Hello All,

So at the moment i am sitting in an internet cafe in Marrekech typing on the most confusing keyboard in the world so if things dont make sense sorry.

Arrived in Morocco on Friday morning early [2 am; 21/12/06] because our flight was delayed out of gatwick. we were lucky to get out at all because of the fog.

Slept in on Friday morning then off to an outdoor cafe to have breakfast while getting a good look at the new city (the part of marrekech we are staying in] . City is amazing. We took a bus trip around the city to have an overall look at it. Then we stopped at the menara gardens where the sultans of the past have entertained their women and guests.

Then off to see the Theatre Royal and the La Kontoubia which is a 77 foot tall tower attatched to the mosque. it is used by the callers to tell the people when prayer time is to begin (there is one of these across the street from my school in birmingham]. Stuning buildings.

Next to the markets to see the snake charmers/ food stalls/ spice stalls/ orange juice venders (made fresh squeezed in front of you and an experience not to be missed)/ shopping stalls full of... everything: shoes scarfs jewelery leather goods clothing tshirts and much more/ the teeth venders which will sell you real human teeth (poor people sell their teeth for money) and these wonderful dentists (sitting on their ricketty chairs in the middle of the square with their teeth layed out on the blank they spred on the ground) can also remove troubled teeth for you for a price.

shopping wize i have haggeled and barginned my way through some really good deals i am proud to say. Dad can be proud. The Souques (winding allies full of shops and venders) are hard to comprehend. I have some amazing photos but no wat to download them yet.

It is shocking t o see the poverty here. people have very little. I am glad that i brought with me some coloured pencils for the children. although sad that i have had to show several of them how theye work because they did not know what they were.

Last night (22/12/06) the girls and i went to go see a dinner and show thing. it was in the middle of nowhere and fantastic. All guests there were tourists but it is designed as a replica of how the sultans of the past would dine and what type of entertainment they would enjoy. This included trick horseridders (acrobates riding fast arabian horses)/ beautiful women dancing in traditional dress/ musicians and singers from different tribes across morocco. It was amazing. And the FOOD wow. Start with beef and veggy soup/ roasted lamb/ couscous with chicken and roasted veggies/ dessert which i dont have any idea of how to describe/ and fresh fruit. Now these dishes all came to us on Platters and on the very BIG kind. I ate a LOT of food. It was great.

Today (23/12/06) Jac Ange and i took a trip up to the High Atlas Mountains. We have seen the dessert of Africa and the snow of africa. We stopped at several berber villiages (native peoples are known as berbers) / got to talk to locals/ were hasseled a bit to buy things from them / saw some waterfalls/ climbed across an indian jones bridge. It scared the poop out of me but i did it. It really really really was just some stikes strung together.

Made it back to our hotel and off to the internet cafe. Will rest tonight as we are off tomrrow morning early to catch a train to Rabat via Casablanca. Then we will work our wat down the coast.

Pictures will be coming i promise.

Miss and love you all. Merry Christmas.

M.