Yo estoy...

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Morocco + Mauritania (Honeymoon 12.2023)

Sardine store; layover in Lisbon, Portugal

car rental Casablanca

Cathedral, Casablanca

sandwhich stand outside our hostal, Casablanca medina

looking down from our hostel on the sandwhich stand

looking out the windows from our hostel

Hassan II Mosque; the laser points to Mecca

Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque, child helps give reference for size

Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque; the people walking the courtyard help give reference for its monstrous size

Casablanca medina

Our hostel in the Casablanca medina

walking the streets before the medina has woken up for the day

Moroccan breakfast in Casablanca

We had to fight the bees for the honey, amlou, and jam. We conceded defeat.

En route to Chefchaouen.

aquaducts

roadside coffee

into the Rif mountains to get to Chefchaouen

Gardens in the Kasbah, Chefchaouen

view from the Kasbah

Exploring Chefchaouen

view from the Kasbah, Chefchaouen

alleyway up to our Airbnb, Chefchaouen

terrece at our airbnb, Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen, the Blue City

cooking class with chef Souad, at Cafe Clock, Fes Morocco

Lamb Tajine with seasonal vegetables

Harira stew, and a carrot salad

Cafe Clock, Fes

cooking class with Chef Souad

alleyway to our Dar

leads to more alleyways before actually getting to the dar

our room in Fes, Morocco

made for people much smaller than us

Chasing the sunset through Fes

not the most spectacular sunset due to clouds, still worth the adventure

kids playing soccer, Fes

sunrise from the roof of our dar in Fes

morning at the butcher's stall in the medina

medina taxis

gate to the medina, Fes

outside the gates of the medina, Fes

Bab Boujloud, the Blue Gate; medina, Fes

sheets of pastry

mailing post cards

taking detours through colorful alleyways in the medina, Fes

Medina, Fes. (bonus points if you can spot Jake's boots)

leather goods, medina, Fes

above the medina

overlooking the medina from above the tanneries, Fes

over looking the arabic tannery, with leather out to dry

Berber tannery

entrance to Berber tannery, medina taxi

entrance to Berber tannery

medina, Fes. Once again, made for a much smaller people than us

when the alleyway takes squeeze to a whole new level

250+ year old walls being braced and held apart

leather out to dry

dying leather

making threaded ribbons

drinking tea and checking out blankets and rugs

tajine at the ruined garden

noisy school boys hanging out after school

grandpa taking his afternoon nap... I mean tending to the store!

West end of the medina, opposite side from the Bab Boujloud

people watching in the medina, fes. Complete with a hot chocolate.

en route from Fes to Marrakech, Morocco

exploring the Marrakech medina at night

olives

lots of olives

Tangia Marrakchia

Marrakech sunset

walls on the mosque being braced, still the effect of earthquake months ago

earthquake evidence

poppin wheelies

busker at Jemaa el-Fnaa

Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech

part of the medina is covered in Marrakech

at the Maison de la Photographie

afternoon tea break on the rooftop terrace cafe at maison de la photographie

Yves Saint Laurent Mansion and Majorelle Gardens, painted with Marrakech Blue

making our way back to the medina from visiting the Yves Saint Laurent Mansion and Majorelle Gardens

back at Jemaa el-Fnaa to start our street food tour

getting work done even within the narrow medina passageways

the tangia and the mechoui is cooked in the ashes of a fire pit

Hassan making sure the tea has enough bubbles

one last Moroccan breakfast

fishing village of Dar Bouazza, Morocco

heading back to the airport to fly from Casablanca to Nouakchott, Mauritania

joined forces with Ben from the UK to head out into the Sahara

Befriended Abdellahi for an afternoon who took us around Nouakchott

also treated us to an amazing lunch!

waiting for our bus

we weren't waiting alone

packing into the back of our bus to make the trip to Zouerat.

happy to be a step closer to our goal

stopping the bus to pray

made it to Zouerat the next morning after spontaneous night of camping in the Sahara.

the bus driver needed to rest, so we all got out and laid down in a roadside hut filled with mats

buying bread and supplies in Zouerat

taxi ride to F'deric

waiting for the train

waiting for the full iron ore train

Here she comes!!

hopping on

excited to be on our train

settling into our iron ore train car

Sahara sunrise from the Iron Ore Train

the final 50km, coming into Nouadibou

time to hop off, we were filthy! which Jake took some pictures, but I don't currently have them on my computer.

Nouadibou coast

whale skeleton

Nouadibou beach

fish market, nouadibou

Fishing pier, Nouadibou

bus from Nouadibou back to Nouakchott

meeting up with Mory, the friend of a friend

breakfast at our hostel in Nouakchott, Mauritania

exploring Nouakchott

fish market, Nouakchott

Fisherman's beach, Nouakchott

the brightest colored shells I've ever seen in nature

Recycling! mountains of plastic! Give Mauritania props for trying!

A most fantastic adventure.

Much Love.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

I passed him on the sidewalk going in the opposite direction. He was bundled up and from deep within his hood I could see in his eyes a combination of worry and judgement. I kept my pace up and a moment later we had passed. Was I as crazy as he judged me to be to attempt running in such cold temperatures? The lack of circulation in my toes when I finally returned home could be used as evidence of the affirmative, but that still won't stop me from going again tomorrow.

A couple months ago, around the time of my birthday, I had gotten my average pace up to a 7.5/7.6 mph. A pace I was happy to see, and attributed to the cooler autumn temperatures. After running in 90+ degrees all year (Togo, summer in MidWest, Honduras). Being able to run without my body working to keep itself from overheating was a relief of sorts, and I could direct that energy into pumping of the arms and churning of the legs instead. The bitter cold now hits and that energy is spent trying to keep blood flowing to the tips of the extremities... unsuccessfully so. Needless to say, I'm not making that 7.5/7.6 mph pace anymore. (cue the sad trombone)

My schedule changes daily. Could even say that I don't have a daily schedule. I like the change as it keeps the weeks interesting and helps avoid monotony. There are commonalities between the weeks, such as clinic most Wednesday mornings and call most Tuesdays and Thursdays. But sometimes not, and even when I do the patients that roll in are never the same. You'd think I'd be used to the random plot twist with the general lack of sameness, but sometimes, I still get caught unawares. I was seeing a patient in the ED for a diagnosis of acute cholecystitis. She had pegged a charcuterie board as the offending culprit. She followed along as I discussed her pathophysiology and described the recommended surgery. She allowed my long-winded explanation to conclude and then very politely asked, "but, is there another option?" I was surprised. You see, in my experience, someone who is suffering from acute cholecystitis to the point that it has prompted a visit to their local ED, is thinking of only one thing by the time I see them. They want the gallbladder gone. A very quick pivot on my part and all options were subsequently discussed as is appropriate. Always good to have those random plot twists thrown in there to keep things honest and interesting.

11 more days!

Much Love.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Estoy entrenando.

Today is Thanksgiving. To say that my cup overfloweth this year would be an understatement. I am thankful.

While many are with family today, I get to cover call at the hospital today. Happy and thankful to do so as it means that for the upcoming holidays I too, will be with loved ones. So I am home alone at the moment and waiting for the phone or the pager or both to simultaneously go off summoning me back to the hospital. Trying to redeem this time and check down my perpetual To Do List. Blogging is a staple on that list, and has been so for many years. As of late, house projects and wedding details keep seeming to push it farther down that list. I suppose that is appropriate, and will change soon enough, but explains the slow updates in the meantime.

I attended DART training in North Carolina last week. DART is Disaster Assistance Response Team and is the disaster relief branch of Samaritan's Purse. The current plan is to make myself and keep myself available for DART deployments for 2024. What disasters await... TBD.

Training center in Boone

Found my seat... not as easy as you would think for some.

Catching the Blue Ridge sunrise at Thunderhill Overlook.

Warehouse and Security Training Center in Wilkesboro. To the left you see a field hospital set up for us to go through and familiarize ourselves. That smaller tent on the end is the OR.