keeps things interesting

so. i think i've discovered why i love the marrakesh medina so much. it is a city that will always and forever keep you on your toes. not just in the typical bustling streets sneaky theives sort of a way (though it has both of those as well). but no, the medina keeps you alert in that it is an ever-changing maze. once you think you know even like a small fraction of it, something will change or you will discover some new layer that you never knew existed. like closed doors in the neighborhood will open one day and suddenly there is a new cobbler or blacksmith. was he always hiding there behind the closed doors? or what was in that room like, a week ago? shops open and close depending on the time of day, day of the week, shop owner's mood. who knows.

for this reason routines and patterns are very difficult to form- for example i had gotten in the habit of eating bissarah (yummy fava bean soup) in the morning from our neighborhood bisarrah man, mahamood. then one morning mahamood's doors were closed. rachel saw him later and he explained that now he only made bisarrah when the mood struck him. so now sometimes he's there. sometimes he can't be bothered with cooking in the morning. fair enough. so yeah, routines are out. but with routines come ruts, am i right?

sometimes small tasks can turn into adventures. like just the other day i was on my way out to buy vegetables for lunch. i was headed to the souq (market) where i always went- a nice souq not far away that always has pretty good stuff. but, on my way out stopped to talk with the woodworker across the street, hakin (my number 1 favorite neighbor). he's always full of advice, and this day steered me in the direction of a different market that he said was much better. soooo, i followed his directions- down some twisty streets and through a couple of small alleys and within like 10 minutes emerged in this totally nutty market scene. probably like 3 times as big as the one i usually go to, and with all the bustling madness you could ever want from a vegetable market. there was a sense of urgency, like if you didn't buy your vegetables they were all going to run out or something, people pushing, lots of haggling and arguing, men yelling out prices auction style, special items such as cow hooves and sheep brains... all in all i loved it. got a little caught up with the scene and bought enough vegetables to feed like a family of 10. ah well.

k, think i'm going to go cook some of those vegetable now. i have like 2 lbs of green beans i don't know what to do with. any advice?