Morocco was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am so glad that I had an opportunity to go. My time in Africa was packed with so many things, but not the usually touristy things that you may be thinking of. So I guess I will just break down my time in Morocco day by day since there is so much to the trip.
So on Friday, March 16th I woke up bright and early in the morning and was all ready, with my backpacked packed, to head to the bus. I was so nervous for what the trip would bring, yet so excited. Once on the bus we headed to the line of Gibraltar where we would be staying in a hotel for the night. Upon arriving there we ate lunch on the rocks alongside the beach and then headed to Gibraltar. It was the strangest experience just walking across the border into another country which was filled with residents speaking Spanglish. I was confused the whole time which language I should be speaking. Gibraltar was fabulous. For those of you who do not know, Gibraltar is a colony of Britain that is in Spain. While there our group took a guided tour in a van with a man named Pepe. He told us all about the history of Gibraltar. He was quite the jokester, saying that on your left is the American embassy (McDonald's). It was so funny. On the tour we visited some caves and we got to hang around with some monkeys. Later in the day after drinking a delicious smoothie we head up a path leading to the top of the rock of Gibraltar. It was a hot and sweaty walk, but well worth it after seeing the sunset over the ocean. Beautiful. That night we ate at a restaraunt that had fish and chips and all kinds of British cuisine, which was much appreciated after the long hike.
Saturday. Once again we hopped on the bus and headed to Tarifa, an area in Spain where there is a port to cross to Africa. The stretch between Spain in Gibraltar is a very short distance. As a result of the short distance, many Africans try to swim across to Spain in order to have a better life. Many of them die trying. On the ferry I went to sail across the Straits to Africa (how crazy!). Once finally in Tangier, Morocco after an hour ferry ride we headed to DARNA, which is a women's center where they teach women skills like sewing, reading and writing so that they can get jobs. It was so cool because we were able to talk to some Moroccan students about life in Morocco and about their perceptions of Americans. After eating lunch with the students we headed to Asilah. Along the way, to my surprise, we stopped on the side of the road. Our leader had said we were not going to ride camels, but she tricked us. I got to live one of my dreams and ride a camel along the beach. It was so cool!!! I was so excited!! After that little stop, we headed into the city of Asilah. We walked through the street filled with blue and were able to see some really cool artwork. Next we headed on our 3 hour drive to Rabat. After being on the bus for what seemed like forever we made it to Rabat. In Rabat, we met up with our homestay families. My two friends and I headed with our host mother, who spoke only Arabic, and host sister to our home. There were amazed to find that we were going to be staying in a palace like home. The house had three floors and was so spacious. We ate a great meal with our host family and we even got to meet some of the cousins. One of whom, was only 11 and spoke Arabic, French, and English!!
Sunday. We ate an early breakfast with our family and then headed to our van again. Then we went to an NGO in Sale, which was just across the river. There we got to talk again with some Moroccan students, who were so intelligent and knew so much about what was happening all across the world. We also were able to see a shanty town that hold about 50,000 inhabitants. The poor town was so close to the rich homes. The contrast was shocking. On our way back to the NGO, there was a group of men who apparently really excited for a soccer game. They came up to our van and started banging on the windows with their flag sticks and hands. It was a little frightening. Next we headed to visit the Roman ruins and the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V. In the ruins there were so many storks flying around. In the Mausoleum there were some really cool looking guards with funny looking uniforms. Finally after walking around a lot we sat down with our families to eat lunch. Then we met up with some more Moroccan students who took us on a tour of Rabat. We got to see the ocean and the other sights. The boys we walked with were so much like us, yet so different. It was really cool to learn about them and their culture. After this we regrouped and gather all the stuff we needed to go to the Hammam. The Hammam is an arabian bath, a public bath. It was such an enlightening experience. The women in the bath were so comfortable with their bodies. There was no shame. It made me feel good to just let go and be vulnerable. Then after getting really clean in the bath we went to a house and got henna. The woman who did our henna worked really quick, but did an amazing job.
Monday. This day we packed up all our stuff and said goodbye to our homestay families. I was really sad after having such a great time with my little host sister Kenza who was turning 5 that day and with our two maid friends who covered us in perfume and took pictures with us. But it was time to head to a village in the Rif mountains. After a long and twisty turny ride we finally made it to the village. We were able to talk to a family with whom we discussed politics, ate couscous, and took a walk to a beautiful overlook. Afterwards we drove to Chefchaouen. The blue city. There we went shopping, which was basically bargaining. We ate dinner at a place called Casa Alladin. And we slept in a hostal.
Tuesday. We woke up early this morning and went on a hike up to the Spanish mosque. The view from the mosque was breathtaking. You could see the entire city and the mountains beyond. It was well worth waking up early and hiking through the rocks. After the hike we ate a delicious breakfast and then got on the bus once again and headed to Ceuta where the border between the Spanish colongy and Morocco is. Crossing the border in Cueta was another experience. There were so many people trying to cross the border. People were pushing through to get their passports checked. Once we made it through that mess we walked through no man's land and made it into the Spanish colony of Algeciras. In Algeciras we had to grab a taxi. We used our offensive techniques to snag a taxi from all the people who were trying to get one. We drove to the port and got on the ferry and headed back to Spain once again.
There was so much more to this trip that I cannot even describe. I learned so much. Some things that I learned include, but are not limited to...
1. I am horrible at bargaining in Spanish and in English
2. I am selfish. I know nothing about other cultures and news around the world.
3. I love dates, figs, and almonds.
4. I need to learn more languages, and put more effort in trying to speak spanish.
5. I need to step out of my little bubble and try to experience more, because I am so lucky to have all of these opportunities.
6. I know a few words in Arabic now...shukran (thank you), shabet (full), kooli (eat)
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