My weekend trip to Marrakesh, Morocoo (last weekend, March 15-18) definitely occupies a high place on my list of favorite places visited! I went with a rather large group, with five other girls and one boy from our program (Heidy, Lauren C., Chloe F., Grace, Michelle, and Luis), as well as Caroline, Shirin, and Caroline's mom, Anna! Caroline, Shirin, and Anna stayed in a hotel, and the remaining group of seven (including myself) stayed in a hostel called
Waka Waka. It was such a beautiful place; I loved the Moroccan tapestries and textiles of colorful patterns, the low-to-the-ground sofas and tables, and our hosts, "Yaya" and "Couscous."
Day 1. Arrival
We arrived in Marrakesh at night and took a taxi to our hostel (no seatbelts, no street lanes, and sometimes, or so it seemed, no street rules). However, when the car stopped, I saw no hostel. Many shops, restaurants, and hostels are located on very narrow, curvy, tunneled streets, and so our taxi stopped as close as possible, but we had no idea in which direction to go. Some young man immediately opened my car door and tried to take my bag, offering to carry it and to guide me. There were about four or five other men doing the same thing to the rest of the group, and it was a bit overwhelming. We politely declined (and soon learned that when people offer to guide you places, they demand money at the end). In the midst of all the chaos, "Couscous," (I think he gave himself this nickname because we had so much trouble pronouncing his actual name...), explained that he worked for the hostel and that he would take us there. This walk through the streets of Medina (the area in which we stayed) was our first glimpse of Marrakech. At the hostel, they made us traditional Moroccan tea (sweet, and often minty), and showed us to our room (one room, seven beds, felt like
Annie).
The common area.
The Berber flag. We learned that The Berber people (an indigenous ethnic group) make up a large majority of Morocco. The blue represents the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, the green symbolizes nature and the green mountains, and the yellow depicts the sand of the Sahara desert. The red "yaz" letter stands for the free man.
The other side of the common area.
Bird's-eye view of the common area from the outdoor terrace/patio.
The terrace/patio.
My bed!
After our tea, we asked our hosts for directions to a particular restaurant because we had plans to meet Caroline, her mom, and Shirin for dinner. We received a map, a key to the hostel, and directions that went something like this: walk until you hit the first archway, then turn left and the other archway...etc. We were advised to keep asking people for directions; however, we were to ask shopkeepers (who were on the whole very friendly and helpful), and to avoid asking random people on the street (who would gladly show us and then charge us).
The restaurant was gorgeous - rich colorful tablecloths, menus, napkins, food, everything! There were peacocks in the back. The walk home was another adventure. We ended up leaving the restaurant after midnight (oops...), but luckily people were still out and about and helpful in terms of guiding us home.
Day 2. Excursion
We started our morning right, with breakfast!
Breakfast consisted of coffee, fresh bread, butter, 2 kinds of jelly, and 2 types of pancakes, one that tasted like beer bread and had lots of little holes in it, and the other that tasted more eggy.
We split up into two groups of five for the day to embark on our excursions. I went with Heidy, Caroline, Anna, and Shirin. Our taxi driver was a nice man who spoke/very very little English. Thus, communicating with him was a challenge since none of us knew Arabic, and I was straining my ears to find similarities between his French and my miniscule knowledge of Catalán. We got along just fine though! I took a tooonn of pictures that day, so here are just some select ones...
I'm pretty sure our driver stopped so that we could look at the famous buildings in the distance, but we got super excited to take pictures with the sheep...
Our first real stop (after being amazed by sheep) was at... well actually (unfortunately), I was never too sure of where we were going. We got dropped off somewhere that had a very nice view from the roof, and shops to browse downstairs.
Anna and me! (Caroline, we all love your mom. Haha :) )
While on the road again...guess who we happened to see from the car windows?! Our other friends! Our friends riding CAMELS!
We pulled over and ran out of the car to snap a quick photo.
Our next stop was a small village where we learned about the process of using different kinds of nuts to make oils (for massages, perfume, after-shave, etc.) They let us sample the oils; they all smelled really good. The lip balm was particularly bomb (lol?).
Then we walked on some rickety bridge, and proceeded to be followed by several men trying to sell us necklaces. They kept making the bridge shake (on purpose, I'm sure), and I couldn't help but think of what I learned in psychology class: people act differently (more empathetic, more loving, more attracted to things...i.e. necklaces) when they are scared.
Next, we had lunch by the creek. I ordered a meat tangine, a common Moroccan stew-like dish prepared in a ceramic cooking vessel with a cone-shaped top.
After stuffing ourselves, we worked off our lunch (or so I like to believe) by hiking up in to the mountains to see a series of five (baby) waterfalls.
We took a break and enjoyed some Moroccan tea at a place built into the cliffs of the mountains.
On the way back down, I really enjoyed this wall.
And then...my dreams came true, and I rode a camel!
Our taxi driver with the camels.
So excited!
:D
It was a pretty exhausting day. Caroline, Anna, and Shirin went back to their hotel, and Heidy and I returned to the hostel to meet up with the other group. We had dinner on a restaurant terrace.
Table visitor.
Lots and lots of food.
We finally headed home for the night. Along the way, I took some photos of our walk.
The marketplace square, "Jamaa el Fna," at night.
Day 3. Shopping
We spent our last full day in Marrakesh browsing the many marketplace shops and bargaining for souvenirs. Some of the shopkeepers were a bit forward/creepy, but most seemed to have a sense of humor and were fun to talk to.
Phrases to be remembered:
-"Democratic prices!"
-"United States, eh? Obama!"
-"Let me take you to the desert. You leave tomorrow? We'll go today."
I got asked several times if I was Moroccan. Apparently I have "Berber eyes." On several occasions while looking at scarves, without being warned beforehand, I also got my head wrapped to look like a "Berber woman." At one shop, the entire group got transformed.
Hours of browsing and bargaining ensued, with lunch and a fresh-squeezed OJ break sandwiched in.
The square during the day.
Back at the hostel, Yaya prepared us a delicious dinner of mountain-high couscous for our last night in Marrakesh. He told us it would be 5 Euros unless we finished it all, in which case it would be free. When we asked why, he said he was too shy to tell us, but he eventually explained: Moroccan men find women with big butts attractive.
Before dinner, some new guests arrived at
Waka Waka. I met a girl named Liz, and found out that she was roommates with one of my close friends from elementary school, and goes to college with people from my high school. It's such a small world! We spent our last night lazing around after dinner, listening to Yaya and Couscous playing the guitar and serenading us. A favorite song (and the only one I know the name of) was this:
Aicha
The song is about a girl named Aicha who is being wooed by a man. This was explained to us after the song was finished. The guy I was sitting next to, who was from Japan, told us, "Ohh that makes much more sense. Because in Japanese, "
haisha" means "dentist."
The next morning (Sunday), we went to the market square, had one more glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, had breakfast at our hostel, and then headed to the airport.
The group, with our hosts Yaya and Couscous.
On the drive to the airport, the taxi radio played a version of Basshunter's "Now You're Gone" with all the techno aspects removed. I also took more photos, of course.
Marrakesh-Menara Airport (RAK). Heading home (to Barcelona, that is).
:)
