Salam Wa Aleikum!

Casablanca, Morocco

September 10, 2010

Sorry to be so behind on all of my blogs!  Spain and Morocco were literally back-to-back so it was really difficult to keep up with everything on top of being super busy with school when I am on the ship.   Overall, I really enjoyed Morocco, or as they say Maroc.  It was a very interesting place unlike anything I have experienced (I have a feeling I am going to be saying that about all the places we are going).  We were prepared to not be liked but the locals, for only 16% of the Moroccan population actually has a favored view of the United States, so I caught myself saying I was from either England or Canada a lot.  The people were nice I thought, but not ridiculously over the top nice, but they were very hospitable.  Of course it depends on each individual, but I personally did not have a bad experience while I was there.  The only thing I would have changed was being with such a big group of Semester at Sea students.  It brought almost too much attention and not a lot of the locals liked it.  I would, however, love to come back to Morocco with my family, particularly Beth and Levin, and see Morocco through their eyes. 

The strangest thing about Morocco was that almost nothing (except restaurants) had a set price.  You basically had to bargain your way through everything.  From taxi rides to shopping, there was not a set price and you could almost always guarantee that half of the price they start with is even too much.  It is frustrating that they will try to rip you off the whole time, but it is already so much cheaper than anything we would pay for back at home that you start to feel bad for complaining.  It was really difficult to shop or even get around at times because I don’t speak either French or Arabic, and although a majority does speak English, they do not if they don’t want to.  I felt really bad and in a way disrespectful since I can only speak English and Spanish.  I couldn’t even communicate a little in their languages but now I am more eager to learn other languages so that can be prevented in the future.  

We arrived in Casablanca at 10 o’clock in the morning, ready to enjoy the day.  I grabbed my green scarf, wrapped my shoulders and head, and viola my homemade burka ( I cannot think of the name of one only made for your head so burka will suffice for now) was ready ☺  We first decided to go to the Mosque in the town, Mosque Hasssan II, which is in a competition for the second tallest minaret in the world (second to Mecca and in competition to the Abu Dhabi mosque).  There were so many people there since it was the last day of Ramadan.   We marveled at the French architecture of this beautiful building and listened as the call to prayer was being sounded.  Our next stop was the medina, which is basically the shopping center of a town in Morocco.  It is like a marketplace with anything you can think of available to buy.  It is all outside but the shops get so close together that at times you feel enclosed.  Earlier that day during the SAS logistical presentation of Morocco we had a special presentation of photography in Morocco (and possibly the rest of the world).  Unlike the United States where photos can be taken of anyone at anytime, in Morocco, you must ask for permission to take a photo for they see it as taking away their soul when you snap a shot.  This became a lot more noticeable in the medina.  There were some crazy sights there and any time I wanted to take a picture the looks I received from the locals told me it was not worth it.  There were people everywhere, kids of the ground, adults too begging for money, fresh livestock just chopped up and ready to be sold, and stores after stores selling a wide variety of things.  The smells were strong and changing up every so often.  There were definitely some times that I did not think I could handle the smell anymore, but weirdly enough you start to get used to it.  It was quite a scene as we got deeper and deeper in the medina.  We lost track of direction, unsure of where we had ended up, but luckily (well luckily can be debatable here, since I would totally have rather been with 2 other people) there were ten of us so we were safe.  I didn’t buy much that day, just a beach towel for necessary purposes, but instead I just soaked everything in. 

We then went to dinner at a restaurant called La Fleur and it was packed with locals inside and out.  I did notice the immense amount of men compared to women at these restaurants but that was more so during the day then at night.  The food was absolutely delicious and I have a new obsession with Moroccan food, especially couscous.  That was basically our day in Casablanca- chaotic, but extremely interesting and worthwhile.