Here's lookin' at you kid-Casablanca

So no I didn't really spend that much time in Casablanca but I did have an amazing time while in Morocco. Before I get to those adventures, after we left Spain we headed to Gibraltar to get fuel, but the seas were really rough. Basically we ended up tied to another ship, but unable to get fuel overnight so we missed our first day in Morocco. They either cancelled trips or reworked them so they would fit in only 3 days in Morocco. I would definitely not have wanted to work in the Field office because they were the ones that had to deal with everyone's questions and issues. The first night at sea in between Cadiz and Casablanca we watched the Superbowl but the funny part was that for good picture we had to watch it in German. Trust me, the Superbowl is much different when it is in German and people are asking you to translate. The second day was soooooooooo long because we were supposed to be in Morocco and we were stuck on the ship. I was being stubborn and refusing to put on the seasickness patch for just a day or two so I was not feeling too good for the majority of time in between Spain and Morocco. A lot of the time I slept but sometimes I had to leave the lectures to go back to the room to feel better. Nothing was actually required of us, but there were certain preport lectures and such to go to but I just found out later what happened if I had to leave. I hung out with my roomies a lot for those days because everyone was pretty much sick and in their rooms or just playing cards. The night before we arrived we had a safety lecture by our Safety officer, Joe, who used to work for the LAPD in various units. This was absolutely hilarious because he kept on pickpocketing certain students to get his point accross and no one expected it. We also had our second open mic night which was really good as usual, but a lot of the acts blended together because they were just so many.

 

I was definitely ready for Morocco once we got there. I got an early breakfast with the roomies and then left on the bus for Marrakech. We slept for most of the way there, which was about 4 hours. We stopped at a beautiful restaurant that resembled the Alcazar in my mind because of the designs on the walls and the various mosaics. ?The meal was absolutely delicious and there was even a belly dancing performance. There were several courses and I definitely enjoyed the cous cous, but the belly dancing was defnitely the best part. She did it all with a tray of candles on her head! After that we went to the Palm Groves for some camel riding. I was in one of the last groups with one fellow SASer and then some French tourists. The camel ride was really fun and we actually got to go through a little village where there were a bunch of children. I was silly and chewing a piece of gum and they kept on asking me for some, but I didn't understand them so I didn't know what they wanted at the time. We went inside one of the local homes for some crepes and the tradition Mint tea with some local music on the side. OVerall we got to ride them for about an hour so it was definitely worth it! We got to our hotel which was so nice, called the Hotel Ryad Mogador where it was nice to put down our bags for a bit. We had dinner there both nights and the highlight was definitely the deserts, which isn't too far from the norm for me. After dinner we headed to a restaurant and had a glass of wine, but it was ridiculously expensive which should be expected considering it was our hotel clerk that recommended it.

 

The second day was our tour of Marrakech. We had a good breakfast at the hotel which consisted mainly croisants filled with chocolate, but they were definitely delicious. We took pictures of various monuments including some Minurets which reminded me a little of the tower La Giralda in Seville. We didn't get to spend too much time there because it was raining. We went into a store with set prices so we could gauge how mnuch was normal to spend for most items in the Plaza where we would bargain with the Souks. After that we went to a palace which also reminded me a great deal of a smaller version of the Alcazar. It was a former Prime Minister's palace with his 4 wives and 20 something concubines. The mosaics were very similar but the gardens were much smaller and just in the small courtyards. We had a lunch that was very similar to the one from the first day, but without a belly dancer and plus local musicians. We then went to the Plaza which is where all of the snake charmers and monkey owners roamed trying to get you to buy pictures with them. The tour guides took us around a specific route in the market to follow that we would be familiar with and then we got some free time in groups to go find some neat things. I did get a picture with a monkey, but at the time it was eating my hair so needless to say I look a little surprised in it. I bought a bracelet and a soap stone camel for my Dad for 40 dirham each. This is just about 5 dollars U.S. which I talked down from about 180 dirham. I'm quite proud of this and it really made me feel like a true New Yorker, even if I am an upstate girl. We then went to a spice market which they explained everything in a lecture and let us smell and try almost everything. The problem with that is that a lot of things we couldn't take back on the ship so a lot of people didn't buy things when they would have normally. I didn't have enough money because my ATM card wouldn't accept any transactions at any of the ATMs in Morocco that I used. We headed back for dinner at the hotel and then afterwards our tour guide took us to a place he called the Moroccan Disney land. It was desert, tea and drinks along with a traditional Moroccan show. The place was absolutely beautiful and basically the stereotype of what one thinks of when they think of Morocco. We sat in one of the tents wth our drinks and had several local musicians play for us along with Berber dancers. We then went outside where they had horse tricks, belly dancing, flying carpets, camel riding and a gun show. Afterwards they let us pet the horses like we were little kids, but I'll readily admit I enjoyed it among the rest of all of the performances involved.

 

The last day we hads to wake up VERY early to eat a quick breakfast then catch the bus back to Casablanca. It didn't take us as long to get to Casablanca so our tour guide took us to the tallest Minuret in the world, according to him. At that point we were still pretty tired and everyoen wanted to go back to the ship. After a lunch on the ship before which I cranked out quite a few post cards and letters to people we took the long walk in the rain to get to the Medina. There I picked up stamps and I found a nice traditional Moroccan blosue I can use for Sea Olympics but I am planning on giving it to my mom afterwards (Sorry it is kind of a second hand gift after I use it mom!). We spent a really long time there just shopping around but we definitely got harassed a great deal more in Casablanca than in Marrakech not only to buy things but also just because we were American girls. Overall, it was an amazing trip but I definitely learned to ignore people that start yelling at us in public because it happened almost everywhere we went in large public places. Once we were back on the ship I spent some time reorganizing, but the coolest thing was that they announced that they would shut off the stabilizers to pull out of the port just as they did when they pulled in. When we had pulled in I was in the dining room and dishes went everywhere as a result. This time we were prepared and ran to Tymitz square which is a marble floor and an open area. There we packed a whole bunch of students sitting down and we slid across the floor crashing into each other. There will definitely be videos all over the place of us just sitting there or sliding into the counters. FUN TIMES!!!!!