Part 3
DAY 2
-
morning, questions, and bus again
Everything started to be fluid for me at the house. Small breakfast with the guys, short briefing with @symorin, lots of questions to ask all of them. About Edgeryders, about their projects, experiences, and about mine too. Confronting and discussing our different ways to put something in perspective.
We all needed to go to Essaouira that day. Lots of things to do there. Mainly, it was about getting and welcoming @johncoate from his arrival by bus. All the way from California. I was looking to meet the man and have some time to chat with him. And it turned out that he was also looking for the same with me (wich still seems a little incredible but… okay! ahah). We also needed to go to the supermarket, and to the tool shop / mechanic shop to find some pieces for the bikes.
So we all, except @matthias, went to get the bus. 30Min walk again from the house to Essaouira. I was basically going from a discussion to another. @SyMorin and Ahmad were chatting about the situation of engineer employement in Tunisia, and I never figured what @alberto and @hazem were talking about, as the panorama still amazed me and didn’t help my focus that much… Obviously, I also was recording the sounds around us, taking pictures, and videos…
* **_Khadija’s sardinas, obviously, and the fruits and vegetables flying shops_** As soon as we arrived at Essaouira, @alberto and @hazem plans our afternoon there. We didn’t have that much time actually, so we had to figure out the best way to do everything. But it started like the day before: grabbing some food. We definitely went to Khadija’s little cantine, and asked for those sardinas. We had to. Just after finishing his tajin, @hazem headed to the bus station earlier than us in order to catch @johncoate as soon as possible. We eventually met them back at the entrance at the medina. Along the way, I checked many small street “flying” shops selling fruits and vegetables, just like the day before in the medina. It’s crazy how many they are. Though the quantities of fruits and vegetables sold, and produced then, have to be impressive as well. But the distribution network was the one question that I kept in my head for long. Definitely not the same patterns as we have in France. And then, as I presupposed before traveling there, definitely not the same semantic and words regarding its organization and labeling.
-
Supermarket time baby
Anyway, @johncoate was now with us. We walked quite some time across the city to get to the supermarket. We went through different neighbohoods, with different architecture styles. Middle class houses and residencies, commerces and services, shops, and this big big recycling area that looked like paradise to me. @hazem then told me that @matthias and himself found every tool they have now at the house in this recycling zone: I BET YOU DID! (I was very jealous, and still am…)
A few adventures titled “@hazem and the bike pieces” later, that actually left @johncoate and I enough time to briefly chat about our radio experiences, we finally attempted the supermarket. And its cheeses… horrible vision for the cheesemonger that I am. Everything from the butter to the “local” things was industrially made. So, that was it. Basically, it closed my folder. If there was any local cheese made in Essaouira’s region, the only place to find it would be directly at the producer’s place or a weekly farmers market somewhere. And of course, I had no time to dig further in that direction. Frustration frustration. But hey… I had answers and leads. In two days, with such a switch in the initial plans, it had to be satisfying.
-
back at the house, last evening with the team
As we were one more, and probably not fitting the little bus, we chose to get back to house by taxis. I went with @SyMorin and @johncoate. As soon as we were back at the house, my plan was basically to transfer all the recordings and footages I had in my equipment to my hard drive, and then, set the fire and take some time with the team for the last evening with them. I missed making a proper fire, and John joined me for some help. That’s how our discussion started. We obviously ended talking about the local-scale and related concepts. He catched quickly my vision of it as both a tool and a solution to confront the emergencies of the present, and build a more inclusive future. And he also enhanced it with his own experiences he humbly shared with me. I couldn’t hope for a best way to start the evening, and I look forward for our next meeting John!
The fire was burning, and @alberto was in the kitchen cooking some classic italian student plate. The atmosphere was cool and warm. @symorin was on the desert: strawberries and chocolate. The main event of the night was Space X. @matthias was connected to the streaming and we all watched it before dinner. That was my last meal with them all, and your pastas were awesome @alberto. As a daily routine, I made some infusion with plants. We had fun around that thing, because the first one we did was with tap water (ping @symorin ahah), and tap water is very salty there…
After discussions and discussions again, I went to bed exhausted but feeling great. My first experience with Edgeryders had been as cool as possible. I could have used a few more days, but hey… -
trying to get back to France
Well, everything is said: TRYING.
As both @symorin and I were heading to Marrakesh in Samir’s taxi (our driver from the beginning), I learned by text message that my flight with Transavia was cancelled due to the snow in Paris. It drove me nuts, since I already landed in Paris under a snowstorm… I had another flight to catch the day after that, and plenty of stuff to do with that short time in between. So I bought a Royal Air Maroc ticket for the afternoon. But guess what: as I waited as chill as possible at the airport, writing down the summary of this article, and a couple reflections about a project, the speaker said my RAM flight was also canceled… Hours after that, RAM finally said that we (all the passengers from that flight) will be taken care of, in a 5* hotel for the night, and then we’ll take a place in the morning, for Paris via Casablanca. This plane got it to Paris. I arrived at my crib 2 hours before my other plane. And as they say in sports: the rest is history ahah!
SPECIAL THANKS:
- @unknown_author, for introducing me to this ER platform and community
- @symorin, for being a great partner in crime during those two days, and for what’s yet to come
- @anique.yael, for our patience and answers during the whole set up
- @nadia, for that chat in that café in Paris. A discussion that resonated a lot during my days at the Open village.
- the whole team in the house: @matthias, @hazem, Ahmad, @alberto, @johncoate, and the cat behind the door. You all rock!
NOW WHAT?
- @symorin and I are still investigating fresh food cycles in Morocco. We’re now digging contacts and trying to put a workflow in place in order to write and do things. We are also interrogating the semantic used, the terms and words that reference everything there. And of course, the laws. Future will tell what will eventually come out of this.
- I’m developping my mapping project more and more, and look forward to pitch it to you all here. I don’t know when, but I will.
- I’m opening the access to everything I recorded and collected from my days there, to anybody that would like to use it on/for this platform. And I’m also trying to find some time to edit some of them in shortcuts.
Hope you enjoyed that little feedback, and that it will give you the feeling that you should be a part of that Open Village.
Cheers from France.