September 11th- 13th
Marrakech, Morocco- On the morning of September 11th, we all met for our Semester at Sea Marrakech and Camel Riding in Palm Groves adventure. I do not know exactly how everyone around me was feeling but I was a bit nervous. The news isn’t exactly the easiest thing to get while you are at sea. Sure we have a few sites that are free for us to use, but to get them to load, not shut off, and see everything can be quite the task. When I had my cell phone I was able to have my news forwarded to read in the mornings, but without that I’m basically unaware of many US and global events. The day before we left for Marrakech (the morning we arrived and had our logistical pre-port meeting) the Executive Dean of SAS warned us about the Priest(?) in Florida who was planning on having a demonstration on 9/11, burning Qurans. Because we would be in Morocco, a predominately Muslim nation who are not very fond of United States citizens, they told us to be careful. This made me a bit nervous. Sure I am culturally sensitive and did not think the Moroccans would do anything to act out against us, but I was still a bit nervous. It was really frustrating to hear this news and to know that a religious figure would consider this action, especially when we were in a Muslim nation ourselves. Needless to say we were fine and only experienced ‘regular’ actions and behavior by the locals towards Americans. (I didn’t experience it myself but I guess some girls were spit on, people were chased out of shops, and some verbally attacked.) Fortunately, I had a positive experience in Morocco, but I will come back to that later.
Anyways, we all met up at 8 in the morning reading for our adventure to Marrakech. The bus ride took a few hours, but about halfway there we stopped at a little café called Oasis for pastries and orange juice. For some reason Morocco has some of the best orange juice I have ever tasted. It is fresh squeezed but very unique compared to the fresh squeezed at home. If you ever get a chance to go to Morocco I highly recommend you try it, just don’t forget to not have ice! The weather was quite hot, but I was still comfortable. It was strange how warm it would get throughout the day and even though I would be sweaty, the heat never made me really uncomfortable. When we started to get closer to Marrakech, the view outside of the bus was hard to ignore. There were a lot of sandy colors (mostly browns, reds, and oranges come to mind when I think of Morocco), but there were some palm trees (could have most likely been planted more recently since they did not seem to be part of the natural habitat or ecosystem). Before we knew it, there were camels randomly sitting on the side of the rode in the dirt, just waiting around. Many of them did have people with them, as if they were preparing for tourists to come ride them. I wondered if any locals would come ride the camels, but I am almost positive they were just for show. When we got to the camel trek site the other busload of students had taken all of the camels. To our surprise our bus was preparing to ride either dune buggies or 4-wheelers through the desert/palm groves! Kelly and I decided to team up together and I would lead us through the path. After that particular adventure I had probably half an inch of dirt all over my body! It was pretty crazy. We ended at our lunch spot which I don’t even know what it really was. It seemed to have been an old small village/house thing that was all outdoors except for two rooms. One of the rooms is where we ate lunch. It fit about 80 of us with cushions all over the ground and small tables set up randomly for the communal dishes.
This particular Moroccan meal almost perfectly reflected the Mediterranean diet with lots of grains, veggies, nuts, and olives. The food came out in stages. First we had hot mint tea poured out of the teapot in front of you. I later learned that some people show their respect for you by how high they pour the tea for you. I kind of really wish I had known before so I could see what my respect level was ☺ Even though it was extremely hot outside and we had all been sweating, the tea was still so delicious and we could not stop drinking it. Next we had fresh made bread with a ‘Moroccan Salad.’ The fresh made bread was always delicious (like all the Moroccan food I ate). When I go out to dinner back at home in the US, I can usually say no to the bread they bring, however, in Morocco I could not turn it down. You could actually taste how fresh it was and it tasted so different to the bread from home. The salad was a big bowl with five different sections of food inside. There were carrots, beets, green peppers, potatoes, and cucumbers. These vegetables were so fresh and tasted so different then the vegetables from home. Probably because they are actually fresh and not grown with chemicals like some vegetables are in the United States. The spices and herbs that the locals use to prepare their food also gave it so much more flavor then we are used to. Next part was the main dish. The chef’s had prepared large bowls of couscous for each table with garbanzo beans, carrots, caramelized onions, some other vegetables, sweetened raisins, and chicken. This is where the Moroccan meal became unlike anything I have ever experienced. I could have eaten this dish with no problem, picking out the pieces of chicken inside of this large dish, but that isn’t what they wanted me to do. Instead, the cooks had prepared the exact same meal for me in what they may have considered to be a smaller bowl (still giving me enough food for like five people). It was absolutely delicious. The variety of flavors was unreal. Of course I kept eating when I was completely stuffed because the food was so good! Finally the main dish was cleared, but then a plate of fruit was served as something sweet to eat after the big dish. It was then time for dancing! We danced to traditional Moroccan music that the men played out on the patio area of the village. While everyone danced and played, tea was again served in order to help our bodies digest the delicious Mediterranean meal. Last, but not least, a peanut butter tasting cookie was passed around with the tea for one last bit of sweetness before we were off. Needless to say the entire meal was made to perfection. Obviously I am obsessed with food but I had to give you a description of actually how good it was! I am definitely having Moroccan food nights at my house next year and all are welcome!
While we were leaving our lunch experience, the locals began to wrap our heads up in turbans for camel riding. Riding my camel was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. It was so strange and unreal, but I totally loved every moment of it. It is really hard to believe though that people use camels to cross long distances in the desert. Experiencing that feeling for just forty-five minutes was long enough and to know that people actually do that for days is mind-boggling and probably really uncomfortable. We came back to the hotel afterwards and were able to nap for a bit before getting dinner. Dinner was free at the hotel so we enjoyed the Moroccan buffet and again had delicious food. Our tour guide had informed us of this festival that was occurring that night for the end of Ramadan and so a large majority of us decided to go. I have no idea how to explain it but it was like a Moroccan Renaissance Fair with buildings that looked like palaces, tents covering dining spaces, camels walking in an arena sort of place, belly dancers, horse acrobats, fireworks, and even a magic carpet. Words can’t even really do justice in explaining that festival. It was so different and strange but really fun at the same time.
The next day we toured Marrakech. We went to the mosques, olive gardens, an old palace sort of place, until we ended up at the markets for lunch. After we ate we went to a Moroccan herbal pharmacy where I was blown away by all the herbal remedies. Needless to say I spent wayyyyy too much money there but I couldn’t help myself. We later went to the market, the medina, and the souks where I was able to use my great bargaining skills. I bought a few things there and I enjoyed spending time in the souks. Many of the people I was with did not like it in there and left because they felt violated for being pressured to shop. It did not bother me and I just went about my business talking my way through things. Not only were their clothing, craft, and jewelry shops, but there was food such as fresh(?) hanging livestock, spices, and almost any type of food you could imagine. Plus there were men with snakes and monkey’s trying to get tourists to take pictures with them and then charging them for the picture. Oh and apparently one of the ladies who works on the ship was bit by one of the monkeys! Creepy, right? Overall I really enjoyed the whole shopping experience and wish I had more money to keep shopping, but I had left it on the ship and it was time to go. We had dinner again at the hotel and later enjoyed the Moroccan hookahs on the roof deck of the hotel.
In the morning we left Marrakech and went back to Casablanca. I did enjoy my time in Marrakech, but I wished I could have seen Fez as well. I wasn’t feeling well (still sick with a cold) so instead of booking a train ride to Fez or staying in Marrakech, I decided to go back with SAS. Marrakech was a cool place; the only problem I found with it was that it was a bit on the touristy side. I felt like almost everything was created for tourists, but at the same time although it seems to have been that way, a lot of it was actually just how they lived. The market wasn’t created for us, but instead something that has been a part of their culture for years. It just seemed to be made for tourists since there were so many in that particular area. I enjoyed my time in Marrakech and Morocco in general and know it is a place I would like to visit again in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment