from Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun

"Once I leave, I'll have a profession!"
"Leave for where?"
"Anywhere, across the water, for example."
"Spain?"
"Yes. Spain, France - I already live there in my dreams."

I'm currently reading Leaving Tangier. It's about the desires of Moroccans to migrate to Spain. It's about them gazing across the ocean hoping for some light that will carry them away --to a world that is not gazing back. And when there is no more light, not from the sun or moon, or the cargo ships that sail away, all that is left are dreams.