Pics of Kumasi and 2 Rivers: Story to follow

In Kumasi

Trying to get a meal in Morocco before sundown during Ramadan…not gonna happen. A glass of sweet red wine, yes, but actual food? Nope. Turns out one of my group mates is a tai-chi instructor, so while we were waiting for the restaurant to open, she gave us a tai-chi class. It felt so good to stretch out. She has decided to offer a free tai-chi class, for all levels, every morning before we start our day. After tai-chi we waded into the pool to stay awake. The exhaustion is palpable. Then we went back to check on the status of the restaurant. The bus arrived to take us to the airport, but we still weren’t allowed to get any food (though we had already paid for it). First they said it would open at 7:30pm, then 8:00pm and at 8:05pm Alice B. (tiny grandma) started banging on the doors to the restaurant because she was determined that we should get the meal we paid for. I thought we were going to be asked to leave, but they did open up. I’ve never eaten so quickly before in my life. Still we barely made it to the airport by 9:00pm, and our flight left at 10:00pm. Thankfully security in Morocco isn’t quite as rigorous as in the US, so we did all make it on, but it was a close call. 4 hours later we arrived in Accra where we went through the long process of getting our luggage and caravanning to the hotel. By the time we got into our rooms it was almost 4am and we were told that Breakfast began at 7am and we would be leaving for Kumasi at 10:00am. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so tired, and yet I couldn’t sleep. I just lay there feeling the ache in my body. Having been in perpetual motion for the past three days, even when I’m not moving it feels like I am. It’s like closing my eyes after swimming the ocean, the waves echo through me.

I was up around 7am to shower and dress. Then I had breakfast and reunited with Benjamin, a friend from my previous trip. It was nice to see him, however briefly. A troupe of dressmakers were holding a clothing exhibition for our group, so Benjamin and I shopped for a bit. We’ll see if this tailor gets it right. I am getting a dress made…just one. After the negotiations, Benjamin and I went to sit by the beach where we had our third date last year. We caught up on each other’s lives and he showed me some of his new art. He is a painter with dreams of attending school for electronics.

Then it was back onto the bus for a long ride to Kumasi. Before we left Rev Michael and Brother Tete came to pray us into our day. Rev Michael will not be joining us until we get to Cape Coast. He has been invited to meet with the Vice President of Ghana over the next few days. As we held hands across the bus seats, I felt this amazing sense of connection. Every day here is like a month. Even though we are virtually strangers, I already feel like I’ve made some good friends. The bus barely made it out of the city before I fell asleep and I didn’t wake up until half way through the trip. We stopped at the exact same rest stop as last year. There we joined up with the other Agape group (they are only going to Ghana) for a nice leisurely lunch. I sat next to Ricki BB, her mother Doris, and several other elders in the Agape Church. They were so welcoming. Again, I find it difficult to explain this deep sense of community I feel. One of my entry questions has been how did you come to new thought? And the answers have been so unique. I met one woman who, while driving to her son to his first day of college, had a horrible car accident that paralyzed her from the waste down for two months. Her son walked away unscathed, but during her extended time in the hospital she ended up reading the Secret and learning how to mediate and vision. She credits her mental shift as essential to her recovery. I’m learning so much from each conversation.

As we got back on the bus, and started rolling down that road again, I missed my mom so much it hurt. I wish she were on this trip with me too. It seems strange that she’s not, but I guess there are some journeys I will have to take alone…surrounded by people, but always alone…isn’t that the paradox of the human condition.

We arrived at the Kente village an hour before sunset. It was just as overwhelming as I remember, children begging for pens or candy, vendors demanding you come to their store and in some case physically trying to pull you along with them. I bought two bracelets then got back on the bus and watched others come back with yards and yards of cloth. Then we continued on and arrived at our Hotel shortly after sunset. Tomorrow we’re meeting wood carvers, going to the Asanti palace, the Cultural Arts Center and another Kente village.

Casablanca and My $10 Spiritual Trip to the Toilet

I arrived in New York several hours before my flight to Casablanca. I was so early that Royal Air Morocco wasn’t open yet, so I grabbed something to eat and bought some toothpaste to replace the tube that got confiscated by the Phoenix security. Let me tell you my breath right now is a terrorist act. I’m writing this from Casablanca after more than 30 hours of traveling.

I met a few people at the airport including Kathy, the woman I will be sharing a room with and Alice Beckwith, Rev Michael’s mom. Everyone is really nice. They are a lot like the Center for Spiritual Living group, but with more people of color. Black women form the majority of this group…how often in life have I been able to say that? It’s lovely. Kathy is a writer too (I am surrounded by writers in fact) so there is lots of good conversation to be had and I can’t help but feel like it’s an auspicious way to begin my journey.

Air Morocco is not JAL or even Air France. There was no little handy movie screen on the back of the seats, nor were there any hot towels, but they did give us socks and eye masked and the beef was almost delicious. I had an aisle seat across from Alice who filled me in on her life with Agape (the church in LA that put this trip together). Turns out she founded Agape’s bookstore…see the theme emerging. :)

Upon arriving in Casablanca, we went through customs. This was the first time we got to actually see the group as a whole since even as we boarded the plane, we did so separately. Alice kept running up and down the aisle trying to get an accurate roll call, but as she hadn’t met everyone it was a hard task. There are 23 of us total, not including the group we will be meeting in Accra. Most hale from LA and the Agape church, but there are a few strays; a guy from Portland and a lady from just south of Denver. Since we are a group, getting through customs took a long time, so I did a little exploring, exchanged some money and browsed the postcards. Then we were all together. We met our guide Hamid, who is a middle aged Moroccan currently living in DC…I’m still getting his story. Hamid is an invaluable resource. He knows the area and the history and even more fascinating the religious history.

We stopped at the Hotel Atlas, right by the airport. Even though we’re not staying the night we have rooms to freshen up in, but our rooms weren’t ready, so then we got right back on our big touring bus and headed out into the city. Here is the part when group traveling gets dicey. Some people wanted to stay at the Hotel, others wanted to take the tour, still others just wanted to get something to eat. So we all ended up on the bus ostensively to get something to eat and maybe do a mini-tour of Casablanca while they readied our rooms, but in the end someone decided we would just do a longer tour and eat lunch in the city. I don’t know. It didn’t matter to me one way or the other, but this one lady got really pissed. Then we got to this café and it was quickly revealed that I was the only one who had any Moroccan money (I had the chocolate crepes…they were very good, and I ordered in French!). I had only changed $20, thinking we would have a chance to get more money later…I’m not really shopping til we come back. But then it became this big drama.

The café was right on the beach though and gorgeous. I met a few more people. I am making a point to sit with different people at every opportunity; so far it’s been pretty good with the exception of getting stuck next to that negative lady. She is an energetic vampire…but I can see it and refuse to get sucked in!
I digress. Casablanca is a modern looking city with lots of palm trees. Apparently there is some kind of connection between Cali and Casablanca…Hamid says almost all the palm trees in California come from Morocco and that almost all of the cacti in Morocco come from Cali. There was also some story about a gazelle, but I have to go soon, so I will skip to the cool part. After a fabulous lunch of beef stew and well spiced tomato salad, Hamid took us to visit the largest Mosque in Casablanca…Hassan the 2nd Mosque. We are 5 days into Ramadan so non-Muslims are not allowed in the Mosque, but we walked around the outside and it was absolutely gorgeous. I’ve seen temples and Cathedrals around the world, but they don’t have anything on this place. It was huge. Hamid says 25,000 people can fit on the inside and almost triple that come to pray on the outside. If I had to sum it up in 3 words I would describe it as intricate, beautiful, and humbling. Hamid spoke to us about Ramadan and the meaning of fasting. He also talked to us about Sufism which I find absolutely fascinating. I got chills.

Then of course I had to pee…badly. So I excused myself to search for a toilet. I thought I had found one near the Mosque, but a lady sitting there said I had to be Muslim to use it. She directed me around to the other side, so I dashed over to the other side only to find nothing. Then that lady (I guess she had walked to that side from the inside) appeared again and waved me to follow her. I was a little unsure (al of this is taking place in French…I can order chicken, fish, and crepes…but that’s about all), but I followed her anyway and she took me around this gorgeous blue, green, and yellow tiled hallway…except then she kept going. And at this point I’m wondering if my bladder is about to cause an international incident, but I really do have to pee and she keeps motioning for me to continue, so I follow her.

She leads me, not to the bathroom, but inside the Mosque…which is absolutely gorgeous, awe inspiring, and holy to the nth degree. The size alone took my breath away, especially realizing that this wasn’t something built by cranes. They didn’t have bulldozers back then. They had shovels and a really phenomenal understanding of math. She led me into the inner sanctum where I covered my hair and removed my shoes. We walked among those praying until we came to a wall where I could see the rest of the sanctuary and where the men prayed…also gorgeous and amazing filled with golden light and cathedral ceilings carved with geometric patterns.

Eventually she did take me to the bathroom and might I say THANK YOU Ms. Blu for insisting I take spare toilet paper and antibacterial hand gel. Thank God I learned how to use the squat toilet during my stint in Japan. I was relieved and led back out. The lady, whose name I never caught, thanked me (I think she was thanking me) for being respectful of the experience. Then she made the international sign for give me some money, so I tipped her a $10 bill and snuck out with the promise not to tell anyone in my group she’d taken me inside.I caught up with the group and we walked a bit more before getting back on the bus and heading back to the hotel. When we were almost there, we got pulled over by the cops. Don't know why...again, no subtitles...but our driver was hella pissed. He and the cop went to go "talk" outside. Then one of my group mates almost got herself arrested because she decided to take a picture...which of course the cop receiving the bribe didn't take kindly too. He marched on the bus and made her delete it. And we all breathed a sigh of relief when we were able to get back on the road again.

Now I am back at the hotel about to have dinner before we hop on the plane to Accra. So far, so good.

Birthday in the Desert

It's the day before my trip and I've thus far only packed my toiletries thanks to an oh so practical and fabulous gift from Shoshana...an LL Bean shower kit organizer. Everything else is on the floor in a big pile and I'm feeling overwhelmed so I've decided to procrastinate for a bit.

This last month has disappeared so quickly. I've watched my mother's knee mend. I've watched her transition from a walker to a cane. Now she can even walk around the house without the cane, so I don't feel so guilty about leaving. But it is a strange role reversal, me taking care of her. At one point she just looked at me and laughed: "When did you become the parent?" I don't know about all that. If anything I feel like more of a little kid than I have in years. I am nervous. It's like the day before school starts and no matter how many lists I make and how ready I think I am, there is really never any way to prepare for life. You just have to go and make the best of it.

In the many while, I want to say thanks to M2, Cory, Mikey and Babe and all the people who have made this trip better for me. After the first two weeks of going back and forth to the hospital and waking up at an ungodly hour to help my mom put her leg into the cpm machine, my Seattle buddies Mikey and Babe showed up in Scottsdale to celebrate Mikey's b-day. It was just what I needed: an excuse to go out and have fun. We went clubbing, hung out by the pool, and in general just had a fabulous time together. By the time they left, my mom was mobile enough to get out of the house more. So this year, to celebrate our b-days we decided to go on an adventure. We found a gentleman named Walker who takes people on sunrise and sunset tours of the desert.

Neither of us knew what to expect. We met him in the parking lot of a Deli in North Scottsdale. He was easy to spot dressed like something out of a western movie with a 45 on each hip, a belt full of bullets, a boot knife, and the obligatory cowboy hat. I looked at Mom and she looked at me...both of us thinking the same thing...should we really be doing this? I had a flashback to those ABC After School Specials about Stranger Danger. Then again, it is Arizona. Mom and I are probably the only ones not packing heat. Walker lead us to his elongated jeep, the only vehicle in AZ that I've been in that didn't have actual windows or air-conditioning. We climbed in and set off on an adventure. As the city receded, Mom and I sucked down bottled water to stave off the hot wind whipping through the jeep while Walker alternated between cracking stupid jokes and Trivia Questions. Did you know that Phoenix is the 5th most largely populated city in the US? And those huge Sentinel-like Cacti with the big arms that show up on every postcard weigh tons (literally) and have an internal skeleton that looks like a bunch of sticks. They also produce over 400,000,000 seeds in their lifetime only to have maybe one or two actually survive to produce another cactus.

About an hour and a half later, we arrived at our destination: nowhere. We turned off the main road onto a dirt path and I was really beginning to wonder if I was going to spend my first day of 31 trying not to get buried by some psycho cowboy, but Walker turned out to be friendly, a little goofy and extremely knowledgeable. Throughout our time, Walker introduced us to various different plants, careful to explain their uses. There are some cacti that if prepared correctly have more vitamin C than oranges and others that were used to hide water. Walker recounted the history of the Native Americans who used to live in this area from the Pima to the Apache. It was all really fascinating. As we watched the sun set over the desert, I felt very lucky to have such a special experience.

Pics from my morning walk...

The End of 30

What I did with my year:
- went to Ghana with my mom
- met the Vice President of Ghana
- met the Asantehene
- had dinner at home of a former President in Ghana
- taught Spanish
- participated in Morning Meeting and got to know my students
- co-planned an all school Day of the Dead Celebration
- was invited to show paintings at the C Art Gallery and The Phinney Ridge Center
- lead literature circle for the fourth grade
- got my black belt in Taekwondo
- published my first collection of poetry
- wrote my first novel (an hour and half at time)
- performed my first paid feature as a poet
- showed my art at 619 Western during the big 1st Thur Art Walk
- hosted 3 Red Couch Galleries
- raised enough money to go on a spiritual journey
- sold some books
- fell in love with Powell's bookstore
- spent weekends in Portland
- had a lot of good times with friends and family
- had a damn good year