Final Days in Africa!
Ok so I know it's been a little while... but I wanted to finish up my amazing travels :) Plus I'm sure y'all are dying to see how Morocco ended! :)
Do Day 2 started of amazingly because I didn't get a single call from being on call that night (that's unheard of!!! :) I woke up for an early breakfast with my friends :) then loaded up in our van to Marrakesh!!! It was a long 3 hour ride but we got to pass by the Atlas Mountains!! :) When we got to Marrakesh we stopped in front of a little shop where there were about 40 camels waiting to be ridden :) of course our group was about 100 people so we had to wait to ride them. Instead we broke into groups and ours hopped into vans and took a dirt path up to a little Berber Village where we were welcomed into the "home" of the Berber people! All these little houses reminded me of the stucco houses in New Mexico (made out of red mud pretty much). When we went in the lady first showed us their little "Turkish bath" outside which looked like a little dome and underneath it they lit a fire so the water would get warm. It was interesting for sure. Then we went into the main area where they had a little garden and tables. We made our way to the dinning rooms where there were cushions set up next to short little tables :) It was adorable! They brought us out some water (it was pretty hot... 120 degrees outside!) while we waited for food. Of course everyone needed to use the restroom... but some changed their minds once they saw them!
I don't think I have written about the bathrooms in these countries... believe it or not, this is definitely a part of the experience when traveling abroad! So most of the countries weren't that bad... actually the worst in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Croatia was really trying to figure out how to flush the toilet! Sometimes there were strings above the toilets to pull... other times you had to hunt for a button to push, which could be on the left or right of the toilet, behind it or even on the floor! Oh and sometimes there would be 2 buttons... which i latter figured out was for #1 and #2... I think you know what I mean. OH and they weren't very common, you were ALWAYS encouraged to bring your own toilet paper AND you had to pay for them!! CRAZY!!! And then there were the other countries... dun dun dun!!! Oh yes these were the ones we really held it :) The oddest ones looked like regular toilets until you discovered there was no seat! It was very low and all you have to really do is squat! Not the most comfortable thing in the world! Oh yeah! Those were the oddest UNTIL MOROCCO! And welcome back to the little "house" in the Berber Villages! We headed to the restroom (packet of tp in my pocket) where we basically opened the door to 2 buckets, a place where your feet obviously had to go, and a hole in the floor! Wow! Talk about culture shock! Yup you had to really squat on this one... and thankfully we had our packets of TP with us because the actual stash of tp that was provided was in an very inconvenient location. Some of these students were totally mortified by this toilet!! It was a very interesting experience to say the least! so good!
Ok after washing our hands (then thoroughly hand sanitizing because we weren't supposed to trust the water) we each sat back down for our homemade meal! The first dish was brought out in the clay dish with something like a tee-pee clay on top! We opened it up and a big hugemungus dish of cus cus which was like little beads of yellow rice with turkey which was soaked in some type of spice sauce and it was all topped with a strong sweet cinnamon covered noodles! They gave us no utensils and we ate it with our hands ;) Yummy! Then once we were all full they took our dishes away... then we waited around trying to figure out what to do, when they came back with another dish!!! It was meatballs in egg with some yummy yummy tomato sauce with spices :) they brought out bread and we attacked it! Then found out that it was still steaming hot so we burned our mouths... but we stuck with it because it was that good!! MMmmm! Then the other group came back and it was our turn to ride the camels!!! We got out there and the guide called me over and asked if I spoke French... which I don't then he asked me if I spoke Spanish and I said I did so he had a conversation then he called me Spanish lady for the rest of the trip :) Once the other group got off of the camels the guy called "Spanish lady!" to have me jump on the camel! :) Of course everyone had their cameras out! I got on mine and he jumped right up and I wasn't quite ready for it! I was holding on with one hand and thankfully had my balance because I almost fell off :) once everyone was on we walked through the palm groves of the Berber villages :) It was really neat... and another moment where I was pinching myself! I was on a camel... in Morocco... in Africa!!! Freaking Awesome!!! We road around for about 45 minutes and ended back at the house where we were welcomed back with orange slices covered in cinnamon (its the traditional spice) and traditional Moroccan tea! BTW tea over there is like sugar in water and a couple of leaves! Sweet!! :) Afterwards we all headed to our gorgeous hotel and relaxed for the evening. Around 7 pm we were all somehow starving! And we didn't have dinner until 8 pm... It was crazy! Then I realized that the hotel waits till 8 to serve us because they are breaking fast at 7:30 pm... They hadn't eaten ALL DAY... and here we were all hungry after waiting 5 hours! It was very eye opening :) When we finally got down to dinner it was all traditional Moroccan food :) indeed more cus cus and more! Afterwards, Rich (our security officer on the ship), Debbie (his amazing wife), Melissa (my friend from the Teachers at Sea program and roommate), and I headed out for an evening stroll :) It was nice!
Then the next day we headed out to go see some really great sites :) Including a gorgeous palace, another mosque, an interesting pond, and another Moroccan meal! This one had us waking in with a welcoming song :) They had a band lined up as we walked in it was very kewl! :) once we found our seats we wanted to GO wash our hands... but that's not how they do it here! They brought the washing of the hands to us! The put a bowl in the middle of our table and pored water out of a water kettle so we could wash our hands :) It was nice! Then they brought out our finger food :) This was all different than the other meals! The main food was some sort of dough fried chicken (yummm) which you dunked into the 8 different dishes around the main plate :) mmmmm! This time we saved room for desert where they brought out our... idk what to call it but it was smothered in melted icing and cinnamon of course :) So good! Afterwards they did an little show for us bringing the band back out and had their dancers come out and sing to us! It was wonderful!!!
The remainder of the day was spent shopping about in the souks of Marrakesh :D It was a blast!! Our amazing tour guide gave us some tips on how to bargain and some prices for certain things :) I started out really nervous and I couldn't really get the hang of it. So we took a little break and decided to check out the snake charmers :) I marched strait up to them and played with the snakes as the guy played his flute :) Melissa was pretty nervous but she did hold the snake! Then it was monkey time!!! I'ma tell this whole story :) Our guide had told us that 10 Durham would be enough to hold a monkey or snake... so I went up to the monkey guy and showed him my 10 DRM and said "this much?" and he said "no no Its ok" and made me put it away... I figured hey I showed him what I have so I went on... and he gave me the monkey :) It was a lot heavier than I ever expected! I played with him a little while then I gave him back to the guy. I offered him my 10 DRM and he said "no!" I said, "to pay for the monkey" and he said "no... paper" which meant he wanted more money! I said "this is how much I have" he tried to get my friends to give him more money... I said "this is all we have" and put it in his ands and left! That's how you do it! Other people were paying 50 DRM! My other friend said they put the monkey on her unexpectedly and they told her they had to pay her 100 DRM to get it off and she did! I guess they take advantage of people who are afraid! Anyhow, after that I felt pretty confident and Melissa and I got pretty good at bargaining! I was pretty proud :) Of course after a while we headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed! The next day we headed back to our ship (we raced the rest of the buses back so we didn't have to wait forever to board). That evening I went out with Chris to go check out Rick's Cafe from the movie "Casablanca!" It was fun! Although they did not have the little old piano like the one in the movie. This was also pretty much the only place to get a drink or eat in Casablanca so everyone from the ship was there :) Afterwards we walked back to the Mosque II... and it was prayer time! It was a whole different view of the place. It was dark and lit up so it was a different kind of pretty! I was there for call to prayer in the day time that first day and I wondered if they would ever use the whole court yard for prayer... well this was that time! I couldn't believe how packed this place was. They were all out praying together! It makes me very curious for this religion! It was beautiful! After this we walked back home to the ship and I suddenly realized that this was my last night on land in a foreign country for a while!! It was a crazy feeling!
Our last day in Morocco some of us staff members all went out to the souk in Casablanca just to enjoy the views one more time!! This was the day we all went out to find... well at this point I've forgoten her name, but she was the best person for Henna Tattoos... It was very pretty :) I only have a tinny little it of it left on my ankle now. It was wonderful just hanging out with everyone on land exploring a foreign city one last time!!! Before I headed back I left the group to call my friends for their graduation and their birthday :) It was fun trying to figure out their pay phones! Then I realized I still had 100 DRM to spend (it's really only like $10). So I went back into the souk and found a little shop where I found a great shop keeper and his sister who I had a great conversation with and he gave me a great deal on a little outfit :) at the end he said he wished I were there just one more day so he could break fast with him and his family (they recommend that we do this with someone as a part of the Moroccan experience). I told him if I were ever back in Morocco, that I would give him a call :) I will!
Then it was close to my on ship time... and I had to head back :( I didn't want to go!!! but I did... realizing that that could be the last time I board the ship! ...of course I wont let that happen! I will return! :D
Sea ya latter,
~Jenni
