Today is my last day in Morocco. Tomorrow at noon, I get on a bus to Marrakech where I will catch a plane to London, arriving late tomorrow night. I'll spend Saturday with friends there, drop off my laptop and then catch a plane to Istanbul early Sunday morning.
I haven't been doing a whole lot these last few days. My “to-do” list is empty now. I've just been spending time with Ma'alem Seddik and the gang and Hassan, walking on the beach and trying to breathe in Essaouira as much as I can.
The most eventful thing that has happened since the festival ended is that I met another woman here doing Gnawa research, an ethnomusicology Ph.D student from UBC (British Columbia). She's been here since February so it's a bit strange that we haven't crossed paths before now but she spends a lot of time in her apartment working on her dissertation. It was great talking with her, exchanging ideas and stories about our research experiences. I'm looking forward to staying in touch with her. There just aren't that many people conducting research on the Gnawa compared to other types of music.
I was really wanting to do something nice for Ma'alem Seddik, to somehow contribute to what has been playfully called (although really is) his University of Gnawa. Since he didn't have a working CD player and therefore, a way to listen to CDs I'd been making for him, I thought that would be a good addition. Ideally, the other students there can also use it to listen to their personal Cds.
I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be doing from now up until I get home. Since I'll be on the move quite a bit for the next 5 weeks, mostly seeking out smaller villages on the Eastern side of Turkey (avoiding the beaches, islands and touristy spots), I won't be hitting a lot of internet cafes. But we'll see.
I feel like I should say goodbye to my readers in a way because the majority of this trip is over and Turkey is a bit like the addendum for me. Other than my mother and a couple friends, I'm not entirely sure who has been following this blog all along but I realized awhile back that I needed to write just for myself, even if no one else was reading. I needed a way to process.
I realized that I need to change the subtitle to my blog- this didn't end up being "a trip around the world" but I certainly feel like I dove deep into the world of Morocco (with a touch of Mali, too).
I'm going to miss writing and telling stories and having new things to say, new adventures to regularly report. But what lies ahead of me is its own journey as well. Just like when I bought my one way ticket to Morocco and didn't know what awaited me here, I don't know what awaits me back home... except friends and family whom I am greatly looking forward to seeing.
I am already imagining the hugs I will give and receive.
