Morocco 2/2 - 2/5: The Bipolar Port

So we got to Morocco about 12 hours late because the seas were too rough for us to fuel in Gibraltar so we had to wait until the water calmed down. We got here at night but they couldn’t let us off the ship until someone had come to check all of our passports so we stayed on the ship until morning. We ate breakfast early, hunted down our passports and were one of the first groups off the ship which is good cause my friends had to catch the train. Well I got off the ship with them and started walking with them thinking I would just wander around Casablanca alone because they were all going to Marrakech but I had an SaS trip that night so I couldn’t. Well I ended up turning around because the smarter part of me –and my friends –said that I couldn’t walk around Casablanca alone because we had been told in Logistical Pre-Port that women shouldn’t walk around alone…it wasn’t safe. So I went back and walked around the ship looking for people I knew to walk around with. Couldn’t find anyone. At this point I’m starting to get pissed and sad because I’m in a different country but because I’m a woman I can’t walk around alone so I’m stuck on the ship. BS right? So I end up writing a few emails and sketching an entry for my art journal. I thought I was going to be stuck on the ship for the entire day so I thought I would go see if anyone had donated any day trip tickets. I end up finding Candace and a few other people I know getting ready to leave so I jump in with them. Yay group to walk with.

Wrong. There’re like 12 people…doing anything with 12 people in a group is useless. First off, we walk to the main port gate…a mile away from the ship. Ridiculous. The entire time we’re walking, there are men cat calling and beeping at us and hounding us to get a taxi. We finally get to the beginning of the city and we have to stop for most people to get money at the bank…that took a half hour. Oh and sidenote: the driving here is insane –there are lines on the roads and speed limits but nobody pays any attention to either. Crazy. Anyways we get walking again…every other person stops to look at something or take a picture. Eventually when someone says they’re hungry, we split up. I end up with 3 other girls; Zoe is one of the professor’s daughters and then there was Laura and Phoebe. I didn’t much care who I was with. So the 4 of us go into a “French”café that serves French, Italian and American food because it was that or KFC. Better than nothing right? So we order pasta and pizza and chat a little. The food wasn’t amazing but it was cheap so it’s all good. We finish and head for the Medina, which is the market place where we were told to go to experience the Souks. Side note: everything I had seen and smelt until this point was dirty and raunchy so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was already uncomfortable because it felt like every man that saw us looked at us like we were dirty or made crude faces and gestures. So we walk into the Medina and it’s a bunch of little booths squished together…the ground is either cobblestones or dirt…it smells like sewage and food. We start walking through. I apparently was one of the few that listened during pre port cause I knew not to make eye contact with anyone, especially vendors; Phoebe either didn’t know or ignored that little tidbit of information. She was smiling at the men and looking at everything; I think she got ripped off every time she bought something and she bought quite a few things. She didn’t bargain with them –which is how the souks work –and she just kept taking pictures and being a right out blundering, ignorant American twit. I wanted to smack her. So all the while we’re wandering, Zoe and I are getting more and more uncomfortable; there are almost NO women here and the paths that the booths are on get closer and closer. Eventually Zoe and I look at each other –after Phoebe buys yet another thing and touches one of the salesmen on the arm –and we’re like we need to get out of here. Except there are no signs pointing the way out and we don’t have a map. The Medina is huge and confusing. I decide to follow an arrow I see because it looks like a way out. Phoebe says “aw but that way looks boring”; there were less people and no stores. Zoe and I start walking. We eventually come to a more populated street but it’s still not on our map so I look around and notice the Hassan Mosque…it’s the biggest thing in the city. I tell them we should head that way cause we can get to the ship from there. We walk for a while, and eventually get to the Mosque, take some pictures and head in the direction of the port. It was a longgg walk so when we get close, we decide to stop to get something sweet to eat; the café only had croissants so we order Moroccan tea. Amazing. It’s green tea with Saharan mint and sugar. We finish that –while watching Drowning Mona in English –and head toward the ship. Finally get there. Enough time for me to freshen up for dinner with a Moroccan family. Needless to say I hadn’t been impressed at all yet so I didn’t really know what to expect.

We all met in the Union to break up into groups and get our family assignment. I ended up in a group with 6 people that I didn’t know with a with a host woman named Mounia. First off, I should preface this by saying that the families hosting SaS students are parents of children that attend a private “American”school in Casablanca called George Washington Academy. So when we got off the ship with our host, we had to meet her friend at the main gate because her car only fit 4. We met Sofia and drove towards the nicer part of Casablanca to the Hotel Suisse –1 of 2 Hotels that the family owns. And we’re talking marble and fountains and valet parking –incredible. So we sat and had Moroccan tea while we chatted and got to know one another. Sofia has 2 children and Mounia has 5 and they’ve both lived in Morocco all their lives. Everyone in their family speaks 3 languages; Arabic, French and English. Even the 9 year old little girl we met speaks all three languages fluently.

So we went to their apartment –which is a big open suite-like place –and met their extended family as well their neighbors. Everyone was soooo nice; they all greeted us with a kiss on each cheek. When we first sat down in their living/dining area we were introduced to everyone and were asked a bunch of questions while we sampled traditional Moroccan pastries. Saad –the husband –told us that Moroccans generally had an insatiable sweet tooth. After talking for a while we started dinner which began with these yummy fried wonton things and a bunch of salads and salsas that we ate with traditional round bread, baked fresh. After that, one of the servants brings out this dish that looks like an upside-down funnel –the funnel part comes off and inside there were mini chicken meatballs with eggs all baked in a sauce that reminded me a little of taco meat. After that they brought out the largest bowl of couscous I’ve ever seen in my life and we ate it like they usually eat all their food –right out of the bowl. The couscous itself wasn’t the delicious part; they had baked squash, zucchini, cabbage, onions and beef and put it on top and then served it with these two sauces; one was a pepper sauce that was the salty component and the other was this sweet mixture of caramelized raisins and onions. To die for. But oh it wasn’t done. After they cleared the couscous, they brought out a giant bowl of fresh fruit, a pan of flan and a brownie cake. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

After dinner we sat down to talk some more and look at the yearbooks of the kids; we also were all pleased –and surprised –to find out that they all have Facebook! So we all added each other as friends so we could keep in contact. Mounia also showed us her and Saad’s wedding pictures and they told us how they met; they’re a beautiful couple. The pictures were amazing; a traditional Moroccan wedding is 7 days long and there’s a different dress for each day. I couldn’t believe how extravagant everything was. It was around midnight when we all realized it was long past our return time. Mounia gave us all hand-crafted cloths as gifts and gave us all her phone number and contact info, inviting us to call her and Sofia the next day if we wanted to go shopping and meet for lunch. I wasn’t able to but a few of the others did and they spent the entire day with them, getting hennaed, shopping, hanging out, etc. So before we left we said our goodbyes and took tons of pictures with the family and we all took cookies with us to smuggle back onto the ship; they don’t let you bring anything that isn’t sealed but we all got past security no problem. Yay. So after we got back, I found Candace to see what time we were leaving in the morning because we had made plans to meet some of our friends in Marrakech. Finally bed.

Marrakech: I woke up at 5 to finish packing and get ready. We were supposed to meet at 5:30 but people were late so we didn’t end up leaving until 6; we had to catch the train at 6:50 and like I said before, it’s a mile just to the main gate. So in the dark of the morning and in the most disgusting humidity I’ve felt in a while, we started speed walking like our lives depended on it. We would have been willing to pay a petite taxi but there were none at that hour so we booked it to the main gate. Found a taxi as soon as we saw one and took it to the station; we got to the station 10 minutes before the train left. So I was the only one who hadn’t bought a ticket the day before so I bought a first class ticket (cause that’s what the rest of the group had done) for 125 durham (roughly $12USD) and boarded the train. I took my jacket off and was disgusted…I was drenched in sweat but it would have been completely inappropriate for me to change so I just dealt with it. I figured if I didn’t smell I was fine. Settled into my comfy seat and got ready for the 3+ hour ride. I was in a comfy seat in a cabin that had 6 seats; there were 2 businessmen in the cabin with me and 2 other people boarded at other stops. I apparently was exhausted because I fell asleep hard for over an hour of the trip…I never sleep on trains or anything. Woke up, had a Coke and got to Marrakech around 10:30.

I came to find out, however, that we didn’t actually know what we were doing; we hadn’t made any concrete plans to meet anyone at a specific time or place. This was fine except we spent the next hour sitting in a McDonalds figuring that out. I ate the pastries that I got from my host family because I refused to eat American food in a different country. So eventually we called our friends and found out what hotel they were at and went about getting a taxi there. It was a crazy ride to the Medina. Get there and climb up to the hotel (it was on top of a restaurant/ café place) and find our friends waiting there for us. Except they’re getting ready; they were supposed to stay another night so we would all be there together but they didn’t have a very good time the day; they got harassed, pick-pocketed and watched some horrible things happen. So their new plan was to just go to a Hammam close by and then take a train back. I really didn’t care about being in Marrakech because it’s all shopping and bargaining and I had only really come to meet up with my friends so I decide to go with them rather than stay the night. We found a few Hammams and checked them out; eventually we found Riad Isis in a back alley and all agreed it was the nicest and cheapest.

One of the best experiences I’ve had so far; for less than $30 (300 durhams) I got a “bath”which included a wash of black eucalyptus soap, a body scrub, my hair washed, a clay rub and a half hour oiled massage. The bath happened in a sauna-like room with this heated tile seat and the woman rinsed us off using a children’s bucket. During the massage they dimmed the lights and had soft music playing. It was amazing and completely revitalizing; it was worth 7 hours spent on a train, that’s how good it was. We did all this in pairs so Rhina and I went together and we’re both shy so we kept our underwear and bra on; the woman made fun of us. Everyone came out eventually and we all looked like lazy, sated cats. A few of the girls got waxing done too cause it was so cheap. Once we were all back together, we realized we had missed the intended 3pm train but we knew there was another one at 5pm so we headed back toward the center of town. Stopped to get some postcards and exchange money and we finagled a taxi driver to bring us all (there were 7 of us) back to the train station in 2 taxis for 10 durhams each. Every time you want to take a taxi, you have to negotiate prices with them before you get in or they rip you off. Anyways, get to the station about a half hour before the train leaves and I realize that I haven’t eaten all day and neither has anyone else; it’s 4:30. Unfortunately, there’s only McDonalds and KFC so I cave in. I was so hungry I barely tasted the food. I had a Big Mac with deluxe potatoes (wedges) and a diet Coke. So good. Oh and I got curry sauce to dip my potatoes in…sooo yummy. I wish the U.S. had some.

So we bought 2nd class tickets this time and squished into a cabin with a woman we didn’t know; poor lady. We were ridiculous the entire time, dancing and singing and being obnoxiously loud. I sang for the first time since I’ve been on the ship and found out that a bunch of my friends have producers as uncles; can we say connections? lol It was a fun trip back. I scribbled some notes on what I had seen and done so I could write this entry when I got back to ship. So we got off at what we thought was our stop and realized too late that it was the wrong one; Casablanca, just the wrong station. It took 10 aggressive taxi drivers laughing in our faces to realize something was wrong; we offered them 10 durhams and they all laughed or scoffed and went away. So we went inside and found out we had gotten off a stop too early (or late, no one really cleared that up) so we caught the next train coming through to the right station. Argued with a taxi driver who wouldn’t bring us to the ship for 10 durhams and eventually just walked away until the man came after us and said he would to bring us just to the main port in 1 big taxi; 7 people plus the driver in one car. We get to the gate and walk back; I slipped and fell off a curb and scraped my knee but we eventually got there. We hung out for a few hours and then I crashed; it was a long friggin day.

Woke up the next morning for breakfast and we all decided to go back to bed and meet at lunch, ready to leave. Slept for a few more hours, got up and ready, ate lunch and headed out to find Rick’s Café (for those who don’t know, it’s from the movie Casablanca); the only thing was that it was raining and really humid. Yuck. Had to take 3 petite taxis there because we couldn’t convince anyone to take more than 3 people and they overcharged us. Got there to find out that they weren’t letting anyone else in because it was almost closing time for them; at this point, I was grumpy because we had just wasted money and time doing nothing when all I had wanted to do was go buy a few things in the shops along the road to the Medina. So we decide to walk back towards that area of town. Well I don’t know how it happened again, but we had a complainer that managed to stick herself to our group. All she did was whine about how the rain had ruined her moccasins (who wears moccasins in the rain?) and that she was pissed and blah blah blah. Eventually we got to the center of town and left her with other people so we could go frollick in peace. I bought a bronze tea-pot (for decoration only) and a few scarves and a jilaba tunic (the traditional garb they wear here to cover themselves from head to toe…only mine was a short-sleeved shirt). Found a taxi willing to bring a few of us back to the ship and agreed on a decent price; except we freaked out halfway there because we didn’t think we had enough money. lol Someone found an extra coin and we were fine. Waited a half hour to board back onto the ship (everyone gets back from big SaS trips around 4 the day we leave) and went to start messing with my hair; we knew that a few days after we left Morocco we would be crossing the equator so I wanted to do fun things before I shaved my head for the traditional ceremony. First, I bleached it with bleach I had bought in Spain and I bleached a few strands of Rhina’s hair. Then we cut and buzzed the sides and back of my hair with my friend Thomas’clippers. Next Rhina died her streaks blue with color she had brought with her…she said I could us it if I wanted so I put a few streaks in. Except when I rinsed it out, it turned most of my hair this funky sea green color; good thing I didn’t really care. Eventually I cut what hair there was left so that I could mohawk it; it looked awesome. And then after watching the ship leave and a dance party in the Union, we all went to bed; we're at sea for 8 days before reaching Namibia.