Three Continents in Three and Half Weeks! (The Morocco Post)

So this trip was incredible. It was such an eye-opening experience and really made everyone appreciate our lives so much. The first day, we left Granada at 1:15 and drove three hours to Algeciras, making sure to include a rest stop in Málaga (where all of us fell in love with how warm and sunny it was and how gorgeous the beach looked from the highway). We arrived in Algeciras around 4:30 and waited around to board the ferry. The ferry was so different than I expected. I pictured us all standing around for an hour, but this thing was luxurious! There were couches and a lounge and a snack bar and an observation deck-- pretty nice! We sat around for about a half hour and decided to go on the deck for the second half of the trip so we could see Africa's coastline and take pictures of the sunset over the Mediterranean. It was absolutely beautiful. 

We then arrived in Ceuta, the port city in Africa, and got off the ferry, got onto the bus, and had to go to the border to get our passports stamped. On the bus, we were introduced to our tour guide for the next day. I can't remember his real name, but he told us to call him Michael Douglas because that's who he looks like (ummm... not so much, buddy. Sorry!). He was pretty funny, calling us his family and telling us that he loved us every five seconds ("Do you love me? Because I love you.") He taught us a few Arabic words to use during our stay, like "shokran" (thank you), "la" (no) and "salam walakem" (hello). He also decided that he was going to do the tour the next day in both Spanish and English. We all tried to tell him that we didn't need the English translation, that we were all used to hearing constant Spanish and that it was really ok, but he insisted. I have to admit that I kind of giggled every time he spoke English simply because he sounded EXACTLY like Martin Short playing Frank Eglehoffer in Father of the Bride. All I could think was "This tuxedo is navy blue" and "Welcome to the '90s, Mr. Banks" over and over again. 

In any event, that night we checked into the Dream's Hotel (yes, with the apostrophe. The hotel that belongs to the dream?) and had our dinner there. Dinner was great and our accomodations at the hotel were spectacular. I roomed with Kristin, and we were so excited to have nice comfortable beds and a big TV that got an English channel. We were so excited to watch Charmed and Friends in English and even got to catch some of Letterman! It was awesome. 

The next day, we went to Tetuán, which is a really old city that tourists just don't really go to. Our tour was well organized, with a tour guide and a few bodyguards, so it was safe for us to get to go see it. We walked through the medina, which is the ancient part of town. We saw outdoor markets with fish, fruit, vegetables, beans, olives, and chickens (I have this intense, really irrational fear of birds, so I was definitely grabbing Kristin's arm for dear life around those stores). What was even worse than the live chickens, though, was the fact that they would just kill the chicken right there and send it home with someone. Don't get me wrong, I love my grilled chicken sandwiches and will not be becoming a vegetarian any time soon, but that was a little intense to see! It was really interesting to see how these people get their food. They just come to these markets and buy what they want on the street. It was pretty dirty and really didn't smell good, and it just made you wonder how safe the food was that people ate on a daily basis. 

We also saw a rug show in Tetuán, which was pretty cool. Morocco has the second best rug market in the world (second to Persian rugs), and it was amazing to see the craftsmanship on all of the rugs. They also told us that the rug industry is starting to die because all of the rugs are made by women, and Morocco is starting to give women more and more rights. As the women go to school and start becoming more involved in other parts of society, the artisan population is dwindling. 

After the rug show, we had lunch at a restaurant in the medina. Lunch was soup and couscous, which was delicious. After lunch, we got on the bus and headed for Tánger, which is a more modern city. The first thing we did in Tánger was ride our camels! I was SO EXCITED to get to do it! It was definitely scarier than I anticipated, but I'm so glad I did it. You had to get on the camel while it was lying down and then the man would whip the camel's legs and yell out a command and make it stand up. That was definitely the scariest part (note the picture where I'm screeching because the camel's starting to stand. Huge props to Laura Homan for her fabulous photography). We then went up to Cabo Espartel, which is where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. It was a gorgeous view. After that, we went to the medina (again, ancient part) of Tánger to go shopping. Tánger is known for a fake purse market, so I was LOVING it (I have this intense love for finding fake purses... Canal Street in New York is one of my favorite places). I got a fake Gucci purse for traveling, and it's already coming in handy. We also had to negotiate prices, and I was able to get the guy down to a really good price by pointing out the things that didn't look authentic about the bag (a trick that Steph taught me in New York this summer!) After our long day, we went back to the hotel, ate dinner, and crashed. We were so exhausted!

Sunday, we woke up early, had breakfast, and got on the bus to go to Chef-Chaouén. Chef-Chaouén was absolutley stunning. It's located in the mountains and the whole city is painted white and bright blue. We took a guided tour and then were able to have some free time to shop. After that, we ate lunch at a hotel in the city, hopped on the bus and headed home. The trip back was really long, but it was so worth it.

After seeing how these people live, I am feeling luckier than ever to be where I am. Studying abroad isn't easy, but I'm having a great time and am so lucky to be in a place as great as Granada. What makes me even luckier, though, is to have such a great home to be able to go back to in May. It was really eye opening to see little kids pulling around donkeys, people hassling tourists with little knick-knacks trying to make a living, and women walking miles to the fuente to be able to get potable water to bring home. I'm so glad I was able to experience this culture and this way of life. It really does make you think about more about the world as a whole and makes you count your blessings. 

Here are some of my pictures of the weekend:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sally.vonderheide/Morocco?feat=directlink