Moments In Morocco

Morocco. From the coast of Casablanca to three hours inland in Marrakech- Morocco offered me exactly what Semester At Sea describes in their pamphlets- an eye-opening experience that showed me insights I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

We were delayed a day when the weather took a turn for the worse and kept us outside Gibraltar (or Gibralazar as I seemed to call it) but it was okay. We had a free day at sea with no classes and just anxiety racing through our bodies. Finally we arrived in Casablanca and my trip left at 7:30am. We boarded busses and took the long stroll out of the industrial harbor into the crowded streets of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city by far. Driving past Rick’s Café and more classic movie scenes, we drove three hours into Marrakech and began our tour. We first walked through what seemed the primary stages of labor with the initial steps of creating shoes, shredding meats and welding tools. I felt like I was walking in the set of Aladin and I was just waiting for the carpets to start flying.

Next we went into the Medina, the city center, and the wall that divides the city and around the tower- the symbol of Marrakech. The city center was bursting with snake charmers, dancers, monkeys, and people yelling at you for food and money while the children begged with their hands out. It was overwhelming to say the least. SAS had warned us about pickpocketings so I’m watching their hands and making sure I had control over my belongings and really that just divided the scene. It made it the whole “us verse them” dichotomy and I hated that. But then again I wanted to be safe so it was just a vicious circle.

We had an authentic lunch at a Moroccan restaurant in the town center and I was of course the only vegetarian at the table. I enjoyed some olives, rice and bread and just smiled and tried not to make a big deal. After lunch we toured temples and tombstones and ended our first night at an unbelievably nice hotel where we had a buffet style dinner full of lamb, fish, beef and chicken…

Day two. We were scheduled for surprise Olympic games and yes we were surprised. We headed into Palm Groves and were told to put on these blue waterproof suits (oh yeah it was pouring) and then we lined up with partners and surprise… we were ATVing! Erika and I jumped on and only did one practice loop before we all lined up and roared off into the mud and dumping rain. I drove first and decided it would be best if we got the dirtiest so I hit every puddle imaginable. We stopped halfway at a Moroccan village where they offered warm water for our frozen hands, hot mint tea (the tea of Morocco) and nan before we zoomed back out into the storm. By the end my face hurt from smiling so hard and to just look out into the open and see endless palm trees and African terrain- I couldn’t believe it. Even though ATVing isn’t really PC in Morocco it was a fantastic way to have fun and explore the city.

After another authentic meat cooked Moroccan lunch, we began our 2 hour camel trek. Camels are huge and make the loudest “oh my gosh I’m dying” noise. I climbed upon Fatto (not the name I chose) and we veered off into native lands with a school and small villages. We stopped for a music performance and more mint tea before heading back into the sunset aboard our camels. Edward, my camel guide, taught me songs I didn’t even understand but as I glanced out into the fading sun, I just kept thinking, “here I am, in Morocco on a camel watching the sunset singing Arabic.” Clearly it was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.

Edward taught me more than Arabic songs but rather showed me something it could take a lifetime to learn. Edward spoke Arabic, Berber and French- three languages I do not speak. His English consisted of “I do not speak English” just as my French consisted of “Ja’ador formaggio” (I learned how to say I love cheese at lunch). But somewhere between the camel trek and the language barrier we began flirtatiously interacting without words. It was so simple and yet so hard to describe but it was in the smiling, the movements and all that I honestly felt myself feeling attracted to him. I began to see that love is not a language and doesn’t need words but really it is simply a feeling, an emotion and I only felt the tiniest amount but I know it’s real. I’m such a word person- I write for hours and read and try to express myself with these constants and vowels but there are some things that don’t require words or language. Somethings just exist.

We are sailing down the western coast of Africa with a week till Namibia. It’s such a tease to see random bits of land but it keeps me going.