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| The Markets in Marrakech |
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| The spice shop in the Jewish quarters |
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| The cutest little boy selling doughnuts. He even dropped one on the ground and then put it back in his little basket. What a cutie!!!! |
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| The Main Square: Djamaa El Fna |
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| MY YUMMY COUSCOUS!!!!!!! |
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| Abby, Ralph, and Me at the Palace in Tangier |
For the puente (long break) at the beginning of December (4-8) I went to Morocco with Ralph and Abby. It was quite a long journey. We left really early Saturday morning to take about a 5 hour train ride to Algeciras where we caught the hour and a half ferry to a port right outside of Tangier, Morocco. When we arrived, there was a little confusion of to what time it was exactly and we were waiting for the free bus that would take us in to town. We were thinking that we missed the train, and were counting on making the bus, but after waiting for a while, we were afraid we were going to miss the bus as well so we agreed to a taxi. The taxi driver informed us of the actual time though, and it was an hour earlier than we thought and so we wanted to try and make the train if possible, because it was only 8 hours as opposed to the bus which was 12 hours. The driver said he could make it there, although it was supposedly a 45-60 minute drive away, and it was only 30 minutes until the train was supposed to leave. What followed was what I thought was literally the end of my life. He started out at top speed swerving around cars in the opposite lane nearly missing many roadside people standing as well as oncoming traffic. My door was not shut properly and he made me open it and close it while we were moving so fast! He would not stop for anything! There were no seatbelts and I was about to have a heart attack! He was driving at minimum of 40 kph over the speed limit at all times and swerving around corners that had cliffs down into the great abyss, or what I thought, my gravesite. I was just thinking, my God, I wonder how long it will take for everyone to find out I'm dead… at least I made it to Africa… they will find my passport in the wreckage… why doesn't this taxi driver have any regard for his own life? But, by some miraculous miracle, we arrived safely (although I was on the verge of having a heart attack still) at the train station and just made it on to the train. The first leg of the journey was 4 hours and then we changed trains in Casablanca. In the first leg, there were some nice men in our little train cabin that were Moroccan and told us a little bit about what it was like living in Morocco. We even got invited to a wedding in Casablanca that night by one of the guys, but we declined because we had already paid for a hostel in Marrakech, the second leg of the train, and didn't have proper attire for a wedding, but that would have been cool. The second leg of the journey we slept and arrived in Marrakech at about 1 in the morning. We got a taxi (a much safer ride) to a little street corner where the driver dropped us off and had a man in a big hood that didn't speak English or Spanish to lead us to our hostel. I was sure he was leading us to be sold in to sex slavery because it was a narrow dark and empty street, but it actually was our hostel, which was relieving, although the woman inside did not speak anything but Arabic. We finally somehow conveyed that we had a reservation and wanted a bottle of water and then crashed. The next morning we set out to find our second hostel (Marrakech was pretty crowded and finding a hostel was tough!). We walked out to the main square looking for our new hostel and were bombarded by people trying to show us where to go for money, but we refused and found it eventually. After dropping our stuff off, we had some tea on the rooftop of our hostel and then set out to find some lunch. We had some really yummy lunch in a restaurant in the main square. The food in Morocco is really good, but as far as at restaurants go, there aren't that many options. Option #1: CousCous with your choice of meat, and then Option #2: Tagine with your choice of meat (veg, chicken, lamb, sometimes beef). So yummy, just not a lot of variety. Anyway, we walked around the square some, saw the monkey and snake charmers that try and throw the animal in your arms so that you have to pay them some money. Hell no I am not getting near a cobra! Apparently the heat subdues them so that they are not aggressive, so they are only out during the day. They are sneaky too! I tried to get a picture from afar really zoommed in and there was one of their little minions that came over to me and made me pay money for my picture. ARRRGGG!!! We walked around the markets for the majority of the day. They were really fascinating and beautiful, but exhausting because I am obviously foreign (aka, don't have my hair/face covered and have very white skin) and they just chase you down literally if they see you look at anything in the market. Everyone (and by everyone, I mean the men) know Arabic and French fluently and then as a 3rd language speak English or Spanish or both (not fluently usually but enough to get by successfully). That was really frustrating to not be able to just window shop or look at things a little closer. And if you were to buy something, the key to the game is bargaining. I am not much of an arguer, so bargaining is up the same-ish ally and I am just not that good at it, but I forced myself to do so, and did quite well on a number of occasions, although I did not end up buying that much. In the evening we had some food in the main market in the main square and then went to a fancy restaurant where we split a bottle of wine. This place was one, if not the only, place to get alcohol in all of Marrakech. The wine was really expensive, but it was nice to have a peaceful atmosphere, have some wine, and look out on to the bustling main square by night. We retired to the hostel for some late night cards and tea on the rooftop terrace at our hostel before going to bed. The next day we stopped at this place to try these good looking crepes that are made at little side markets. Oh my gosh, they were amazing. They had honey in them and were diVINE! We embarked on our journey to try and find one of the palaces, but on our way trying to find it, a man led us to the Jewish markets, and we ended up in a little booth filled with spices and Moroccan items. We bought some tea, curry, some spice, and Ralph bought this massage oil made from….. Goat droppings? As explained to us by the man running the little shop, the goat goes in to the tree, eats this specific fruit, relieves itself, and then they make this massage oil out of its droppings… weird. Anyway, it was a fun little experience to see what they all had to offer while not being pushed to buy everything like in the other markets. We went out looking for the palaces again, only to find out that they were closed. We went on a walk in the evening that led us to the non-touristy part of the city over by the high school, which I found very interesting. All of the kids hang out at school in the evening just talking and playing ball and such. We had dinner and then went back to the same place for another bottle of wine. This time there was a belly dancer there, and we didn't even have to tip her! (Meaning she didn’t even ask for tips, which was also refreshing). The next morning we got some amazing crepes before getting on the train back to Tangier. It was a long train ride, but when we arrived in Tangier, it was awesome because our hostel was pretty much a palace! It was so beautiful! We went for dinner and as we were walking there a little boy came and tried to pick pocket Ralph. There were also creepy people following us until we ducked in to the restaurant. It wasn't even that late! Only maybe 8 or 9, but the city was pretty shady, most likely because it is a port town and a lot of tourists go there. We retired to the palace and went up in the top gazebo that looked over the city which was pretty to play cards. The next morning we headed to the port (the safe way this time!) and then took the train back to Granada. It was a great trip overall, but I must say, pretty overwhelming with needed to pay attention all the time and make sure you are not getting pickpocketed, people yelling at you to buy things, trying not to get run over by horses, people, motorcycles, carts, and donkeys, and maintaining some composure after being stared at all day. Well, I've been to Africa! Pretty much the most culture shock I've ever had! Even though it was a short trip, that was okay with me. I think I need to take Africa in doses for now.
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