I've been really busy the last couple of weeks. Two weekends ago we were in Marrkech and Essaouira, and last weekend Mimi came to visit and we went to Casablanca, and this Friday I'll be leaving Rabat again for the Sahara.
Marrakech was an absolutely ridiculous place. It was fun to visit, because there was a lot to see and fun nightlife, but the only way I can try to describe it as the Disney World version of Morocco. Everything was on display and everything was for sale. The biggest attraction was Djemaa el Fna (I'm sure you'll get some really good pictures if you google it). It's the main square near Koutoubia mosque in the center of Marrakech. In the daytime, it's full of hundreds of tourists, snake charmers and monkeys for tourists to take pictures with, and nut/fig/date/orange juice stands. The souqs are all around the main square. You can get lost in them, because they are so enormous. They are a lot of fun to walk around, but again, they are entirely for tourists. Everything is very overpriced, and even if you know what a good price should be, you can't get it because they know they can just sell it to the next European tourist who walks by.
At nighttime, Djemaa el Fna completely transforms - people set up entire restaurants all up and down the square, and the waiters chase you around with menus, yelling in every language they can think of to try to get you into their restaurants. We sat down and had bstila, which is a dish with chicken, almonds, and cinnamon inside pastry dough. There are also shrimp and pigeon version. It's delicious. At night, after all the snake charmers and men with monkeys leave, there are street performers all around the the square. There are clowns, storytellers, acrobats, and gnaoua musicians everywhere.
Friday and Saturday night, we went out to a club called "African Chic," where they played Salsa music earlier on, and then switch to gnaoua later on. It was a lot of fun, and strangely enough, I ran into someone I know from Pitt on Saturday night there! And it's not even in the guidebooks; the Moroccan students took us there. Lynette has been in some of my French and Arabic classes at Pitt, and she's studying in France right now, but was in Marrakech for the weekend, so we hung out with Lynette and some Spaniards that she met in the hostel for the rest of the night.
We also went to the Ourika valley, which is near the Atlas mountains. We had lunch in a restaurant, visited a Berber synagogue, and hiked up a mountain to a small village where there were cows and sheep running around everywhere. It was gorgeous. We could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and it was a beautiful day. One of the families invited us in for tea and homemade bread and olive oil.
On Monday afternoon, we went to Essaouira, which was a nice change after the craziness of Marrakech. It's a small beach town, and it's absolutely beautiful. It used to be a big destination for hippies (Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens both lived there), and it's much calmer and quieter than Marrakech. It used to be where many of the Moroccan Jews lived, before most of them immigrated to Israel in 1948. It's known for its woodcrafts, which were beautiful, and for its fish. We went to a seafood restaurant where they served us fish soup and then fish with the heads and bones and skin and eyes and everything - a little bit difficult, but it was pretty good. The medina was smaller than in most of the cities we've been in, and was easier to navigate. People were very friendly when we spoke Arabic to them; one shop keeper even invited Ann, Carrie and I for tea ("not for business"). We spoke Arabic and French with him, had tea, and then found out that he is from a nomadic tribe in Tuareg, and does tours of the Sahara. We had Madiha call him to make sure he was a legitimate guide and wasn't trying to rip us off or anything, and now we're going to tour the Sahara with him next weekend. We're leaving from Ouarzazate to ride camels and camp in the desert for 2 nights.
On our way home on Tuesday, we drove on a country road along the coast, which took about 3 hours longer and was very very bumpy, but was gorgeous. We could see the ocean the entire way. We stopped in Safi, a small town known for its pottery, to see how the pottery was made. We saw people making tajines by hand, we saw the small kilns (which were basically just little domes with piles of trash burning inside), and we saw people painting the finished pottery by hand. It was really cool to see, until they tried to make us buy things - that got kind of awkward. When we left, the tour guide ran after us and put these little ceramic cups in our hands, and then followed us until we paid him. I blame all of this on Dr. Zaki, because I think he offended this guy somehow - and he also took us to the Berber synagogue where a man demanded donations (two from each of us - one to him personally and one to the synagogue).
This past week, Mimi flew into Casablanca on Thursday afternoon. I took the train to meet her at the airport, and on the way back, she had a true Moroccan experience - we were in a compartment with a Moroccan man who told us the entire history of Morocco during the hour and a half that we were on the train. He said the typical Moroccan things : "There's no racism in Morocco"; "there's no homosexuality in Morocco" (I think my bellydancing teacher Said is proof that this isn't true...); etc. etc. It's a nice sentiment - Moroccans always want to make sure that Americans leave with a good impression of Morocco - they'll even tell you to tell your friends what a nice place it is. But one of the Moroccan students I met in Marrakech told me both that there was no racism in Morocco and that he didn't like "black English" in the same conversation.
We stayed with my host family Thursday night. They didn't quite understand the vegetarian/kosher thing - they put meat in everything except one dish which had shrimp in it...but Mimi ate around them. Then Friday we had couscous with the family, and then walked around the medina and the kasbah. Friday night we went to bellydancing class together, and then Saturday morning we went with Carrie and Caity to Casablanca. The Hassan II Mosque (the third largest mosque in the world) which is built right on the ocean was the highlight of the trip. It was gorgeous, and it's one of the only ones that non-Muslims can go inside (during non-prayer times) if they take a tour. Afterwards we walked around the Medina souqs, and tried to go to Rick's cafe (created entirely for tourists, to look just like the movie) but they wouldn't let us in because we didn't have reservations! We had lunch at the Sqala restaurant, which was delicious and very Moroccan. Mimi had traditional Moroccan salads, and I had chicken bstila. Our hotel was pretty nice (200 dirhams per night for a double with a bathroom - otherwise we would have had to use the hole in the ground...) and we had a balcony! It was called Hotel des Negociants. In the morning we got up and had coffee and apple pastries in a cafe before getting on the train. Casa was nice to visit also, but I felt like I saw enough of it in one weekend. I do want to see the new Moroccan movie, though, called Casanegra (Casablanca by night). In another strange coincidence, we ran into two people from Mimi's group in Spain in the train station in Casa in the morning. They were staying one more night in Rabat, so I took the train with them. They got a true Moroccan experience too - there was some kind of electrical fire somewhere on the train, so we were stopped for almost an hour before we got on another train where we sat on the floor in the aisle. I was glad that Mimi got to see the ritzy neighborhood that my host family lives in, and also real Morocco.
I'm typing this while I'm in my Core class with Dr. Zaki. He's so frustrating to listen to. He gets really defensive if you question anything he says, and he refuses to believe that there could ever be more than one side of an issue. Not to mention he's just kind of condescending and rude on a personal level and as a professor.
I'm really looking forward to going to the Sahara this weekend. We're leaving Friday after class (12:30), and returning on Tuesday (it's Eid Miloud so we don't have class Mon. and Tues.). I'll take lots of pictures, and I'll write again soon!
Hi Kira, What does Eid Miloud celebrate? If you have any encounters with people on this trip, I'd like to see some pictures of them, if they'll let you take their picture. We will talk to you on Skype on Wed. morning -- THE BIG DAY!! Have a great time, Love, Mom xoxo
Oh, Kira. How exciting to read about these adventures you're having...I sat at the computer in tears, so moved by reading about your experiences half a world away! (OK, you're not surprised about the tears, I know.) This is such a wonderful way to share your Moroccan adventure with all of us. Please know that I am a faithful reader, and I so appreciate the pictures and commentary! We miss you! Love, Aunt Terry
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI've been really busy the last couple of weeks. Two weekends ago we were in Marrkech and Essaouira, and last weekend Mimi came to visit and we went to Casablanca, and this Friday I'll be leaving Rabat again for the Sahara.
Marrakech was an absolutely ridiculous place. It was fun to visit, because there was a lot to see and fun nightlife, but the only way I can try to describe it as the Disney World version of Morocco. Everything was on display and everything was for sale. The biggest attraction was Djemaa el Fna (I'm sure you'll get some really good pictures if you google it). It's the main square near Koutoubia mosque in the center of Marrakech. In the daytime, it's full of hundreds of tourists, snake charmers and monkeys for tourists to take pictures with, and nut/fig/date/orange juice stands. The souqs are all around the main square. You can get lost in them, because they are so enormous. They are a lot of fun to walk around, but again, they are entirely for tourists. Everything is very overpriced, and even if you know what a good price should be, you can't get it because they know they can just sell it to the next European tourist who walks by.
At nighttime, Djemaa el Fna completely transforms - people set up entire restaurants all up and down the square, and the waiters chase you around with menus, yelling in every language they can think of to try to get you into their restaurants. We sat down and had bstila, which is a dish with chicken, almonds, and cinnamon inside pastry dough. There are also shrimp and pigeon version. It's delicious. At night, after all the snake charmers and men with monkeys leave, there are street performers all around the the square. There are clowns, storytellers, acrobats, and gnaoua musicians everywhere.
Friday and Saturday night, we went out to a club called "African Chic," where they played Salsa music earlier on, and then switch to gnaoua later on. It was a lot of fun, and strangely enough, I ran into someone I know from Pitt on Saturday night there! And it's not even in the guidebooks; the Moroccan students took us there. Lynette has been in some of my French and Arabic classes at Pitt, and she's studying in France right now, but was in Marrakech for the weekend, so we hung out with Lynette and some Spaniards that she met in the hostel for the rest of the night.
We also went to the Ourika valley, which is near the Atlas mountains. We had lunch in a restaurant, visited a Berber synagogue, and hiked up a mountain to a small village where there were cows and sheep running around everywhere. It was gorgeous. We could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and it was a beautiful day. One of the families invited us in for tea and homemade bread and olive oil.
On Monday afternoon, we went to Essaouira, which was a nice change after the craziness of Marrakech. It's a small beach town, and it's absolutely beautiful. It used to be a big destination for hippies (Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens both lived there), and it's much calmer and quieter than Marrakech. It used to be where many of the Moroccan Jews lived, before most of them immigrated to Israel in 1948. It's known for its woodcrafts, which were beautiful, and for its fish. We went to a seafood restaurant where they served us fish soup and then fish with the heads and bones and skin and eyes and everything - a little bit difficult, but it was pretty good. The medina was smaller than in most of the cities we've been in, and was easier to navigate. People were very friendly when we spoke Arabic to them; one shop keeper even invited Ann, Carrie and I for tea ("not for business"). We spoke Arabic and French with him, had tea, and then found out that he is from a nomadic tribe in Tuareg, and does tours of the Sahara. We had Madiha call him to make sure he was a legitimate guide and wasn't trying to rip us off or anything, and now we're going to tour the Sahara with him next weekend. We're leaving from Ouarzazate to ride camels and camp in the desert for 2 nights.
On our way home on Tuesday, we drove on a country road along the coast, which took about 3 hours longer and was very very bumpy, but was gorgeous. We could see the ocean the entire way. We stopped in Safi, a small town known for its pottery, to see how the pottery was made. We saw people making tajines by hand, we saw the small kilns (which were basically just little domes with piles of trash burning inside), and we saw people painting the finished pottery by hand. It was really cool to see, until they tried to make us buy things - that got kind of awkward. When we left, the tour guide ran after us and put these little ceramic cups in our hands, and then followed us until we paid him. I blame all of this on Dr. Zaki, because I think he offended this guy somehow - and he also took us to the Berber synagogue where a man demanded donations (two from each of us - one to him personally and one to the synagogue).
This past week, Mimi flew into Casablanca on Thursday afternoon. I took the train to meet her at the airport, and on the way back, she had a true Moroccan experience - we were in a compartment with a Moroccan man who told us the entire history of Morocco during the hour and a half that we were on the train. He said the typical Moroccan things : "There's no racism in Morocco"; "there's no homosexuality in Morocco" (I think my bellydancing teacher Said is proof that this isn't true...); etc. etc. It's a nice sentiment - Moroccans always want to make sure that Americans leave with a good impression of Morocco - they'll even tell you to tell your friends what a nice place it is. But one of the Moroccan students I met in Marrakech told me both that there was no racism in Morocco and that he didn't like "black English" in the same conversation.
We stayed with my host family Thursday night. They didn't quite understand the vegetarian/kosher thing - they put meat in everything except one dish which had shrimp in it...but Mimi ate around them. Then Friday we had couscous with the family, and then walked around the medina and the kasbah. Friday night we went to bellydancing class together, and then Saturday morning we went with Carrie and Caity to Casablanca. The Hassan II Mosque (the third largest mosque in the world) which is built right on the ocean was the highlight of the trip. It was gorgeous, and it's one of the only ones that non-Muslims can go inside (during non-prayer times) if they take a tour. Afterwards we walked around the Medina souqs, and tried to go to Rick's cafe (created entirely for tourists, to look just like the movie) but they wouldn't let us in because we didn't have reservations! We had lunch at the Sqala restaurant, which was delicious and very Moroccan. Mimi had traditional Moroccan salads, and I had chicken bstila. Our hotel was pretty nice (200 dirhams per night for a double with a bathroom - otherwise we would have had to use the hole in the ground...) and we had a balcony! It was called Hotel des Negociants. In the morning we got up and had coffee and apple pastries in a cafe before getting on the train. Casa was nice to visit also, but I felt like I saw enough of it in one weekend. I do want to see the new Moroccan movie, though, called Casanegra (Casablanca by night). In another strange coincidence, we ran into two people from Mimi's group in Spain in the train station in Casa in the morning. They were staying one more night in Rabat, so I took the train with them. They got a true Moroccan experience too - there was some kind of electrical fire somewhere on the train, so we were stopped for almost an hour before we got on another train where we sat on the floor in the aisle. I was glad that Mimi got to see the ritzy neighborhood that my host family lives in, and also real Morocco.
I'm typing this while I'm in my Core class with Dr. Zaki. He's so frustrating to listen to. He gets really defensive if you question anything he says, and he refuses to believe that there could ever be more than one side of an issue. Not to mention he's just kind of condescending and rude on a personal level and as a professor.
I'm really looking forward to going to the Sahara this weekend. We're leaving Friday after class (12:30), and returning on Tuesday (it's Eid Miloud so we don't have class Mon. and Tues.). I'll take lots of pictures, and I'll write again soon!
Hi Kira,
ReplyDeleteWhat does Eid Miloud celebrate? If you have any encounters with people on this trip, I'd like to see some pictures of them, if they'll let you take their picture. We will talk to you on Skype on Wed. morning -- THE BIG DAY!!
Have a great time,
Love,
Mom xoxo
Oh, Kira. How exciting to read about these adventures you're having...I sat at the computer in tears, so moved by reading about your experiences half a world away! (OK, you're not surprised about the tears, I know.) This is such a wonderful way to share your Moroccan adventure with all of us. Please know that I am a faithful reader, and I so appreciate the pictures and commentary! We miss you!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Aunt Terry