Marruecos (Morocco)

Sa’alam Alekum! (Hello, in Arabic)

I would have never believed that I would be traveling to Africa anytime soon, but luckily for me, our program takes us on a three day, two night trip to Morocco.  We left bright and early Thursday morning for a two-hour bus ride to Algeciras, where we boarded the ferry to take us to Ceuta (still Spain, but now in Africa).  After the most bumpy hour long boat ride ever, we made it.  From Ceuta, we had about a twenty minute drive to the border, which took some time to get through, but after that, we were finally in Morocco!  Starting from Ceuta, I already noticed a difference in the dress of the people on the streets, which was a transition into Morocco.

            Before we left, we had an orientation on the culture and what we needed to know, because it’s quite different than what we were accustomed to.  “Don’t be surprised if someone offers you money or a camel or something for a girl on our trip,” we were warned.  Along with that, girls aren’t allowed on the streets (alone) at night.  There is very, very little alcohol available.  Bartering (regatear, to haggle) is a necessity, which I was very excited for.  Meals always ended with Moroccan tea, which was so easy to get used to (a sweet tea with spearmint leaves).  And many more other culture changes, some more welcomed than others.  A traditionally very Muslim country, Morocco brought a definite culture change to our trip.  All women were covered so no skin, except the face, was showing (including head coverings).  Men wore the same, but without the head covering even though most wore some form of beanie hat.  So, some people weren’t too comfortable with what they were wearing, but most didn’t have a problem.  The currency there is dirham, and the exchange rate was about 11dh to 1 euro.

            Our first day there, we arrived in Tetuan, where we got a tour of the city, a market (first time I saw chicken’s being killed and feathered), a plaza, the Jewish quarter, and a few other places.  The first stop on our tour was an arts school, for students who flunked/dropped out of school.  We saw the behind the scenes of a lot of their work, which was absolutely breathtaking.  Lunch and our tea break were in the same restaurant, which was very traditionally decorated and included a traditional meal.  Dinner was back at the hotel, and we called it a night (relatively) early.

            Our second day started around 6:30, but really it started at 5:30 (Adi and I roomed together, and forgot to change our clocks due to the time change).  After breakfast at the hotel, we drove to Tanger and first visited a Coca-Cola bottling facility.  This was so cool!  We saw the bottling process for cans, plastics, and glass bottles.  Did you know…that the glass coke bottles that are returned to be reused are cleaned for 40 minutes, before being reused?  The whole bottling process was neat, from having to put on cheap, white lab coats and head coverings, to the free sampling at the end of the tour.  I asked our guide what made Coke different around the world, and the answer was, as predicted, the sugar and the water.  Everywhere in the world, different types of sugar is grown and used, and the water tastes differently, too.  Thus far this semester, Spain’s Coke tastes the best to me.  One of the coolest things we saw was how the plastic bottles get their shape: they start as a little, test tube looking object, and are heated and then molded into the classic plastic bottle shape.  After the factory tour, we went to Hercules’ Cave, where he is said to have lived.  I’m very unsure on the accuracy of it all though…seemed more like a tourist trap to me.  The tour guide didn’t talk anything about the history of the place, so I was and still am very hesitant.  Regardless of the historical accurateness though, it was fun to play around in the cave, followed by climbing down to the beach.  After that, we got to ride some camels!  Even though this was my third time on a camel, it was still a lot of fun.  We were walked in a small loop, maybe two minutes or so, but it was still fun.  Next was lunch, which was the best meal of the trip.  We ate a traditional Moroccan dish, pastilla, which looked like a hamburger in shape, but was stuffed with seasoned chicken and crushed almonds, wrapped in phyllo dough (or something similar), and dressed with honey.  The honey made it amazing….so delicious.  I would pay a decent amount of money, absolutely, to eat that again – definitely going to try to make it back at school.  The meal began with a large salad and bread, then the pastilla with French fries, then fruit and tea and cookies.  So full, yet so worth.  The rest of the afternoon we spent visiting a university in Tanger.  We learned about their university, taught them on American college’s function, and then played a quick basketball game with them.  (I’ve now played basketball in three different countries!  Against the Chinese when in China with band, in Morocco, and the USA, of course.)  The students there spoke four different languages!  Arabic, French (all of their classes were in French), Spanish (common language), and English.  Afterwards, we went to another shopping district and had free time to shop this time, for about an hour and a half.  I picked up a few goodies, but nothing too special.  Some of the Moroccan students joined us there, and then split off when we went back to the hotel for dinner.

            Saturday was our last day, and we started just as early as the day before.  We drove to Chechuan, which was my favorite city we visited.  We stayed in the downtown’s historic district, which included the tiny and tight streets, which were very hilly and steep because we were in the mountains.  The day started off with rain, but it held up after a few hours, luckily.  The whole city is blue…literally.  Five times a year, it is painted blue, from the first floor or so to the ground floor, and it is often on the ground, too.  After our walking tour, we got some more free time to shop around, and I got some good deals, there.  Between the two days, I bought the following: a teapot, Moroccan tea, a nice tea glass set, a traditional Moroccan sweater, spices, and a shot glass, all for less than 40 euros.  The best deal I got was on the sweater, which started at 450dh for one, and I got two for 300dh.  We had lunch after that, and made our way back home from there.  Saturday, back in Bloomington, was qualifications for the Little 500 race this year, so whenever we had WIFI, I followed it online, which was tough to do, but so exciting to keep up with.  Can’t wait to get racing again next year – I miss Little Five so much.

            We got back late at night, a few of us went to dinner, and then I just chilled back in my room for the rest of the night.  We have another time change now for daylight savings time, so we lost an hour of sleep.  Today is really nice – definitely enjoy having a day off before classes after traveling.  I finished a paper today, and chilled at Plaza de España with Adi on this warm, yet cloudy day.  But still able to wear a t-shirt and relax barefoot, which I love!  Tonight, I went for my first run since January.  Already feel the soreness coming on…so let’s see what happens tomorrow morning!  One week of class, and then we have a week off for Semana Santa and I head off to Amsterdam.  Talk to you later!