Life is moving

There was a different blog post I was going to write. Something about the uncertainty of living in a desert, the hardship inherent in the lack of resources, and the potential that is lost in that situation. I decided against it.

Not for some moral reason about preserving dignity, or because I realized some deeper truth to what is going on here. It’s just not worth spreading.

What is worth sharing is the resilience of the Moroccan people. The slow and incremental desire for change and progress that shifts the marker over generations, and the attempts that individuals make for change.

Humans are remarkable, adaptive, and clever. We find a way to live in places via cultures that are unimaginable for those of us outside looking in. Take for example, the cultural inclination for conservation here. Water, food, time, heat, and shade are all precious resources here.

Every day, while I walk to class, I can see how the trees that have been planted alongside the streets provide plenty of shade without growing needlessly tall. I see how men rest in cafes during the sunny afternoons so that they do not waste precious water laboring in the midday heat. I see how laborious projects spring to life in the longer evenings and mornings in the winter, and how little moves under the sun.

There is romance in it, but there is also resiliency. Days are spent on the edge of a knife, people seldom carry water with them, meals can only be found at home, and there is an ever-present tension between us foreigners and residents that is impossible to ignore.

Nevertheless, it is a beautiful life here. I am looking forward to my final site near Marrakesh, where I will be moving in 3 days. Hopefully my blog will become a little less esoteric and a bit more grounded once I am at my final job site.

Wishing for the best.