So I'm currently sitting on the train traveling from our port in Civitavecchia to Rome where I'll be until Saturday I think (not totally sure what today is) so I figured what better to do than blog about my time in Morocco
Morocco was our first port out of Europe so it was instantly quite the culture shock. The security level on the ship was higher so each student, staff, and crew member had to go to the union to get their passport face to face with customs workers from Morocco. Definitely different than the usual. After getting our passports we met on the 7th deck because I had signed up for a 4 day camel trek through SAS. There were a total of ninety of us on the ship and two professors as "chaperones".
They happened to also be my ship "parents" not sure if I've mentioned these before. At the beginning of the voyage you can sign up for a family and they pair you with a "parent" who is a professor or some other adult on the ship and you have about 5 or 6 "siblings" and you occasionally meet for dinners or game nights. My "dad" is a professor and his wife is also one on the ship so they combined our families.
Anyways we got onto our buses to set out for our Moroccan adventures. The first day we drove about 3 hours from Casablanca to Marrakech then stopped for lunch. It was definitely a very touristy place there were drummers and belly dancers and we all sat at huge round tables. There were a bunch of other Bentley girls on the trip who we sat with, we also say with some new girls I'd never met. The food was pretty good a "salad" which consists of small plates of different foods like cucumbers, eggplants, rice, etc. then we had chicken tajim (sp?) it's pretty much chicken on the bone with spices with a little sauce and vegetables all in this dish with a cone cover. All of the meals in morocco are shared around the table rather than individual plates for everyone. Dessert was fruits, I generally avoided the fruit we were given after hearing warnings about the Moroccan water and people getting sick from it.
After lunch it was back on the buses for another few hours. At this point we were driving through the Atlas Mountains which was both horrifying and incredible. For hours we were driving (slightly recklessly) along the edge of a massive mountain the sights were incredible, the mountains went on for miles and there were all these tiny Berber villages scattered inside of them. We made a pitstop after some time at a little place on the side of the mountain. There, we went into a small shop that made Moroccan oil which was really cool, one of my friends even got to help make it.
We eventually got to our hotel in Ouzarate (sp?) at like 8 for a total of ten hours on the bus the first day. They brought us out to a dinner restaurant that was again very showy. This time we got soup, more chicken tajim, and this dish that was like a giant pastry like fried dough covered in cinnamon but that was filled with shredded seasoned chicken. It wasn't necessarily bad, just definitely not what I'm used to at all. The whole time performers were playing drums and women were dancing. They even pulled some other students out to join in, some of the guys were putting their robes on the guy students. After dinner was over we went back to our hotel and passed out, luckily for Sydney and I our room was not infested with bugs like most people's. I guess that's morocco for you.
Next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. This consisted of mostly bread things and jelly and honey, not bad but I could go for some eggs that are actually made from eggs as opposed to the shit they serve on the ship. Next was time to get back on the bus for another 3 hours when we got to our next food stop. If this sounds like I basically rode hours on a bus to go eat meals around morocco I agree, it got old pretty quickly. This lunch was underneath tents outside around a pool. We had another salad thing, more chicken tajim (I think that's all they eat), and more fruit for dessert. The place also had a shop so we could pick up stuff to wear for our camel trek. I got a turban and a pair of harem pants which are the most comfortable things of all time. Some kids went all out and bought robes and shit but I wasn't into that.
Our next bus ride was to the place we got on our camels, it was pretty short, only about 2 or 3 hours. We got to the place and there were a bunch of Moroccan guys who would lead us on our camels, usually groups of 3 or 4. We got up on them and took off at a leisurely pace to our nomad camp in the Sahara Desert where we would be sleeping. It was about an hour and a half. I know that riding a camel sounds super cool and don't get me wrong, it totally is, but it is also so damn painful, I'm actually still a little sore. We got to our nomad camp which was surrounded by big sand hills. It had a huge circle of fairly nice tents with rugs under them and a huge one with tables to eat inside . There was also a bathroom with a couple actual toilets and a sink which I was surprised about. The guys got to sleep inside the nice tents where the beds had bedding and bed frames. The girls were all put in small white tents set up in a circle on the outskirts of the camp, our "mattresses" were more like rocks with a thin sheet. I didn't mind it too much since it made me feel more like I was roughing it in a nomad camp. We arrived there just before sunset so we all hiked up a huge sand dune to watch it. It was cloudy so we didn't get a great view but being up there was amazing. You could see out for miles and the sand was the softest thing I've ever felt. There were actually more plants there than I'd expected, I thought I'd be seeing desolate land but there were a decent amount of little plants scattered around. Luckily no snakes or scorpions that I saw (some kids saw baby scorpions). After the sun set we went down to have dinner it was more soup, chicken tajim, and fruit. That night we sat around a big fire they made as the nomads played drums and sang. As time went on some SAS kids were playing with the drums and teaching the nomads some American songs, they really liked it it was a pretty fun night overall. I went back up the dune and sat talking to some kids for a while, unfortunately we couldn't see the stars very well because of the clouds but it was still really cool.
The next morning we woke up at like 6 to watch the sunrise. There was another large dune on the opposite side of the camp that all of us sat on to watch it. Like before, it was still pretty cloudy but what we could see was really pretty. We then had breakfast which was mostly just bread like before, the flies were so bad though so I didn't really eat too much. After eating it was back on the camels to ride to the bus. It was a pretty quiet ride, mostly because people were so sore from riding and exhausted from the trip so far. We spent most of the day driving back through the Atlas Mountains again. There was a point where we were stopped for a half hour because school students were striking in the middle of the road. We found out it was because they have to walk an outrageous distance to school with no access to a bus. They ended up calling the authorities and police and the mayor (or whatever they call it) of the city came and paid each student 600 dirham which is equal to about 50 or so bucks at home... I need to start protesting. After that we ended up going to lunch. We actually didn't have chicken tajim this time we got skewers of chicken and beef which were pretty good. They also brought out French fries which was amazing especially after all the traditional Moroccan food we'd been having. We got back on the bus after eating and got to Marrakech pretty late where we'd be staying the night. Before we got to our hotel we went to dinner. It was another traditional place, more salad more chicken tajim. There wasn't much that was super exciting about it, it was really pretty and they only had a man playing guitar, no performers in our faces which was a good change. After dinner we went to our hotel, it was much nicer than our other one which was good. Some kids went out but I was too tired to function plus I didn't feel great from the food, we just stayed in and watched some Arab Idol which, fun fact, is sponsored by KFC and Oreos.
The next morning we got to go to the huge market to shop before going back to Casablanca. It was so cool I probably could've spent like 4 weeks there without getting bored. There's probably thousands of stands and mini stores selling all different kinds of stuff. There's scarves, pants, jewelry, artwork, spices, bags, I could go on forever. A lot of it is actually all the same stuff. The best part about it is that you gaggle a price, it's actually considered rude to take the first price they give you because it's basically you saying you're too good for them. As you're walking by the shopkeepers are trying anything to get you into their store, they say everything is "special student price" or "special only for you." A lot of the blonde girls (since they're so rare around there) got some interesting stuff to, one of my friends was asked how many camels she would sell our blonde friend for. Another guy offered everything in his store for free if one of my friends would go have tea at his house for one hour. The best deal I was able to negotiate was two scarves that should've been 550 dirhams for 250. I wish shopping was always like that. After we spent a few hours exploring the market we headed out of Marrakech to get back to the ship. It was really great to finally be home after that exhausting trip.
Morocco was such a culture shock for all of us. It was so cool though, it made me sad that we aren't going to Senegal or Ghana anymore. I think of totally go back, especially to Marrakech. It did make me never want to see another bus or piece of chicken again in my life though.
From the time I started writing this to right now I've experienced the greatness Italy has to offer, I'll try to get that blog up tomorrow because we will be in Barcelona on Monday.
Missing you all at home, Thursday was our halfway point of the voyage which was really depressing, I'm not sure I ever want to leave.
Morocco was our first port out of Europe so it was instantly quite the culture shock. The security level on the ship was higher so each student, staff, and crew member had to go to the union to get their passport face to face with customs workers from Morocco. Definitely different than the usual. After getting our passports we met on the 7th deck because I had signed up for a 4 day camel trek through SAS. There were a total of ninety of us on the ship and two professors as "chaperones".
They happened to also be my ship "parents" not sure if I've mentioned these before. At the beginning of the voyage you can sign up for a family and they pair you with a "parent" who is a professor or some other adult on the ship and you have about 5 or 6 "siblings" and you occasionally meet for dinners or game nights. My "dad" is a professor and his wife is also one on the ship so they combined our families.
Anyways we got onto our buses to set out for our Moroccan adventures. The first day we drove about 3 hours from Casablanca to Marrakech then stopped for lunch. It was definitely a very touristy place there were drummers and belly dancers and we all sat at huge round tables. There were a bunch of other Bentley girls on the trip who we sat with, we also say with some new girls I'd never met. The food was pretty good a "salad" which consists of small plates of different foods like cucumbers, eggplants, rice, etc. then we had chicken tajim (sp?) it's pretty much chicken on the bone with spices with a little sauce and vegetables all in this dish with a cone cover. All of the meals in morocco are shared around the table rather than individual plates for everyone. Dessert was fruits, I generally avoided the fruit we were given after hearing warnings about the Moroccan water and people getting sick from it.
After lunch it was back on the buses for another few hours. At this point we were driving through the Atlas Mountains which was both horrifying and incredible. For hours we were driving (slightly recklessly) along the edge of a massive mountain the sights were incredible, the mountains went on for miles and there were all these tiny Berber villages scattered inside of them. We made a pitstop after some time at a little place on the side of the mountain. There, we went into a small shop that made Moroccan oil which was really cool, one of my friends even got to help make it.
We eventually got to our hotel in Ouzarate (sp?) at like 8 for a total of ten hours on the bus the first day. They brought us out to a dinner restaurant that was again very showy. This time we got soup, more chicken tajim, and this dish that was like a giant pastry like fried dough covered in cinnamon but that was filled with shredded seasoned chicken. It wasn't necessarily bad, just definitely not what I'm used to at all. The whole time performers were playing drums and women were dancing. They even pulled some other students out to join in, some of the guys were putting their robes on the guy students. After dinner was over we went back to our hotel and passed out, luckily for Sydney and I our room was not infested with bugs like most people's. I guess that's morocco for you.
Next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. This consisted of mostly bread things and jelly and honey, not bad but I could go for some eggs that are actually made from eggs as opposed to the shit they serve on the ship. Next was time to get back on the bus for another 3 hours when we got to our next food stop. If this sounds like I basically rode hours on a bus to go eat meals around morocco I agree, it got old pretty quickly. This lunch was underneath tents outside around a pool. We had another salad thing, more chicken tajim (I think that's all they eat), and more fruit for dessert. The place also had a shop so we could pick up stuff to wear for our camel trek. I got a turban and a pair of harem pants which are the most comfortable things of all time. Some kids went all out and bought robes and shit but I wasn't into that.
Our next bus ride was to the place we got on our camels, it was pretty short, only about 2 or 3 hours. We got to the place and there were a bunch of Moroccan guys who would lead us on our camels, usually groups of 3 or 4. We got up on them and took off at a leisurely pace to our nomad camp in the Sahara Desert where we would be sleeping. It was about an hour and a half. I know that riding a camel sounds super cool and don't get me wrong, it totally is, but it is also so damn painful, I'm actually still a little sore. We got to our nomad camp which was surrounded by big sand hills. It had a huge circle of fairly nice tents with rugs under them and a huge one with tables to eat inside . There was also a bathroom with a couple actual toilets and a sink which I was surprised about. The guys got to sleep inside the nice tents where the beds had bedding and bed frames. The girls were all put in small white tents set up in a circle on the outskirts of the camp, our "mattresses" were more like rocks with a thin sheet. I didn't mind it too much since it made me feel more like I was roughing it in a nomad camp. We arrived there just before sunset so we all hiked up a huge sand dune to watch it. It was cloudy so we didn't get a great view but being up there was amazing. You could see out for miles and the sand was the softest thing I've ever felt. There were actually more plants there than I'd expected, I thought I'd be seeing desolate land but there were a decent amount of little plants scattered around. Luckily no snakes or scorpions that I saw (some kids saw baby scorpions). After the sun set we went down to have dinner it was more soup, chicken tajim, and fruit. That night we sat around a big fire they made as the nomads played drums and sang. As time went on some SAS kids were playing with the drums and teaching the nomads some American songs, they really liked it it was a pretty fun night overall. I went back up the dune and sat talking to some kids for a while, unfortunately we couldn't see the stars very well because of the clouds but it was still really cool.
The next morning we woke up at like 6 to watch the sunrise. There was another large dune on the opposite side of the camp that all of us sat on to watch it. Like before, it was still pretty cloudy but what we could see was really pretty. We then had breakfast which was mostly just bread like before, the flies were so bad though so I didn't really eat too much. After eating it was back on the camels to ride to the bus. It was a pretty quiet ride, mostly because people were so sore from riding and exhausted from the trip so far. We spent most of the day driving back through the Atlas Mountains again. There was a point where we were stopped for a half hour because school students were striking in the middle of the road. We found out it was because they have to walk an outrageous distance to school with no access to a bus. They ended up calling the authorities and police and the mayor (or whatever they call it) of the city came and paid each student 600 dirham which is equal to about 50 or so bucks at home... I need to start protesting. After that we ended up going to lunch. We actually didn't have chicken tajim this time we got skewers of chicken and beef which were pretty good. They also brought out French fries which was amazing especially after all the traditional Moroccan food we'd been having. We got back on the bus after eating and got to Marrakech pretty late where we'd be staying the night. Before we got to our hotel we went to dinner. It was another traditional place, more salad more chicken tajim. There wasn't much that was super exciting about it, it was really pretty and they only had a man playing guitar, no performers in our faces which was a good change. After dinner we went to our hotel, it was much nicer than our other one which was good. Some kids went out but I was too tired to function plus I didn't feel great from the food, we just stayed in and watched some Arab Idol which, fun fact, is sponsored by KFC and Oreos.
The next morning we got to go to the huge market to shop before going back to Casablanca. It was so cool I probably could've spent like 4 weeks there without getting bored. There's probably thousands of stands and mini stores selling all different kinds of stuff. There's scarves, pants, jewelry, artwork, spices, bags, I could go on forever. A lot of it is actually all the same stuff. The best part about it is that you gaggle a price, it's actually considered rude to take the first price they give you because it's basically you saying you're too good for them. As you're walking by the shopkeepers are trying anything to get you into their store, they say everything is "special student price" or "special only for you." A lot of the blonde girls (since they're so rare around there) got some interesting stuff to, one of my friends was asked how many camels she would sell our blonde friend for. Another guy offered everything in his store for free if one of my friends would go have tea at his house for one hour. The best deal I was able to negotiate was two scarves that should've been 550 dirhams for 250. I wish shopping was always like that. After we spent a few hours exploring the market we headed out of Marrakech to get back to the ship. It was really great to finally be home after that exhausting trip.
Morocco was such a culture shock for all of us. It was so cool though, it made me sad that we aren't going to Senegal or Ghana anymore. I think of totally go back, especially to Marrakech. It did make me never want to see another bus or piece of chicken again in my life though.
From the time I started writing this to right now I've experienced the greatness Italy has to offer, I'll try to get that blog up tomorrow because we will be in Barcelona on Monday.
Missing you all at home, Thursday was our halfway point of the voyage which was really depressing, I'm not sure I ever want to leave.
Your trip there sounded interesting to say the least. I didn't hear mention of your Uncle's rug!! You may not want to leave but we can't wait for you to come home. Love and miss you! Nana
ReplyDeleteThat was some experience! Hope you realize how lucky you are. This stop is a totally different culture. I would love it! Keep these coming. We are enjoying them so much. Can't wait to hear about Italy! Love you, xoxo
ReplyDeleteSounded amazing Tori!! We r Missing u too u are making Briana excited about her abroad trip next year!! Lots of love Auntie
ReplyDelete