Arriving in Casablanca- Heres Looking at You Kid!

While on my flight from Barcelona to Casabanca I struck up a conversation with Sandrine from France. Her boyfriend lived in Casablanca. They had been dating for 2 years. We talked of how difficult it is to have long distance relationships. I myself had had a few long distance relationships with men in other countries over the years. This had worked for me in the past, my work schedule was so intense that I did not have time for a full time relationship. ( I now see where my priorities were way out of wack!) She was hoping to move to Morocco rather than having her boyfriend move to France. She explained they try to see eachother atleast once a month but it was getting more and more difficult. I really enjoyed our conversation. She gave me some tips on Moroccan men. She said to be careful and very strong! For me, this is not a problem. =>
I arrived to the airport and immediately went to the train station. I waited for two hours for the next train. I people watched and played with the cutest little girl. She was absolutely adorable and her mom seemed to appreciate my attention. We were just about to board the train when what looked to be African royalty arrived. This beautiful woman with an entourage of about 14 people came barreling through the walkway. Everyone moved out of her way at once. It was then I realized Morocco was going to be an experience like no other.
After arriving to the center of Casablanca, I got a taxi. I negotiated a price and waited. All of sudden the taxi driver allowed another man in the front seat of the taxi. I started to say no and tried to get out as he sped through the parking lot. This is so important....do not get in a taxi with two men ever! I have heard many horror stories from women, especially in India. All these horrible thoughts were running through my mind. I had no idea how far away my hotel was. I could not understand a thing the men were saying to eachother. At one point I thought of jumping out. After about twenty minutes , we arrived. The taxi driver must have read the fear on my face. He smailed and laughed. He said "see you made it". I checked in. I was quickly greeted by Jamal. He was our tour guide. It just so happened we had arrived at the same time. The man at the reception desk assigned me a room, I said goodbye to Jamal and headed upstairs. Once I saw my room, I was utterly upset. It had not been cleaned and was a mess. I quickly returned downstairs asking if they had a clean room. Jamal was right behind me. His room had not been cleaned either. He was emabarrassed and said this never happens. Recpetion said they would clean our rooms, Jamal in the meantime invited me to tea. We left our backpacks and headed out.
We went to this really cute cafe. We sat outside, and it had started to drizzle rain. Our waiter quickly put up the umbrella, Jamal asked if I wanted to go inside but I liked the atmosphere outside better. He quickly commented on how calm I am. We talked in for a long time. He answered quite a few questions I had about Islam. We talked about life in Morocco. Jamal is Berber and prides himself on this. He wants to go to India so we spent a lot of time discussing this. I left India with mixed feelings but I myself want to return. I have a deep desire to understand their culture. Jamal talked a lot of his family and going to university in Agdir. We also talked about the Berbers and the Nomads. We would be camping with Nomads . I was so excited about this. I have camped with Nomads in India, and Egypt. I find their culture fascinating. I myself would love to travel with nomads for a time. I had met a couple ( from the States) while I was in Viet Nam, whose niece had traveled a year living with Nomads in India. She was molested but this is not to say this happens in all Nomadic tribes. Jamal explained most the Berbers live in villages but there are quite a lot of Nomadic tribes still in existance. While we were talking there was commotion coming from inside the cafe. Two men were arguing quite loud. One was very drunk. Jamal looked at me and said "relax, its ok". It was funny. He said not everyone is a "good Muslim" some people don't follow Islam. I learned a lot from Jamal.
That night I met the rest of my tour. There were six of us. Four Aussies( Jan, Irene, Jane, and Jill) and Richard from London. We all got along right away. We went to dinner and enjoyed our first authentic Moroccan meal!
The next day we spent the morning at the Hassan ll Mosque. It is the 3rd largest Mosque in the world. It took five years and 30,000 laborers to build. Its minaret is the highest in the world at 200 meters high. The Mosque can house up to 80,000 worshippers. Its absolutely beautiful! It is situated by the sea. I love the mosaic tiles throughout. In my opinion it blows away the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. It is a Must see!
We took a train to Rabat later in the afternoon.

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