The morning we were leaving I woke up not feeling too great, but I decided I wasn't going to give up the chance to go to Morocco just because I was feeling a little under the weather. We started out in Gibralter, of which I only knew there was a rock with monkeys on it. It turns out to be a cute little British town with very little to do as a tourist other than go up the mountain and see the monkeys. We had a slightly crazy busdriver/tourguide named Paul who enjoyed telling bad jokes. We saw these amazing caves that the British considered using for a hospital during World War II, but after finding a lake inside the caves, decided against it. I personally didn't see the logic in a hospital as the only access was the twisty-turny road we used to get up there.
The cave
After going into the cave we got a chance to do some shopping, though everything was overpriced. The purchase of all the touristy things that are offered in towns we visit, have been hard to justify buying as I don't feel like a tourist. I don't want to spend 7 Euros on a cheap thing that will only collect dust once I go home. I suppose if nothing else, traveling a lot has made me a bit more aware of what actually sparks memories.
A view from on top of the rock
Also on the rock we got to have a monkey sit our shoulders. The monkeys, actually called Barbary Macaques, have been on the rock for a long time. In World War II, the British army started naming the monkeys and giving them ranks. They are now quite tame and will come to you with only the help of a peanut. One girl did get bitten but for the most part everyone had fun encounters with the monkeys. I actually had 2 sitting on my shoulders for a little bit as one decided to jump on uninvited.
MONKEY!
We slept outside of Gibraltar and then took a bus to Algeciras where we were getting the ferry. At the port we met our fantastic group leader, Katy. She had been in the Peace Corps for 2 years stationed in a small village in the south of Morocco, and she was fluent in arabic. It was her first time leading a group, but you wouldn't know it. She was fantastic.
Me, with Africa, continent #6 in the background!
When we arrived in Tangier, we went through customs and made our way to Darna Woman's Center. The center is a place for women to go and learn skills such as cooking or sewing so that they are able to find jobs. We talked to a couple students who were getting their Bachelor's or Master's in English, who helped out with the center. They had some interesting things to say about the way the look at other countries and specifically the United States. We ate lunch at the Women's center and had cous-cous with chicken and vegetables. It was good, but I don't think I'm a huge fan of cous-cous. We started our journey towards Rabat while making a couple stops on the way.
First stop: Riding camels! My friend, Celia, was so excited about meeting and riding camels that we probably could have gone home after this stop and she would have been very content. I was no where near as excited as Celia, but it definitely became a highlight of the trip.
Riding the camel
Photo-op with a camel
We then went to Assilah to visit a small Medina, or enclosed city. This medina had lots of artwork on the walls of the city and the buildings. Every year they have a festival where artists can come and paint murals on the walls. They are enjoyed for the following year and are then painted over so new murals can be created. In this way, this medina could be different everytime you visit it.
One of the many murals
We continued on to Rabat where we met our homestay families, ate dinner, and in my case, went to bed. Our homestay consisted of a Mom, Dad and their son. Only the mother spoke English, which she learned through classes and watching English movies with arabic subtitles. That really made my struggle with Spanish seem even worse. They have so many channels from lots of different countries so she definitely has the benefit of hearing English everyday that I do not have at home.
The next morning I woke up with a fever and after much consideration, decided that it was best for me to stay in bed for the morning and see how I felt that afternoon. While I slept, the group went to meet up with students from IES who are studying in Rabat, and to see a (fake) Roman ruin. I was told I didn't miss too much, which made me happier. I still didn't feel 100% but I went out that afternoon with group and had shopping time with students of the university in Rabat. It was a very, how do I say, awkward few hours with the students. There were four of us girls and three guys from the university. We walked through the market, but none of us really felt like shopping with the guys en tow. We ended up going to a café to have some drinks, tea for them, Fanta, Coca-cola or Sprite for us. We mainly talked to one of the guys, the other two didn't seem interested at all. We weren't really sure why they came if they didn't want to talk. When it was time to go, we were all going to put in money and pay when one guy told one of us to pay and that we would be reimbursed by Katy, so Celia paid the 100 Dirhams. Finding out that this wasn't actually the case (though Celia did get reimbursed after we explained the situation) really made me uncomfortable with the situation. Others really seemed to enjoy the experience, but I just did not.
We then went to the public baths which was basically like showering at your school gym except you just filled a bucket with water that you used to wash with instead of each person having a personal shower head. Maybe we should suggest this to schools where the water is always cold and there are always more people who need to shower than there are showers. After the baths we got henna and called it a night.
The next day we left early and drove to a small mountain village on Rif Mountain. There were times it seemed questionable whether or not the bus would get up some of the hills but we all got up safe and sound. There we met with a man who actually lived in a different mountain village, but his sister lived in the one we were at and we were able to talk to him about life on the mountain. It's amazing how much poverty existed in the village. The villages were small, everyone seemed to know eachother, kids seemed to just go from house to house. The house we went to was very small, but the family was very welcoming and hospitable. We brought things for sandwiches for ourselves, but they also made us more cous-cous with chicken and veggies.
After lunch, we took a short walk around the village, and then, to our surprise, we got to go to a WEDDING. All 16 of us were allowed to go to the wedding celebration of a couple in the village. When we got there there was music playing but no one was dancing. They got us chairs (even though everyone else was standing), and we sat down wondering what exactly was going to happen next. An elderly lady, about half my height and maybe 4 times my age, started dancing and pulled one of the guys up to dance with her. Soon we (as in all of us IES students) were dancing and everyone else watched and chuckled. When the song was over we clapped and sat down only for them to bring us tea and cookies. The tea in Morocco is very sweet. Lots of people love it, but there is just too much sugar in it for me. When the music started again we once again start dancing but this time we coerced the young girls who seemed so eager, but too shy, to dance. When that song ended the wedding car arrived with the bride (only the groom was present for this specific celebration) and we made our way back to the bus. We followed the wedding party out of the village to the main road, where we turned opposite directions and continued our separate, but now connected, lives.
That night we had shopping time in Chefchaouen followed by dinner at this really nice restaurant. I had chicken and beef/lamb kabobs which were the first things I'd actually had an appetite for since being sick. In the morning there was a walk around the village but I unfortunately was still feeling badly and was worried it was developing into something worse. We then got on the bus, and went home.
