A very happy Amazigh new year to all.
The year is 2965 and we hope it is a good one.
We have added to our menagerie with a 2 year old camel we have named Nico and provided him with a slightly older and trained camel, Bob, who is to be his mentor and companion. I downloaded a book on how to train a camel – not really sure why as the guys here are the experts but they do get tired of all my questions! He already knows his name and whilst doesn’t always come when called he does look up enquiringly…there is a sound I am trying to learn which is not an easy one and is used to calm the camel so quite an important one to learn, it is a kind of rolling click made with the tongue on the hard palette behind the teeth. I tried a few different sounds and was told – no, that is the sound to make him stand up, that’s the sound for getting a donkey to get moving, that one is to get him to sit down – so many sounds, so many commands for so many animals. I also am learning the words to say – och gets them to sit, yela, go, zid zid keep moving then clicks and clacks when words fail. They love to kiss too!
The new year also brings new people, starting today. We have had a quiet week between our Christmas guests leaving and the artists for the first residency arriving…a week free to complete the repairs to the house after the flooding and a time to remove the huge dunes that build up outside our walls over the year.
The river that arrived nearly 6 weeks ago is still there – smaller admittedly but still running. We went to visit the dunes the other day and it was an extraordinary sight to see the enormous lake that had formed and the spectacular reflections of the dune in the water.
I look forward to a healthy, happy and prosperous year – for everyone in every way.