Tag Archives: Morocco

On Arabic Sweets and the Middle East: Kunafa – NICHOLAS ANDRIANI

All of these things are true… I had been in Jordan for several weeks and my love affair with Arabian sweets had reached a lofty peak. In fact, I would begin and end each day with a platter of pastries, smothered in honeys and syrups that would flood through heaps of pistachios on my plate. Then it happened… I…Continue reading “On Arabic Sweets and the Middle East: Kunafa – NICHOLAS ANDRIANI”

Interview with Maria Rochelle

Get to know Nicholas over this discussion on travel, literature, writing, life, love and losing oneself in the beautiful madness of modern life.

The Wandering Scholar(ship): College Fund

Travel, adventure, science, paleontology, archaeology, eat, sleep, repeat. Help me reach my goal and return to college and complete my education! To bring passion to the generation of tomorrow and inspire youth today.

How To Tagine: Taste & Smell Morocco – feat. The Ethnic Spoon.

It was 2012. While the rest of humanity prepared for the Mayan Apocalypse, I was in the process of selling off ALL my belongings, the profits of which went towards a one-way ticket to Africa and a few months of vagabonding to, you know, “figure out my life.” While researching my first stop –a littleContinue reading “How To Tagine: Taste & Smell Morocco – feat. The Ethnic Spoon.”

Prologue to a Memoir: A Rough Draft, a Novel, a Working Confesson.

A strange thing happens when you begin to contemplate the end. It’s as if setting such a definitive goal opens the world to endless possibilities: a phone is buzzing,

Opening lines: A Story About Identity, Revolution, and What it Means to Be a Modern Human. A Work in Progress #LiteraryFiction

Excerpt from The Outsider: A Memoir?
“The sky out my window is that fiery red which makes the heart swell with life and there it is again: that sensational expanding within my chest, rising to my throat, gripping and stinging my eyes.”

One: I Could Kill Myself | Two: I Could Go To Africa –scene from The Outsider, A Novel.

*unedited from rough draft (The Outsider: A Novel) I woke up one morning in a state of complete despair and found myself debating the absurdity of carrying on like this when I had options. They were clear as day and night and manifest out of who-knows-where: One, I could kill myself. Two, I could goContinue reading “One: I Could Kill Myself | Two: I Could Go To Africa –scene from The Outsider, A Novel.”

“Like Walking Through a Dream” (on North Africa)

“It’s like walking through a dream: where everything glows a soft infusion of yellow-gold and the lightness of being is simply enough.” -excerpt from an old interview on the emotions, sensations of traveling North Africa (Image. Morocco)

Morocco on My Mind

Uncovering the modern identity of an African Kingdom. A beautiful and rugged society, multicultural, secular in some ways, rigid in others.

NaNoWriMo : Into the Wild

Earlier this year, I set a goal to finish a solid draft of my memoir and to achieve this mission i’m going into the wild, er, offline… A MONTHLONG period away from social media, the internet, ethernet and all those nets, in an archaic approach to finish this labor of love that i’m damn excitedContinue reading “NaNoWriMo : Into the Wild”

Cafe Tajine in the Mountains of Morocco

Ourika, Morocco   Though only 6 hours (460 km) separate Marrakech from the oasis town of M’Hamid I could have dedicated six days between the two place names. The villages that scatter Ourika Valley hold their own against the more popular Imperial Cities (Marrakech, Fes, Meknes and Rabat) and it’s out here in the wilderness of theContinue reading “Cafe Tajine in the Mountains of Morocco”

Sketching Sights: Essaouira, Morocco

Whitewashed seaside facade under a beating Moroccan sun.

Sketching Sights: Fes, Morocco

I’m led through the imperial city of Fes by a pair of shrouded figures. We dance through the shadows of mud brick passageways and into the medina in time for the Asr call to prayer.

The Strait of Gibraltar: Part I

Despite the spell Marrakech cast on me (I fled the city only to return on several occasions) I managed to break away one night on a whim, buying a ticket for the overnight train to Tangiers, only leaving myself 2 hours to prepare. I bid farewell to new friends and set out on foot hoping toContinue reading “The Strait of Gibraltar: Part I”

To Marrakech With love

It’s about time I bring you up to speed. Excuse the short entry but I felt an update was in order. Within 48 hours, this happened… Austin, Texas to Casablanca, Morocco Waving goodbye to my loved ones I embarked on a 21 hour multi-flight jaunt over the Atlantic Ocean; Austin, Texas to Chicago, Illinois, thenContinue reading “To Marrakech With love”