Losing All Hopes was Freedom

Written by: Mourad – CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteers
Date: February 28, 20015

Hi everybody!

Welcome to a new chapter from my adventure this is all about me and some of my ludicrous thoughts… Yeah this blog will give you an idea of what I’m talking about…

I spent this week mostly inside my house, there is not a lot to do neither its great outside. It is snowing and extremely cold. This weather makes one feels like their body needs some additional degrees of warmth. Everybody is inside their small cave-like houses getting warm, and fighting the cold with all means possible as if it was a mortal enemy. When I look at the shape of the houses here, and the way they have been built; I realize that there is a pure intelligence and power behind it.

“Some houses are very old and belong to the families’ great grandparents who first settled here hundred years ago” Ibrahim; a mason in the village said.

I wonder how could those people built homes for themselves between huge rocks, and massive range of mountains. I remember one lesson about archeology at university which was about the development of human kind. I recalled a quote by my professor that said

“Human beings developed themselves differently in different places, circumstance over long periods of time. The human race is sapient.”

One manifestation of this intelligence was that those people didn’t bring an architect or an expert who can show them how to design these buildings. They never studied architecture or understood its practical theories, yet they understood that in order to stay alive they must hide somewhere. Thus, they build strong, warm houses, but what kind of houses? The houses they built have a very solid base; persistently standing strong in the face of the cruelty of cold weather. Another thing is that most of the houses are built with mud (soil mixed with water) and wooden roofs. Sometimes they only use mud other times with a mixture of sand and cement. The surprising insight is that it had never happened that a house fallen or has its ceilings cracked like those paper houses in the Old Medina. Another interesting fact is that mud makes their houses warmer in winter time and cooler in summertime!

Inside my place I had my ups and downs, sometimes I miss family other times I miss friends. I somehow missed some parts of my old life, but I feel grateful since this new page of my life is teaching me a lot more things I didn’t know about myself. I discovered that I am patient with the hard conditions of life. Friends and family said that they could not resist the harsh circumstances of living in cold and snowy weather!

Life in the mountains; according to their worldview, is challenging and unbearable. They think that I am really suffering here, but I think they got it completely wrong. Simple things can make a huge difference, and made one enjoy the experience of living in the mountains.

Actually I am living the best days of my life between the glorious hills and mountains of the High Atlas. I never felt as strong, as peaceful and tranquil in my life as I feel in the mountains! The air that I breathe is so fresh and clean. I fill my lungs with it in the open air every morning, and made me feel like I have ten spirits. The water that I drink is from a pure water spring. The food that I eat was harvested from their own land. There is no rush or stress. There is no noise or pressure. There is no distraction that can take my attention away from where I am headed. I feel that I can do anything I want. It only takes me to have one look in the open air, to see the magnificent mountains, and wild forest to feel limitless. I am in the moment, enlightened and very focused on what I am doing, surrounded by nice people, animals, and beautiful nature.

When the night comes down, the village becomes quieter and tranquil. I usually ignite one of my candle lights, read a book, write something, or sometimes just relax and listen to calm music. The candlelight makes my room very beautiful. Indeed it became my best friend here. Beside the fact that it makes my room warm and cozy, it filled me with hope and positive energy for a brighter future. The candlelight is represents hope for me. I’m having such romantic moments with a lover, which is a charming candlelight, I hold it in my hands, and put it on the top of the Tagine, on the table, or by the windows and start gazing at it. Oh what a great feeling! Oh what a wonderful contemplation! What a sweet disposition!

I’m looking at the flame glittering and fading slowly, swaying back and forth, in and out, up and down; dancing with the rhythm of my favorite pieces of music. I can’t close my eyes even though I feel sleepy! Then I display a mental movie of my life that goes in slow motions through my vast imagination. I capture some happy memories from my childhood, some fun and crazy moments when I was a teenager. I feel the feeling that I felt then and travel through the virtual space and time machine so I could let it all go. Some of you may think I am out of my mind. But yes such magnificent beauty drives me crazy. At night I go up in the roofs and gaze over the limitless sky. I see bright starts shining and sparkling to me. Then I come back to my cozy room and put on my candlelight and realize at the end of the day that losing all hopes was freedom.