Wow, so THIS is Africa....
So, as I said in the Sevilla post, we left at 4 AM for Morocco. It's a 2 hour bus ride to the Spanish-Moroccan ferry port in Algercias (passport stamp from there now!!). Then it was a 2 hour ferry ride to Tangier port in Morocco. There was a 2 hour time difference between Morocco and Spain (now it's 1 hour since Spain is on Day Light Savings and Morocco doesn't do it). We then had a 4 and a half hour bus ride from Tangier to Fes with stops. We stopped at a restaurant/convenient store type thing...TOTALLY got ripped off... I didn't really realize we had to bargain at a convenient store (I should have, seeing as we were in Morocco); so, my friend and I were charged 16 euro for a water, coke, and a bag of crackers... Helping Africa one convenient store at a time.
We got to Fes around 4:30 Moroccan time...6:30 Spanish time--14 hour travel, whooop whoop. We all showered immediately after smelling like bus. Then we had dinner at 7ish (included in the hotel). It was really good, buffet style, not too crazy but there was still options for "more typical" Moroccan food. After dinner, we all went to sleep because we had to get up early to go to the Medina in Fes.
So, being me, I forgot to change the time on my iPod to Morocco...and set the alarm for 7:30 (which is the time we need to get up, in Morocco) but 7:30 in Spain is 5:30 AM in Morocco... Got up, got dressed, brushed my teeth, put my contacts in, and my roommate wakes up and says "wait, Mad, I think it's 5:30.." Embarrassing. But, two hours of sleep later, we actually woke up, went down for breakfast (also delicious--hard boiled eggs were SO good in Morocco). After we all ate, we got on the bus to head to the Medina in Fes. The Medina is a walled city inside Fes, more a religious area, so we had to wear more conservative clothing, etc. There are tons of shops, markets, small streets, and alleys; I felt like I was in Aladdin. The majority of shops have things in them that the people hand craft, 90% of the people of Medina are artisans. PS, it's pouring rain at this point. That did not help the smell, or how disgusting my feet and shoes were later that day. The ground is already filled with donkey poop, etc. and since there is no gutter system...the dirty water is just running down the streets, YUM.
The first place we went to was a "pharmacy" that has spices, oils, lotions, etc. It was AWESOME. The guys showed us so many things, what they are for, how to use them, etc. It was like a Mary Kay show, almost. I bought so many things because it's all natural and really not expensive at all; the only thing I regret is that I didn't buy this small bottle of Jasmine perfume. I thought I'd spend more of my money later on during the day, save some for the desert, and our return to Meknes; but we didn't even have time to go shopping in Meknes. Oh well. Anyway, next we went to the turban/scarf/fabric store. I got a scarf to be a turban as well there; the guy showed me how to wear it too :) look out for desert pictures. We were able to bargain in both places even though we were told "not to." After this we went to the rug store, where we were shown tons of rugs and given fresh mint tea, which is absolutely phenomenal and delicious. Moroccan rugs are gorgeous, but there was no way to get it home or pay for it, nor do I need a real rug at this point in my life. After we left here, we went to the leather shop... Outside of the shop were the wells that they dye the leather in--it all smelled SO bad. I got a golden yellow wallet and it's beautiful (also great because I bargained it down pretty well). But, it does smell. I've been waving it around and opening/closing it to try and rid the smell...it's better but still, blah. We then went to a restaurant to eat lunch (they want us to eat after the leather store so no one throws up from the smell haha). The food was so good, we had couscous with chicken and veggies. There was this awesome eggplant appetizer, and the bread was kind of like pita bread..delicious. After lunch we went to a plate/silver/gold store where we were able to watch one of the workers design and engrave a plate. All of the jewelry, etc. is made there. Very cool. But, I couldn't get the plate back to Valencia with fear that it wouldn't fit in my backpack.
By this time it's around 3 or 4 PM, so we've been in the Medina for around 6 hours. We left there and went to a ceramics shop close by. Students work there making ceramic tiles. Everything was beautiful and they showed us how to make the pots and how to paint the tiles. Right outside of the shop there is an incredible view of a mountain and part of Fes but it's just covered in trash/scrap ceramic tiles and there were a bunch of kids playing around in it.. kind of sad. After we left here, we went to a spot to see Fes and the Medina from up high. It was amazing. It just is rows and rows of buildings--they look dirty, kind of like what it looks like inside, but as equally dirty as it looks, it is incredible in its own way. From here we went by bus to the Royal Palace; we only saw the outside, but it was truly beautiful. The doors are bright gold and there is ceramic tile covering the walls--so cool. We got back to the hotel around 6, and I IMMEDIATELY washed my feet and shoes like 10 times, and then showered. After dinner we went to a belly-dancing/drum show in the city. It was really fun because they had tons of us go up and try to dance or be part of the act. I got pulled up there...wearing yoga pants and a tshirt--cute. Had some tea there too and it was good, just not quite as good as in the rug shop. When we got back to the hotel we hung out with people for a little while and then went to bed because we had a long day of traveling ahead of us.
We traveled by bus for around 6 hours including stops. The first stop was in the mountains and it was absolutely FREEZING. When we pulled up to the "stop" our ISA director (who we all LOVE now because he is hilarious) says, "where's the bathroom? there is no bathroom. you go on rocks and behind trees...oh and it's freezing out there" as he wraps his white angelic scarf around him five times. So, that was when we all knew how the next 3 days would pan out--no bathrooms or gross bathrooms, take your pick. Our last stop before lunch was at this restaurant/cafe place where we met up with some people from ISA Meknes (in Morocco). They were seriously SO excited to see Americans, it was kind of sad. Never EVER would I study in Morocco, that's for sure (especially being a girl), so props to them. We continued on to the oasis where we stopped for late lunch. The restaurant is literally on a road above the oasis and the restaurant extends down into the trees of the oasis--it was beautiful there. After lunch we got to explore a little and there were tons of kids selling straw camel necklaces that they made. Unfortunately, I left my walled on the bus so I couldn't buy one--they're not very cute but it's for the kids so I felt a little bad. Also, while the kids are adorable, when you're in a big tourist group it is hard to talk to them because they just want to sell their stuff. From here we went by bus to the meeting point between the buses and the 4x4's. The bus drivers stayed in the hotel that we met at for the 2 and 1/2 days we were in the desert. We took the 4x4's through part of a town, rode a little bit on a "highway" and then mostly dirt/sand/rock roads. Our driver, Achmed, was a little crazy, as we asked him to drive fast. It was so much fun, and we had one of those old Ace Ventura style 4x4's. Driving in the sand, flying over the dunes was so cool, but a lot of the road until we got nearer to the camp was mostly hard rock with a little sand so we were bouncing like crazy. We stopped at a point where "the road" becomes "not a road" according to our director. He said, "ok we meet at the place where we take this road, what road? there is no road." Too funny. Anyway, we were able to get out of the 4x4's there and look at the sky...the stars, seriously the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Literally, I have NEVER seen anything like it. Never have I seen stars so clear, you could see the whole Milky Way. It was incredible; I wish I could have taken pictures, but it wouldn't even come close to capturing what it was like. I was truly and seriously awestruck at this point, I couldn't even believe how beautiful and cool it was. After we all marveled over the stars (which was our nightly view while in the desert), we got back in the 4x4s and headed to camp. When we got to the tents, we put our stuff in the sleeping tents and looked around. There were 3 "buildings" at camp. A big tent for dining/selling jewelry, trinkets, etc. Then, there was a shack for the bathroom, which had toilets, sinks, and showers. There was running water part of the time, but when it was turned off....man those toilets were not fun to go near. I don't think anyone even used the shower; there were no towels and by the time you dry off and walk back to the tents, you've got sand on you again. Not worth it really since we were only there for like 2 and a half days. Our sleeping "building" was a series of 4 huge rows of tents. In each row, the tents were connected but had a "wall" separating them. Each individual tent had a row of like 5 cots in it. Basically, it was a mattress on the ground with a bunch of blankets and pillow, but it was comfortable enough. It was SO cold at night, so layers plus all the blankets were absolutely necessary. But it was still nice and by no means were we truly "roughing it." Anyway, after we looked around, we ate dinner and listened to music. Once again, the food was good. Most of the food in the camp was kind of dialed down compared to how they usually eat because they didn't want anyone getting sick. There weren't too many spices, all the meat was very good (none was sketchy or anything), and the vegetables were kind of bland actually. The fruit (mostly clementines and bananas) were SO good and like I said earlier, the hard boiled eggs are delicious in Morocco for whatever reason.
When dinner was over, some of the Berbers (the name of the people in the tribe that live in the town next to camp/run the camp) began playing music and singing. It was cool, but kind of didn't have a legit beat; not as "tribal" as I expected but then again, we were in a Muslim camp, it wasn't a true African tribe like we expect when we hear that phrase. The Berber people are very interesting; they are super friendly and like to tell you about Morocco, learn as many languages as possible, show you things, etc. It was incredible how many languages (not fluent but still knew how to get by) each Berber knew. But, it was annoying when they then try to sell you something after being so nice to you because you feel obliged to get things.
After the "concert" we went outside and star gazed for a while. Saw a shooting star, picked out multiple constellations, basically gawked at the beauty of it all. So amazing. Then, we all got pretty tired and headed for our tents to sleep. It was definitely cold while sleeping if I didn't layer up and keep all the blankets snug around me. But, it was super scary to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because all the camp lights are turned off to save their generator energy so it's pitch black except the light of the stars and I didn't have my contacts in so I can't really see anyway. Also, the Berbers patrol the area around the camp, which is a good thing because they keep it safe, but at the same time I couldn't really tell who was a Berber so it was like: run to the bathroom, pee, run back, dive into my tent.
The next morning, we woke up just before 6 to walk out to taller dunes to watch the sunrise. Of course, my friend and I get the one Berber who takes us the most obscure way to get to a "far" dune. Later that day, we walked to the same dune, just via a more direct path, and it took us half the time. BUT, it was still well worth the walk in our super tired, wishing it was warmer state. The sunrise was so freaking cool. Watching the sand change color and go from freezing cold to a little warm the instant the sun hit it was amazing. This was definitely one of those things that left me breathless (kind of like the stars and how later in our day we spent our time exploring random dunes--more on that in a little). I took pictures and a lot turned out well but still, pictures don't give an adequate representation of how amazingly wonderful the desert was. Our Berber took some really cool pictures of us watching the sunset and then pulled us down the down Moroccan slide style, but then, like I said earlier, as we got closer to camp he stopped us and showed us the fossils he's excavated (like every other Berber and respective group). My friend and I bargained it down a lot and then finally just gave in. It's cool looking, but I never would have gotten it if he hadn't looked so sad when we said we didn't want anything. All of their families are huge and they have to support them somehow so they figure tourism is their best bet, which makes sense. After we left our Berber, we had breakfast in the dining tent and then got ready for our camel ride!!!!
We all gathered around the herds of camels strung together and guided by different Berbers. They were strung together in groups of like 4-8 and we were taking them to a nearby town. Literally, camels sound like dinosaurs and/or chewbacca from Star Wars when they make noise. It was weird. Getting on the camel was not the hard part, holding on while it stands up, that's a different story. It is a 4 step process for them to stand up throwing you forward and then backward twice, so you feel like you're going to fall off--I was scared, naturally. The "saddles" were as comfy as possible -- they're like a big hard pillow with a blanket draped down the sides. So, all of our groins hurt from having to move with the camel and I was squeezing onto that thing with my legs for dear life so my inner thighs killed me. We were on the camels for about an hour because they don't go very fast. While we were on our way to the town, one of the guys from ISA Barcelona had the camel that tried to buck him off because it was a new camel that had never had a person ride it before....He stayed on like a champ though; but, he got a big cut on his leg from the metal on the saddle strap. Then our friend from ISA Santander, who was 2 camels in front of me, accidentally shifted his saddle and the camel did not like this at all because apparently it was uncomfortable. The camel legit just sat down while screaming in its Chewbacca voice and our friend had to get off while the Berbers fixed it. Of course, I was freaked out along with my friend Shannon in front of me because we thought our camels would have a chain reaction problem and go crazy too. I was a lot more scared than she was though, per usual. I think I've realized that I'm pretty much scared of most animals except dogs and cats that live in a house. There were a ton of gross stray cats all throughout Morocco. There were stray dogs but at least they were cute. But, I did get really lucky because Biscuit, my camel (yes, I named him Biscuit), was calm and cool the whole time and I was able to pet him afterwards without him freaking out or making weird noises.
When we left the camels, we walked into the town and went to the school there. We saw a bunch of kids from 3-5 years old in the school room; they were adorable. Then, we left there and went to another rug store but we just hung around outside and played with the kids. Then, we took a truck and a 4x4 in shifts back to the camp. I sat on the roof the 4x4 which was SO fun. When everyone got back, we ate lunch and then went exploring through the dunes. On our way, we ran into a bunch of kids and they came exploring with us, so we played and ran around with them. They all literally run and do flips/spins off the tall dunes, they race each other, climb all the dunes twice as fast as any of us, and run everywhere all day. The Sahara is their backyard. This was so amazing being able to spend the afternoon just walking through the Sahara desert. It's like nothing I've ever done before and it was infinitely better than I imagined. We were out walking around for like 3-4 hours, but we had to turn back because the sun was going to set soon. When we got back to camp, we sat on a dune right outside of our tents and watched the sunset. Seeing the sunrise and sunset all in one day, really really freaking cool. I took a nap 20 minute nap, but then we had dinner, listened to a bunch of people from our groups who sang and played guitar, and then listened to one of the Berber bands play. After this, though, I looked at the stars for 5 minutes and was exhausted so we went to bed. Some people stayed up to listen to the band play, laid outside for a while, etc. but I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.
The next morning we woke up to see the sunrise again; this time, without Berbers and without walking far. We just went to the closest dune to our tent. Once again, it was beautiful. Then, I got back in bed for like 30 minutes and at this time it was still pretty cold--because this night was WAY colder than the one before, I literally wore double the layers to keep warm. After I woke up the second time, I packed my stuff up and we ate breakfast. We left camp around 9:30 in the 4x4's and headed to the hotel where we dropped the buses and drivers off before. It takes around an hour to get from camp to the hotel, and then we left from there by bus to Meknes, another city in Morocco. We were supposed to arrive in Meknes by 5ish but we stopped for lunch and it took forever to get served. One thing the US has right is how to be a waiter and run a cafe/restaurant adequately. So, we ended up getting to Meknes around 7. We ate dinner at the hotel; this was the only meal during our trip that wasn't buffet style, the served food had a lot more flavor but I liked the other food a lot more. Up until this night no one got sick, and only a few people after this night had an upset stomach--no one threw up or anything, just had small other end problems. Our director said this is the best a group has ever been not only in terms of not getting sick, but in terms of patience, understanding, etc. WHOOP WHOOP! We're awesome. After dinner though, we showered, which was amaaaazing. We all smelt so bad after being in the desert and then on a bus all day without showering. Our room in the hotel was sweet, we had a huge lounge so the Valencia girls all hung out here until we were too tired and went to sleep.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel--buffet style. We left there at 8 and traveled all day to get back to Sevilla. It was 6 hours from Meknes to the port of Tangier, a 2 hour ferry ride, and a 2 hour bus ride from Algercias in Spain to Sevilla. But we had to wait an extra hour at the port in Tangier for the boat because it had been delayed an hour all day. At the port we were talking to our director and he said a perfect quote, "The thing about Morocco: I love to come and I love to leave." As much as I loved it, I was ready to go back to Spain. I really don't know how anyone could study abroad there/vacation for more than 2 weeks. All of the ISA Meknes people said the first 4 weeks there, they all had the runs because of the food and water. Also, the whole women are inferior to men really bothers me; not once in the desert did little girls come play with us. The one time I saw little girls was in the school and when their moms came to do henna tattoos at camp. The ISA Meknes girls said that it is very weird having to cover up and still sticking out. I'm not sure I could handle all that.
Traveling was ok; my stomach didn't hurt, I just had some indigestion from the spices on the dinner food. Plus no one felt great after traveling/riding in a bus all day. Thanks to Aunt Donna, I took some pepto pills and felt better immediately. When we got to Sevilla, everyone was exhausted. But, the two directors on our bus (our director Manuel and Salamanca's director Carmen) gave these heart felt speeches/thank-you's. It was seriously adorable. During our directors' speech, he said, "to all my Valencia girls, I love you" and we all melted a little. Before we came to Morocco, all of us thought he was cool but just liked to talk a lot so kind of annoying. Now, we realize HOW funny he really is; I literally wrote down as many things he said as I could remember--he is the king of one-liners. And, how nice he really is; he definitely cares about all of us a lot and the 8 of us are way closer with him now, so that's cool. Our bus was definitely sentimental when we were leaving; everyone was hugging new friends, etc. It was kind of sad because with most of the people we met, we all have to make a huge effort o see them again (whether in Spain or back in the US). But, we all exchanged Facebook names, etc. so we can at least stay in touch. We then walked back to our hostel in Sevilla and on the way stopped at KFC because we were starving it was virtually the only thing open. Our director and his friend showed up shortly after to grab some beers, naturally. The rest of our time in Sevilla, you already know about.
So, Morocco, in summary: amazing, fabulous, intimidating, humbling, incredible, breath-taking, dirty, interesting, freaking COOL. Like I said earlier, though, I would never study abroad for more than like 2 weeks there mostly because of the women are lesser than men culture. We weren't even exposed to true city life like the Meknes kids are, and I definitely felt intimidated when all you see on the streets are groups of men. If you see women, they basically keep their head down and always walk in 2's. I appreciate their culture a lot, especially their willingness to learn languages in order to help their tourism thrive. But, for me, living, working, or studying there would be really hard. I know some people come out of this trip so humbled they want to join the Peace Corps or other humanitarian organizations, and while I was definitely humbled, this experience just goes to show that I could never work in an organization like that. I absolutely realize how fortunate I truly am after all of this, but living like they live for too long would just make me sad that they don't know how I actually live, how a lot of the people that help them live.
Being in the desert was definitely my favorite part of the trip, along with spending time in the spice shop in Fes. This trip was super amazing and I am definitely recommending it to all ISA students in the future. SO worth the money, so worth the travel time, so worth being smelly, so worth being sore, so worth being exhausted now. Morocco is so worth the trip. And it was a trip of a lifetime.
