a meal that should have been $4. That was an interesting scene. They didn't get the full amount, but it cost me more money and stress than it should have. Another educational writeoff.
Since someone asked, yes, I got my luggage, after 3 days. Two hours before I got word that it had been located, I bought a few days' worth of new clothes which I soon discovered I didn't need. Oh well.
The architecture here is quite interesting. These old riads are former homes, rather large ones. They are maze-like, designed for a man who usually would have multiple wives. The idea would be that he is somewhere near the center of the maze, and he has access to all the areas of the house, the wives' and childrens' rooms, but they enter his area only by invitation. And of course the whole thing is enclosed, since women and children historically were kept cooped up in these gilded cages. To the outside world, it's just a big, nondescript box, with perhaps a somewhat decorative door/entrance, but that's about it. On the inside, safe, quiet, pleasant, welcoming spaces... beautiful rooms, courtyards, gardens, sitting areas, and of course the maze of staircases.
If I can scrape together a million or two, and a few wives, I could set up a nice operation in one of these riads, and do the B&B thing to finance the upkeep. Alas, polygamy has been outlawed here just within the last 10 years or so, and I was told it was just about 3 years ago that laws defining wives as property were taken off the books. I guess now having spouses or lovers as property has to be arranged in a private de facto way, as in the USA and the rest of the world.
I return to the USA in just a couple of days now. It has been a successful trip in many ways. I may get some of my photos up soon... though they were all taken with a cameraphone, which doesn't have the absolute best picture quality.
Thanks for reading.
As I've said before, I'm trying to make some sort of graceful transition from being a full-time businessperson into more of the performing arts, but I still have entrepreneurial blood, and everywhere I go I see opportunities and possibilities. On this last part of the trip I've made some really interesting contacts too, so who knows.
I've seen some lovely ceramics being done here, leather work, carpets, tanneries, tile, brass, furniture...
American tourists are targets here, not so much for theft as far as I can tell, but for shameless overcharging. They'll happily ask $2500 for a carpet, then negotiate down to $1500, telling you that is a rock-bottom wholesale price that leaves them just barely breaking even. Then when you get back to the states you can find something similar there for $1000 if you shop around... which means the dealers are paying quite a bit less, when you consider markups, shipping, overhead, etc. Last night I had a small streetside restaurant try to charge me about $40 for a meal that should have been $4. That was an interesting scene. They didn't get the full amount, but it cost me more money and stress than it should have. Another educational writeoff.
Since someone asked, yes, I got my luggage, after 3 days. Two hours before I got word that it had been located, I bought a few days' worth of new clothes which I soon discovered I didn't need. Oh well.
The architecture here is quite interesting. These old riads are former homes, rather large ones. They are maze-like, designed for a man who usually would have multiple wives. The idea would be that he is somewhere near the center of the maze, and he has access to all the areas of the house, the wives' and childrens' rooms, but they enter his area only by invitation. And of course the whole thing is enclosed, since women and children historically were kept cooped up in these gilded cages. To the outside world, it's just a big, nondescript box, with perhaps a somewhat decorative door/entrance, but that's about it. On the inside, safe, quiet, pleasant, welcoming spaces... beautiful rooms, courtyards, gardens, sitting areas, and of course the maze of staircases.
If I can scrape together a million or two, and a few wives, I could set up a nice operation in one of these riads, and do the B&B thing to finance the upkeep. Alas, polygamy has been outlawed here just within the last 10 years or so, and I was told it was just about 3 years ago that laws defining wives as property were taken off the books. I guess now having spouses or lovers as property has to be arranged in a private de facto way, as in the USA and the rest of the world.
I return to the USA in just a couple of days now. It has been a successful trip in many ways. I may get some of my photos up soon... though they were all taken with a cameraphone, which doesn't have the absolute best picture quality.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Marrakech, Fez, Casablanca...
I am in Casablanca.
I had dinner at Rick's tonight, a restaurant/bar named after the one in the film Casablanca. It is run by an American woman. Most of my traveling companions were appreciative of a bit of Western cuisine after all the Moroccan food, as good as some of it was. Last night's dinner was the best of all the Moroccan food we had, so we ended our string of prearranged Moroccan dinners on a high note.
EOU was excellent, as usual. There were some inspiring and valuable seminars, interesting and memorable company, and lovely outings.
I did some guided tours before and after the EOU, which was great, thanks largely to a great guide, named Rachid. Prior to this trip, EOU outings were the closest I have gone to guided tourism. I can say that traveling in a van full of tourists did feel a little cliche at times. This was less true on the pre-tour, which was only 5 people (two Americans), but more so on the post-tour that has taken up the past few days, when I was traveling with a larger group -- 16 people, all but two of whom were Americans, the biggest contingent being from Orange County, CA. The other two were a nice couple from New Zealand.
I still have most of a week left. The rest of the time will be more unstructured, and I'm ready for that. I return to Marrakech tomorrow for a couple of nights in a riad (Moroccan B&B) which I'm told is quite nice and well-positioned for exploring (and getting online). If they'll let me use my own PC that'll be great... if not, the French-style keyboards in most of these places are known for making Americans want to drink poison Koolaid.
It is 5am here and I should be asleep. I think I'll go try.
I had dinner at Rick's tonight, a restaurant/bar named after the one in the film Casablanca. It is run by an American woman. Most of my traveling companions were appreciative of a bit of Western cuisine after all the Moroccan food, as good as some of it was. Last night's dinner was the best of all the Moroccan food we had, so we ended our string of prearranged Moroccan dinners on a high note.
EOU was excellent, as usual. There were some inspiring and valuable seminars, interesting and memorable company, and lovely outings.
I did some guided tours before and after the EOU, which was great, thanks largely to a great guide, named Rachid. Prior to this trip, EOU outings were the closest I have gone to guided tourism. I can say that traveling in a van full of tourists did feel a little cliche at times. This was less true on the pre-tour, which was only 5 people (two Americans), but more so on the post-tour that has taken up the past few days, when I was traveling with a larger group -- 16 people, all but two of whom were Americans, the biggest contingent being from Orange County, CA. The other two were a nice couple from New Zealand.
I still have most of a week left. The rest of the time will be more unstructured, and I'm ready for that. I return to Marrakech tomorrow for a couple of nights in a riad (Moroccan B&B) which I'm told is quite nice and well-positioned for exploring (and getting online). If they'll let me use my own PC that'll be great... if not, the French-style keyboards in most of these places are known for making Americans want to drink poison Koolaid.
It is 5am here and I should be asleep. I think I'll go try.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Essaouira
I am traveling with some fellow EO members. One American, one German, one Australian, and one Israeli... all living in the USA. We also have a local guide, Rashid, a very nice and personable man.
The airlines lost my luggage. There is some hope it may show up at some point, but my impressions of the local baggage-handling infrastructure are not inspiring a lot of confidence. Fortunately, I did have my shaving kit and one day's change of clothes in my backpack, along with my 2 computers (Windows for business and general stuff, and a Mac for composing and editing music). So I'm OK for now, but it will be a drag if I don't get my bags back. I had planned on doing some music work while I was here, so I packed a MIDI keyboard and some other music gear. And then there were a lot of my best clothes... Oh well.
I arrived a few hours before the others, so I had time to talk with Rashid for a while. I found him to be much better informed about American politics and political figures than most Americans, even many of the smarter and better-educated ones that I know. Rashid assures me this is not unusual among educated Moroccans.
I see my native country as being in the grips of propagandists, liars, and hijackers. Maybe this is true of all nations at one time or another, or even at all times to some degree. The very concept of a nation-state is a relatively recent (and arguably quite toxic) invention here on planet earth, and I suppose all nations are supported by or built upon propaganda of some kind. But not all propaganda is created equal. It can just be the run-of-the-mill, booster-style hype, the national equivalent of "marketing" and "teambuilding," which I see as on the relatively-harmless end of the bullshit spectrum. On the other end, it can be a relentless onslaught of bold-faced, manipulative lies covering up outrageous crimes, and seeking to override the eyes, ears, and intentionally-compromised rational capacities of a dazed and distracted mass population. This kind of propaganda seeks to supplant real reality (which I would argue does still exist out there somewhere) with a virtual, simulated reality that is designed and chosen for covert, selfish, duplicitous, draconian, cynical and evil purposes.
It is reassuring to travel, to speak to conscious beings from other places and cultures, and to be reminded that the noxious buffet of current-day American propaganda, which is designed firstly for the American market and succeeds with great masses of the American populace (ranging from 40 to 90% of us, depending on which lie one chooses to examine), is far less effective in other markets. Perspectives and thinking that are marginalized in the USA are recognized as sane and reasonable here.
Why do I dwell on these pathologies? It interests me. These are interesting times. I want to understand American propaganda, American hypocrisy, the interplay between our professed ideals, our true motives, our socioeconomic realities, and our actual national behavior. It is an interesting case study in human nature. It may be the story of How Things Ended for our species. It may be the story of How Things Usually End for Conscious Life In the Universe. Maybe it will be the story of How Humankind Had A Spiritual Awakening and Pulled a Rabbit Out of the Hat At the Last Minute, Like In Star Wars, When Luke Skywalker Shoots a Proton Torpedo Down A Ventilator Shaft the Size of a Urinal While Flying Through A Narrow Trench In a Small Spacecraft at About the Speed of Sound. The local (i.e. planetary) outlook is grave, y'all -- with or without The Force. On the other hand, my own contemplations show me that, even if we do hit the wall that I see looming in the front windshield (right above the speedometer that reads 113 MPH), life will continue, and consciousness, and love too... if not here, somewhere else. Everywhere else, ultimately. Human consciousness is ours to experience, to appreciate, and perhaps to destroy. But universal consciousness (and universal beauty) will not be greatly disturbed by what we do to ourselves.
American pathology is also interesting because it's so personal. I grew up in the USA. Even having been raised to think for myself, I nevertheless absorbed my share of screwy ideas and pathalogical patterns along with everyone else, and believed at least some of the propaganda, only to find it not standing up to critical analysis and observable facts further down the road. I feel a responsibility to maintain a certain vigilance, if only in the hope of being true to myself. I don't want to be a sheep or a sucker.
Like our president said:
Fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again.We figured we knew what he was trying to say, even if he didn't. It's funny coming from him, a guy who represents a cabal of people who have gotten away with myriad forms of murder so many times that it's becoming like a parlor game to them, to see how far they can push the envelope, on how large a scale. And maybe that explains why he couldn't get the line right. If you study closely when W screws up his lines, it really isn't a random thing. It doesn't happen when he's in his element, talking militarism, domination, political tactics, and marginalization of whoever opposes him. It happens when he pretends to care about people, feelings, or fairness.
I know how hard it is to put food on your family.No, he really doesn't know.
We head back to Marrakech tomorrow, and then the EO University starts. It will be nice to see my EO friends.
It is nice to be here.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
NYC
Another VIP lounge... this time in New York City... I'm not certain which airport this is, though it looks like probably JFK.
My flights today (and tomorrow) are LA to New York to Casablanca to Marrakesh. I'm going for another EO University. I realized at the end of my LA-NYC flight that I'd been sitting behind one of my EO friends the whole way. He's an EO member from San Diego that I know from past EOU's. He's also some sort of turbo-platinum frequent flyer on Continental Airlines, so now I'm in the VIP lounge as his guest. Comfort, quiet, electrical outlets, showers, massaging chairs, TVs, WiFi, whatever we glorified monkeys need.
One of my Pop's tenets: "It's expensive being poor." JT's corollary: "It's cheap being rich." I trust my readers to connect all those dots. The above quote is a clickable hyperlink to a transcript of one of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits... for your enjoyment and edification.
I am carrying four computers on my person, running 4 different operating systems... A Windows laptop (for business), a Mac laptop (for creative work), a Treo 650 phone that runs the PalmOS, and an iPod. If you didn't think an iPod qualified as a computer, consider that it has a hard drive, a lighted color screen, an operating system, a file management system, audio output, and 3000 times the data storage that I had on the computer I used to start my business in the late 80s. (Thanks, Mom.) My new Mac is a music-composition platform... It can emulate a couple of thousand instruments, with rhythm loops, multi-tracking, digital editing, etc. There's a 5-octave keyboard in one of my bags, and a microphone. I hope that all arrives in one piece. It's basically a fully-operational recording studio that any major record company or band would've paid 3 million dollars for in 1990. The future is here.
My time in Morocco will be pretty well choreographed, thanks to EO, a tour company, and most of all my trusty assistant Amy, who's done a lot of work on planning and arranging while I coasted along in genuinely blissful ignorance of the details. Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, Mansour, Eddahbi, Essauouira (don't ask me to pronounce that). I'll be with EO types most of this time... all business geeks... but all bright and doing interesting things, and I can always find a black sheep or two to talk to or wander off with.
Meanwhile, I've been working on a business acquisition that suddenly came up as a seize-it-or-lose-it opportunity within the last couple of weeks. That will be an exciting thing to announce if it goes through... but it has meant doing a crash program of analysis, communication, negotiation, troop-rallying, and strategizing. With all the major projects we're already busy with, it's a little crazy, but also energizing and interesting, the sort of challenge I like to jump into sometimes... and then leave my dutiful, hard-working, already-fully-employed staff to back me up handling the details, logistics, nuts and bolts... It is symbiotic for all of us, and fun for all I think, but it does make a lot of work for them, and I very much appreciate their willingness to take it on.
...
This will be my first visit to Africa. Maybe I'll post again from there.
My flights today (and tomorrow) are LA to New York to Casablanca to Marrakesh. I'm going for another EO University. I realized at the end of my LA-NYC flight that I'd been sitting behind one of my EO friends the whole way. He's an EO member from San Diego that I know from past EOU's. He's also some sort of turbo-platinum frequent flyer on Continental Airlines, so now I'm in the VIP lounge as his guest. Comfort, quiet, electrical outlets, showers, massaging chairs, TVs, WiFi, whatever we glorified monkeys need.
Eddie Murphy Voiceover: Slowly, I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other for free.
One of my Pop's tenets: "It's expensive being poor." JT's corollary: "It's cheap being rich." I trust my readers to connect all those dots. The above quote is a clickable hyperlink to a transcript of one of my favorite Saturday Night Live skits... for your enjoyment and edification.
I am carrying four computers on my person, running 4 different operating systems... A Windows laptop (for business), a Mac laptop (for creative work), a Treo 650 phone that runs the PalmOS, and an iPod. If you didn't think an iPod qualified as a computer, consider that it has a hard drive, a lighted color screen, an operating system, a file management system, audio output, and 3000 times the data storage that I had on the computer I used to start my business in the late 80s. (Thanks, Mom.) My new Mac is a music-composition platform... It can emulate a couple of thousand instruments, with rhythm loops, multi-tracking, digital editing, etc. There's a 5-octave keyboard in one of my bags, and a microphone. I hope that all arrives in one piece. It's basically a fully-operational recording studio that any major record company or band would've paid 3 million dollars for in 1990. The future is here.
My time in Morocco will be pretty well choreographed, thanks to EO, a tour company, and most of all my trusty assistant Amy, who's done a lot of work on planning and arranging while I coasted along in genuinely blissful ignorance of the details. Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, Mansour, Eddahbi, Essauouira (don't ask me to pronounce that). I'll be with EO types most of this time... all business geeks... but all bright and doing interesting things, and I can always find a black sheep or two to talk to or wander off with.
Meanwhile, I've been working on a business acquisition that suddenly came up as a seize-it-or-lose-it opportunity within the last couple of weeks. That will be an exciting thing to announce if it goes through... but it has meant doing a crash program of analysis, communication, negotiation, troop-rallying, and strategizing. With all the major projects we're already busy with, it's a little crazy, but also energizing and interesting, the sort of challenge I like to jump into sometimes... and then leave my dutiful, hard-working, already-fully-employed staff to back me up handling the details, logistics, nuts and bolts... It is symbiotic for all of us, and fun for all I think, but it does make a lot of work for them, and I very much appreciate their willingness to take it on.
...
This will be my first visit to Africa. Maybe I'll post again from there.
