Morocco

As we crossed the Mediterranean to Morocco we decided to take it in a little at a time and gradually acclimate to the new country. So we first went into the Spanish port of Melilla in Morocco. The old city of Melilla was built around 1497 and now the new cities main business activity centers around the ferry terminal and duty free shopping for mainland Spaniards and Moroccans. Other than a walk around the old town, we found nothing of much interest. Although it helped us begin to get used to the Islamic women's coverings of head and body.

 Old wall around Melilla old town.

Old cobblestone streets winding through old town.

Okay, now is the time to reveal a dirty little secret of ours: whenever we are in a foreign country for long and are tired of the local cuisine--we light up like little children when we see a McDonalds. Now before you pass judgement, if you are honest, you must admit that a Big Mac is damn good!!! It is somewhat of a comfort food because it is familiar, but honestly, we really love it once in a while.
So we got really excited when we saw this McDonalds in Melilla and it was the most modern two story one ever. And yes, we enjoyed it thoroughly... Now you know and we hope you don't think less of us. But if you do, oh well...

Moving on east along the coast towards Algeria, we moved to the Moroccan port of Saidia. This is where we can get our EU issue taken care of as we are now out of the European Union and legal with the authorities once again.
And this is where we get to practice "letting go" of our judgements and stories. We had some issues when we went to Tunisia twice in the past to get out of the EU. There we were shook down for alcohol and needed to bribe the officials just to get our papers and passports back. So with that story in our heads we headed into Morocco not knowing how it might be. But the wise Captain began a mantra of "Bring them love" and as always, intention won out and we had no problems whatsoever.

Now to practice the process of "letting go" of our judgements around the whole women's covering issue. I (willow) probably feel it a little more as I have birthed into a female earth suit, and so am connected more intimately into the feminine mass consciousness. But Richard feels it too and we both know the need to allow each person (male or female) to walk their own path. So we gravitate between knowing "this" and being angry at the patriarchal religions that seem to enforce it. And we are talking about all patriarchal religions (Christianity included) and institutions. It seems that any action that denies the sacred feminine also denies the sacred masculine and therefore everyone suffers.
And...who are we to know what is best for anyone else??? It is a full time job to just know ourselves and live according to what we feel is best for us. Who are we to judge anyone or anything outside of ourselves? And with that said, it's a process and practice of one moment at a time of "letting go" of the judgement and stories in our heads and smiling into love.

In a recent Deepak Chopra and Oprah meditation, they reminded us that "we are not in the world but the world is in us". And so it is all an inside job. How we affect the world we live in for better or worse is how we take care of and evolve our own inner world. For us, that's what it is all about...
And thankfully, we remember that once in a while.

This time of year it is extremely hot in Morocco and so we decided not to take the time to explore inland. And we were getting tired of ports and wanted to get back to the islands to anchor out and swim. The port of Saidia was built to attract more of the yachting community and is clean and nice. But unfortunately, not many boats are coming. In fact, with the terrorists climate now in Europe, it is doubtful that it will ever take off. We have found it different this year in all of Europe as there is more security and police force in every city. And for now, that is how it is...

The night we were in port there was a little fair/festival of sorts near the marina. It was designed to represent the various regions of Morocco and so we got a little culture right there. We walked around and saw different native costumes and food. It was great fun and we were so appreciative to have the experience since we were not going to spend more time sightseeing.

There were some camels to be ridden, but we decided to wait and someday ride them in the desert like real tourists...

And a mama camel and baby...

And a man with his monkey doing tricks for money...

And a fire dancer to entertain the crowds...

And so the next morning we headed out for the Spanish island of Mallorca. We have a sense that Mallorca is our "home" here in the Med, and we were ready to go home. Our first night out at sea was somewhat of a challenge as we had shipping lanes of big freighters to cross on our way back. We also had a few squalls and wind producing rolly turbulent waves. And early morning at sunrise i (willow) was on watch while the Captain slept few hours. Now Richard and i usually experience magic moments at the same time on EcstaSea, but this morning i was all alone when this special moment appeared. The sun was peeking through the clouds and haze on the horizon. And as i watched another day dawning, sea puppies (dolphins) came from all directions to play. There must have been 20-30 of them and they jumped and played at the bow and all around the boat.
These are the moments that make the rough times okay. No, that is an understatement: these are the moments that are magical--that make it all worth it--the moments on the sea that we live for!
And i knew without a doubt that the puppies came to remind me that in this moment, this sunrise, this brand new day...to feel the pure joy of aliveness! To remember to play along the journey. In this very moment...play. To stop and quiet enough to feel the exuberant, playful, light-hearted aliveness of this very moment.   YES.
And of course, the benevolent universe didn't leave the Captain out. As the day continued on we saw a sea turtle float by on the surface of the sea. This is the first turtle we have ever seen in all of our years in the Med. And on open water with no land in sight, it is hard to see one lone turtle swim by without looking at just the right time in the right place. Then more sea puppies came to play with us. We then got to talking about how we have never seen a whale in the Med as there are not many. And we began to gaze out at sea on the lookout for them. And of course (why should we be surprised?), within an hour we saw the blow of a whale. As we watched, there continued to be more blows by maybe 2 whales. So we slowed Esea up and  came closer to them. We watched in awe as we would see their backs as they swam on the surface and when they had enough of entertaining us, one gave us quite a show with his tail as he dived deep and swam away. We recognized this as a great gift
and feel so blessed today. Once again...  YES.

On our second night at sea off the coast of Ibiza, the wind and waves came fast and furious and we knew we couldn't continue on to Mallorca. But as it was 1:00 in the morning and very dark ( it was close to new moon), we didn't know the coves well enough to anchor. So for 5 hours we motored very slowly along the coast beneath the cliffs until daylight, where we could see what we were doing. Fortunately we found a great anchorage out of the wind and waves. We dropped anchor and went to bed at 8:00am pretty exhausted. And once again remembered the variable, ever-changing nature of life itself as demonstrated on the sea. This is an ongoing theme that we need to be reminded of and remember non-attachment. As anything that we become attached to, changes. We can't fight it--we can't control it so we must learn to flow and be as flexible and changeable as Mother nature is. Great learnings and we are so fortunate to have the sea as our teacher. Even when in the moment we don't always appreciate the teacher or teaching.

So after a great day of rest, we sailed on the next day to home---Mallorca. We need the comfort and down time that home offers and we also need the non-home time to stretch our comfort zone and create expansion. It's all a balancing act, isn't it?
And so it goes for now...