Of all the Gin Joints in all the World, I walked into the right one!

It is hard to believe that just three days ago, I took my first step onto African soil.  In those three days, I feel like I have experienced more than I can even describe.  Morocco, despite all the frustrations, has been the experience of a life time and this is only the first port!

As I disembarked from the ship on Saturday (Sept. 3) morning, I knew I was in for the adventure of a lifetime.  This being our first port, everyone was stirring with excitement to leave the ship after a week of sailing and finally explore what we all came here fore.  My roommate Stephanie and I had made plans to take a three hour train ride to Marrakech- where Sex in the City 2 was filmed- and get massages from the same spa.  We meet up with 5 other people who are heading to Marrakech as well, and all decide to take the train together.  We stop at the ATM, get a taxi, and arrive at the train station with plenty of time to spare.  When we go to buy our tickets, they inform us that 1^st class is all sold out, so we take the 2^nd class tickets and hop on the train.  There isn’t a big price difference in US dollars (maybe $4) between 1^st and 2^nd class, but there is  HUGE difference in comfort.  Steph and I are lucky to find seats in the car, but the other people in our party have to stand for the first 2hours in a packed car with no air conditioning.  Despite sweating up a storm and listening to numerous conversations between angry passengers in rapid Arabic, I enjoyed people watching for 3 hours in this vastly different culture.  One man in his early 20s was sitting next to me, and he didn’t speak a word of English nor I Arabic.  With a smile and a nod, he offered me a cookie that looked like the Arabic version of an uh-oh Oreo.  I was hot, starving, and curious so I accepted his offer by responding with the one word in Arabic that I do know - shukran – thank you. (I have since then picked up quite a few more sayings).  It was a pretty good cookie, and it was my first experience that opened my eyes to the fact that despite any cultural differences or language barriers, something like kindness and a smile are universal. 

Three hot hours later, we arrive in Marrakech and catch a taxi to Nikki Beach, which is the spa we are going for massages.  The taxi driver speaks only French and Arabic, but between Steph and I we are able to tell him exactly where we are going and agree on a price to take us there.  We drive to the outskirts if the city, and arrive in this resort area that looked like a desert Eden.  White marble lined the walkway up to the resort reception, and once we stepped inside we realized that this was Heaven.  It was the most beautiful spa I have ever seen in my life!  Men were pulling up in Ferraris, women were dressed in designer from head to toe, and everything was in French (which immediately classes it up!).  Again, with just enough French to get us by, Steph and I decide to get 75 minute Swedish massages for just over $100 USD.  It was a bit pricey, but I justified it by making it my early birthday present to myself.  Normally I wouldn’t spend that much money on a massage, but seeing as how I was in Africa at the same spa I Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda had been to, I had to do it.  I immediately realized that this was the BEST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE!  For 75 minutes, I was in absolute heaven!  First of all, I have never felt that classy in literally my entire life and it was by far the best massage I have ever had!  We left the spa feeling more relaxed and ready to take on the world, seeing as how we were literally about to! 

After we left our little peace of African heaven, we catch a cab to the old medina where the sook (African market, like a night market for all my Chinese people!) is located.  It is also the same sook that is in Sex in the City 2 where Carrie saw Aiden!  All the goods are incredibly hand made and so cheap!  I learned some pretty valuable bargaining skills very quickly, and managed to get a hand made silk scarf down from 150 Dirham (Moroccan currency) to 30!  That is like $4 US!  We stopped for some food, and I had the best orange juice I have ever had in my life!  It was freshly squeezed, pure OJ!  The market is basically a circus where everyone comes to shop, eat, and socialize.  There were snake charmers, monkeys on leashes, and women offering henna to anyone who would accept.  It was pure chaos, and I loved every second of it.  We left the Moroccan market and headed towards the train station, where we would meet up with the rest of our group and catch the train back on home.  This time, we were in the first class cabin and met a women who went to Ohio State University, and now runs a study abroad program and lives in Morocco with her husband.  She was telling us all about her traveling adventures (she has been to over 50 countries!), giving us advice for what to do, and passing along some very valuable words of wisdom.

After a short, but very restful night’ sleep,  I wake up at 6 and get ready to head to Rabat with a Semester at Sea sponsored trip.  We have a guided tour of the city, and after the hour and a half bus ride we stop at the Royal Palace of Morocco where King Hassan II lives.  The palace is a white sand stone structure with incredible detailing and handcrafted tiles.  It is in every way fit for a king!  Next we head to the Roman ruins where the Roman army had built fortress walls surrounding the city.  This fortress was built in 25 A.D. and is so well preserved the details in the walls are still as visible today as they were in their original capacity.  Walking around the ruins, I could feel the history that the walls held.  It was so beautiful it literally brought a tear to my eye!

After our delicious lunch of cous cous and Moroccan wine, we head to the Mosoleum of Mohammed V, the father of the current king.  Again, the level of detail and the intricacy of design were absolutely breathtaking.  This country has such beautiful architecture and culture, it opened my eyes in a whole new light about the Muslim culture and the world as a whole.  We ended our trip in Rabat by going to the Casbah, which was the old Jewish quarter.  It has a very Mediterranean feel to it and has a breathtaking view of the Atlantic!  After taking an unnecessary amount of pictures, we head back on the bus to Casablanca and return home to our ship!  Most people on the ship had left for an overnight camel track, so those of us who went to Rabat get together and decide to go out for dinner and drinks in Casablanca.  Right by the port is a restaurant called Jimmy’s, and it looked pretty nice inside so we checked it out!  First thing we notice are the posters hanging on the wall of Rolling Stone Magazine, Pulp Fiction, Johnny Depp, and the NYC Skyline!  For such an “American” place, we were the only Americans there!  Smoking is allowed literally everywhere in Morocco (even on the trains!) and so that is a bit different, but we all love the new atmosphere and embrace the fact that we are in Africa living it up for four months!  (Mom and Dad, close your eyes!)  So I order a chocolate molten cake, which was another great decision and a mojito!  The best part is that it only cost me $10 US, which is unheard of for drinks and dessert!  At this point there are 4 girls including myself and we are all having a great time!  None of us had really met prior to the trip to Rabat, but the nature of this program allows you to get close to someone in a matter of seconds.  We all decide to get some more drinks and stay there for another hour or so talking.  Around midnight, we call it a night and head back to the ship.  After an amazing day of having the greatest time with 3 girls I just met, I get back to my cabin, turn on Blue Planet (one of the 3 movies that is constantly playing) and finally sleep.

On day three, I meet up with some friends and head out to catch a train to Fes.  We again sit second class, but we luck out and the train is practically empty!  Thank god too, because this train ride was 4 hours!  We get to the city and catch a cab to the city center.  None of us have a map and don’t know excactly where the sook it that we want to go to, but we just tell the cab driver to take us to the market and we were off.  As soon as we get out, men start harassing us offering to guide us through the medina labrynth in order to get to the sook, that is located in the middle of the old city.  Of course, we deny all the offers.  However, we are completely lost in this ancient maze of allies and narrow walkways, and we decide to ask the first man who had offered if he is able to show us around.  Typically men will guide tourists around the city as a way to make money, because this is how much of the middle-poor and poor classes make their living.  Yosef (our guide) however told us that he didn’t want any money; he simply wanted to help us out as one friend to another.  In the Muslim culture as I have learned, people refer to each other as brother and sister as a sign of respect; they truly want to help others whenever possible.  This type of compassion is drastically different than what I am used to in the states, none of us believed he wanted to help solely out of kindness.  When we asked what we could get him, all asked for was as a pack of cigarettes.  Still shocked, we get him a pack and we are off navigating through the walled labrynth towards the sook.  Along the way, he takes us to all these stores and shops where artisans are crafting doors, rugs, and other handmade goods they will sell in the sook.  The medina (walled city) is an area where the poor classes live and work by selling goods in the market right outside their homes.  Everyone knows each other as well, and reputation is vital in doing business with one another.  Yosef takes us to this restaurant that is on top of his friends house and is overlooking the entire city of Fes.  From here, we can see castles on the hills, a royal palace, ancient ruins, and miles and miles of houses.  For $8 US, I had one of the best meals of my entire life!  Of course, we pay for Yosef’s lunch as well because we wanted to thank him for being so hospitable since we were used to getting ripped off because we were American tourists.  After lunch, he takes us to the 4^th oldest tannery in the entire world, which is located in the middle of the medina.  The family who lives and works there teaches us about the process of making leather, and we all get some amazing handcrafted leather goods for insanely cheap prices!  I got two leather wallets for only $40 US!  I still can’t believe how cheap everything is!  Then we reach the sook and get lost in all the commotion of the market.  There are donkeys walking down the narrow cobblestone walkways, Arabic is flying around everywhere, kids are running past us playing soccer, and we are in the middle of all of this trying to bargain down all the goods that we want.  I must say that I have gotten pretty good at the whole bargaining thing because I got a beautiful sheep wool jacket for less than $30 US!  I love Morocco because here I can afford my shopping addiction all the time!  We all score some amazing deals in the market, and we head back to catch the train to Casablanca.  We hug Yosef goodbye, thank him for an amazing day, and are truly transformed after uncovering such a vastly different culture.  After this day, I can honestly say I felt changed as I was able to truly live in a different world for one of the most meaningful days of my life.  

The next morning, I woke up and spent my last day in Morocco exploring Casablanca with some of my favorite people on the ship:  Steph, Kyle, Lou, and Valeria.  We see a massive, gorgeous mosque, get drinks at Rick’s Café (from the movie Casablanca!), and end it shopping one last time in the Casablanca market.  We all are having a great time talking as time flies by, and before we know it we have to head back to the ship.  Back on the ship, we get back into the routine of school work and preparing for classes tomorrow.

One port down, eleven more to go.  I had the time of my life in Morocco, and I still can’t believe I am this lucky to be able to have the trip of a lifetime eleven more times.  I am currently en route to Ghana, and I can only dream of how I will be changed again in the next few days!  Au revior for now!