Morocco

To view all of my Moroccan photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/111161978190687820435/Morocco#

I have now been to over half of the continents.  Africa was my fourth--three more to go!

Salam wa aleikum, or “hello” in Arabic!  It actually means something like “peace be with you.” I arrived back in Sevilla yesterday night, after a weekend in Morocco.  Although I slept for about 14 hours last night, I am still a bit tired (how is this possible?)! 

Morocco was a really interesting and great experience.  I was originally planning on traveling there with my family, but my program offered a free (or, included in our fees) trip, so I ended up just going with my program.  Although I didn’t get to see the cities that I wanted to, it was still wonderful.  We were busy busy busy and I will try to do a short recap.

Crossing the Straight of Gibraltar

We left Sevilla around 7 Thursday morning, drove to Algeciras (city in Spain), and took the ferry from there.  The views from the ferry were quite beautiful…Spain in one direction and Africa in the other.  An hour later we arrived in Ceuta, which is a Spanish city in Morocco.  We drove through customs and entered into Morocco!  We dropped our stuff off at our hotel in Tetuan and went to the Medina (city center) of Tetuan.  Our guide Adbul, who preferred to be called “Michael Douglas,” led us to an art school in the city.  There was some gorgeous woodwork and scarves being made there.  After, we walked around the city a bit.  It would honestly be impossible to navigate the city alone; the streets are winding and lack streets signs.  We meandered through some markets.  They were awesome, but I was a little bothered by the bloody chicken and insect ridden pastries.  I am just germ phobic though!

Lunch was a typical Moroccan feast.  Cous cous and kebabs and tea with cookies.  We drank gallons and gallons of Moroccan tea all weekend.  It is very sweet (lots of added sugar) and served with herba buena and cookies.  I really want to incorporate la merienda (Spain’s “tea time”) into my daily American schedule, with Moroccan cookies and tea—so good!  And Roland (my dentist) would probably be guaranteed an early retirement if I did this.  Seriously, so much sugar in this tea!

Tour guide Michael Dougals and me

We walked around the city after lunch and heard a speech (while drinking tea) from a Muslim man.  It was interesting.  Most of the people in Morocco didn’t seem to be radical Muslims (young girls walk around in very western dress and attend college etc.), but this man was rather extreme.  He was in support of laws requiring women to wear burkas and he was extremely upset with schools that don’t have breaks for the five daily prayers.  After the speech we had dinner in the hotel and went to bed.

Tea and cookies--I drank roughly 88 glasses this weekend.

The next day we went to Tangier.  We started with a tour of a Coca Cola factory.  It was crazy!!  The machines are unbelievable fast and noisy.  This was my first visit ever to a factory, so it was especially impressive I think.  Also, we went to the caves of Hercules (he apparently slept here before completing one of his labors) and walked along the coast.  We also went on camel rides.  The coast was beautiful.  We drove past the King’s palace in Tangier.  This was obviously in a gorgeous neighborhood and the area was really beautiful.  We stopped and had lunch in a restaurant over looking the water.  We ate pastilla marroqui, which was soooo delicious.  It basically is chicken with spices and sometimes dates, covered in a dough shell with almonds.  It was one of my favorite meals on the trip thus far.

 

Riding camels

After lunch we went to a business school in Tangier and received a presentation from Moroccan students.  It was really fun.  They sang “Superstition,” Cascada’s “Everytime we Touch,” and some Arabic songs for us.  After, we drank tea (of course!) and talked with them.  Morocco is ruled by a king, and while they really disliked the last king, they LOVE the current king.  It was rather difficult to ask them questions, though.  We conversed in English, which they spoke perfectly, but I didn’t want to bring up anything taboo or ask an innocent question that could be perceived as insulting.  Someone asked if assembling in the streets was legal and they were very confused; they kept saying that they love their King and no one would ever want to do this.  After, we shopped around the city center and then went back to the hotel.

Our last day we spent in the city of Chaouen.  It was beautiful!  Situated in the mountains, it is a small town and known for its shades of blue.  We were guided throughout the city and had a lot of time to shop (and barter) for items.  We ate lunch in a Hotel Parador (we successfully got there via bus haha!) and then left.  It was a long journey back to Sevilla. 

In Chauoen

I really enjoyed Morocco, and am really loving my time in Sevilla, but I am growing more and more appreciative of how great a country America really is.  Obviously it has its own flaws, but it is such a wonderful place. 

This week I have a lot of projects due, then a trip to Brussels and Amsterdam, then midterms.  Got to get my studying on (but maybe a siesta first...)!

Hopefully this was somewhat coherent--sorry, I am still exhausted!

XOXO-Jane