It is hard to believe that as I site here writing this, that the engines
are starting back up and we are about to leave our first port of this
incredible journey. The past four days have flown by and I'm worried
that the same will happen with the rest of the voyage. The experience
reminds me of a lyric from one of my favorite Counting Crows songs, "A
Long December." They lyric is "I can't remember all the times I've told
myself to hold onto these moments as they pass" and I'm starting to
realize that I'm going to have so many moments this summer that I want
to hold onto and not let pass. I'm really glad Morocco was our first
port because it is so different than what we are all used to and will
have probably led to culture shock for many of our students (we have our
first post port reflection in about half an hour so I'm sure I'll hear
about some of the students experience during that). To be honest with
you, I'm not really sure what I was expecting of Morocco. I've been to
Egypt so I thought it would be like that, and in some ways it was and in
others it was completely different.
I got up early the day we arrive to Casablanca to watch us pull into
port. It was an amazing experience and one that I am glad I sacrificed
sleep to have. Immigration took forever and a day because the Moroccan
officials wanted to see everyone on the ship. Unfortunately due to visa
issues, four students had to stay on board for the entire four days we
were in Morocco. I was leading a field program for the first two days
that went to Marrakesh, the Atlas Mountains, and the Ourika Valley so
once everyone from our program had gotten through immigration we headed
off the ship and started our longish drive to Marrakesh. Due to the
immigration issues we left two hours later than the field office had
planned so we had to adjust our plans for the day just a little. There
were 31 people on the trip and they ended up being such an amazing group
of students, staff, faculty and family members. I really couldn't have
asked for a better trip to start off my time in Morocco. Our guide,
Feta, was absolutely incredible telling us so much about Moroccan
history, life, culture, and basically anything else that we wanted to
know. He was also so kind and funny as well.
If you have never been to Morocco or to a Moroccan restaurant then let
me tell you, you are missing out on some of the most amazing food ever.
I literally could have stayed and eaten everything under the sun in this
country. Our first stop on the trip was directly to lunch at a
traditional restaurant where we were greeted with singers, musicians,
and dancers. Lunch was a three course feast with the traditional Tagine
being served as the main course. Tangine is amazing and I need to marry
someone who knows how to cook it or who can learn how to cook it. After
lunch we did a walking tour of part of Marrakesh visiting the Bahia
Palace and the Ben Yousef School (Koran School). We then headed to the
souk (market) which was gigantic. I have no idea how we managed to walk
through the Souk without losing half of the group! The market was
amazing and I really wish I had another day to just spend going through
it. The last stop of the night before heading to our hotel was the
Djamaa el fna Square where we saw snake charmers, food vendors, and the
saddest monkeys who were forced to wear diapers. That night I was able
to relax in the hotel (being a trip leader and keeping track of 31
people is not easy at all!!) and skype with my parents.
The second day we made two quick stops in Marrakesh before heading to
the Atlas Mountains. We went to the Marjoelle Gardens which are
absolutely gorgeous and were a nice relaxing way to start the day. We
also had a shopping stop to get some souvenirs since we hadn't been able
to shop in the market the night before. After those stops, we jumped
back on the bus and headed to the Atlas Mountains and the Ourika Valley
to visit some Berber Villages. I don't know what I expected of the
mountains, but I didn't think they would be as big or as beautiful as
they were. They absolutely took my breath away and reminded me of how
much I miss seeing mountains on a daily basis. We got out in a village
and were able to walk around for a little bit and see how traditional
Berbers live today. We also got to go to a Berber family's house and
have lunch with them which they cooked from scratch for us that morning.
It was the best food I have eaten in a long time and I have no idea how
I'm going to be able to eat potatoes again after the ones they served us
because they just melted in your mouth and were so delicious. I honestly
don't think I'm going to have a field program live up to this one or a
guide as amazing as Feta for the remainder of the voyage, but fingers
crossed the rest of the ports live up to this trip. I should also
mention that there is another Lindsey on the ship who is our admin
assistant who was also on the field program. She was a great help to me
keeping the group organized and we had an amazing time bonding on the
trip over several quite entertaining things that happened, so yay for
having new friends on the ship :)
On our third day in Morocco I did another field program but this time I
wasn't leading it and was headed to Fes which I had heard was amazing. I
had an awful time. The only good things were the lunch (more amazing
tangine) and getting to see the city from on top of hill. I'm really
disappointed because I had heard how great the city was, but this tour
did it no justice whatsoever. We were basically shuttled from shop to
shop to watch demonstrations and then buy things. We had a couple other
stops at a mosque and a wood carving museum, but overall it was not a
good experience :(
My last day, today, was spent in Casablanca. I went with two of the
other RDs to the Hassan II Mosque which was GORGEOUS and HUGE. Its the
second largest mosque in the world and was built over a period of 6
years from 1987 to 1993. The amount of work put into it and the details
of the mosque are just unbelievable. The roof opens up, I mean, how cool
is that?? After the tour of the Mosque we walked back to the medina to
go shopping. I wish I had had time to shop in the markets of Marrakesh
and Fes because Casablanca didn't compare to either of them. I managed
to spend all of my dirham though and my favorite purchase is my new pair
of Aladdin pants. They are amazing and I pretty much just want to wear
them every day. And don't worry Lauren, I got you a present in this port
:P This image doesn't come close to giving justice to the mosque we
visited today:
Amazingly all of the students made it back to the ship on time (well
technically 3 field programs were late, but that doesn't count) so no
one has dock time at the next port! YAY! I have a busy busy week ahead
of me as we are gearing up for Sea Olympics Sunday (I'll post more about
that later) and I have beverage service duty tomorrow night
(BOOOOOOOO!!!). Tomorrow we will be bunkered at Gibraltar all day so
that will be amazing to have a view of the rock all day while I work :)
LOVE THESE!!!
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