Calm & Chaos

Situated on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg, opposite Sale, it would serve as home for the coming weeks. I arrived at the Medina, a World Heritage Site to search for my riad (a traditional townhouse built with an interior courtyard or garden). Within the Medina some pathways are paved while others were not. A mixture of old and new which was reflected in the people bustling about. There were ladies in hijab wearing traditional clothing and others in jeans and sports wear.

Signs, when there was one, was written in Arabic, painted on the side of buildings. I couldn't help but to stop and admire the cursive script. There was an elegance in the flow of the script. The varying widths of the writing. I imagined hundreds of years ago the person who wrote it would never guess that one day someone would be awestruck by the beauty of those lines.

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by, "as-salamu alaykum". I turned around to see a guy in his 30s looking at me with a smile. "I'm Ali, welcome to Morocco". Ali would be my host/landlord for my stay during the trip. Upon entering the riad I admired how beautiful the doors were. A dark wooden frame with intricate carving was the archway to a heavy steel door. The symmetry and craftsmanship stood the test of time. I paused as I braced to explore what would be my home for the near future.

During my first evening in Rabat I lay motionless at 2:00am. I was neither tired nor jet lagged. My mind was racing with thoughts. I thought about how in less than 24 hours my life had completely changed. I recalled a murale that I had passed while out buying bottled water that evening. The lady in the hijab had her scarf pulled up, covering her entire face with the exception of her eyes. She wasn't looking at you nor past you. Her gaze was some sort of out of focus, which perhaps echoed how I felt. As I drifted off to sleep I thought about how we are all out of focus, at some point at least. And that's okay.