Marrakech

What to say about Marrakech? Truly, it was undescribable. It was so different from anyplace Ive ever been.

We got to our AMAZING hostel on Friday. We stayed at Casa del Sol, and this place was better than some hotels Ive stayed in. Clean, comfortable, fun, and the manager, Mustapha, was the greatest guy in the world. We stayed right in the center, a short walk from the center of the city, the square Djemaa el Fna. This place is exactly what I thought Morocco would be. Snake charmers, monkeys, tiny shops where the men yell at you to come look, street food, henna artists, chaos.

The square

Pictures cant even really capture the atmosphere. I tried, I promise! But everything was happening at once and it was so hard to get a picture. A lot of the time, people would ask you to pay if you took a picture of them, or they would ask you to delete it.  Im a little unsatisfied with a lot of the pictures from Marrakech, just because I dont feel like they do it justice.

Spices

Vendors

We did a day trip to Ourika Valley in the Atlas mountians. We had breakfast in a traditional Berber house (bread with honey, butter, and olive oil) then took a quick camel ride. Then we went further into the mountians to the valley itself, and climb this huge, tracherous mountian to see the waterfall at the top. The mountian was insane, there wasnt really path or any other concept of safety. At one point I was pulled up a wet rock face by a Moroccan, at other times I crossed streams on slippery rocks, etc. Dad would have a field day with the risk involved.

Camel! When the camel stood up it was like a carnival ride, first the back, then the front. I thought I was going to fall off!

Mustapha and I at the waterfall

Need a souvenir? This guys ready for you, in the middle of the Atlas mountians.

We met these great Italian boys at the hostel, and we went out one night. Being a Muslim country, it was technically illegal to drink, but there are still bars. We wen to one called African Chic, which was ridiculous. It was full of foreign-looking older men suspiciously surrounded by young women with skimpy clothing, if you get what I mean. The music started off as normal European techno, but then the live music started. There was an African trumpet thing, drums, the whole thing. Dancers in traditional garb were doing traditional African dances on the dance floor while people in modern clothing danced in the modern way, it was crazy! NOT a club you would find ANYWHERE in the US, and probably not Europe.

I loved the food. It was delicious! There is this traditional dish called a tangine, and its made using this pot with a dome shape on top. Usually it has vegetables, meat, and lots of spices. We had this a couple of times, along with Showarma (kind of like a gyro), skewers, lots of bread, and sometimes no ustensils. We drank SO MUCH mint tea, which I LOVE. I bought some, and Mom, Im going to raid your mint plant and make some at home. In the square, they sell fresh squeezed juice for an incredible price. Orange juice is 3dh=.30euro. Others are 10 dh. I had orange, grapefruit, and blood orange, all of which were delicious.

Street food! I had some sort of red meat on skewers, bread, and a dip called epinard?

Tagines with veggies and meat

My favorite part of the whole trip was going to a hammam. A hammam is a bath. We chose to go to the real thing, not the tourist kind. We were scrubbed down by these two Moroccan girls from our hostal, shampooed, bathed, massaged. It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget. Its hard to explain without going into too much detail, but I felt like a new person. I was exfoliated so well, I feel like I lost ten years! (And Im only 20, so what does that say?)

The last night, we went to see a movie for 150 durham=1.50 euro. The movie? Om Shanti Om, the reknowned Bollywood movie! Haha, it was so great. 3 hours of ridiculousness. There isnt too much to do there, especially for only a group of girls (the Italians had left the night before) so a movie was definitely a good choice.

Overall, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed everything. Igot some cool stuff, and I’ll never forget it. It was unlike anything else Ive ever done!

Tomorrow, I leave for Barcelona. Cant wait to tell you about it!

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