Sunday’s laundry day!

I am now in New York City, graciously living with family friends in the lower east side.

Within a week of the end of the school year, I went from Chicago (school) -> DC (home) -> Chicago (for Brickworld!) -> NYC (summer internship)

Given the time frame of all that travel, it’s been interesting to compare the three cities. Granted, my experience in Chicago hasn’t been wholly in Chicago—Northwestern’s located in Evanston, IL, a few miles north of Chicago—but I traveled downtown a number of times. That, and that Chicago is so spread out that people very far from the downtown still say “I live in Chicago.”

This is one of the reasons I don’t like Chicago as much as DC or NYC; it’s smeared-out, with fairly distinct neighborhoods and little reason to travel from one end of the city to another. It’s disjoint, somewhat splintered. The “downtown” magnificent mile is super touristy.

By contrast, while DC and NYC are both large geographically as well (I technically live in Virginia, but I say “I live in DC”—I can be in the thick of the city within 15 minutes or so), they actually feel less tourist-ey than Chicago. Business & residential areas are more blended, the neighborhoods meld together, and they form more cohesive city experiences.

I can see myself living in Chicago for a few years, tops. DC is good for raising a family, as I see it—lovely resources, very clean, lots of museums and good dining; it’s less in-your-face-all-the-time than NYC. New York… I need to live in New York as a young man. I guess I’m doing a little bit of that right now.

I had legitimately forgotten how much I like New York. I visited for a day and a half last summer, just as a weekend excursion via Megabus from DC to do some shopping and walk around. Three summers ago, I was here for a class and loved every minute of that month. Five years ago I took a one-week film-making class here through NYU, and even before then I had come to New York once in a while with my Mom (she went to high school here and likes the city a lot). Basically, I’ve loved New York for a big percentage of my life thus far.

I was worried, actually, that I wouldn’t like it as much as I had in previous years. That the charm would have worn off or something, after a few years with lots of moving around and my growing sense of being relatively numb to place. Within the past four years, I essentially moved out of mid-Michigan to the greater Detroit area for high school. Then, my family moved to DC area. Then I went to college in northern Illinois. “Home” has been 4 different locations, essentially, and I’ve simply gotten accustomed to my things and ideas of belonging being very spread out. While I loved my trip to Morocco this spring, even there I felt that I somehow wasn’t fully sinking my teeth into being there.

Within a day, I remembered why I like NYC so much. It’s EVERYTHING. All in one place. I’m a person who needs a really high level of stimulation, all the time, in order to be productive and happy. Sometimes I can supply this myself, and when I don’t I get lazy or sad. New York completely prevents me from doing either.

That’s enough for now, I suppose. I’m learning to be frugal with my food expenses and I’m doing an absurd amount of window shopping…

17:52  •  2012624  •  3 notes

It’s now been a few days since I returned from Morocco, but I have some observations to share (à la Nick Gray). I spent a week in the country with my mother—Two days in Fès, about one and a half days in Marrakech, a day and a half doing on a “desert expedition,” and a day in Casablanca. It was a quick trip and included lots of transit, but I am happy with that, and my mom is as well—she is a Geographer and likes few things more than just observing landscape.

For reference, at the moment, $1 USD ~ 8 DH (Dirhams).

Some notes:

1. The country feels very european—that’s the French influence talking. Few things convey this better to me than seeing lots of roundabouts in the road system!

2. Yet, it is still a “developing” country. There are some problems that need addressing: namely, the absolute lack of a job market for college-educated people and the amounts of trash everywhere.

3. Large, old doors have two knockers. One for one family in the house, the other for a different family. They have slightly different sounds, and people learn to recognize them.

4. A riad is a “guest house” with a garden in the middle. A der is a “guest house” without a garden inside—just a fountain.

5. In general, a riad/der is an old-style house with an interior, open-air courtyard with surrounding rooms. They’re very consistent: marble floors, tile ornamentation (often with intricate zellij patterns), plaster walls, and wooden ceilings. This makes for good heat management in the hot months and cold, just by opening more or fewer windows/doors.

6. Fès is famous for its tanneries (smelly!) and its carpets. The carpets have two sides: one thick and wooly, for winter, the other tighter and more flat, for summer months.

7. “Petit Taxis.” Everywhere. Very noticeable by their red color. Taxis are REALLY cheap. A 20-minute ride cost us 16DH—$2. I’d suggest wearing a seatbelt, but you will really stick out as a tourist if you do so.

8. Also, this is where all of the old Mercedes 1900 and 2400s in the world are. They’re now “Grand Taxis.”

9. Fès has a nice amount of tourist infrastructure: enough so to enjoy the sights and be comfortable, but not enough to feel hassled by the locals. Marrakech, not so much; upon leaving I felt quite “milked” by the local economy for every penny in my pocket. Hustlers everywhere!

10. Casablanca, on the other hand, is a modern, slightly gritty, working city. No hustlers. Some big construction projects—private and infrastructure in nature—are going on, so I look forward to see it develop in recent years. There’s an imitation Rick’s Café there!

11. I’d never been to any Islamic-dominant country, and the difference when church and state are intertwined was noticeable. Hard to say how, but noticeable. The current king—Mohammad VI—is quite well-liked and is doing well. You’ll see his portrait around a lot.

12. Don’t walk on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is for storefronts and donkeys! And tourists!

13. People are friendly, but, as I said (especially in Marrakech), eager to sell. Everybody knows French and Arabic (both my mother and I have a working knowledge of French that helped us get around), and many know English or basic english too.

14. You have to pay for bathrooms. Well, not really, but otherwise the woman standing at the door will give you a nasty glare. They only ask for 1 or 2 DH usually. I only had to use a squat toilet once and most toilets allowed you to flush the toilet paper (!).

15. “We invented the siesta” — Our tour guide, Ahmed, in Marrakech

16. While less conservative than I expected, a woman’s life in Morocco is intensely private. “Men’s” trades, like tanning, metalworking, tailoring, etc. are done in public spaces or work cubbies in the souks (markets). “Women’s” trades, like carpet-weaving and basket-making, are done in their homes. It’s very rare to see women eating in restaurants.

17. Lots of restoration going underway, all the time. Large parts of Fès and Marrakech are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and they take their ancient pride seriously.

18. The Medina of a city, or the “old city,” is made up of the kasbah (walled city), the mellah (typical jewish quarter), and the souks (markets).

19. Esp. in Marrakech, there are unregulated motorized scooters EVERYWHERE. Watch yourself as they come flying through the tight spaces.

20. Cats are everywhere and very tolerated. I took around 400 photos on the whole trip—45 of which were just of cats. Hanging around, taking care of pests. They even walk around nicer restaurants.

21. If you visit Marrakech, go to Jemaa el-Fna. Perhaps the most tourist-ey place possible, but it’s quite a spectacle. Let yourself get wrassled into a stall by the shouting men, and enjoy the cheap and good food.

22. That said, FOOD. Expect olives and bread with every meal. A “Tajine” is a typical conical dish, used to cook and serve any kinds of meat or couscous dishes. Food is good. Food is cheap. Eat lots.

23. More notable in Casablanca—quite a bit of ethnic variation.

24. Camels are really uncomfortable to ride (especially as someone with male parts). That said, they’re also quite fun to ride, sound like Chewbacca (or maybe that’s vice-versa), and feel like a roller coaster when they stand up or sit down!

25. Schooling is optional for kids. Lots running around at all hours of the day.

26. You’ll hear calls to prayer broadcaster via loudspeaker 5 times a day. Actually a very good wake-up call!

27. There’s a level of local artisanship in the country that simply isn’t found in the U.S.A.. In the souks there are tailors, blacksmiths, tanners, tinsmiths, farmers, dye-makers, and more, simply doing their “artisinal” work, because it’s their work. I don’t quite have the words for how different this is from the industrial, business-driven world here (versus the individuals’ work there).

That’s about that.

0:01  •  2012328  •  8 notes