Gibralter, early April, 1986:  Geez, I'm really enjoying this!  The bicycle trip between Malaga and Gibralter was very scenic and there were no problems.  My knees are doing much better.  I'm having a beer and chips right now at a fish and chips shop in Gibralter.  My hotel is about a mile from here on the Spanish side of the border where things cost much less ($4.00 a night).

I stayed in Marbella, Spain a couple nights waiting for the rain to stop.  There, I met a lot of nice people at the youth hostel, and played guitar and sang with a guy named Alan (from NYC) in a bar for drinks and tips.

I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself in Torremolinos, ma.  I hope you didn't mind my correcting your Spanish.  I was going to call you that Saturday night to find out how your Mijas trip went, but wasn't near a phone at the right times.

Marrakesh, Morocco, 15 April 1986:  Bon jour!  All is well.  I'm travelling with a math professor (Sid) and a soon-to-be theater professor (Alan), both of whom speak French, the language necessary to function here in Morocco.  Tonight, we're at a relatively fancy hotel in Marrakesh with a pool and breakfast included for $6.00 each.  In a couple days, we hope to go over the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara before starting our way back to Spain.  Marrakesh is a very beautiful city, prettier than many American cities I've seen, even though it's 1000 years old.

Zagora, Morocco, 21 April 1986:  Msa 'l keyr (Good afternoon)!  From here at Zagora it's 52 days by camel to Tombuctou.  I'm not so inclined, but I did ride one of these fellers today like a typical tourist.

The math professor and soon-to-be theater professor with whom I travel are strongly suggesting I give up my U.S. citizenship figuratively and become a Canadian for awhile, in light of the recent conflicts between Libya and the U.S.  Until now, I've been flying in the face of such suggestions.

I missed Rick's Cafe, made famous in the movie Casablanca, but the Marrakesh Express, famous from the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, was fun and comfortable.  Now, we're spending midnight at the oasis.  We're living quite well on $8 to $12 a day -- food, hotel and transportation.

I'm a little frustrated now because there's singing and guitar under the open-air canvas, but my yearly allergy has rendered my voice useless.

One of the other guys got conned out of $10; otherwise, we've been handling the hustlers and the unrequested guides fairly well.  These are probably the most street-wise people in the world, each able to swindle in several languages.

I hope all is well with you.  All is very well here.

Beselemeh (Goodbye)!
Ali Baba

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