Morocco

Shalom!

So in the past few weeks I’ve stepped foot on three continents: North America, Europe, and now Africa—specifically, Morocco! I thoroughly enjoyed everything in Morocco from the food especially—unlimited bread at every meal, to bargaining in the markets, riding camels, watching sunsets and stargazing from sand dunes, dodging mopeds (and cars for that matter), and getting to know some nomads, all in four days. By the last day however, I was ready to leave and be back on the ship with clean water, flushing toilets, and showers. Oh the simple things of life! Upon arrival in Casablanca on September 10th, several of us took a train to Rabat, a city about an hour up the coast. A few things I noticed initially that added to the culture shock that most of us experienced: 1) Traffic is crazy! There seems to be no sense of order in their driving, making street crossing a major challenge. 2) Everyone rides a moped. Sometimes entire families (2 adults, 2 kids) are squeezed onto one. 3) Sidewalks, if any, are in very poor condition. 4) There are extreme levels of poverty as well as extreme levels of wealth. In Rabat we walked around the market which consisted of a center square/Medina and several side streets packed with people and vendors—slightly overwhelming and important to stay with a group. We got our first taste of a Moroccan dinner, which lasted over two hours. Communication was difficult and we never really knew what to expect as our waiter kept bringing us food that we didn’t order (orange juice, then soup, bread, tea, and finally the menus that had chicken or beef dishes). Fortunately, the food was really good and the bill was fairly reasonable. Our train back was only 45 minutes delayed, a minor problem compared to others who had stories of their trains being cancelled or broken down over the next few days.

The next morning began our real adventure to Marrakech, the Sahara, and the Nomad camp. It was a trip organized through SAS with 90 students, professors, kids, and lifelong learners. Our first day included a 4 hour bus ride to Marrakech, lunch (orange juice, vegetables, couscous, beef, carrots, and potatoes), a tour of the Medina, which was my first introduction to snake charmers and pet monkeys. They were everywhere! Yay for snakes around my neck and monkeys being put on my shoulder. We also visited a pharmacy shop with lots of natural herbs, spices, creams, lotions, oils. I bought some mint tea (dried mint leaves), which I grew very fond of while there. Later on, all 90 of us made our way through the narrow streets of Marrakech, and entered a restaurant through a small brown door (never would have guessed it was a nice restaurant on the inside). Once inside, it opened up into a huge, beautifully decorated room with lots of candles, tables, and chandeliers. Dinner that night included lots of bread, vegetables, olives, chicken and lemon (a popular Moroccan dish), and a flaky, pastry like cake with a yogurt frosting that was absolutely delectable. And let’s not forget the belly dancing show afterwards. What a treat.

The following day we drove eight hours (seemed like much longer) to the city of Zagora and then on to the Sahara desert (Sahara actually means desert, so it’s correct to just refer to it as the Sahara). We saw much of the Moroccan landscape, from small cities and villages, to mountains and groves of date trees. After reaching the dunes by sunset, running up and down them, and taking pictures, we found the Nomad camp which was going to be our home for the night. We were literally in the middle of the desert in a small camp of around 20 tents (each with six mattresses, blankets, and pillows) arranged in a rectangle. The space in the middle around the fire pit was covered with large rugs and there were two large dinner tents. We were welcomed into the camp by singing, chanting, and dancing nomads, and offered unlimited mint tea before eating dinner. After dinner we continued dancing around the fire. Around 11 everyone started to settle down and a few of us wandered outside the camp to stargaze from the dunes. It was even more incredible than stargazing from the ship and something that I wish could be captured. But I guess the beauty is in being there, at that moment, amazed by the splendor of the heavens. A little while later, we realized that just beyond us there were sleeping camels. More than a few…almost 100! They were spending the night there for our early morning camel trek the next morning. We were able to talk to one of the nearby camel guides, named Shokalu, meet his camel Nemon, and take tons of pictures. It was honestly such a cool experience—just sitting with Shokalu on his blanket and talking to him about his life, family, and camels, was something I never imagined I’d be doing. When we returned to the tents, we found everyone with their mattresses pulled outside their tents into the middle section so we promptly did the same and slept under the stars in the middle of the Sahara. Guess I can cross that off my bucket list! After watching the sunrise the following morning, we set off on our hour and a half long camel trek through the desert, small villages, and tree groves (mostly date trees…picked and ate fresh dates while riding my camel, whose name was KooKoo).

We had a long, smelly bus ride back to Marrakech where we spent another night. This time we ventured into the markets in the evening to do some shopping. You would have thought it was New Year’s or something—so many people! Quite overwhelming. A group of us decided to grab some pizza before starting our shopping. We all made several purchases. My bargaining skills need improvement, but overall I feel like I got some good deals on hand painted dishes, scarves, pants, a “magic” dress, and a little lantern. The next day we were back in Casablanca and oh so happy to see the ship. Many of us went out that night to a nearby hotel to use wifi. On our final day there, the only thing on our agenda was to see the Hassan II mosque, just a short walk from the ship. It is the largest mosque in Morocco, fifth largest in the world, and it is absolutely beautiful! What was truly eye opening was walking past the slums just before reaching the mosque—such poverty next to such luxury. The only explanation is really the importance of Islam to the people. Their religion was very prevalent through the call to prayer we heard several times a day, the number of mosques/minarets visible everywhere, and the distinctive Muslim dress. We were all very conservative in our dress the whole time we were in Morocco out of respect for their culture and to avoid unnecessary attention. After making a few more purchases in the market with our remaining Dirhams, mailing postcards, and spending some time on the internet, we boarded the ship. We set sail at 8:00pm, destined for Ghana!

We’ve been back on the ship now for a few days and after 10 days of traveling in Spain and Morocco, most of us forgot what school was….let alone homework! I aced my first test in World Religions, had dinner with my new “family” (they pair students with lifelong learners/faculty on the ship and mine is the nurse practitioner, her husband, and three children), joined a Bible Study, and almost won a pull-up contest. Tomorrow (Wednesday), we arrive in Ghana. This experience continues to be even better than I expected and I am truly thankful for this opportunity. I hope to be able to post pictures of Morocco at some point while I’m in Ghana…there are some good ones! Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers.