Looking without Seeing

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XLIII

2009-07-01T08:21:35Z

Happy July. I now have two Blurb book ideas in mind, one being to turn this series into a book, the other being a portfolio. Thanks to Paul for the push. Now I just need to find some time. When I manage to do something, it tends not to be by halves. Good news for the book. But what I really mean is that last week I've had an offer accepted for a flat in Cambridge. So I am buying my first home! Very exciting. With help from mum. It is definitely a lovely place. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XLII

2009-06-26T07:11:19Z

From our drive through the Atlas. The last two weeks have been crazy busy. I am setting up research study which will run for the next few years. But it is different, challenging and fun. On top of that I've started looking to buy a house, and despite the credit crunch, have found the market place where I live to be pretty viscious. I hope I can say more in my next post.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XLI

2009-06-20T08:55:49Z

Taken out the back of our taxi window, driving up into the Atlas Mountains. We had no idea that the drive would turn out to be so dramatic, blind hairpin bends on the edge of great revines at a speed which I would normally savour for straight wide roads. Still, our taxi driver seemed to know what he was doing so I distracted myself by looking at the direction from which we'd come.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XL

2009-06-18T07:29:00Z

The leg from Casablanca to our next 'mystery' destination was our most arduous while in Morocco; my most arduous ever. After taking the bus to a small, dusty desert town named 'Whydahellruhere' or similar, I had to command some stunning pidgeon French to make arrangements for our next leg, by taxi, my pidgeon French only marginally better than my pidgeon arabic. It works by negotiating with the gang boss, before being assigned a driver, who then paid off the police as we left town. We were glad to be once again in a taxi.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXIX

2009-06-16T07:57:57Z

I've had a busy week or so since the last post. Lots of work to do, plus a lot of rowing last week and various other commitments. So sorry about the lack of posts. They were only matched by the lack of comments. Anyway, this is taken en route from Casablanca to Ouzoud in the Atlas Mountains, a journey which was to prove our most difficult, but also ultimately, our most exhilarating.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXVIII

2009-06-05T09:00:55Z

Post #600; for all of you, but mostly for you. Salvation, we guessed, must come in many forms. Sometimes through religion, some- times through the kindness of others, who knows, maybe both. Ours came in the form of a Fiat Uno on a deserted, exposed ocean road we had found ourselves walking down, 10 miles from the bright lights of Casa. At the mercy of one man's kindness, we found ourselves suddenly cocooned in the smoldering darkness, the light of one man's pride for his country and his faith illuminating our relief. Our faith but a shadow of yours; to you our debt we submit. Desktop version, for today only, for you.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXVII

2009-06-04T11:26:20Z

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, busy offline this week - moving offices, resubmitting ethics applications, rowing every evening etc etc. But here we are, Casablanca, a market... post #599. Tomorrow is a big 'un. Larger?

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXVI

2009-05-28T10:43:57Z

Casablanca, market stall selling live terripins. I'm sure they are delicious in soup. Quite the sight. Larger?

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXV

2009-05-27T09:24:50Z

We moved on from Fes to Casablanca; an otherwise forgetable modern city and nothing like the nostalgic images the film conjures up. In theory, I'd arranged dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant on the Atlantic coast, just on the horizon here, in reality they'd closed for Ramadan. Which left us 10 miles from the city itself, without transport, at the end of Ramadan when everyone had just stopped doing anything except eating. Even some local police looked perplexed as to how we'd got here, before going back to their smokes.

A Small Journey on the Prime Meridian XXXIV

2009-05-21T08:51:04Z

It came from the West but we didn't know what it was. All we knew was that our time here was up, it was time to leave, quickly, before it had a chance to take hold. We escaped through the dying embers of the day and sought a new place, where our footprints were unrecognised and our regrets but the dust we left behind.