Morocco: Waha!

Salam Aleychem!! Our first Moroccan phrase for HELLO!!

Es hora de "blog" sobre Marruecos (Time to catch you up on the Morocco trip!)

WHAT AN AMAZING TRIP!!!

We decided that lo mejor (the best)-- and safest-- way to plan our trip to the hot spots in Northern Morocco was to book it through Discover Sevilla. Before we took off for our jam-packed fin de semana (weekend) in the 3 cities of Tangiers, Chefchouen, and Tetouan to tour, shop, and EAT, we received a great itinerary via e-mail. We were given some cultural information on Morocco, as to lessen the obviously inevitable choque cultural (cultural shock). Here's what they had to say:

You will quickly learn that the real Morocco is much different that you may have heard or expected. As world politics grow even more strained, Morocco has been marginalized as yet another Islamic nation. The truth is that Morocco is a place with a rich culture thousands of years old, people famous for their hospitality and natural landscapes ranging from beautiful Atlantic beaches to the Sahara desert. The people of Morocco value their families above all else and as a community they take care of the elderly, the homeless, and the handicapped.

At the same time, Morocco is a large developing nation home to more than 29 million people. More than half of the population currently lives in cities where western values coexist with an Islamic tradition and as much as 40% of the possible workforce is unemployed. Poverty is a problem and street hustlers and beggars are unfortunate realities in the third world. This contrast between modern difficulties and traditional values is commonplace in Morocco. You will notice different cultural norms, but it is important to keep in mind that Islam is the driving cultural force in Morocco and is not always separated completely from secular life.

The majority of the Moroccan population is made up of the indigenous people, known as Berbers, and the Arabs. So much mixing has taken place over the centuries that separate identities are not always clear. This is especially true in larger cities. This combination of Berber and Arab ethnicities combined with a past as a French protectorate and proximity toSpain makes Morocco a truly multi-lingual country. The local language is Arabic, both the Moroccan dialect and the traditional dialect of Islam. There are three dialects of the Berber language as well. French is the most common second language and Spanish and English are widely spoken as well. Consequently, it is not uncommon to find people who speak five or six languages.

Because the norms of Islam affect most aspects of daily living, Moroccan customs are different than those of the west, especially for female travelers. The following tips will help you avoid hassles or uncomfortable situations.

Women should dress modestly when walking around Moroccan cities. It is best to wear clothing that does not reveal too much skin. It is not necessary, however, to wear the traditional headscarf although you may do so if you wish.

The king Mohammed VI, the royal family, and any past rulers are held in very high regard and it is not wise to criticize them in any way.

While some people may choose to talk to you about Islam, for many people it is a private and personal issue and they may not appreciate an outsider’s curiosity. Similarly, non-Muslims are normally not permitted to enter mosques.

Since 9/11, many Moroccans have many questions about the policies of the American government. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, you may wish to avoid discussing politics.

You will find many unemployed locals eager to take your money in the streets of Moroccan cities. They will offer you their services as tour guides and merchants. Young travelers will be especially targeted as customers for hash. These people can be very persistent. The absolute best way to deal with them is by politely saying no and continuing walking. Any sort of inquiry or hesitation on your part will encourage them to keep following and harassing you. We remind you again not to purchase or use drugs inMorocco. If you think the toilets are bad, imagine the prisons! We cannot and will not be responsible for bailing travelers out of jail.

Shopping in Morocco may be much different than what you are used to and you should never feel pressured to buy anything. Prices are never fixed and never final. Shopkeepers will try to pressure you into sales and may appeal to your sense of guilt, but don’t be fooled. It is never personal and your best strategy is to be firm but polite. Make sure you make your initial offer far below what you are willing to pay so you have some room to negotiate. A good price to start at is a fourth of the salesman’s initial offer. Most importantly, always be prepared to walk away. If after several rounds of negotiations the vendor finally meets your price, then it is considered bad form to recant and leave. We will try to do a practice run of haggling so you will all feel somewhat prepared for this very different shopping experience.

This journey is an opportunity for you to observe the many faces of Morocco and we hope that you look beyond what you may have heard about Morocco to form your own ideas and opinions.

They also equipped us with some fun expresiones (vocab/phrases) that actually did come in handy. For example:

LA = NO... As in: "LA! I don't want you heckling me on the streets to buy jewelry"

NA'AM = YES... As in: "NA'AM... bring on helping number two of that meal!"

WA-HA = OK... As in: "WA-HA... I understand and am ready to trek on!"

SALAM = HELLO... I need not explain.

And so, Laura and I met Robin and the Abby's at the bus stop and we boarded for the 3.5/4 hour bus ride to Tarifa, a city on the southern coast of Spain. The ride went pretty fast-- we caught up with 2 other girls studying on the Cornell-Penn-Michigan program and also started to get acquainted with students from other programs. It was really refreshing to expand our circle! Half way through the ride, we feasted on the amazing bocadillos (sandwiches) that Vicki prepared! She prepared these bocadillos on baguettes, which are definitely the best invention ever: half atún y aceitunas (tuna fish and olives-- our staple) and half tortilla (egg/potato/turkey). Buenisimo (verrry good), as always.

We took a descanso (break) at a rest stop half way between Seville and Tarifa at this scenic little place... The only bad news were the actual facilities. This was where the notice to llevar papel higiénico came into play, but nothing could have prepared me for the actual hole in the ground we were being forced to use. I can say this was probably the only time in my life I wished I were a boy.

When we got to Tarifa, we blew right through customs and boarded our transbordador (ferry)... It was a really smooth ride, and we were dead tired but stayed awake to take everything in. We tried going outside on the deck, but it was still really windy despite the perfect sun! I think we've just been so thirsty for any sun exposure because of how deprived we've been. So we left the port at 7pm and arrived in Tangiers at 7pm-- YES we turned the clocks back an hour! Once we got there, we did the big money exchange:

1 euro = 11 dirham.

By the time we took care of this and re-boarded the bus, it was kind of on the late side. But we were very excited cuando llegamos (when we arrived) at our BEAUTIFUL hotel, Kabila Hotel in Tetouan-- (which one Abby managed to describe as "a beautiful villa resort getaway place." Quote of the weekend, hands down.

La cena (dinner) was unlike anything I've ever had. We all had great salads-- I felt bad mashing it all up because it was arranged really nicely! The BIG meal was COUSCOUS, my new favorite thing, mixed with a really flavorful chicken and lots of roasted veggies, raisons, pine nuts, and caramelized onion. And if THAT wasn't enough, dessert was also to die for: a nice serving of gourmet ice cream mixed with dried fruit and nuts.

And not only was the food itself incredible, the actual dining experience was muy agradable (very pleasant). The five of us joined a table with 3 girls from another program, and the family-style portions definitely helped us bond because we were all kind of simultaneously digging our way to the bottom of the dishes. And everything was covered (price wise) by the fee we paid, except for water bottles which was a miniscule price.

After successfully eating our way into a coma, we figured it would be best to get to our respective cuartos (rooms) and call it a night. They advised against leaving the hotel, so it's not like we were missing anything. Laura and I shared a small honeymoon suite-- VERY clean and comfortable! We had a nice little balcony, from which we could see the pretty piscina (pool) and lounge chairs. The bathroom had actual toilets, too! No complaints whatsoever.

We were washed up and back in the dining room by 7am SHARP (we were threatened with personal phone calls if we were not a tiempo (on time)). Breakfast was buffet style, and they pretty much had everything. I had my first exposure to authentic mint tea, which I absolutely loved! And an hour later, we boarded the bus to parada numero uno (stop number 1): CHEFCHOUEN! The whole ride took just under 2 hours. The first thing we did when we arrived was break up into smaller groups. Unfortunately, we joined the group with the antisocial tour guide-- kind of contradictory, right? He just conducted the tour as if he was having a one-on-one conversation with one annoying girl.

The cool thing about Chefchouen that gets you immediately is the color of most houses and shops: the prettiest shades of azul (blue) I've ever seen. We saw typical public Arab baths from the outside, which are heated with firewood-- the houses in the city really don't have internal calefacción (heating), so people generally come 2-3 times a week to bathe. We saw one of the most famous mosques in Morocco, and had individual near-death experiences trying to cross a precarious bridge suspended over a waterfall. We also noticed LOTS and lots of gatos (cats) just freely roaming the streets!

By the end of our walking tour, I was SO happy I wore sneakers and had definitely worked up an appetite! They took us into a really traditional looking restaurant, and we happily invited the feast they served us: salad and a chicken dish glazed with a sauce and served with apricots. Dessert was verrrry healthy: the BIGGEST pieces of fruit you can imagine. And after that, we were really left on our own to spend 2.5 hours roaming the market place and putting our bargaining skills to the test! Before we left, Manolo taught us that if they are asking for 100, you offer 20 and go from there. He said it's expected for you to walk away before agreeing to anything, and if it means that much to the seller, they will undoubtedly chase after you and make a deal. And we had some incredibly uncomfortable moments-- picking up the pace to run away, and some not-so-bad moments "WA-HA, return again!" The trick is that you really can't make eye contact, or even stare at something with the slightest glow of interest because that's when they prey on you.

One interesting encounter we had was with this shopkeeper, who LOVED to try out his cheesy pick-up lines on us-- he told me, "If i could remake the alphabet i'd put U next to I." Ugh.. well I guess it's a nice break from "GUAPA GUAPA GUAPA!" The weirdest casualidad (coincidence) was that when he found out we were from New York, he mentioned he had a friend who lived there-- Laura and I just kind of shook our heads and were like, OKK another naive soul who thinks that all New Yorkers must know each other somehow. Until he whipped out his friend's business card-- the man works for Cornell University!!!! Like, WHAT?? We couldn't leave without buying beautiful bracelets after all that!

We were wiped out by the time we got back on the bus and headed back for the hotel. I'm definitely sensing a recurring theme here... We were given a heads up that Discover Sevilla had planned an awesome surprise for us, and we honestly had no idea what to expect... And then half way through our steak dinner, out came this lively little Moroccan band with exotic instruments and great costumes! Everyone was getting involved-- some by force, considering they were actually dragged into the center. My favorite guy was the one doing these CRAZY acrobatic twists-- with actual fuego (fire)! I held my breath the whole time!

Our Sunday morning wake-up was a little harder than the day before-- we were down and ready by 6:45 for check-out and desayuno because we were scheduled for a tour of the Medina of Tetouon by 9. The first thing that struck me was the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables-- our guide told us that the markets open at 8:30 in the morning and stay open until 9:30 at night! I guess siesta time doesn't extend to Morocco! The most exciting thing was that the King was frequenting the city, so the streets were lined with guards on every little corner. The palace was enormous, and we had to take pictures despite our warning not to. During the tour, we passed by a woman ironing and folding traditional Berber garments-- our guide exchanged a few words with her and soon enough, she was dressing up one of the students!

After seeing little bits an pieces of the city, we ducked into a big pharmacy for a lesson on Moroccan remedies, spices, herbs, etc. The pharmacist went through each element, including popular cooking spices, mint tea, amber perfume, rose petal cream, headache/hangover/anxiety oil, and a GREAT sinus clearing/snoring preventing herb… which I bought for you, dad and brent! At the end, he cut us all deals and we were on our merry way!

The next stop was a rug/carpet shop… which was more like an obra de teatro (performance!) The guy came out with silk and wool rugs of all different sizes, explaining each one and laying them on the floor for us to OOO and AHHH at. The only annoying thing was that he kept inappropriately inserting the word, “Please” in the middle/at the end of EVERY sentence. I wasn’t sure what the equivalent would be in Arabic? Maybe “uhh?” Who knows… It was a lot of fun and I took some great pictures!

At the end of this adventure, we filed into our last restaurant experience for another GREAT couscous, chicken, and vegetable platter. But we didn’t stay long, because we still had to bus over to Tangiers for the desperately awaited CAMEL RIDES!!!! I really like Discover Sevilla’s description of this city:

At the crossroads of civilization, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean, Tangiers flaunts its magnificent bay below lush green hills. Its strategic position making it a crossroads of t civilizations, Tangiers, gateway to the African continent, looks across at Europe from the shores of Atlantic and Mediterranean alike. As a meeting-point of routes to so many different destination, Tangier has inevitably been marked by the of History-Phoenicians, Berbers, Portuguese and Spaniards had all left their indelible mark on the city before it passed into Moroccan hands.

And what a beautiful, calm beach it was… After montando los camellos (riding the camels), we took advantage of the beach and walked through the sand, right up to the ocean. Everything about it made it the PERFECT place to finish off the trip, as it was very impressionable.

The actual ride back to Sevilla flew by-- we said we wouldn’t fall asleep, for fear of not being able to sleep through the night-- but that plan didn’t last longer than 10 minutes. When we got home at around 12, we weren’t even hungry for dinner-- though we did poke at the apple pudding!!! Otherwise, I knew that waking up at 7:30 was going to be the death of me, so I collapsed immediately!

So that was Morocco in a nut shell!!!

In terms of this week in Seville, it definitely flew-- it’s already Wednesday night and we have yet to pack for Barcelona… we kind of leave tomorrow early afternoon. This week, the sun was out every day and temperatures were in the 70s-- quite the turnaround, huh? I think this is what we’ve been missing with all the rain and I sincerely hope it’s here to stay… Laura and I have been taking advantage of it, going into the center after class and staying until dinner, just to be outside and around the buzz of the city. We even met up with Andrea for some café con leche! We want to make a better effort to do that more often, seeing as our weekends are just always booked up from here on out!

All right… well, it’s probably time to face the fact that my maletas (suitcases) are very empty and I have a lot to do! Ana is accompanying us for an authentic churros con chocolate breakfast around the corner at 9:15-- can’t wait!

Hasta luego!!!