I rolled into Essaouira about 10 PM on Sunday night after a 7 hour bus ride from Casa with Hassan.
I couldn't help but grin as we walked through the dark streets with our luggage. The bus ride alone had been entertaining and I knew that I had plenty more adventures to come, having agreed to stay with Hassan and his brother- at least for awhile until I can find a place of my own near the medina.
It feels so good to be breathing the fresh sea air of Essaouira again; it's a bit damp but invigorating. The weather has been perfect; quite a bit cooler than Mali but in the mid to high 70s.
The reunions with everyone have been sweet and heart-warming. I was preparing myself culturally, realizing that I couldn't embrace everyone in bear hugs like I would back home. But I was tickled when during the usual formal but delightful greetings, Khalid reached out and gave me a half-way hug. I've been running into old pals and friends on the streets and that's been nice. I still have several more people to catch up with, many more things to take care of to get my research going.
However, as Hassan likes to tell me, “everything in life is always shwiya, shwiya (little by little, slowly slowly); everything you want is coming, shwiya shwiya.” This is in addition to his new favorite phrase he's learned from my Arabic/English phrase book which he applies to me liberally: “slooooow doowwwwn.”
More to come soon....
