Getting Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I just can't seem to realize that I am leaving Morocco two weeks from today! I am very much looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family back home, but I'm afraid that I will miss all my friends here tremendously. I guess I am in denial about it all...I know I am leaving yet I have barely begun to prepare.
This past weekend I visited Samira and her husband in Taza (about 2 hours East of Fes by train) with my friend Katie. They of course went above and beyond the usual Moroccan hospitality for us. On Saturday, I returned to the Frioatto caves that I visited in JULY. This time was even better because upon reaching the wall of rocks that had us stuck the last time, we figured out how to get around them. It took some climbing and some sliding...but eventually we made it into another massive cavern full of absolutely gorgeous formations. Sparkling crystals growing like moss on the cave walls, stalactites and stalagmites on all sides, amazing draperies...completely sublime.
On the way out of the cavern, Katie and I had some difficulty since the rock we had slid down was not exactly climbable...oh how I wish I could have just "slid" back up. Instead, I kind of hoisted my chest into a wedge in the rocks as Katie gave my backside a good shove. What resulted was me, stuck like two pigs in a blanket between the rocks, with my head pointed down-hill into a dark hole, and my legs flailing oh-so ridiculously behind me as I attempted to swing them around in front of me. I was a little scared being pointed head-first into for all I knew was a bottomless pit, but was laughing hysterically (*that's for you Becky*) all the same. Finally, with Katie and my laughter ricocheting off the surrounding walls, I turned myself around and braced myself to hoist Katie up by her arms, a move just as, or maybe slightly less undignified as my flailing, ass-up catastrophe. Ah, good times.
Well, before I become more melancholy about my departure, I'll leave you with those lovely images to sink in. Perhaps tomorrow I'll get around to posting some more pleasant ones. :)
xoxo