Thursday, August 9, 2007

The 9 Lives of Cat in Rabat: Life the 9th

As The Walrus once prophesied, the time has finally come to talk of many things - perhaps not about shoes and ships and sealing wax but of matters close to my heart.

Frankly, I haven't relished the thought of being the one to stick the needle into the Cat's paw and so, not surprisingly, I've let this go to the last possible moment. The truth is that I've grown attached to this humble space in the blogosphere; I've enjoyed contributing to it. Of course, some posts were better than others while many were pure crap. But I've made a few friends along the way - few of whom I managed to put a face to - and a motley crew of antagonists who kept me honest and pissed me off from time to time. Greedy attention-seeking whore than I am, I always looked forwards to reading the comments - supportive, informative, challenging, and sometimes downright shitty - left by my readers with a salubrious mixture of delight and dread. That anyone should spare a few moments from his or her day to stop and read my addled ramblings and leave behind their thoughts never failed to tickle me enormously.

Nonetheless, as Mr. CinR and I are leaving for Madrid in a few hours, today must mark the end to the misadventures of Cat in Rabat. And although I've been repeatedly asked whether I'll continue blogging from Spain, I quite sincerely cannot decide. Few people appreciate how much work is involved in maintaining a blog. Readers can be fickle and short of patience; if you don't post for a few days, they're irrevocably gone. It's the nature of the blogging beast but consequently, the pressure to churn out interesting and creative bits of prose - especially when nothing much is happening in your world - can be taxing. Fortunately, being snarky has never been a challenge.

Having said that, the Cat may come back but not the very next day ... and if I do, I'll post the link on this blog.

For the record, I'd just like to say that I don't hate Morocco. Unfortunately and perhaps understandably, many of my readers have walked away from this blog with that impression. The fault is, of course, mine because I made a deliberate decision way-back-when not to create yet another insipid travel blog that detailed how wonderfully exotic life is in Morocco. There are enough of those out there. I wanted to offer readers - most of whom I erroneously assumed would be members of my family - a more balanced view of life in a North African Muslim country. It isn't always pretty and anyone who says otherwise is either deluded, constrained by the shackles of political correctness, or insulated from the exigencies of living in Morocco by wealth.

There, I've gone off on a ramble again. Problem is that this putting down of a not-very alter alter ego is much harder than I thought it would be. But really, what I have to say is quite simple and is offered sincerely:

Goodbye and thank you. Repeat many many times.

p.s. Be kind to stray animals.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you know you're going to be living my dream by taking up residence in Spain, so I expect at least semi-regular updates.

Otherwise, it's been real.

Anonymous said...

I was determined to be the first to comment on your last post.

I shall miss you more than anyone.

I'm trying to remember how much I paid for a coffee, when I was last in Madrid.

Track Salama.

houda n

x

Anonymous said...

Houda ... we'll meet up for a coffee in 89 days. Many many kisses.

Anonymous said...

Well done, Cog. You got me by one minute.

houda n

Anonymous said...

I wish you well Cat in Rabat. You have made me laugh many times and that is a delight.

As a farewell I leave you with a Pierce Pettis song

God Believes In You

Pierce Pettis
From the album Everything Matters, © 1998


When you start to doubt that you exist, God believes in you
Confounded by the evidence, God believes in you
When your light burns so dim, when your chances seem so slim
And you swear you don't believe in him, God believes in you

When you rise up just to fall again, God believes in you
Deserted by your closest friends, God believes in you
When you're betrayed with a kiss, you turn your cheek to another fist
It dose not have to end like this, God believes in you

Oh everything matters if anything matters at all
Everything matters no matter how big, no matter how small
Oh God believes in you, God believes in you

When you're so ashamed that you could die, God believes in you
And you can't do right even though you try, God believes in you
Blessed are the ones who grieve, the ones who mourn, the ones who bleed
In sorrow you sow but in joy you reap, God believes in you

Anonymous said...

I'm counting on the lure of 'us', the readers who love calling by although we don't come everyday.

I really enjoy the persona I find here so, if it's at all possible, it would be pure delight to find you here again once you're there in Madrid.

Hey, and Salamanca is not too far and it's delicious as long as you stay in the older part of the city.

Erin blogs there http://wandering-woman.blogspot.com/

Travel safe.

Anonymous said...

Your blog was always thought provoking and well written and many times uproariously funny. But most of all, refreshingly honest- would love to see cats take madrid.

Miss you already!

Estee

Anonymous said...

Yes, neighbor! Praise the Lord for Cat. He is a wonderful saviour.

Your sister in God,

houda n

Anonymous said...

Well, I hope you carry on blogging - I've enjoyed learning about Morocco from you enormously!

Good luck in Spain !!!

Anonymous said...

Cat!

You KNOW you must continue as Cat in Madrid.

You must, you must, you must.

Someone in this family has to show the world how creative they are - and it won't ever be me!

;-)

Hope to see you in this or a similar space real soon...

Anonymous said...

You deserve a vacation; but I do hope you will continue your informative, funny, and well written messages via a blog from Spain.
All the best to you.

Anonymous said...

I'll miss both your blog and you - if you don't have one in Spain, I hope you at least have a site where we can keep up to date on your freelance articles!

Anonymous said...

a fine blog...you told it like it is..... boy that's the truth.Thanks and surface again, wherever.

Anonymous said...

I only found this blog a few months ago, but I'm going to miss it a lot. I hope you do continue to update from Spain, but even if you don't, good luck in your new location!

And don't let detractors get you down---some people just have a very low tolerance for snark.

Anonymous said...

OMIGOD! Catless in Rabat? We will all miss your amazing blog.

All the best in Spain

Samir, Zany, Lumen and the gang at the View from Fez

Anonymous said...

Nooooooooo! We'll miss you! Good luck, be careful, and thanks for all the great posts!

Anonymous said...

I will sincerely miss your blog, but will instead bombard you with useless e-mails. That will be fun :)

Bon voyage Cat and Mr.Cat!

Anonymous said...

Best of luck to you in Spain. I will miss the snarky commentary.

Anonymous said...

awww I will really miss your writing, Cat, dammit I love snark! :P But what I like most about you is your straightforward honesty and great sense of humor. Girl, if you lived in Holland you'd fit right in. (:
Please don't stop writing....or at the very least keep this blog up, so that us Cat lovers will have a shrine to go to whenever we miss you. Best of luck to you and your hubby.

Vaya con dios,
Najia

Anonymous said...

Enjoy Spain!
I will miss Rabatian Cat very, very much.

Anonymous said...

Dear Cat,
I loved your blog! During my year in Rabat, you really articulated many things which I was feeling. I still read you, as my link to my Moroccan past. I'll miss your writing!

Anonymous said...

Drat.

I just found you.

Anonymous said...

Mog in Madrid !

[snigger]

Anonymous said...

Just checking in 18 August, so are you in Madrid yet ... ready to blog?

Hey Toots Thielemans tonight was fantastic and I thought of you. He's the cutest 85 year old I've seen in a while ... which isn't why I thought of you, it was more about the fact that I took a moment to think 'Cat would enjoy this' and then drank your share of champagne afterwards.

The things I do for you, Canadian stranger :)

Anonymous said...

Cat, Toots Thielemans concert from last night is here: http://www.jazzmiddelheim.be/jazzmiddelheim_master/programma/toots.shtml

You might have to click the video option, the address varies with regard to where it takes you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great blogging, Cat. We'll miss you!

Anonymous said...

Your insightful writing will be missed. Your blog was a refreshing thing, among a sea of blogs about the magic, exotic land of Morocco, exactly like you wrote. And what about bidonvilles, poverty, pecularities and such? Keep up the good work in Spain!

Morocco Guide

Anonymous said...

Thanks cat in rabat for great blogging. We are here to support you. be prepared for...