There's no place like home!

We had a great trip, saw a lot of exciting things and places, got to play music in places we would have never dreamed of, and met some really great people from all over the world- that still could not compare to the simple comforts of home.

We had some really great things happen:
-Finances: we had some great supporters who helped make this trip a reality! We actually came in under our original budget.

-Housing: we had budgeted a large amount for housing, but we were blessed to stay with a family who had a large house at a fraction of what it should have cost us. They treated us like family and let us make ourselves at home.

-Weather: Morocco was experiencing unseasonably mild weather, so most of our trip was in the 70's (lows at night in the 50's) with a 48% humidity level. Arkansas was in the 90's with the humidity above 70%. I just checked and Morocco is back in the 90's this week.

-Travel: despite a few uncomfortable travel situations (when you are traveling halfway around the world for almost 26 hours straight, situations will undoubtably arise.) We made it to all of our destinations, despite the language barriers. Todd and Kevin actually made money when Air France paid them for losing their guitars, then offered to send them onto Fes at no cost. That saved us a huge headache on the train.

-People: We had no idea that we would spend a great amount of time with other people from all over the world. We made friends who were from the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, France, Ireland, South America and even several locals from Morocco. We had a great time meeting local shop owners and others who were genuinely friendly and enjoyed our visit.

Last days in Morocco

After several days of nonstop sightseeing, playing music for various events and more food than we could ever imagine, I guess our bodies decided it was time for a break. Todd and Kevin both got pretty sick and spent the last day close to the bathroom, and I just wanted to sleep late. It seems the lunch we had earlier didn't like them very well. I didn't eat the same stuff, so i was feeling fine. We had to cancel our last small concert and didn't get to see some of our new friends before we headed home.

We hired a grand taxi (a mercedes that is larger than the petite taxis which are little Renaults and Fiats) to take us to the airport so that we wouldn't have to wrestle with all of our luggage on the train, plus we could get to the airport in less than 4 hours instead of over 5 on the train. The grand taxi arrived at 3a.m. to pick us up. After about 15 minutes of trying to get all of our luggage in the trunk, we finally compromised - Todd held his Bass Guitar case in the front seat, and Kevin and I held his coffin-like guitar case across our lap in the backseat. We had maybe 6 inches of room between us to move in the back, and Kevin couldn't see forward over his case. Todd couldn't move at all, so he just tried to sleep as much as possible. We got to the airport earlier than we had planned, so we just hung out for a couple of hours before we could check our bags. Todd spent most of his time in the airport bathroom- it seems he was in worse shape than before. After about 4 hours at the airport, we finally boarded the plane for NY- Todd and I lucked out, Kevin booked our seats in the emergency exit row, which gave us a lot of room.

About 8 hours later we landed at JFK and made our way thru the baggage claim and customs just before our flight was delayed. Todd was feeling much better, and he and I found a Burger King in the airport. It was the best tasting bacon cheeseburger I have ever had! Todd also got a Dr. Pepper that really made his trip.

There was bad weather in Cincinnati, which delayed our take-off in NY, we sat on the runway at the number 20 spot to take-off. The plane was a little smaller, but it was an OK flight. Once we got to Cincinnati, we found out there had been a tornado at the airport and it had been evacuated for a while, which is what caused some of the delays. After a while, we finally boarded our last plane headed for LR. As I stepped on the plane, I felt like I was some sort of a giant or something- my left shoulder brushed up against the bottom of the overhead luggage compartments and the top of my head touched the roof (I'm only about 5'11") The plane was tiny and completely filled, along with our pilot who looked like he was about 16- It was a very long hour and 20 min. flight- but we made it!!! Too bad most of our luggage didn't.

Concert in the Riad

Monday night we were fortunate to be invited along with some other musicians to perform in a private house (more like a palace) We walked once again thru the narrow, winding streets to one of the thousands of babs (doors) Once inside, it was like another world- some of the most beautiful architecture we had ever seen. The venue was small, maybe 30 people who were invited guests. A local performer was first, singing a few songs in traditional Arabic. An Australian was next, playing some folk songs on the guitar. I was able to play drums for him, then Todd and I played a couple of Long Walk Home songs, and Kevin joined us and led several others. We had the privilege of sharing the stage with the group from Canada, who then finished the night off with an amazing variety of songs. 

Trip to the Tanneries

After lunch we went back to the old medina and went thru the winding narrow streets to the Tanneries- where all the leather goods are dyed and made into beautiful works of art. The smell of the whole area is incredibly bad, once we climbed up to the top- they gave us some fresh mint leaves to hold under your nose. I thought they should have given it to us much earlier. After some haggling with the leather goods vendor, I bought a pouf- a small leather ottoman.

Lunch with the Canadian music group

Monday we met up with another music group that came to the city for the music festival. We had a great time visiting- we would share a concert stage with them later that night. They are very unique, with a blend of gospel, French, and Afro-Cuban sounds.

Pictures from the Medina

Sunday Evening in the Old Medina

Our people were very vague about this venue- in fact, we had spent the whole day in the forest and they didn't seem in much of a hurry to get us there. Just inside the gates of the Medina is a large square, where some most of the public concerts will be held. There are thousands of people just milling around and there are street performers all over the plaza. People just flock around the performers, then move on to the next one - kinda like Riverfest on Islamic steroids.

We found out that the "friends" had plans for a walk around the entire plaza- and we were supposed to find a spot and set up our instruments and play a little music while the rest of the people did the walk. We found a spot between the 2 gates (the Lion Gate and the Sun gate) and quickly set our rug out and got our instruments ready- within seconds we had hundreds of people completely surrounding us waiting to see what we were going to do. At first they were maybe 8-10 feet away from us, but they kept getting closer and closer until we could hardly move. At one point a festival official came and started yelling at the people to move back and give us some room, but within a few minutes they crowded in again. We sang and played as loud as we could, all worship songs and all about praise, and the people kept coming and crowding in to hear. Some clapped along, some tried to sing along, some even imitated Todd and Kevin by playing air guitar- after each song they would clap and try to talk to us in Arabic and even broken English. Some of the younger ones recorded us with their cellphones and took pictures.

After about an hour and a half, some of or friends pushed their way thru to the front and told us we needed to try to finish up and get our stuff out of there. We packed up and tried to make our way out of the plaza, but the crowd stayed right with us and followed us to the edge of the plaza (several hundred feet) We were able to visit with a few people, they wanted to know our names or take pictures, but mainly just wanted us to notice them and talk with them. One of the guys from the church was filming for us and became a great bodyguard to help us fight our way thru the crowd. If it wasn't for him we might still be in the plaza.

Once we got back to our cars, the rest of the friends met up with us- they were amazed that we were able to do what we did- little did we know, the reason they were so reluctant to take us there was it had never been done before, no outsiders, especially non-muslims, had ever tried to setup and sing about Jesus. Even the main friend, who planned the whole trip, thought we would be thrown out or at least asked to leave the area.( which is why he had the bodyguard around us.) We didn't even have a permit or permission to setup, but God allowed an incredible, ground-breaking event to happen and we were very blessed to have been a part of it.

I have some incredible video footage and photos, but even they do not tell the complete story of how overwhelming that event was. I am posting a couple of photos in the next entry.

It was probably one of the most significant spiritual experiences in my life- definitely one I will never forget

Sunday Morning Service

We led worship at the local body, the same people who invited us. It was a packed building and we recognized some people from the earlier concerts. It is mainly "ex-patriots" from other countries like France, Australia, Spain, England, USA, and Canada. It is such a small world- we met a mother and daughter from Conway- they go to FL just down the street. They just got in and are hanging out with our friend for the rest of the week. We immediately put them to work as roadies- they have been carrying our equipment and filming for us.


After church, some people took us to the forest for a picnic. It is a park just outside the city. We just relaxed all day and the kids played- the people who took us didn't seem too concerned about time. It took us awhile to unwind after our busy schedule, but once we did it was a very good time.

Saturday night concert

We got back to town just in time to play our 3rd service at a small house gathering. It was a small group of people, but as is North African culture, there was lots of food and a great time of visiting. After the meal we led a quieter time of worship than our previous concerts. Here is a pic of the rotissarie chicken, like almost all local food, it is served in a common dish and everyone uses small bits of flatbread to scoop out the bite and just eat from the main bowl.

Volubilis

(Cue Indiana Jones theme music) We left  Moulay Idriss and toured the Roman ruins, some of the most beautiful and well preserved archaeological site in Morocco. The city was built around the 3rd century B.C. and was abandoned around 280 A.D. There are some incredible mosaic tiles still preserved. We could have spent about a week there exploring.

Trip to the countryside

Saturday our friends took us for a tour of the countryside and a visit to a nearby town "Moulay idris" (sp) which is a very remote and holy city. It is somewhat closed to most outsiders, and we stood out "big time"! We were able to walk thru a lot of the city and even get a view of the mosque from above the city. This is a very significant place historically and spiritually.