Essaouira

I almost never plan where I am going to go next. I was in Marrakech, only to buy art supplies, after which I reached the bus stop. I sat for an hour and then two without speaking, just watching the organized chaos. A bus driver walked by, suddenly looked at me and smiled. I smiled back, got up, lifted my bag and followed him to his bus. He had no sign displayed on the front and there were no passengers in his bus. I got on. He asked me where ? And I asked him the same. He said something unintelligible. I said fine and paid.

About 4 hrs later I was in Essaouira. The next morning, I picked up my guitar and went looking for breakfast. The center was heavily crowded. I wondered why the sudden change from the previous day. Some street musicians called out to me and asked me to join them. I hesitated, because I was hungry, but still sat. We connected instantly and time flew. About 8 hours later, I found myself still there having eaten nothing. I had wanted to leave a few times but we were having so much fun, it was tough to break the rhythm. But suddenly the group decided to move and I followed eagerly thinking of sustenance. We wound our way through an ocean of people filled in narrow streets through the town and reached a flight of stairs peculiarly right in the middle of the street. At the top, Ismael the guy in front of me, stopped and I banged my nose into his back. I took a moment to orient myself. He took another step and stopped again and I banged my nose a second time. Lazily, squinting, I looked to the right. It took a few seconds to understand what I was seeing. The seconds were like hours, until it slowly dawned on me.

We were on stage, looking at 50,000 all the way to the sea. I turned to make a quick exit. Ismael grabbed my collar and said “ we were practicing all day ! We will now play the same thing, c'mon” The next 2 hours was our slot in the great Essaouira music Festival of 2010. The people of the Sahara come into Essaouira for 72 hours to play their music, Gnaoua, for free.

The smiling bus driver knew what he was doing.