Morocco was quite an experience. The day before we got to the port we spent a lot of time in the Union learning about cultural expectations and taboos of the Islamic country. Despite all of the preparation, we still weren't really sure what to expect. So once we were in port, a group of us set out without much of a plan. Our goal was to get an idea of what was in Casablanca and to get a taste of the culture.
We found a huge market almost immediately after getting off the ship. It was the size of several city blocks and the vendors sold everything - shampoo, sunscreen, food, clothes, shoes. The only problem is I was expected to bargain and I am TERRIBLE at that. I have no idea what something should cost me and I'm always afraid of insulting the person selling it to me. Oy. Stressful. Thankfully, my friends taught me some tricks so I was able to buy some great things without getting too ripped off.
After some shopping, we decided to take a break from the heat in a cafe. We had been told that women don't usually socialize in public, so it took us a while to find a place that looked like it would be appropriate for us to go to.
The culture shock had been a lot for us that first day, so we made it back on the ship before dinner. We spent the rest of the night wearing our new outfits and reflecting on the day's experiences.
Since Casablanca wasn't a very exciting city, a group of us decided to head to Marrakech for a couple of days. We set out early in a taxi on the second morning. It may have been the most stressful 20 minutes of my life - apparently road lines are just a suggestions and Casablanca has no actual driving laws. Traffic was CRAZY. When we finally made it to the train station, I said a quick prayer of thanks and then boarded a hot train for the four hour trip to Marrekech.
Once we reached our destination, we asked for directions to the market where our hostel was located. We were told it was a 45 minute walk, and since we're poor college students we decided against a taxi. Bad life choice considering the heat, humidity, and heavy bags we were carrying. "Melting" took on a whole new meaning during that trek across the city.
When we finally got to the market we realized it was made up of winding alleys and unmarked roads. Thank goodness for the man who offered to lead us to the hostel - we would have been lost for hours. We stayed in a private room at a place called Rainbow Marrekech. It was covered in all kinds of colorful art, and our room was right off the rooftop terrace.
After checking in, John, Biggs, and I decided to go back out to explore the market. We did some shopping and were trying to figure out how to get back to the hostel when a guy about our age told us to follow him to the dyers' market. Then he started to lead us through back alleys, away from the tourists, through the metal workers' district. I was busy making sure I was flanked by the boys in case we got mugged, when all of a sudden the guy we were following looked back at us and then ran off. I swear I thought he had led us into a trap and we were about to be kidnapped...no bueno. Another guy came forward to usher us into a secluded courtyard. Since we were surrounded by a bunch of men, we had no choice but to follow. But then the guy brought out his different dyes and started explaining how each was made. It was pretty cool and not at all terrifying. He taught us how to tie a scarf for protection against sand in the Sahara. John bought a beautiful gold and purple silk scarf from him as an early birthday present for me.
We met back up with the rest of the group at the hostel so that we could all go out to dinner together. They had met a man who owned a restaurant stall in the market earlier that day, so we were there for chicken, couscous, and mint tea. YUM. As we were finishing, an old lady came up to our table and started pointing at John's chicken bones while speaking Arabic. When she realized we couldn't communicate with her, she stuck her hands into John's couscous and took his chicken bones. We all just started laughing because we had no idea how to respond to that.
After dinner, we spent a while just walking around the market area. The sun had been set for a while but street vendors were just setting up their goods to sell. There were so many people out and the energy was incredible. We made it back to the hostel just before midnight and sat on the roof playing cards until we were completely worn out.
Early the next morning I woke up to the sound of the call to prayer. I sat in bed listening to it before falling back asleep. It was a pretty awesome experience.
Once we were all up, we had breakfast at the hostel - 5 different kinds of bread and mint tea - before checking out. The market wasn't in full swing yet, so we walked across the Medina to the mosque, and then to camels for a brief photo shoot. Then we sat for a cold soda while Jordan and Aileen did some last minute bargaining at the market. When they were finished, we made our way back to the train station, where we grabbed McDonald's for lunch (so cultural, I know) before boarding a 12:30 train back to Casablanca.
We made it back to the ship just in time for a quick, much-needed shower before dinner. Then John, Steven, Carly, Aileen, and I decided we wanted to see if we could find something to do on our last night in Casablanca. So we left the port area and walked to a hotel, where we asked for a suggestion. They got us a taxi and sent us to a fancy hookah bar. There's a possibility that it was also a brothel, but let's not worry about that. We were there for a few hours before taking a taxi back to the ship.
Our last day in Casablanca was pretty low key. We started by walking across the city to the Hassan II Mosque. It's currently the second biggest mosque in the world, but it's going to be gone within the next fifty years because of erosion of the coast. We walked around it for a while - absolutely gorgeous.
We made one last stop at the market before going back to the ship. Once we left port, we were on our longest stretch yet - 8 days at sea! Just enough time for us all to get sick of each other before getting to Ghana.
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