Advertisement
Since being in Paris, I have met some incredible people. On our 10 day trip to Morocco, Dani and I had the opportunity to travel with our two Moroccan friends, Tarik and Hassane to their home country. Our itenerary had us covering Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech, and Essouria.
We had a late night flight out on Friday May 1st on "Jet4You" 😊 The first two nights of the trip were spent at Tarik’s home in Casablanca. His family was amazing and hospitable, we felt right at home from the moment we walked in the door. Tarik’s mother cooked for us continually, delicious meal after delicious meal just kept appearing… so we kept eating! Dani and I tried to help out in the kitchen, and his mom let us... occasionally. Tarik’s dad is a driver in Casablanca and he graciously spent one day taking us on a great tour of the city, hitting some of the greatest spots - ancient and modern alike.
After two nights, we headed to Rabat to spend some time with Hassane’s family and to attend a wedding of one of Hassane’s high school friends. Upon arrival to his home we were fed (of course) and shortly
after the amazing meal, the dress-up festivities began. (Dani and I had NOTHING to wear to a traditional Moroccan wedding. So, Hassane’s sister and family took on the challenge of outfitting us completely - and then proceeded to take the liberty of dressing us up in all kinds of traditional clothing… just for fun? They were so very gracious with us, and let us take LOTS of pictures.) After a good hour of dress up and photo shoots, we got back in our normal clothes, hopped in a car, and headed out to a forested area outside the city where Hassane’s family and a lot of the Berber community in Rabat gather every Sunday to practice traditional music (the Berber people of Morocco could be compared to the Native Americans - they were the tribal cultures that existed long before the Arabs arrived in Morocco. Although many families have moved away from their rural villages and into the cities, they still gather to practice and celebrate their traditional culture.) There was tons to do and see, and the music (a drum beat with singing and chanting performed by a circle of men doing all kinds of crazy shoulder dances) was
incredible.
That night we went to the Moroccan wedding all dressed up in our Moroccan best! We arrived at the house and were told that the wedding was actually a separated wedding, meaning the women were sent upstairs and then men downstairs. We walked into the room, clearly out of place, and were directed to our seats by the bride's father. We sat at a table not quite sure what to do but we sat and waited and tried to blend in. After about an hour, the bride and groom entered to dancing and cheering and sat near our table. Twenty minutes later the groom left and it remained only women in the room. There was some dancing and after about 3 hours dinner was brought out to the tables. We thought the wedding might be mixed again after dinner, but it remained separated the entire time, so we tried our best to speak french with the women at our table, but conversation was fairly minimal. This wedding was an experience that I will never forget. It was beautiful to see the women all dressed up in the traditional clothing and to be a part of this huge cultural tradition.
It goes down as one of the most awkward nights of my life, but enjoyable all the same.
The next day, we were off to Marrakesh. This was by far the most touristy city in Morocco, but it was still great to see all it had to offer. The main plaza in the heart of the ancient Medina was full of stands selling fresh squeezed orange juice and dried fruit and nuts of all kinds. At night the square came alive with hundreds of smaller food stands, snake charmers, people with monkeys, musicians, henna artists… the WORKS. It was like Morocco’s Disneyland. The crowds were mostly Moroccans who had come out for dinner or a bit of entertainment. A very cool setting, even more beautiful at night. The markets of Marrakesh were beautiful as well, but we soon learned to save our shopping for another town since most of the prices in Marrakesh were at least double the prices elsewhere.
After two nights, we hopped on a bus and headed down to Essaouira, a small city located right on the ocean. Our seaside apartment was beautiful, complete with breakfast on the terrace each morning. Pictures give a better descrptian that
I could…This town is known for being more of a hippie town, and a place where Jimi Hendrix spent some time. It was such a nice change from the cities and the perfect spot to relax and feel apart of the local scene.
We spent one whole day on a beach about 20 km outside of town where we ate an amazing lunch of fresh seafood and got to take a stroll on a couple of camels, and play in the ocean - a very great day.
AND, after three nights on the beach, we hopped back on a bus and made our way all the way back to Casablanca where we spent another two nights with Tarik’s family before flying back to Paris.
I miss the incredible mint tea and family meals, couscous, tajine, and fresh fruit!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.303s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0474s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Tarik
non-member comment
Don't Go Back Tomorow...I find a Newspaper Jet4you behind my place to take you home...loool