Marrakesh part 1

So. Saturday morning I got up to go to Marrakesh. For some reason my alarm didn’t go off so I got up a little late. I was supposed to meet Ale at 7:15 but I got up at 7 so I missed her and she headed off by herself. I got to the school around 7:35, the last person there, but I wasn’t left behind! So that was good. On the bus, I sat next to Ale. She’s from El Salvador but goes to school at Skidmore in upstate New York. She’s really nice, and I like her a lot.

The trip consisted of 16 students and Mohammad, the man who does the excursions during the week. We took a bus (really a van that seats 17ish). The bus ride was about 4 or 4 and a half hours long. We stopped at a small roadside place and got some breakfast- I had a pain au chocolat and a fresh-squeezed OJ. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned the OJ here- fresh-squeezed OJ is EVERYWHERE and it’s delicious. So so so delicious. Anyway. I slept for a lot of the bus ride (surprise!), and also read a little in my Lonely Planet about Marrakesh. I also listened to some music on my lovely iPod.

When we got to Marrakesh, we went straight to the hotel. It was a riad, a guest house, and I think we were using most of the rooms. We were in doubles- Ale and I roomed together. The riad had 2 levels with just rooms, and then a 3rd level terrace that also had rooms, and a 4th level that was just a terrace. Ale and my room was on the 3rd floor terrace, and it was nice. We dropped our stuff off in the room and then we all went out to get lunch.

We went to a place that served Moroccan cuisine. I got a kefta (meatball- probably lamb, I guess?) and egg tagine. The tagine is the name of this clay oven-type thing (kinda like a tandoor) that you put on the stove or in the oven to cook stews or meat and veggies. My tagine was SO GOOD. I took a picture. And then we had these amazing dessert things named shabbek or something.

Afterward, we met up with a guide named Mustafa and drove around Marrakesh. He told us about things as we drove, and we stopped in some places as well. First we went to the Marjorelle Gardens, where Yves Saint-Laurent’s ashes are scattered. The colors in the garden were GORGEOUS. I’ve been trying to put up pictures, but it hasn’t been working. I’ll try to put them up again soon. And the plants were really nice too. Then we went to another garden that was really boring. And hot.

After that, we went to a palace. Not of a royal family, but of a grand vizier and his family, or something. It was really nice. All the architecture and decoration looked Andalusian to me until I reminded myself that Andalusian architecture and decoration is actually Arab.

When we left the Palace, we went to the Koutubiya mosque. We couldn’t go inside, as non-Muslims (the only mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims are allowed to visit is the one in Casablanca, which I plan to visit while I’m here), but we walked around outside. That was nice too.

After the mosque, we had the rest of the afternoon and evening to do whatever we wanted. Ale and I walked around the big square that Marrakesh is famous for. We saw this guy that we thought was going to pull a snake out of a bag, but instead we watched this rather convoluted and confusing something happen. I think maybe he was a psychic? It was all very confusing. And then he shooed us away. And we were confused.

Then we walked around the souks (markets) for a long time. I was wearing my Arabic Stanford shirt, so everyone was reading it and shouting “Stanford!” (or Stanfaaard or Stanfrd) at us. Hint: when you’re in a country with a foreign alphabet and you’re just wandering around and possibly going to get lost, don’t wear a shirt with words written in that alphabet if you don’t want to be recognized. =)

We saw a lot of cool things, and bought some things we hadn’t seen in the Rabat souk. And we got some interesting offers- for example, one for “flowers for your eyes from the garden.” It was certainly an adventure.

We ate dinner in a place with a sign that said “Lonely Planet recommended”….but the falafel was weird. It tasted like it had anise in it or something. My shawarma was good, though. And we met this American who had been backpacking through Europe for the last couple months, but then “I ran out of money so I decided to just come to Africa!” It was interesting to talk to him…which is a polite way of saying that I don’t really care about the silver bracelet he just bought his sister, or whether or not it’s real. Maybe it’s just me, but I travel to experience new cultures, not talk to Americans about the US. Why do they always assume you want to talk to them? Or that you’re trustworthy? This guy asked us to watch his stuff while he went and did something else. Why on earth would he assume that we’re trustworthy just because we’re American? It’s a pet peeve of mine.

When we got back to the hotel (thank you, sense of direction!), we went up to the top terrace. The view of the Koutubiya minaret lit up at night was wonderful. And there were these tents up there with couches and pillows. We ended up falling asleep for a little before we went back to the room to sleep. The shower was…interesting. There was a bathroom in the room, with a showercurtain blocking it off from the room, and the toilet, sink, and showerhead were all there. So when you used the shower, the water spread around the floor, and got the toilet wet. It was interesting. We had AC in the room, which was wonderful before Marrakesh was hot.

Alright, I need to head to bed. I’ll update more about the second day in Marrakesh, as well as a little about the last couple days back in Rabat.

Maa salaama!