Moroccan Around

I woke up and (surprisingly) made it to breakfast at 07:30. We thought we would get to leave shortly thereafter, but I didn’t get through emigration until about 11:00.

SO, I returned to my room until our sea was called, then met up with Frances to head out on our day of adventure.

First, we went to the Hassan II Mosque (we could not get in despite having our heads covered).

After we finished exploring the area, Fran said “I feel like spending money.” And so we did.

We went to a market- where immediately we were greeted by a woman named Nadia who asked if we wanted henna, when we said no, she grabbed my hand and said “Let me just draw a flower.” That flower went all the way from my wrist to my elbow, and cost me 10 USD. Nifty.

Next, we spent a lot of time in little shop with a dude named Tarik. He taught us a little bit of Arabic, wrote our names in our journals

We enjoyed conversation about music, school, and his store- then he invited us to have tea with him. We agreed, and thought we were going somewhere to get it- but then he pulled out his phone and called someone. Then he told us that a friend would be coming and bring tea.

Naturally, we left in a hurry and walked briskly away from his store.

He genuinely may have just asked a friend to bring tea- but you can’t be too careful. We were, after all, two American girls that had ventured off by ourselves in a large market.

SO, we moved to a more populated area to do the shopping we went to the market to get. I just wish I had spent more time there. I did not know until a few days before our arrival in Casablanca that Morocco was known for its leather goods- and so I made my primary purpose to find Mark a messenger bag. And a purse for me. Maybe some shoes. Or a wallet. Like I said, there was so much- but I had to pace myself. I couldn’t spend all of my money on day 1. We were relatively successful with our purchases (mainly because I earned myself some rad deals my means of negotiation).

We then tried to eat at Rick’s for lunch- but it was not open (we didn’t really do our research). SO, we hoped back in our taxi and just asked him to take us somewhere he thought was good. And boy, he was SPOT ON.

And there was wifi. Bless. I got to not only talk to Mark- but also got to see Kelsey, Taylor, Brooke, Amy, and Thaddeus (very briefly) before my wifi cut out!

*BY THE WAY, my foot had been killing me this entire day and I could not figure out why. It was to the point of limping- perfect way to start out in a new country*

We (me, Frances, and three guys from SAS that were seated next to us at lunch) headed to Rick’s to see what it was all about (I hobbles, of course) only to find out that it was not only packed, but that Chacos weren’t acceptable.

BUMP THAT.

So, we got into another taxi to go back to where the MV was docked. We had about a mile or so to walk- and Fran did everything she could to keep my mind off of my foot. We reached the ship that was neighboring ours, and a security guard outside noticed I was struggling along, and offered to carry me. FORTUNATELY, I didn’t feel that bad- but how nice is that?

Frances and I agreed once we got on the ship we would pack for our trips, and then reconvene in my room to answer emails and watch 50 First Dates before going to sleep.

The following morning I:

-Got out of bed at 07:13

-Made it to the union by 08:03

-Printed out my Global Cities study guide (hey, finals are approaching)

-Got on a bus

Two hours into the bus ride, we pulled over at a gas station to use the restroom- and found a snack haven. They had kinder joy, chocolate, chips, oreos- everything junky and fantastic. We raided the place.

We were released from our vehicular prison around 14:00, then walked for about an hour (twisting and turning) to our lunch destination. It was a really neat place! There was a band, as well as other forms of entertainment (you know, like a guy casually dancing about with a tray with candles on his head). One of the guys playing even let me try out his guitar like (no frets) instrument!

Then we walked around a Jewish medina…but would not let us shop. And were then made to go into an argon oil shop to be given a demonstration of different products. Yippee.

THEN, we had to return to the bus to finish our drive to Chefchaouen (only a couple more hours). We arrived at our hotel…or so we thought…and were herded through streets of shops, but again could not stop.

What a tease.

Once we finally arrived- we set our bags down and went to dinner. Who did I choose to sit with? The adults, of course. The more time goes on, the more I wish I had spent even more time with professors and LLL, you know? They are probably the most rad adults ever. They left their comfortable lives behind to go on an adventure. And some of them have even been on SAS more than once!

We enjoyed our meal, tried each others’ dishes, and then went back to our hotel.

Some folks went to bed, some went out, but me? I did what I do best. Got connected. What else is new? Unfortunately, no one was responding to my facetime requests- so after a while of being plugged in, I went to my room for some shut-eye. I decided to give Mark one more shot before having to wait another 24 hours to see each other (time differences are hard, but it’s closer now that I’m in the same time zone as London!)- and he answered! I sat against the wall of my hotel room close to the window (where I could get wifi in my room), figuring I’d only be there for a short time.

We wound up talking until about 02:00 about our upcoming trip to Haiti, where we will be this summer, our future, etc. It was a nice talk, and right as we were saying goodnight, my roommate came back! Which was perfect timing, because Heather didn’t have the key (I obviously did).

The following day, we wandered through and around the beautiful blue city we were staying in.

It was really neat to see it from all angles! I even made a new little friend! 

"Dont interact with animals" HAH. 

Our next day was spend in Fes!

We again, walked through a market without being allowed to shop.

I’m about to lead a mutiny against our tour guide. I really just want to stimulate the economy, you know?

(FOR THE RECORD: I was not alone in this line of thought)

Except the mutiny thing. That may or may not have been just me.

ANYWAY.

We finally got to stop! We visited a pottery shop, where I bought this lovely little pitcher:

I told Mark I wanted to model our future kitchen off of the colors. It’s partially maroon, so he should be into it, right?

Then we moved on to the big tannery where they dye most of the leather goods in Fes!

Cool, huh?

Before we went up to the balcony, we were each given a sprig of mint to sniff when the smell of the dye became too overwhelming.

We returned to our hotel, and a big group of us went to a pub down the way for the $1 coffee three of us had discovered on the first day.

We crowded eight chairs around a tiny table, ordered our coffee, and chatted. This was one of those moments where we were all hit with the sobering fact that this was our last country. This was our last night spent on SAS off of the ship. In just over a week, we would never all be together again.

*not everyone had coffee, I CAN count.

So, we took this time to talk about what we had gained. What we were going to do once we got home. Gone were the conversations about what labs we had in the next country or what field excursions we signed up for…

we had finals and our final disembarkation left.

This talk led us back to our hotel, and into the bar to celebrate an amazing semester exploring the unfamiliar. We bought wine by the bottle and our conversation (for some reason…) got even more sappy. After a couple of hours…the hotel bar closed and we reluctantly separated.

The next morning, we packed up, went to breakfast (and a few of us did a little morning shopping) before it was time to leave our hotel.

On a positive note, we had one more opportunity to explore some of Morocco’s history! We roamed around the grounds of Volubilis for a couple of hours before returning to the aforementioned vehicular prison to head back to Casablanca for our final embarkation.

Well, folks- it's time to focus on my school work! ...while simultaneously fighting back constant emotions and tears. 

Things I love about today:

1. A wonderful conclusion to the best semester of college

2. Friends. And strangers. Especially when they become your friends

3. The fact that I can see in color. The colors in Morocco were so vibrant, and it made me realize how lucky I am to simply be able to see them.