Meknes/Volubilis Pictures

In case you were wondering about the last blog title.
This is for the first train that ended up being too full for us to board.


And for the second train....we were at the train station for nearly 4 hours. It was funny...but it also kinda sucked.

My friends are so hip.

Welcome to Volubilis
This is what I suppose might've been a main road back in the day.

My Donkey friend whose ears I pet at Volubilis

Awesome mosaic at Volubilis, I believe meant to ask the Gods' protection from the creepy crawlies depicted there.

Mosaic in the "House of Orpheus"

Awesome Arches

There were tons of these slabs with Latin in them all over the place

I didn't notice until I was uploading all the pictures how awesome the clouds were that day.

Don't be fooled by the beautiful arches and mosaics, this is what most of the place looked like

Moulay Idriss

Donkey on the job in Moulay Idriss

"You are only one Euro or you are Salad People?"

So we get plopped off in Rassani just before 6am, and we are many combinations of cranky and delirious. And despite the hellish hour of the morning, there were men around trying to take us this way and that...some gentleman had a shop full of many blue and yellow things from the sound of what he was saying. After a few moments of wandering around in the dark we finally took up a guy on his offer to open his restaurant early for us to eat breakfast. Of course it was bread and confiture (although to be fair we did get cheese this time as well!) After some very awkward conversation with a man who claimed to be the "Brad Pitt of Morocco" we managed to pay, leave, and meet our guide scheduled to meet us at 8 and take us to the desert.

So we all piled into cars and headed to a tiny town called Fes (obviously not THE Fes). I think Jana described the town the most accurately when she said "I feel like I'm surrounded by sandcastles." All the buildings are made of mud and straw and are exactly the same color as the sound which stretches for miles in all directions.

We were taken to a home where we were given some time to rest and clean up after our long journey, then we were taken on a tour of Fes. When we first met up with our tour guide he asked us one of the most hilarious questions I've ever heard in my life: "You are all one Euro, or you are salad people?" Ever time I think of this I can't help but at least chuckle a little to myself. Needless to say, the term "salad people" has definitely stuck amongst the group of people on this trip. Our tour guide led us along with his very cute little boy who had us all in stitches. He kept throwing up different signs with his hands and it was pretty funny to walk at the back of the group and see everyone mimick him. We went to a manmade oasis, the town's water supply. There were women working on small crops, and I couldn't help but think I might be resentful of tourists if I were them. I felt similar to when we watched the men working at the tannery in the city Fes. I can't help but think that these short tours give only a tiny glimpse into the lives of the people here, and you're meant to leave thinking "Oh look at the cute people with their cute little water supply." But really...these people are living in the desert and using their tiny bit of water to desperately try and grow SOMETHING....anything...and here we come trapsing through their workgrounds...

But it was beautiful none the less. There were tons of frogs all along the route and I was surprised to see that the other tourists there were Moroccan. It made me feel like we were definitely somewhere very special if it is a travel destination for local people.

After our tour of the Oasis we were shown into a house where people were preparing for a wedding. The bride was completely covered, protecting her beauty the last few days before becoming a married woman. We were then taken to a separate room where we suppose her bridesmaids were celebrating, and one of the coolest things I've ever done ensued. We bellydanced with the ladies! I was so happy to be able to show off my newly acquired booty shaking skills with these women. They were tickled pink when a few of us knew some basic belly dancing moves, and they even tied scarves around our hips to help us reach maximum shake power.

We then rested and were given lunch before heading out to begin our camel trekking! A minibus pulled up for us, and several of us jumped on the opportunity to sit on the roof. Sounds cool right? It was pretty painful! The rack on top was definitely not designed for the comfort of humans...especially not male humans. hehe. After a pretty hilarious ride we finally arrived at the beginning point for our trek....

retard 30 mn

So this past weekend WE WENT TO THE SAHARA!! It was probably the longest weekend of my life. I'll go on and break up these entries into smaller sections.

11/5/09
MEKNES

Thursday night we all met at the train station where our plan was to take a train to Meknes then a bus overnight to Rassani where our guide for camel trekking would meet us and take us to the desert.

But of course, it didn't work out that way. While still in Rabat we found out that our connecting bus was already full...a minor glitch in our plans...So we did what we do best - improvise! We decided to head to Meknes, stay there the night, see some awesome Roman ruins Friday then take the night bus to Rassani Friday night (traveling at night is a very effective way to cut down on hotel costs). This would mean we would have to start our desert trip a day late, not allowing us to return to Rabat until Monday night. Many calls were placed to many bosses and we were wished well on our way by them all! So the train to Meknes comes...."Retard 30 mn" and it is so packed that despite running back and forth down the platform we can't even find spots on the train. We find out that there is another train in about an hour, so like good Americans we go to McDonalds in the mean time(Ok, so only half of us are American and they added this weird sauce to everything...but still). Our second train was only "Retard 25 mn" but it was still packed and we had to stand for most of the trip.

Our hotel in Meknes was very nice - toilet, toilet paper, soap, and shower with curtain included! For only 125 Dh, about $16...in case you haven't noticed or I haven't made it clear by now, showers and toilets are not always guaranteed, let alone toilet paper and soap...SOAP! We basically crashed as soon as we got there, woke up and enjoyed the standard Moroccan breakfast of bread, confiture, butter, and coffee/tea. I never thought I would say this...but if I never see bread again in my life I'll be fine.

We then set out to see about getting ourselved out to Volubilis, the ancient Roman ruins just outside Meknes. The enormous site has tons of really beautiful mosaics and gorgeous arches which once framed entryways into the powerful walls of the city. There is enough remaining to give an impression of how the complete structure may have looked when it was new. In some places navigating the ruins seemed difficult and labrynthine, but in other spots the pathways opened into huge "streets" which led from one large arch to another. Like most, I love imagining all the lives that came and went there, all the people who may or may have not imagined what might've come of their homes after their deaths. Most importantly, I met a Donkey and pet his ears.

After roaming around for a little over an hour we returned to our taxi and went to Moulay Idriss for lunch. Moulay Idriss is a small town on the side of a mountain. Life operates at such a different pace in the villages here and, while I am treated as an outsider, I can see how the people function together. Citizens here often give to the poor, help the elderly and the blind reach their destinations, and generally aid their neighbors in any endeavors necessary. It's a shame they don't view us the same way...nutritious food for thought. Oh, and I met another Donkey, only this time he was on the job rather than grazing.

We then crammed back in our taxis and headed back to Meknes where we had quite a while to wait for our bus. Several of us ducked into a bar, of which there were surprisingly many. This particular bar offered the most colorful population of bar folk I have yet seen in Morocco, mainly because there actually were many many prostitutes inside...and for a while we really weren't sure if they were female or male. There were several ladies really working it (we even spotted a red feather boa), and they seemed to be doing well for themselves. Something of note: bar food in Morocco includes olives, this nasty potato dish, and popcorn. I laugh every time.

After a very long wait and many snacks later we finally, FINALLY got on a bus (which was retard about 30 mn). And there we stayed...and attempted desperately and without success to sleep...for about 8 hours as the temperature dropped lower and lower...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

la plage a sidi bouzid


Cool Portugese Architecture



More Cool Portugese Architecture

Cool old rotting ship - one view from the top of the Cite Portugaise

Max Boogers...naw just kidding its seaweed

Old Cistern where Orson Welles' Othello was filmed

la meme

Lyall, Henry, and Max challenge les vagues!

I didn't bring my camera with me for our night out in Casablanca, but I'm sure Elin and/or Claire will post pictures on Facebook soon enough

10/30/09-11/01/09

Yes, that's correct, we spent Halloween on the beach! Be jealous all you cold friends of mine! But let's back up to Friday night before we left Rabat.

So we had two desires for our weekend plan: We wanted to go to the beach, and we wanted to go dancing. So, after a whole lot of plans falling through and getting changed (have I mentioned before you shouldn't let boys plan anything?), we finally arrived at a plan that seemed to work for everyone!

Friday night Chloe, Max, Lyall, and me rushed to the train station after work to catch a train for El Jadida. El Jadida is a Portugese town about an hour and half south of Casablanca. It used to be an old Port town used by the Portugese, and is known for being open minded - there is no Mellah there because the Jews were allowed to live with everyone else. It was kind of run down and busted, but it was really nice to be in a small town with some neat European architecture where we were basically left alone, even if all the taxi drivers did rip us off.

When we got there we went to our hotel where Henry was waiting for us. He has gone even farther south to Safi with his boss Thursday night then just met us in El Jadida Friday night. We then went for a drink at a bar called "Le Tit," which of course we found endlessly funny. A word about bars in Morocco: They are extremely uncommon, and even more uncommon is finding a woman in one. I would never ever in a million years think of going to a bar or a club here unaccompanied by at least two men - typically any women you find in bars here are prostitutes. But at any rate, we enjoyed a few 11dirham ($1.50) beers and headed back to our hotel.

In the morning, after a very long breakfast where we ate way too much cake and pain au chocolat, we headed over to the Cite Portugaise, which is the small Portugese-built Medina in El Jadida. There is an old cistern there which is famous for being used as part of the set in the Othello which Orson Wells directed. It's really cool down there. As you can see from the photo, the whole room is lit by one beam of sunlight, and everything is reflected by all the water on the floor. We then ventured up to the Bastions on the corners of the Medina. There were a few kids playing in the water, jumping from the tops of the Medina walls and splashing around. I wish there hadn't been so much trash in the water where they were swimming, but I suppose they are used to it.

We then headed for the beach about 5 km away called Sidi Bouzid which was recommended in Lonely Planet. When we got out of the cab we could definitely feel the "beach town" vibe coming from the trendy restaurants and gorgeous summer homes which lined the streets. The waves were absolutely AMAZING! They were so big and Chloe and I had fun/had panic attacks while we watched the boys play in them. I went in for a bit, but not far enough out to have really experienced the strength of the water. It was sunny, but the waves threw so much mist in the air that the sea kind of seemed to have a haze over it in the distance. I don't think I've ever gone sunbathing on Halloween before!

We then headed to the train station to go to Casablanca for the night, where we would meet up with Claire, Julia, Elin(a really cute Welsch girl who works at the same center as me), and Jess(a really cute Australian girl working with kids in Sale). We have been wanting to go dancing really badly, but it is really awkward with the host families to tell them we are going to be out late. So we figured we'd just find a club in Casablanca and stay out late when we don't have anyone keeping tabs on us. This would have been a great plan if we hadn't paid for our hostel rooms before being told they close the doors from Midnight to 8am, so unless we wanted to be locked out we had to be back by midnight. The reason he gave us was "I hate Americans." Apparently some American's had caused trouble there before...but still I didn't appreciate the sentiments, and the "oppression" I'm feeling from this culture is starting to get to me (that's another blog entry).

We managed to find a Spanish restaurant close to our hotel which serves alcohol, has a dance floor, and turns into a pretty happenin' place at night. It was pretty hilarious when we walked in and all the servers had pieces of Halloween costumes on. Clearly, the only people who go there are foreigners and really trendy Moroccans who love foreigners (a rarity it seems). They also had a big fake bloody arm in their case displaying the day's specials. Pretty hilarious. I was able to order a "Margarita" and "Fajitas de Poulet." I put those in quotes because true to my Texan snob form, I won't recognize what they gave me as actual margaritas and fajitas, but it was still quite good. I haven't had guacamole in ages!

After we finished with our dinner we got up to dance...and we were the only ones on the dance floor. But let me tell you what, I did not walk through the rocky streets of Casablanca in heels to not put them to use on the dance floor! I knew that if we all started having a blast dancing together then pretty soon everyone else in the place would follow suit, and they did, in a very major way. At one point Elin came and grabbed me and dragged me back into the room where we had eaten before, and everyone was dancing on all the tables!!! (Yes, I joined in) I also managed to meet a couple horror film directors who live in Casablanca. Haha, I don't really see myself working with them, but it was very different and reassuring to meet a friendly gay artist here. We managed to get back to the hostel on time, hang out for a bit, then crash.

Sunday was basically a relaxing day - train back to Rabat, lounge on the beach, lounge at this nice cafe in the Kasbah Oudaya right next to the beach, and heading home for the night.

COUSCOUS FRIDAY

10/30/01

So now that I've lived here a while I forget that there are things that seem normal to me but that you all don't really know about!

Fridays are very special in Morocco. For one, the midday prayer is extra big (I'm not sure why), and more importantly, Friday is Couscous Day. It's tradition here for each house to make a TON of couscous, and then have family over to share it. Any leftovers are given to the poor. I asked our host dad one day if there was a special reason Friday was the day for couscous, and after giving me a bewildered look he just said, "You go to church on Sunday, we have couscous on Friday!" It's as simple as that.

It is eaten Moroccan style, off of the same HUGE plate (The one at our house is about a foot and a half in diameter). You take a little bit of this sauce which is the consistency of soup, put it on the couscous in front of you, and go to town scooping up vegetables and chicken which have been piled high on the plate. Sometimes our host dad rolls it into balls, which he then feeds you from his hands. I think normally people do this for children...but we often get lumped in with them here.

It is also always served (at least at our house) with camel milk...it's really gross. The first time it was served to me I thought it was regular milk. I took a sip and was very surprised at the sour taste which invaded my taste buds! I asked if it was a yogurt drink and we were told no...it's camel milk that is on its way to turning to butter. I hold my breath and drink it between huge bites of couscous, which is always delicious.

One of our host dad's cousins just moved back to Morocco from New Hampshire, where they have lived since before their three daughters, ages 9, 8, and 9 months, were born. They told me about a Moroccan restaurant in Astoria that is very good - I think I will have to go there some Friday and demand couscous!

Here's Lookin' At You, Kid.

Hassan II Mosque


This tower is the size of a skyscraper, I haven't seen a building this big since leaving New York


Exterior of the Mosque


Pretty fountain

Fountains for washing before Prayer

Pool in the basement of the Mosque. It's part of a Hammam that has never been used.

The ceiling of the Mosque

Gorgeous Rotunda

An example of more European architecture here

The film Casablanca being played in the second floor lounge at Rick's Cafe

10/24/09

Yes, that's right, I went to Casablanca today!

Casablanca is only an hour south of Rabat, so we decided to make a day trip there this weekend. There's not exactly a lot to do there, but we did see the famous Mosque and, of course, make a trip to Rick's Cafe.

Hassan II Mosque is one of two mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims, though in order to enter you must be with one of the scheduled guided tours led between prayer times. It was commissioned by the previous king and was paid for largely by contributions from the people of Morocco. He asked the citizens to give money for this, and our host mother told us that our host father and his business partner donated 1million dirhams (I'm pretty sure she actually said million and not mille, the French word for thousand - I will have to double check this number because that is quite a hefty sum). She told us it wasn't a tax or required to donate, but the people just did it...whether out of loyalty, love, or fear I don't know.

At any rate, the mosque is absolutely beautiful. It is built almost on top of the ocean, echoing a statement in the Quran which says that God's throne is built upon the water. You can see the ocean through beautiful huge doors which are ornately carved so that patterns of sunlight stream in. After six years of construction from 1987-1993, it stands as the largest building in Morocco. Over 6000 artisans aided in the designing of it.

The whole idea of building houses for God is so strange to me...yet all religions do it. Even the ancient ones which involve rituals with possession and all that...is that not just a way of offering your body as a house for God? I can't imagine God really cares about anything like that...but I guess everybody wants to make an offering of some kind. Standing inside this place where thousands of people come to pray 5 times every day I was thinking about how big your prayer would have to be to fill up all that space. You'd have to be capable of so much hope and belief...I can't help but be reminded of theatre.

Our tour guide was really funny, though I didn't understand most of his jokes - I managed to somehow get stuck in the tour led in French...so I only understood about 10% of what was being said, but I figured, what the heck, I need to practice listening to French anyway. He took us through the main room where the praying is done, then down into the basement where there is a hammam and a huge room of fountains. In case you don't know, it's required in Islam to wash yourself before you pray. As one Moroccan I met put it "Think about how you spend time getting dressed and ready to meet a good friend. If this is how you prepare yourself to see a friend, how much must you prepare yourself to converse with God?" Good point Jad, but I can't imagine many people from my hometown of Houston, let alone New Yorkers, stopping to wash and pray 5 times a day. It's such a different world.

And of course, we made the obligatory trip to Rick's Cafe. It's a total tourist trap, but we decided to go anyway just for the novelty of it. The restaurant was built after Casablanca became a big hit. They serve mostly American food (basically because we're the suckers to go there) and play the film nonstop on the second floor lounge. They also sell T-shirts, and while I was tempted to buy one, I passed on the opportunity.

You can definitely see the French influences in the architecture in Casablanca. Also there is a very big church there as well as many streets and schools named after Christian saints which is, as you might have guessed, very abnormal in Morocco. Another interesting phenomenon here was the group of young Goth Moroccan kids wearing Marilyn Manson T-shirts and moodily staring us down as we walked through the park. We may have found all the Moroccan Goths that exist in that one park, but ladies and gentlemen, they are real.

And with that trip done, I have been to all the major cities of Morocco!

Fes

10/17/09 - 10/18/09

We went to Fes! Fes is just to the east of Rabat by about 2 hours. Due to its close proximity to Rabat, we decided it would be more cost efficient to get up very early Saturday morning and go rather than arrive late the night before and basically just eat then go to bed in a hotel.

So, Saturday at 5:30am Chloe and I met Lyall, Ronan, Henry, Barbara, and Amrita at Bab el-Bouiba (the gate to the medina where we often meet to go out) and walked to the train station where we met Max and Michael. In case I haven't mentioned them yet, here's some info about them each: Max is a20 year old Austrian kid who works at the same center as me. His mom is American and his sister goes to FIT in New York. Michael is Nigerian but has lived in America for a while. He is 24 and was an investment banker in New York before coming here. After his stay in Morocco he will travel to Nigeria where he will be for the next six months doing his obligatory civil duty there. He said normally its really easy to get out of, but he wanted to do it. Awesome.

Our train arrived on time at 6:12 am. We got to ride on one of the fancy new trains! They only run on the shorter train lines. For those of you who frequent the LIRR or the NYC subway, the differences between the trains are basically the same as the old and new trains on those lines. The new ones have AC and white decor, better bathrooms, etc. The train ride was uneventful the way you want traveling to be. We arrived on time at about 8:30am and after dropping our bags off at our hostel, we set out on a desperate search for coffee and breakfast (which took us about 45 minutes-an hour - more people = more difficulty reaching decisions).

It was pretty cool to be in the Medina while everyone was setting up for the day. A few of us couldn't stand the lack of caffeine in our systems any more and got coffee while we waited for some others to catch up to us. This little cafe happened to be at a central point of the Medina where a few roads cross and there is a little bit of open space and many shops. Ok, so I know it's not France, but moments like that I just can't help but think of the beginning of Beauty and the Beast, "Little town, its a quiet village, every day like the one before. Little town, full of little people waking up to say BONJOUR!" Of particular note in this small square were a couple metalsmiths working side by side. The clanging sound of their work made me wish I knew how to tap dance really well so I could find some cool percussive way to add to their rhythmic symphony. Men led their donkeys through the square, the animals' backs piled high with rugs, leather to be tanned, and various other merchandise. Moroccan music (which I love) wafted from the cafe. As I was standing there I couldn't help but think of Benjamin (my college voice teacher) and "opening my ears." There were so many sounds to choose from and I think he would have appreciated them so much.

We found a cafe where we could all fit and we loaded up on coffee and pain au chocolat. A funny thing about places here: if a place doesn't have something you order - they hop over to another shop and buy it for you. At this cafe they didn't have pain au chocolat, but Henry ordered it, the guy asked how many of us there were, then a little bit later he came upstairs with two big brown bags full of pain au chocolat. Everybody "knows a guy," or "has a cousin," or something like that.

Afterward we walked around all the Soukhs and they were pretty amazing. I have to say, Fes is by far my favorite city we have visited thus far, mainly because I felt like I was left alone the most there. On the tourism scale it falls between Rabat, which is not touristy at all, and Marrakesh which is basically the theme park version of a Moroccan city. Fes is also regarded as the intellectual and cultural capital of Morocco. There are very old and beautiful libraries, Mosques, and Medersas (Quranic schools). There are also a gajillion Soukhs where I did some pretty great shopping there - got two bracelets, two sets of earrings, and three paintings for 170 dirham (about $22)! I really hate haggling, I'm so bad at it. Luckily the jewelry guy started low in the first place.

After a very delicious lunch right across the street from our hotel we ventured back out into the medina and went to take pictures of the old Medersa there (some of which you can see in the entry below). There was a tour group there of German speaking people. The cool thing about traveling in an international group like this is that I was able to turn to Max and ask him everythin the guide told them about the place. The rooms at the top are classrooms, the rooms downstairs are praying rooms, and there is a big main area for praying as well.

We were pretty exhausted after getting up so early and wandering around in the heat all day, so we settled down in a cafe and rested for a bit. Then Will showed up! He was heading for the desert the same night, and this was the last time we got to see him. I will miss him and his hilarious british humor very much. We all had a nice dinner together literally just under our hotel then headed back up to our rooms to hang out for a while and call it a night.

The next day we all got up and ate breakfast on the terrace. The man there was extremely nice and was sure to tell us that he "loves all people the same! allemand! americain! francais!" We had amazing breakfast crepes (kind of a normal breakfast here - basically this amazing doughy bread with a sauce of honey and butter on top), chocolate croissants, rolls, cheese, yogurt, and coffee. All this for 20 dirham (under $3). We then headed over the tanneries to take a look at all the leather being dyed. When you walk in the building they give you a piece of mint to cover the awful smell of everything. The poor plant tries to hold on to its nice aroma, but after a while it has to give in to the odor of the dyes and the skin. There was a man there who spoke a "lottle bot ongloosh" who explained that all the dyes are natural and not chemical, which allows them to be more permanent. It's kind of strange to me that these people who are working under some pretty intense conditions have been sort of turned into a theme park attraction...but I won't get on my high horse about it...things like that are very complicated and I have a hard time deciding what I really think about them.

We then headed out of the Medina and into the Mellah, which is the Jewish quarters of town. It was nice to have a change of scene. We went into a cemetery there and it was very peaceful and beautiful. Some people were buried there as recently as 2001. Something I especially liked about the cemetery is that there were olive trees everywhere and several men out picking olives and tending to the trees. I liked to see something living there. It's hopeful somehow, unlike seeing dead flowers on graves. There was also a "museum" there of things left behind inside the walls of the cemetery. After the creation of Israel most of the Jews emigrated from Morocco. This museum is basically just a bunch of crap that people left behind. It kind of looked like an old unkempt antique store or a whole bunch of garage sales going on side by side. You can see some pretty cool pictures of that below also. Also there were some crazy tools used for measuring peoples' dimensions. They thought they could tell if you were a Jew by measuring your nose and things like that. Our guide book said that though it is a museum, you can very easily purchase things there.

We then grabbed some lunch at a pretty posh place called 'Mezzanine.' It was the first non-Moroccan food I've had in a while, and it was fantastic! Pesto has never tasted so good.

After a bit of a mad dash we made it onto a train back to Rabat. It was at a pretty peak time, so we ended up without seats for the two hour ride, but it wasn't so bad. I loved Fes and Chloe and I definitely want to go back another weekend!