Just got back from a quick Chaouen trip with friends Mark and Yusuf. We left on Thursday at around 9, got to Chef Chaouen at 11, they ate omelets and I had leben (sour milk) and luiza tea (separate from the sour milk), and then we went back to the hotel to crash. I started the Peter Brooks book that Alex left behind, and although he was not as enthusiastic about it as The Empty Space, I feel like I'm re-reading the fundamental tenets of my religion. I know that sounds stupid but I'll just open myself up that option; truth is that theatre is perhaps the closest thing i've got to a religion. I mean, I love re-reading passages of the Sutta Nipata and other pithy Buddhist things but I can't go there fully. To me, it would be absurd and inappropriate to become "a buddhist." But I sure as hell can say that I grew up and was indoctrinated in theatre. It is the religion that my family and I share, too. I'm not sure why I'm using that word, except to say that reading Peter Brooks right now is reawakening old truths within me. I'm thankful for that. I feel like in the blitz of things here, adjusting to a new subject (music), struggling against deeply cynical and rude students, and feeling the pressure of the whole structure of the school as a weight on me (just because I want to love the place I work at, want to make it a better place, want to see learning happening, sometimes want it to be something it isn't and maybe can't be). It's been a very rough start to the year for me. I need to remember that perspective is just one step away. Today we woke up and had a leisurely breakfast and then did a big hike up the mountain behind town. There are lots of little trails outside of Chaouen in every direction, but the one we took was a pretty intensely steep and long climb to about 2000m where the trees were a lot bigger and the mist was covering everything. Eventually this trail leads to the village of Achour, like seven hours later. The terrain is very rugged and stunningly steep, almost to China standards. I really want to go backpacking there sometime. It was fantastic, apart from the continued knee and hip trouble I have. So lame (pun unintended). By the time we finished the 6 hour hike, I was pretty hobbled. I guess the other guys were also sore. But it wasn't a question of being out of shape (though I surely know that my body needs way more attention that I give it) but more that I've got some serious issues going on with the knees. I intend to get scanned asap, since I'm on the school's insurance finally. I'd thought of taking a bus to Fes for a quick look (still haven't been there or almost anywhere!) but I chickened out so I could come back home and try to get work done. This weekend's goal is to totally finish the script for the Christmas musical and the master plan for how the hell to pull it all off in a little more than one month. Should be fun...eek. What a job!

It feels good to post banal details of my life in a public forum again. I guess when I've done it it's been primarily for my own benefit, but I still don't mark entries private or friend only, because that's just like storing them on my computer, there's no audience and it's certain that I won't follow through with that sort of program. So reader, thanks for giving these things enough significance to put down in writing. I wish I could journal everything, but then I would have no friends or job, so let's keep a lid on it for now!