Morocco

Well, my first trip to Africa was a success. Last Wednesday night, I took the bus to Granada, to meet up with another branch of my study abroad program. Our bus left from Granada at 03:00, and I fell asleep until morning.

When I woke up, we were in Algeciras, the Spanish city next to Gibraltar [which actually belongs to Great Britain]. We took the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar at sunrise. I was surprised at how nice the boat was. It was more like a cruise ship; there were bars, shops and a restaurant. I started to make some friends with the Granada folk, as I was the only one there from Madrid. I met a group of Coloradoans and we played some card games to pass the time. About 40 minutes later, we were in Africa. We actually docked in Ceuta, one of two Spanish cities in north Africa, so we weren't yet in Morocco. We then took a super long bus ride down to Fes. There was a lot of driving through arid farmland, and we stopped somewhere along the way for snacks. We watched 300 on the way, and finally made it to our hotel around 19:00. We got a pretty good meal and ate some pretty non-traditional Moroccan food. I did have some pretty good tea, though...but I'll get into that later. Anyway, the group from Colorado and I spent the night in the hotel, sober and playing cards. It felt like high school again, I half expected to play truth or dare later. I joke, it was actually pretty fun. We played some card games on the roof, so that was neat. That night we went to bed, in prep for the next morning.

Before I get to the rest of my trip, I'm going to offer up some background information about Morocco. For one, should you ever go there, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER. Just don't even try. Use bottled water for everything, even brushing your teeth. I knew this before going, but some of my fellow travelers weren't so lucky, as we shall soon see. We continue.

Friday we got up pretty early, and went to the medina. Basically the city center, a medina is full of shops, mosques, baths and workshops. The Fes medina is the largest in the world, boasting thousands upon thousands of narrow streets and corridors. The best part: there are no maps of the medina; if you get lost, you'll have quite a tough time getting out. We had a guide though, and first he led us to one of the oldest pharmacies in the city. It was like being in a dream. There were hundreds upon hundreds of spices, extracts and oils adorning every wall of this place. I could spend a year in this one shop, and never see the same thing twice. The owners gave us a little demonstration of what they had to offer, including cure-all powders, multipurpose creams, teas and curries, among other things. They showed us a root you add to tea that is supposedly "a-good uh, for a-da boom boom." I bought a bunch of spices and and oils and such, they were such good entrepreneurs. We then went to a huge carpet shop. They laid out dozens of rugs of all sizes, and, as is traditional in Morocco, they offered us some of their delicious mint tea. Now, this isn't just any tea, it's the best tea I've ever had. It's sweet, minty and fresh, and it's super light. It typically has a big hunk of mint leaves muddled at the bottom; think hot, virgin mojito. Delicious. Anyway, after we went to lunch and finally got some traditional Moroccan food. We had a lot of vegetables, and an enormous plate in the center of cous-cous and spiced chicken. I must've eaten two pounds of it, it was so good. Stuffed, we went on to a silk shop, and we spent a good chunk of time there, with everyone trying on traditional Moroccan clothing. We then went to a big tannery, and watched as 20 or so workers worked the dye pots [see the above photo]. It was cool to see everything being made as it used to: no machines, no factories, everything made by hand. Afterwards, we left the medina; a successful day of shopping. We got back on the bus and went just outside the medina to a place where they make ceramics. We saw a whole bunch of beautiful tile work, jars, pots, plates and vases. We eventually left and drove an hour or so to Meknes, another city where we were staying. We unloaded once again at the hotel, and most everybody took naps, myself included.

When I woke up, it had started: a few people were missing at dinner. At the time we thought nothing of it, they were probably still sleeping. My new friends and I ate some marginal hotel food, and talked for hours about everything from religion to theoretical physics. We then went to a lounge/bar next door and got Shisha and sat by the pool, talking more and playing cards until the wee hours of the night. It was really relaxing.
The next morning, we learned just what happened to the few missing persons from the night before: they spent the entire night on the toilet vomiting their guts out, among other, more graphic things that I refuse to post in this blog. By morning, they were still sick, looking pretty darn miserable. Don't drink the water. That aside, the rest of us were having a good time. We got on the bus and went to Volubilis, an ancient Roman city, now just a field of ruins. It was pretty neat to see, especially the reconstructed arches and baths. We walked around there for awhile, then took a tour of the old part of Meknes. We went into an old grainery, which looked more like a fortress, and we visited a mosque, which was pretty awesome. We then went to a big banquet-like lunch, and celebrated I'm-not-sure-what. We had good food though, and afterwards I wandered with one of the people from Colorado into a nearby market. It was a much different experience being away from the big group, I liked it a lot more. We just sort of looked around for awhile, and we eventually hiked it back to the bus. We went back to the hotel and crashed for awhile, exhausted from the long day in the sun. Saturday night was pretty much just like Friday night. We went to the same bar, had the same Shisha, and had more deep conversations. I really liked it though, it was really a good way to wind down.

Sunday was a bear of a day, I spent all of it on buses and the ferry. Even more people were throwing up all day, too. Don't drink the water. We left in the morning and didn't get to the Strait of Gibraltar until 17:00 or so. We had to wait a while for the ferry, but it was worth it, for the crossing back into Europe was incredible. On the way to Africa, we had stayed inside the ship, but on the way back we went up on deck. It was beautiful to watch Morocco shrink away as we neared Spain. Even as we docked in Algeciras, you could still see the huge mountains across the strait. Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar by boat: check that one off the bucket list. We drove more, eventually getting to Granada around midnight. What a day. Luckily, I still had six more hours of bus riding to do! Joy. I was going to wait until morning, but I just wanted to get home and jump into a [now] familiar bed. I got a ticket for the next bus to Madrid, and dozed in and out during the trip. I eventually made it home safe and sound.

Now that you know what I have done, I'll share the more important part: what I thought about it.

It was definitely eye-opening to see people living in different conditions. Although there is plenty that could be improved in these peoples' lives, it kind of irritates me when people take pity on them. Sure, they may not have iPads, refrigerators, or electricity for that matter, but these people have been living this way for centuries, and they know a lot more about living than you think. I actually overheard an American girl say "How do they cook if they don't even have electricity?" Come on. I had a conversation with a Moroccan man about his cat, while I was in the medina. He told me how we have so much to learn from animals; how the cat doesn't spend his days worrying about the world, and in turn he lives his entire life in a state of happiness. It was a kind of random, super-meaningful tidbit of wisdom that doesn't come around too often. I like those random tidbits. Also, the people there definitely had something about them that I've never really witnessed. They were all really nice. Brother, friend, they treated you with respect [for the most part] and were always willing to share what they think. I would like to perhaps return to Morocco one day, without the herd of disgusting American tourists, though. I know there are dumb people no matter where you go, but come on. I couldn't believe my ears. Some top favorite [American] quotes from last weekend: "I've been to Mexico, but I'd like to see even more of South America" or [about the Berber's traditional leather-making methods] "OMG Burberry leather!"

Oh well, ignorance is bliss I suppose. I did however find it really nice talking with the Coloradoans. We became pretty quick friends, and I guess we subconsciously knew that we'd most likely never see each other again, so the ultra-deep conversations were wonderful. You usually don't get those kind of talks with people you've just met. Anyway, I think my little excursion to Morocco went well, definitely a life experience.
This week has been pretty hectic, what with taking exams and doing projects and whatnot. Tomorrow we have our last excursion, to Granada, and it will pretty much be the last weekend where we're all in the same place at the same time. Next week is a few more tests, then Malta and Italy, then this trip is coming to a close. I have about 11 days left overseas, and as most things do, it's ending kind of bittersweet. I will save my last thoughts for a little further down the road, though. I'll leave you with another quote, this one given by one of the study abroad directors upon leaving Africa. "Remember what you have seen, for it is absolutely real."

Brian