The rest of my stay in Morocco

Monday, September 14 – Morocco
1:45 am
I have not been writing about Morocco, and there is a decent amount to write! Four days worth of happenings haven’t even been recorded!


As a side note, it seems that all of my friends are on the same page with me with the question of: Where are all the genuine people at?

1st Casablanca day (9.10):
Let me go into more detail about my first Morocco day. I was disappointed from the moment I stepped outside. The port we docked in is on no level attractive. Pictures will explain this better. It had been raining, and it was gloomy. Jackie and I took a tour of Casablanca through Semester at Sea. I actually enjoyed it a bit. We got to go inside the Mosque, which is absolutely beautiful and huge. So huge I couldn’t believe it. (That’s what she said.) The tour guide was funny and kept telling us jokes - which I hope I remember to tell everyone (mother of 6, 4 children = car, polite; for reference).


After the tour, Jackie and I attempted to go to the train station with some other SASers. We had no idea what the makeup of this group consisted of beforehand. It ended up being 5 girls. Jackie and I assumed this group was committed to going to Marrakech, which is why we were going to the train station with them to begin with. We also assumed that there was going to be at least one male in the group - wrong again. Half the girls weren’t 100 percent sure if they wanted to go or not. After walking around Casablanca for about 20 minutes, the group decided to give up on finding the train station and then the group wanted to split from Jackie and I to do their own thing. Thanks, really. Can we mention how overwhelming Morocco is at first? Also, can we talk about the way they drive? There is no solid crossing section for pedestrians - it’s go whenever you see you have the chance. So, I wasn’t very happy with that little excursion to say the least. I was very irritated - insert crying entry here.

A few moments after writing my crying entry, my friends came by to see where I disappeared to. We all chatted about my “deal”, and I calmed down a bit. We ended up going out to smoke hookah with a very large group. Of course the large group thing wasn’t going to work out. Side note: like 70+ SASers all climbed onto the shuttle bus that takes us from the ship to port that night/ I have a video of us getting off the shuttle. Anyways, the big group split up and I was left with Ryan, Jackie, Viki, Vicki and Robin. We eventually found a hookah spot after about 15 minutes of searching. It was pretty cool - we were basically the only women in the bar. I hadn’t smoked hookah in a long time, and it was really interesting to do it in Casablanca. By the end of the night, I felt a little better about Morocco.

2nd day Casablanca (9.11):
Ryan and I spent the afternoon hitting up the internet cafe and skyping our loved ones back home. I was so excited to be able to talk to my mother and Bryent. I had the biggest smile on my face when I left the internet cafe. Talking to them made me feel so much more relaxed and better about the previous day. Ryan and I also got train tickets to and from Marrakech for Jackie and I (Ryan bought his ticket earlier that day, but was escorting me to the train station).


I took Jackie’s SAS field program “evening with a Moroccan family” that night. Groups of about 4 SASers were matched up with families. The father and his children were at the ship to pick us up. We gave them a tour of our home. The daughter, who is 7, was amazed by the ship. She didn’t believe there was something bigger than a limousine! It was cute seeing how excited she was. After the tour, they took us back to their house where we were greeted by the mother with a kiss on each cheek. They’re observing Ramadan currently and as we entered the house it was time for them to break the fast for the day. Their meal starts off with a traditional soup to break the fast. It was pretty tasty. Their meals consist of a lot, and it seems like the courses don’t stop coming. I especially enjoyed the last dish that included meat. I hope I’m able to recreate that last dish. I learned a lot by talking to the family. The children are taught to speak English and French in school, and they learn Arabic at home. I think that’s incredible in itself. We talked a bit about September 11, 2001 - since it was it’s anniversary. We talked about some differences between the US and Morocco. The father also didn’t understand why in America we are unable to talk about religion and politics - he said, “you can believe in what you believe and I can believe in what I believe and we can talk peacefully”. It’s interesting to think that Americans have such a problem with disagreeing that even the people we tend to disagree with the most agree more than we do. Understand? They taught us a bit about their religion, and he told us jokes - mostly having to do with George Bush. I hope I can remember those, too. It was a really special experience that I never imagined I would ever do - but I will always remember.

3rd day Rabat/4th day Marrakech
The following day, Jackie and I took a SAS tour of Rabat. It was so boring, and you can basically get the same tour by looking through my pictures. So, I’ll leave it at that.


Jackie and I packed for our independent overnight stay in Marrakech and had dinner. At the last moment, Nikola decided to join us which made me feel a bit more safe. We took a taxi to the train station, in which the taxi driver ripped us off by going the wrong way first and racking up money on the meter. After our uneventful three hour train ride to Marrakech we got McDonald’s, because it was so tempting. And a meal at Mickey D’s is basically the same as the first class ticket on the train. Silly? Yes. After getting ripped off by another taxi driver, we arrived at our hotel (which I planned and booked) and it was so cute! The pictures don’t do it justice. It was a bit difficult to sleep at night, especially when the call to prayer was blasting in the window at 4 am, but besides that a pretty sweet hotel. We got free wifi and breakfast - which we ate on the roof, which was adorable. After breakfast, we attempted to join up with Ryan which failed and we ended up hitting up the Souks until we successfully joined up with him. I can say that I don’t really enjoy Souks much. I don’t like the whole bargaining thing, even though I didn’t buy anything today and I hate everyone being in my face, a lot. I had felt sick from the previous night and I couldn’t do Marrakech or the souks anymore and we all ended up leaving Marrakech earlier than planned. But we were all ready to leave. Another 3 hour train ride and a too expensive taxi ride and we were back on the ship watching The Little Mermaid and Milk. My friends are great!

20:55 pm
Today Jackie, Ryan and I hit up the free wifi - because we’re all addicted to the internet and we’re not ashamed. There was already around 7 other SASers there! After wifi we went to try to find art and a few other gift type items. Basically, shopping here is really stressful. I really do not enjoy people being in my personal space or begging me for money. We did not have enough money to get the art Jackie wanted, it was really quite beautiful - but she was able to get another piece of art by the end of the day. We also missed going to Rick’s Cafe, but oh well. I’m glad to be back on the ship and on our way to Ghana!

Afterthoughts:
I forgot to mention the screaming we heard during our first night in Casablanca. It was right after my crying entry, when I went out with my friends and had cooled off a bit/wasn’t AS scared because I was with a group of people that I’m comfortable with and know wouldn’t leave me, etc. As we were trying to find a hookah spot, we passed this stairwell going into the ground, that looks like a subway but isn’t. And we all heard a woman screaming. None of us knew what to do. It was really uncomfortable and put me back in the red zone.


I’d also like to mention, although I was ripped off in every taxi ride I took in Morocco, that I loved being in cars in Morocco. They drive crazy! They don’t use the “lanes”. I don’t think they have a speed limit. I don’t think there are any traffic laws at all. It’s quite fun being in the cars, especially when they’re weaving in an out of traffic. I also didn’t see one car accident while I was here, fyi.


In the last store we went into, where we used the rest of our non-convertible dirhams (Dh), a little boy and his sister came in. The boy had to be around a year, and the sister around 5. The boy was adorable and had the biggest smile on his face. He grabbed on to my leg and giggled and wouldn’t let go. It’s was quite cute. After leaving the store, the children went to a woman who was sitting on the side of the store. I wondered afterward if the children were sent into the store to try to get money from us.

Not many people seemed willing to help us out at all in this country or if they did help it seemed like they wanted something out of it. It seemed like a lot of people were begging, and using their children to help them get money. I understand that isn’t how everyone lives in Casablanca/Morocco, and the family I ate with definitely doesn’t live that way, but it’s shocking to see all those people on the streets, all the trash, all the dirtiness.

I liked Marrakech a lot more than Casablanca.


According to our Academic Calendar we have four days of classes, a big event (TBD), two days of classes (with a preport each night) and then GHANA! Three countries in less than a month - I would never have imagined.