What Happens in the Caravan...Stays in the Caravan!

Spring Break 2010!

What a whirlwind of events and experiences.

This blog will be dedicated to my week in Morocco, and the next will cover my trip to Ireland! I did so much within these past two weeks that I literally have to refer to my pictures to get any sense of order of each day. Ha

Let’s start at the beginning.

Thursday, April 15^th, was an early one for me. I woke up at 4:20 a.m. to get picked up by a shuttle for the airport at 5 a.m. The shuttle man was 20 minutes late, which didn’t make standing outside freezing in the middle of the night any more enjoyable. After picking up the rest of my bus group, we were off to the airport! The flight really wasn’t bad at all, and we arrived in Casablanca before I knew it. As soon as I stepped outside of the airport, it was such a crazy switch of mindset. We left cold Paris and arrived in warm and breezy Morocco! I was still in shock that I was actually in Africa (though, it really isn’t what you consider “Africa” when you think of the word. This is more middle-eastern than anything).

Later in the day, we found out that a huge volcano in Iceland had erupted, leaving massive clouds of ash in the air. We were one of the last flights to leave Paris, without ever even knowing it!

After meeting a staff member from ISA Meknes, we left in our charter bus for a quick tour of Casablanca, where we saw some government buildings, and just got a sense of the city. We visited the Mosque Hassan II, which was incredibly beautiful. Our tour within the mosque itself was awesome, as I had never been inside one before. It was so massive and intricately crafted. We saw the main area of worship, as well as the fountains and pools beneath the mosque.

Following the visit to the mosque, we were off for our first meal in Morocco, and let me tell you, it was a great first meal if I’ve ever had one! At the end of this blog post, I will have pictures of most of our meals on the trip. The dinner was a big boost in energy, and most definitely needed, considering my lack of sleep.

Once we all had our fill in skewers and fries, the bus left, once again, for our hotel in Fez, a couple hours east. We stopped at a gas station midway, and I was instantly in love with the cost of things in Morocco. Living in Paris these past two months has made a huge dent in my wallet, so seeing a huge bottle of water for around 70 euro cents was a dream come true!

Hotel in Fez.

Apple in Africa!

Finally arriving in Fez in the evening, I was ready for bed, but we hadn’t even had dinner yet! We ate a buffet style meal in our hotel, and then passed out to get rest for the next day.

I woke up the next morning to dark skies and a really tired body. I was confused as to why it was so dark at 7:15 a.m., but I showered anyways and hurried downstairs with my roommate to make it to breakfast at 8. When we got there, confusion set in. Almost all the lights were off, and no one was even at the main desk. Then came the kicker: my roommate’s watch wasn’t set for Moroccan time! We had actually woken up at 5:15 a.m., two hours earlier than we thought. In the end it was a really funny mistake, but at the time all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and sleep more, which I did!

Parking in Morocco.

We ate breakfast in the hotel and left for our first day in Fez! (Little did I know that the day would really challenge the way that I saw the world).

Following our tour guide, we entered into the walls of the Medina of Fez, and were instantly transported to another time. The Medina is the city center where most of the olden traditions of living have maintained even today. According to the guide, people who live within the walls don’t have medical insurance or even taxes to deal with from the government. It’s like a little world within the middle of a city. Winding through insanely small walkways, we got the chance to see the entrances to many homes of the Medina. I couldn’t believe it when our guide pointed an alley and explained that all the doors less than three feet tall were doors to houses!

An interesting point of the Medina was the amount of people during our visit. Normally, the streets are jammed packed with people doing business and buying from the hundreds of stores along the streets. Luckily for us, we came on a Friday, which is like their day off, so the streets were pretty empty for us to roam through. It would have been great to experience the intense crowdedness of a normal day…for an hour or so. We walked a couple blocks in less than a minute, and then our guide explained that on an average day that walk would have taken us 10 minutes walking sideways through the crowds. Intense!

Throughout the Medina, we stopped at several shops to browse and learn about the products being sold. The first was a rug store, which had beautiful Morrocan rugs and tapestries.

The rug store had previously been the home to a harem.

The next was a spice and oil shop, full of wonderful smells! We got to sample and smell rich oils and pungent herbs and spices of the country.

Next came leather! I knew we were coming to the tannery blocks from even seeing the store itself, based on the smell alone. We walked up into the store, and a wave of an insane mixture of scents hit my nose. Hundreds of bags, shoes, and articles of clothing, all in leather, were staring me in the face. Walking to the edge of the store, a beautiful view of the Medina was visible, as well as the actual tannery beneath us where the men were dying the leathers. World-famous, it was a sight to see (and smell, of course). As we were in the store browsing, a massive hailstorm hit the city! Luckily, it had stopped by the time we left the store. While in the shop, I worked my (weak) bartering skills to buy a briefcase! After a conversation (in all broken French), I was able to get to a price that I was comfortable with, and the purchase was made!

Moving past the stench of the leather, we were onto scarves and clothes! I was able to watch the men as they made scarves using the wooden machines. It was so fascinating to see how the fabrics wove into each other to make such an intricate pattern. At the store, we all tried on traditional Moroccan clothes, and I even got the chance to try on my first real Fez hat!

Making scarves.

Thoroughly shopped-out, we all headed out of the Medina, bags full of items! Little did I know more shops were on our way!

Our final stop of the evening was to a shop where they make mosaics and ceramics! Having the chance to see each step that it takes to masterfully make a mosaic or pot was amazing. The people working there were truly professional at what they did.

Making mosaics.

Insanely exhausted, the night was far from over! We headed back to the hotel for a chance to shower and recoup, and then were right back on the bus for our night at a Moroccan show.

The show was so entertaining! Dancing men with Moroccan drums, belly dancers, and fake Moroccan weddings with friends were highlights of the show. We got the chance to just sit and drink amazing mint tea (one of my favorite parts of Morocco: we had it at most meals).

My mind was honestly flabbergasted from that day alone, yet I still had another half of my trip! The desert was the experience that most of us were most excited for, and it definitely did not disappoint.

This little guy loved making faces for the camera.

Reminded me of my little cousin!

We boarded the bus for our nine-hour ride across the country with weary attitudes. Thankfully, the Moroccan countryside is anything but boring! It was seriously the most entertaining bus ride of my life, as I could simply look out my window and enjoy the amazing scenery as long as I wanted. It helped the time go by quickly!

At the oasis.

Dishes everywhere.

Just on the outskirts of Erfoud, our bus dropped us off for our journey to the desert. We hopped into a caravan of 4x4 jeeps, and left for our over-50 km ride into the middle of nowhere! We arrived at our campsite, and I was so happy at what I saw. I had thought that, at best, we would be a couple minutes walk from the actual dunes, possibly even in a small village. My expectations were blown out of the water (or sand) as I looked at our ring of tents in the middle of the dunes themselves! Literally, couldn’t have been more of a desert campsite if I had tried. Since we had arrived at dusk, we waited around for dinner, and then got the chance to just explore the dunes at night and watch the amazing stars in the sky, then it was off to bed!

Now, sleeping in the desert had its ups and downs. It’s definitely peaceful, as it’s so quiet in the middle of nowhere! Downside? I slept in the spot where the door flap was open, so the wind and sand blew in the entire night! I slept with a blanket over my head, but it was definitely a bit challenging to stay asleep for long with sand in your mouth and a cold gust of wind hitting you at 3 a.m.

The entrance to my tent.Our tents.

The next morning was a whirlwind and jumble of emotions! We woke up at the good ol’ hour of 5 a.m. to watch the sunrise in the desert (something I will never forget!). Only thing was that the sun didn’t come out for another 45 minutes, and the dunes in the early morning were freezing, leaving me and my friends a bit wind whipped and shaking! As soon as the sun came out, however, the lighting of the desert made all my ill feelings leave my mind pretty quickly! Really, it was so beautiful everywhere you looked.

Interesting story about the sunrise experience: We had 3-4 Moroccan’s by us when we went up to the main dune. They offered to take us to a couple dunes over to see the sunrise. They were all very nice and offered to take our picture for us, and even took pictures with us. As we all walked back to the camp, I noticed they were all taking groups of people slightly different routes. As soon as the camp came into view, I saw what had happened. The men had separated us into groups of 4-5 people each so that they could sell us things at the end of the walk. Knowing this, our man sat me and my friends down, and proceeded to open up his backpack and lay out several items for purchase. It was incredibly uncomfortable to sit there watching him take the time to set everything out so nice, knowing that none of us were going to buy anything. Finally, after several awkward minutes, I told him that we needed to get back to camp. After trying to get us to look at his merchandise more, he finally told us that we needed to give him something for him taking our picture back at the dune. This sort of occurrence was the most common thing that happened in Morocco for us. Everyone you talked to seemed to have an alterative motive for talking to you. It was so odd to me, because I realized how easily I trust people and want to feel like they have the best of intentions. By the end of the trip, I was quick to realize when someone was going to ask me for money from my friends or me. It was a constant flag that went up when talking to people, but honestly one of the biggest eye-opening parts of the trip.

Our guide's footprint. Gap was all over the Sahara.Our bathroom/shower.

After the sunrise walk, we waited around for breakfast, and then our camels came! I was so pumped to get the opportunity to ride camels in the Sahara! I jumped on one with my friend Johannah, and our caravan was off for the nearby village. Riding the camel was really fun, but a bit nerve-wracking at times in the big sand dunes.

Reaching the village, we left our camels behind and walked around the bare little town. Literally, it seemed like nothing was there. Several children came out to watch us as we made our way to the rug store within the town. In the store, we were able to be informed on how they make their rugs: using a cactus needle! So bizarre.

We came back to the camp on our camels, and had the rest of the afternoon to relax in the sand and explore more of the desert. It got pretty hot for me around 2 in the afternoon, and it made me realize how rough it must get in the middle of the summer with no shade! Also that afternoon, we got henna and got to chat with some of the workers at our camp. Using French was beneficial in Morocco! Almost everyone we met could use both Arabic and French interchangeably.

That evening, as the sun was still pretty high in the sky, most of the group walked to the great dune nearby to go sand boarding. I originally wasn’t going to go, but I decided to so that I could take photos for people. I am so, so happy that I decided to go! It became my favorite experience of the entire trip. We ran up the side of the dune and came upon a breathtaking view of the desert, with the village we had visited to the left, and the Algerian mountains to the right. We all sat up on the top of the dune and relaxed for a while, and then some people went down the dune on a sand-board! It was so entertaining watching people try to make it all the way down to the bottom. Knowing that I would bite the dust for sure, I opted to just taking pictures for people.

The sand looked like water sliding down the dune!

Our final evening in the desert, we had a party! A group came in and played Moroccan music while we had a great big meal and got to dance under the stars and enjoy the night. After the party, we went to watch the stars for a last time, again without disappointment! I could have sat there all night long, if it hadn’t have been for the random villagers coming up to us trying to make awkward and scary conversations in the dark, trying to sell us things.

Tried to make a square...fail.

The next morning, we took the 4x4’s back to the bus, and were onto a 10 hour journey to Meknes. On our way, we stopped by a park where monkeys were running free! It was a really bizarre and random site to see, but awesome at the same time. Ha.

We reached our hotel in Meknes, and quickly showered off the desert as much as possible. After not showering for two days in the desert, you find sand in places it should not be. I am still finding sand in my shoes today.

The plan for the last night in Morocco was to meet up with the ISA students studying in Meknes! We all had a big dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we got to meet a bunch of the students. It was so great to hear about their experiences and share how different ours is living in Paris. After dinner, the students showed us their living arrangements and around the town! I don’t know if I could ever study in Meknes, but it was so cool to see how different everything was from my experience studying abroad in Paris!

From all the fun I had been having the previous week, I had almost forgot about the Iceland volcano. It rudely slapped me in the face when my directors told the group that they didn’t know if we were going to have our flight the next day. Everything was out of our control, and it looked like we could possibly be stuck in Africa for days longer than anticipated.

The next day, we traveled back to Casablanca with hopes that our flight wasn’t canceled. Thank the Lord, it wasn’t! We were one of the first flights opened back up since the shutting down of the airport. I was beyond happy to have everything be on schedule!

Now for the food!

My trip to Morocco influenced me in so many ways, in such a short amount of time. I experienced so much that I never thought I would ever have had the opportunity to, and I am so thankful that the trip was a success!

السلام عليكم (As-Salāmu `Alaykum)

Affecteusement,

George