Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, Recovery, Schedule and Fez
After falling ill on the 4th or 5th or so, I had one day of "flash recovery", where I felt 100%, good as new. That happened to be the day that my group had a trip planned to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, about 20 minutes outside Meknes, as well as to the iconic town of Moulay Idriss. I woke up full of vim and vigor, ate breakfast, left on the trip which lasted until around 6pm.
Volubilis was stunning, really it was my first visit to an archaeological site, no less a Roman one. The sun was shining, the ruins awe-inspiring (not to mention the beautiful mosaics), and the company pleasant. After arriving here in Meknes, I met a student who is studying at the AALIM center as well, who is from William and Mary University, in Virginia. He too is a military veteran, he from the Navy, and we immediately fell into a comfortable repoire. Adam, who is my near-exact same age, and I quickly fell into an Arabic music-swapping practice, sharing the music we buy at the souks and at the Marjan, the Wal-Mart of Morocco. We also, naturally, constantly share military experiences and seem to have a mutual sympathy for many aspects of culture, life, and visual asthetics. Sorry girls, he's married, so don't get any funny ideas.
So what I was getting at is that Adam came along on the trip to Volubilis, even though he is from a different school. We sort of "adopted" him, and brought him along. Thus the pleasant company. We both agreed that we felt like we were escorting high schoolers (no offense guys!), and shared in each others' discomfort and... frankly disdain regarding the other student's behaviours at places. (They ARE all, on average, 10 years younger than the two of us, so its not like we were just being snobbish.)
After trekking through the ruins of Volubilis, we reboarded the bus and drove to Moulay Idriss, a lovely village on a mountaintop that is held in high standards in Morocco. We walked up and down the huge hill that the village crowns, and with aching calves revived ourselves with mint tea and water on a rooftop cafe, before returning to the bus for the ride home.
Home, in Meknes, we had dinner at the AALIM Center. Kefta - small meatballs in a rich tomato sauce with fried eggs on top, with bread and salad. It tasted wonderful, and I ate and ate and ate. Well. I misjudged my appetite and my body's ability to deal with food - much less highly acidic, spiced (but not spicy) and rich foods. I fell asleep content enough, but woke up feeling deathly ill, and spent the rest of the night in and out of the bathroom, "coughing in the toilet".
After a terrible night, I awoke and dragged myself, piece by piece downstairs for breakfast. I nibbled at a piece of bread, took my medicine, then crawled back to bed to rest the remainder of the Sunday. I pretty much stayed in my dark, air conditioned room the entire day, alternating between zoning out, studying, and watching 30 Rock. Sipping at water and nibbling at crackers was the max my body could support. That evening I went to dinner with Greg, Eileen and Adam to a local riad which was spacious, elegantly designed, and pleasantly staffed. I ordered a dish that was described, in French, as rice with almonds, apricots, and spices. I hoped/expected it to be like a rice pudding, however what I got were three triangle shaped pastries, with the rice mixture inside, all deep fried and golden. Steaming hot and delicious, they were hard to stop eating!
Well I don't have to tell you how I wound up spending my night. Again.
After an even worse night, I told my director, Greg, and he told me to skip class if I need to and not to worry about doing so. I rallied, however, and went to class. All day I managed to practice very cautious eating, only nibbling at bland foods, and sipping at drinks. Growing to dread going to sleep, for fear of how my nights would transpire, I finally forced myself to try to sleep.
Well I finally got a good night's sleep, despite my fears. Forced moderation allowed my stomach to digest and not rebel, and I was able to sleep. Recovery was slow, I still can't eat a full meal without some level of discomfort, however my energy is rejeuvenated, as are my spirits! The worst part was that for over a week, I couldn't stand the SMELL, much less the TASTE, of the wonderful mint tea that they serve here so prodigiously! I could only take a polite sip, then leave it.
Yesterday I was able to drink an entire glass worth, with no repercussions! Success!
No comments:
Post a Comment