Morocco!

Well hello all!

Today we’re going to talk about the great country of Morocco. Although this trip happened a little while ago, I still think that its enormity in importance to me still warrants this post. Therefore, sit tight, relax, and enjoy.

At around 3:00 AM on March 26, just three days after the anniversary of my birth (thanks, Mom), my alarm went off telling me that I had to be at the bus in approximately 30 minutes… the very bus in which I would spend around 40 hours over the course of the next six days.
Our first stop was Algeciras, a small port city in the south of Spain. From there, we took the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Spanish city of Ceuta that is in Africa. (side note: Spain has two cities in Africa… Ceuta and Melilla) In fact, this was the same exact trip I had made a little under four years earlier with our Spanish class my junior year of high school.
Next, we made our way (slowly) across the border into Morocco and onto the highway for the five hour trip to Fez, the third largest city in Morocco. Also, let’s take a small break to give some interesting factoids about Fez.
1. The city through which Aladdin ran thieving was modeled after the Medina (old part of the city/ marketplace) of the city.
2. The Medina has 12,000 alleys in all and is a labyrinth of epic proportions.
3. The Medina is thought to be the largest car-free urban area in the world.
4. The university there called the University of Al-Karaouine was started in 859 and is the oldest continuously function university in the world.
5. I think that’s all I have.

Well, as Moroccan tours always go, you are led through the Medina from shop to shop to “stimulate” the economy. Those shops included a spice/ drug/ cure-all-medicines, carpets, leather goods, and ceramics. The leather goods place was really interesting because of the tannery right outside of the store (pictured somewhere I’m sure). There were tons of pits with different solutions for tanning leather such as urine and other goodies. I’ll tell you what, you just don’t get quality like that in the States. Think of the jobs that could be created!

That night, we went to a magic show/ spectacle. There was a crazy magician, a scandalous, overweight belly-dancer, and a drum show.
The next day, we left early in the morning for our whole day of travel into the Sahara desert where we would spend the next two nights. On our way, it was really neat to see the landscape slowly change from Mediterranean to something similar to the grand canyon and then to rocky followed by sandy/ dune-filled desert. When we got to the rocky part, we all got out of the bus and were introduced to the Berbers, people from the desert regions of Africa, who were our guides. (You can call them “sand people” if you like… if that makes you think of Star Wars or something) They took us in their 4X4 Land Rovers on a race into the desert…. off-roading for about an hour until we got to our camp.
We basically had free reign in the desert, which made it probably my favorite trip this semester. We could just wander as far as we wanted from camp, and the Berbers would just keep an eye on us and make sure we didn’t walk to Algeria or try to drink the sand or something crazy like that.
The next day, we got up, bought our turbans, and went to our camels! I was pretty excited about the whole idea until I realized that I would be sharing a camel with my good friend Murphy. The saddle is not the most comfortable thing in the world, and when coupled with a lack of space, there are groin issues. ‘Nuff said.
We took an hour long camel ride to a mountainous dune where we got off and ascended. After that, we rode our camels for a little while again to the village – specifically to a little shop that sold water and soda. Then we went to another carpet store.
That night, we had a great big dinner and then had a dance. The Berbers had brought in a band that played incredible Arab music that played while we ate. Directly after dinner, the Berbers came around to (figures) my table and pick me and Meta to be the first ones on the dance floor. Now, I know that most of you know me as a dancing machine, but I haven’t always been that way. I was one of four people in front of about 70 Americans, and I was determined not to ruin my Moroccan dance like I ruined Prom, so I left my inhibitions in my seat and had a blast.
Sadly, we had to leave the next day to go back to central Morocco – to Meknes, a city just west of Fez. We really didn’t see much of that city because we got in so late, but on the way to the city we stopped for lunch and had a blast chasing around monkeys. We would toss them oranges, and they would peel them and eat them. We even tossed one a bottle of water. He bit a hole in the bottom and drank it all!
Then we just headed to Meknes, spent the night, and made our way back to Granada.

The trip was an awesome one! One of the most interesting things, I would say, was the incredible difference in culture. When we went to walk through either Fez or Meknes, we got stared at badly. It was completely obvious that we were different and didn’t belong. Also, when we were out at night, there were absolutely no women in sight. There were only men at the tea shops and restaurants. Different.