A continuous struggle when one is traveling is staying clean. When you bike, you get sweaty. When you eat, you get sticky. And for your socks to start smelling like a piece of cheese that has been forgotten for several months, you do not have to do anything. In spite of the difficulties, we try to somewhat keep our dignity. However, it is quite challenging to keep up with Antoine. He gets dirty much more quickly than I can clean. Don’t get me wrong, for being a man I think he is doing a good job. At least he has the intention to keep his shirt without spots of jam. And I have gotten used to the toothpaste on his face (we do not look into a mirror very often).
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Archive for 2007
A special phone call between Morocco and The Netherlands confirmed the good news: The Board of Stichting Klein Verzet has now officially adopted the project for the Amar Jyoti Lower Secondary School in Sarangkot, Nepal. Not only will they help with the governance and administration of this endeavour, they will also match every euro that is donated. Of course we find this wonderful news. Hoorah! Signing up is easy: Subscribe on the project page and we will get in touch with you.
This means that those of you who want to receive postcards from around the world, will find the fifty euros that you put in, be turned into a hundred for our Nepalese friends.
“Que no te pasa nada.” These are the words of an old woman as we stop along the side of the road to buy a couple pieces of fruit or a vegetable. This is a blessing she is giving to us, that no bad thing may happen to us as we travel. She has only seen us for a moment when she sais this. An old woman in typical spanish clothing. “Grathias”‘. Perhaps she is a mystic and does not even know it. This is a small village in central Spain. We have now arrived in Africa and the blessing she has given us follows us as we make our first days together on this new continent.
In order to be able to bike in Morocco, one needs to have nerves of steel. Not only do buses, taxis and some trucks think we do not belong on the road but next to it, some drivers find us so courageous that they cheer us with both thumbs up while almost running us over. In the mountains people were quite carefull with us. Yesterday a bus passed me so terribly closely that, for the first time during this trip, I did not know what else to do than flipping him off. More in order for me to get rid of frustration than that it really helps of course. Usually I ball bad drivers out (they cannot hear me so it`s pretty safe), but yesterday I had a throatache so yelling did not work.
Continue reading ‘Donnez-moi un Dirham’
This is a short story about a long story, a really long story. As a matter-a-fact, this story started at the end of September, just before we left for “The Departure Take 2″ in early October. What happened is that we had some equipment we needed for our trip, stuck in the United States.
Continue reading ‘The story of a package’
In Fes we found a bakery that sold whole wheat Moroccan bread. In all our enthousiasm we bought more than we could eat before it would get old. And so we were left with old whole wheat bread which we were definitely not going to waste. Several times I made a special Spanish style omelet. Enjoy this recipe.
Continue reading ‘Spanish style omelet’
The second biking day after we have left Fes, we have to climb to Ifrane at 1650 meters. As we climb it gets colder and colder. We put on our gloves, silk socks and hats in order to stay warm. We`re expecting snow in Ifrane because it’s getting bitter cold and according to Antoine it smells like snow.
Continue reading ‘A future in Morocco’
In the Rif mountains it was not always easy to find a place to camp. People did not want us on their property. However, after one minute of conversation they did want us to bring them to Holland.
Continue reading ‘Goat head couscous’
One night we approached a house with several men and women. Immediately they offered us a glass of water. When we asked for a place on their property to pitch, that was not an option. That night we would sleep in a Moroccan home for the first time.
What is the project? Tarifa is the most southern point in Spain. We`ve been in a campground 5 kilometers outside town for a couple of days now. On the first day, we made our way to Tarifa along the beach. Extremely strong wind made our legs feel sandbrushed, and therefore we`re now using our bikes to get to Tarifa, day after day.
Continue reading ‘Struggle to Tarifa’
