Well . . gee. Funny thing is, I didn’t actually visit many exotic places. Hitchiked in the U.K. for awhile, spent a few days in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, London. Newcastle has the buttkickinnest concert hall I’ve ever seen, architecture-wise(you can probably find a picture if you do an internet search). It looks like a giant slug with mirrors for skin.
Working for a spell here and there was great—a different cultural experience, because you get to see the humdrum life in addition to the touristed life. What was nice about that was that almost no one fit into a box. Some construction-type guys were as educated as a professor, and some acted like ex-cons—because they were, I suppose. I then went to the NL for a bit, France for a few days (grrr.), Madrid for a few weeks (yay), and Morocco for a few weeks.
Morocco: For me, the end of traveling is simply to get a bigger picture of the world. And, having seen parts of western Europe before, I liked Morocco the best to that end. It was challenging: it’s sort of 2nd-and-a-half World. It’s not as poor as some countries, but it’s definitely Africa and not Europe. I got hassled constantly, and hustled once (grrr.). The majority of people you run into in touristed areas are after your money. Aggressively. Deviously. Fervently. You have to get nasty to get down the street, the hasslers are so forward. However, there is also hospitality that is unheard of here. You meet someone on a bus, speak with them for 5 minutes, and you have a meal and room for the night at their home. So there’s this confusing mix of greed and generosity. At first, I thought to myself “Man, everyone thinks I’m so RICH,” and then, “Oh. Yeah. I am,” even though I had been patting myself on the back for how minimally I had packed. Amazingly beautiful country. Learn at least a little bit of French (trust me), read up, and then GO. It seems to be a great destination for someone who’s at least travelled a little, but wants to get a little dirtier than Europe.
I stayed in a monastery outside London for a total of 3 1/2 weeks. That was very good as well. I recommend it. The simplicity of life—very utopian. The quiet—delicious. Plus, they form their sentences really well.
Best food: Morocco—like anything.
Best experience: Getting invited into a poor guy’s house first night in Morocco, eating his tajine, playing music with his family, smoking hashish with his brothers while listening to a Bob Marley tape, Britney Spears poster proudly displayed over the door (a present from another American friend), throwing up, then going to sleep for about 12 hours.
Sorry. This was a bit long. Anyone got related stories to swap?
Oh yeah. One last thing: the vast majority of people I talked to were willing to give individual Americans a chance even though they hate the country overall—and they even said that when I was undercover posing as a Canadian. (Yup. I did the whole Canadian-flag-on-the-backpack every now and then. And it really did help. Sorry if that offends any super-patriots.)
Adam
Jan 19 2004
09:09 pm
Well . . gee. Funny thing is, I didn’t actually visit many exotic places. Hitchiked in the U.K. for awhile, spent a few days in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, London. Newcastle has the buttkickinnest concert hall I’ve ever seen, architecture-wise(you can probably find a picture if you do an internet search). It looks like a giant slug with mirrors for skin.
Working for a spell here and there was great—a different cultural experience, because you get to see the humdrum life in addition to the touristed life. What was nice about that was that almost no one fit into a box. Some construction-type guys were as educated as a professor, and some acted like ex-cons—because they were, I suppose. I then went to the NL for a bit, France for a few days (grrr.), Madrid for a few weeks (yay), and Morocco for a few weeks.
Morocco: For me, the end of traveling is simply to get a bigger picture of the world. And, having seen parts of western Europe before, I liked Morocco the best to that end. It was challenging: it’s sort of 2nd-and-a-half World. It’s not as poor as some countries, but it’s definitely Africa and not Europe. I got hassled constantly, and hustled once (grrr.). The majority of people you run into in touristed areas are after your money. Aggressively. Deviously. Fervently. You have to get nasty to get down the street, the hasslers are so forward. However, there is also hospitality that is unheard of here. You meet someone on a bus, speak with them for 5 minutes, and you have a meal and room for the night at their home. So there’s this confusing mix of greed and generosity. At first, I thought to myself “Man, everyone thinks I’m so RICH,” and then, “Oh. Yeah. I am,” even though I had been patting myself on the back for how minimally I had packed. Amazingly beautiful country. Learn at least a little bit of French (trust me), read up, and then GO. It seems to be a great destination for someone who’s at least travelled a little, but wants to get a little dirtier than Europe.
I stayed in a monastery outside London for a total of 3 1/2 weeks. That was very good as well. I recommend it. The simplicity of life—very utopian. The quiet—delicious. Plus, they form their sentences really well.
Best food: Morocco—like anything.
Best experience: Getting invited into a poor guy’s house first night in Morocco, eating his tajine, playing music with his family, smoking hashish with his brothers while listening to a Bob Marley tape, Britney Spears poster proudly displayed over the door (a present from another American friend), throwing up, then going to sleep for about 12 hours.
Sorry. This was a bit long. Anyone got related stories to swap?
Oh yeah. One last thing: the vast majority of people I talked to were willing to give individual Americans a chance even though they hate the country overall—and they even said that when I was undercover posing as a Canadian. (Yup. I did the whole Canadian-flag-on-the-backpack every now and then. And it really did help. Sorry if that offends any super-patriots.)