Whew! It has been a long time. I keep looking at the date of my last post and I can’t believe it was over 2 years ago. So what have I been doing and why I haven’t I posted anything? Good questions!

Although I had only planned to stay in Morocco for 3 months I’ve ended up staying here much longer, in fact, It’s now been over 2 years. It took some time to come to terms with wanting to stay here so early in my journey but the reality is that I kept leaving only to find myself back again. For a while people I’d meet would ask why I was here and I would tell them “Actually I’m supposed to be in…” but then I realized that I’m not “supposed” to be anywhere, I can be wherever I want and Morocco is where I want to be.

The biggest reason for staying in Morocco is, of course, music and dance. I realized that to truly know Moroccan culture and learn about its dance and music, you have to be here for much longer than 3 months. Realistically it could take many years and even then I’m not sure I’ll fully know it. Morocco has a vast array of music and dance but I find it’s kept inside the communities and villages and not often seen which makes it difficult to learn. As a foreigner here you only skim the surface of the real Morocco. There can be, among visitors, an orientalist misconception expecting to see bellydancers and smoke shisha, both of which are not a part of Moroccan culture, but you can find this much easier in tourist places like Marrakech than you can the real Moroccan dance and music. I sometimes find this frustrating. While I’ve been here for over two years, I still struggle to find people willing to teach me. Thankfully, I’ve been able to travel to many of the small festivals and have gotten a chance to witness some amazing dances.

Awash at Tafraoute Almond Festival 2016

Joujouka 2016

And as to why I haven’t posted anything, I don’t know! I’ve been inspired by the things I’ve done and the things I’ve seen but when it comes to writing about them, it’s just not happening! I think maybe I’m trying too hard, I don’t consider myself a fantastic writer so it’s not easy. I want everything to be perfect but it’s not, I’m not! I struggle with the back end WordPress crap too which makes it easier to just blame that and not do anything.

So now I just need to get my shit together and start posting. Hopefully, I can remember how to get into my blog! I suppose if you’re now reading this, I figured it out.