Artist in Residence reflection

So, on my last day in Tetouan as an Artist in Residence at Green Olive Arts, this seems like the perfect opportunity for reflection on what I have achieved over the past four weeks. In that time I’ve:

written 35,000 words towards my novel;
written 12 blog posts;
given four presentations – two to the American Language Centre, one to the English Language Institute and one to English language teachers from local public schools; and
taken four day trips – Chefchaouen, Ceuta and two to Tangier as well as various sightseeing trips in and around Tetouan.

Which all adds up to a very productive four weeks. But a list like that doesn’t really tell the whole story. It doesn’t capture other highlights, like:

the pleasure of watching the city change over the course of a day, from its early unfolding with baskets of vegetables and fruits spilling out onto the footpaths to the late night huddles of men rolling away plastic and stowing bundles of scarves, phones and shoes, and the men in between who sweep away the remnants of those who pass;
seeing the city from so many vantage points: from our apartment watching the seagulls circling in the shadows of the mountain, looking down from the fort above the old city, or from within the bustle of the Medina;
laughing with storekeepers who helpfully cycle through languages in the hope that we will ultimately find one in which to connect, and more often than not simply falling back on the powers of pointing and mime; and
buying olives and strawberries by the kilo, and round plump tomatoes and bunches of cilantro and parsley, and rice and corn and lentils dug from overflowing sacks.

And a list of word counts and posts doesn’t begin to capture the more intangible creative highlights like:

being inspired by stories told by people who have lived what I am attempting to make up;
having space and time to focus my energies on the creativity that feeds my soul;
being able to give my writing the attention that not only puts words on the page, but also shines light on the areas that need extra work; and
having the energy and inspiration to come up with new ideas and fixes.

Most importantly such a list doesn’t tell of friendship and kindness and welcome, all of which I have been blessed with in abundance.

There is an African proverb that says ‘A friend is like a water spring during a long journey’. And so it is with gratitude, and sadness, that I leave my friends at Green Olive Arts and set out refreshed, inspired and ready for the next journey, with many wonderful tales to tell, and stories left to write.

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Guest writer Fiona Leonard – As a teenager, Fiona took two career aptitude tests. The first said she was unemployable, the second returned only one result – coroner. She decided to ignore both (and give up taking aptitude tests) and instead became in turn, an Australian diplomat, foreign and trade policy consultant, freelance writer, theatre producer, blogger, home schooler and author (and sometimes several of these at once).

She has a gypsy soul that has carried her across twenty-five countries on four continents, including one year long adventure driving across the USA and Canada with her husband, daughter and the dog.

Her love of Africa was forged during a three year posting to Zimbabwe. She currently lives in Ghana, West Africa.