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Published: March 5th 2008
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Video Playlist: 1:
Morocco 693 secs
Rock of Gibraltar
This is on the ferry from Spain to Ceuta. Well, I just had one big weekend. Since this is coming a few days late I might forget some things or this might turn out to be one of those rambling entries. So I apologize for either if they occur.
So Morocco, or Marruecos as they say here in Spain, was phenomenal. First, I couldn't have gone with a better group of people. There were six of us altogether, five girls and one lone guy, Jim. You can see all of them on the video. They are all awesome people, and it was just a nice laid back trip with them. We all had each others backs, but there were also times where we could just do our own thing. It was pretty fun with them, and we only left a person behind once and we just lost her in the ferry depot so it was no big deal. We shared food, aspirin, kleenex, water, gummi bears, and good conversation, along with hours of bus rides.
We started our trip by taking a bus from Malaga to the port of Algeciras in Spain at the straits of Gibraltar. We took a ferry across the straits to Ceuta which is
Hotel Chams
Our lovely moroccan hotel. a Spanish colony in Morocco. It was a pretty sunset as we left the Spanish coast, and we even had some dolphins riding in our wake. Pretty sweet, right? and this is only the beginning. Once we arrived in Ceuta, we crossed the border into Morocco and drove for about an hour to Tetuan which is where our hotel was. We stayed at the hotel Chams, and let me just say that while the accomodations left a little something to be desired, the food was incredible. Our first night there we had lemon and chicken Kabobs with rice, some kind of vegetable (don't know what it was but I ate it all), and potatoes. Oh, and we had some amazing soup for the first course (I almost forgot about that). They eat lot's of bread there, which obviously I was cool with, and fruit-always fruit-for desert. They sure knew how to feed us right. All the food was good in Morocco, but some of us were feeling it on the way home. Nothing to bad, though, except for Jim who got really sick on the bus on the way home.
The next morning we went to the medina, or
marketplace, in Tetuan. It was pretty interesting. I definitely do not like how they bargain there though. I feel so pressured. We went to this rug place, and they tried to sell us the rugs after showing them to us. They would isolate you from your friends, then ask what you would pay. When you say I don't know, they write down and ungodly amount of money and you have to gradually work your way down. I got dragged into the rug thing by a friend and I almost got the guy down to less than 50 euros from 150 euros. I told him that I wasn't interested and said that I only had 50 euros with me, which was true, so he said that he would sell it to me for 50 euros. I tried explaining, though, that that was all the money I had so I still wasn't interested. So I probably could have gotten him to go lower, but I just walked away. You just can't make eye contact; with anything, not even directly with a product itself, because those guys will pounce on you, saying "how much you pay?". Yeah, it was a little much.
After Tetuan, we drove by bus to Tanger which is bigger and much more european than Tetuan. We got to see where the Atlantic meets the Mediterrean and I bought to little camels figurines as souveneirs. Then we drove some more, and stopped for what was one of my favorite parts of the trip: the camel rides. Granted it was only around a really small parking lot, but it was awesome! and it was only a euro. You'll definitely have to watch that part of the video, because it was pretty cool. We also went to the marketplace, the very tourist marketplace, in Tanger. It was here that we almost missed the bus back and I almost got pick-pocketed twice. The first one was a little boy, and when he was almost a foot away from my backpack I turned around and caught him and he took off running in the other direction. After that my friends were watching my back, and Caroline had to step in between me and another guy who was eyeing my bag. It was intense, but we were pretty cautious, and like I said we were watching each other's stuff.
We got up even
earlier the next morning to go to Chef-Chaouen (I think that is how it is spelled). It is a pretty traditional mountain town, and it was gorgeous. We were also there on a good day to see the real culture first hand, because it was laundry day. A lot of people do their laundry at this community pavillion next to or I guess it is somewhat in the middle of a local stream/river. It was pretty cool to see, and then after they wash the clothes and rugs, they dry them on the trees. Also, all of the buildings were painted white on the top half and blue on the bottom half. I forget why, but it might have something to do with either the heat or something superstitous. So even though they were somewhat old and crappy buildings, they still looked cool and artsy because of the paint. This was our last stop before heading back to Ceuta, and it was kind of sad to leave. We had crammed a whole lot of Morocco into three days, so it was a little rushed and a lot tiring, but definitely worth it.
I can't really think of anything else
to write about, so there was a brief glimpse of my trip to Morocco. I think it is just one of those things that you have to experience for yourself, that I can't really fully explain to you, but hopefully my pictures and video will help.
Everything else has been pretty good here. It still feels like a big vacation. I mean, we just had a four day weekend, we have school this week, but then next week Spring Break begins (on Friday, March 14, then we have the whole next week off). It is also when the family is coming, and I am so excited about seeing them and showing them around. So put grandma, grandpa, and mom in your prayers for safe travel and good weather. Classes have been pretty good so far, and I just finished my second essay. My literature class seems like it is going to be pretty tough though. The teacher told us foreign students that she won't slow down or repeat herself, and we just need to buck and learn spanish. She is one tough cookie, but she makes jokes all the time in class so I don't think she will be
Hmmm...
I can't remember what this building was, but I think that it's important. too bad. There is a lot of reading and one huge essay test at the end, and I have the feeling that this lady would fail us in a heartbeat. So needless to say that class will keep me busy. Other than that all of my other classes are pretty fun, and not too hard. My family here is good and so are the friends, and I am still kicking over here in Spain.
I hope all of you are doing well. Congratulations to my friends Todd and Brittany on becoming homeowners, and also congrats to my cousins who just found out that they are going to have another baby. I miss and love you all!!!!
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