Day 10: A Train to Casablanca

Casablanca!

Monday was largely uneventful. Still exhausted from the desert, by the time placement ended, we were all ready for a nap. After lunch, we had a lesson on Islam. It was really, really interesting learning more about the five pillars and the Koran. A few interesting facts: only 18% of Muslims are Arabs, the most are actually from Indonesia; Muslims believe in 124,000 prophets, from Adam to the most recent, Mohammed. The similarities between Islam and Christianity were really surprising, and we decided that it’s because of these similarities that there is so much tension between the two religions.

            We had a quiet afternoon and after dinner, headed out for ice cream/ crepes at our favorite place. The waiter knows us now, haha.

Crepe chocolat

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            Tuesday was a busy, busy day! After placement, we had an early lunch and left directly for Casablanca. We took a train from Rabat to Casa Port, which took about an hour. The train ride was comfortable and passed quickly.

            Casablanca is much more of a modern city than many of the places we’ve been thus far. From the train station, we took a cab to Mosque Hassan II. This mosque is the 3^rd largest in the world and the only mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims are allowed into. There were tours given in a variety of languages, and it was actually weird to be surrounded by a group of English speakers again.

Mosque Hassan II

the Minaret

White boxes= speakers; line= expansion joint

            The mosque was breathtaking! For one, it’s massive—outside and in. And built in the late 80’s-early 90’s, it is also quite high-tech. There are loud speakers camouflaged about the walls, chandeliers that can be lowered electrically for cleaning, and expansion joints in the floor and walls that make it earthquake-resistant. Also, the roof opens.

Open ceiling

            One of the coolest things, I thought, was that a lot of the materials used to build the mosque were locally sourced. The wood was cedar from the Atlas mountains (which we drove through the other day), the marble was from south Morocco (just like the factory we visited), and the chandeliers were made in Murano, Italy. Super cool.

Chandelier

Cedar work

Minaret through the roof

            Below the main floor of the mosque was the ablution room, where the worshippers wash their feet, faces, and hands before they pray. The room was beautiful, and had so many fountains! Our guide also told us that the plaster that lines the room was designed to absorb the water in the air to keep the chandeliers from oxidizing. How scientific.

Ablution room

Matching pants!

            Also below the mosque is a Hammam that has never been used. A Hammam is a community bath, where Moroccans go about once a week to be scrubbed with the local black soap, sloughing off dead skin and getting a good cleaning. A few of the volunteers have been to one in Rabat, and I plan to go before I leave. :) Anyway, the one below the mosque has never been used and according to our guide, once they start using it, they will not be able to show it on the tours anymore, because it will be too hot. So it seems that for now, tourism has won over functionality.

Hammam

Artsy Photo a la Kate

            After the tour, the four of us walked down by the water and then found our way to a café for coffee and pastries, it was teatime. Post munching and chatting, we boarded a train back to Rabat, which was much more crowded than on the way there.

Ice cream number one, haha

            It was almost 7:00 when we returned to Rabat and having told the cooks at the Home Base that we wouldn’t be back for dinner, we had to take it upon ourselves to find something to eat. After two overly expensive cab rides and walking out of a steakhouse that we thought was a Mexican restaurant, we finally found an Italian style restaurant in the middle of the city center.

            It wasn’t until we looked at the menu that we realized how ready we were for non-Moroccan food. I got the pizza vegetarienne sans fromage, and it was delicious! And of course, there was no going out to dinner without dessert, so I had some mint tea while the others had some killer looking ice cream. Mmm.

Vegan pizza in Morocco, yummmm.

Milkshake

So excited.

Ice cream umbrella?

            By the time we got back to Home Base, we were pooped and it was not long until we were headed to bed. Though it was exhausting, we had so much fun exploring Morocco on our own! And with less than 3 whole days left before I head home, I’m trying to make the best of every second!

Until tomorrow,

-Allie

P.s. The movie Casablanca was not actually filmed in Morocco, but in Hollywood (buzzkill, I know) and though Rick's Cafe does exist in the city, it didn't exist until after the movie came out. Boooooo.

Day 8: Our Night in the Sahara, Part 2

Favorite picture thus far

After a short rest and some tea with the owner of the hotel/ camel expedition director, we were wrapped in scarves and ready to go. We were led to an area where all the camels were lying down, waiting. I’m not sure how we were assigned camels, but they seemed to know exactly who was to ride which camel. I was assigned to camel #2209, or Charlie as I liked to call him, and we became fast friends. The camels were tied in a caravan of sorts, in three groups of four. Each group was led by a Berber, who traveled on foot through the desert, as did Hamsa. Talk about a calf workout.

Owner and his son

Camels!

Malone and Kate

            Riding the camels was absolutely amazing. I liked it more than riding a horse, maybe because we moved more slowly, or maybe because of the mound of blankets that we sat on. Nevertheless, our butts were sore the next day. I was amazed at the sand dunes and how they looked JUST like they do in pictures—(especially that generic desktop background, know which one I mean?). The smoothness of the sand made it look so perfect and untouched. The color of the sand was incredible and the texture was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

            We rode the camels for an hour and a half, reaching our destination—about 40 km from the Algerian border—just in time to watch the sunset. The Berber camp we stayed at was really cool. It consisted of multiple tents with 10 or so beds in each, as well as a tent for dining. Two other groups joined us in the camp, one speaking French, and the other speaking Italian (we think.) Hamsa seemed disappointed, as he was told we would be the only group, but we didn’t mind the company at all.

Berber camp

However, the quantity of visitors definitely caused the delay in dinner. We ate at 9:00 PM or so, and we were starvin’! Another tagine for me. Repetitive, yes, but I am still very grateful for how accommodating everyone has been for vegetarians.

Dinner

After dinner, we were entertained by a Moroccan/Berber drum show. Very fun. We also participated in some dancing, led by a crazy guy who kept making all these weird noises. We were convinced that he made them only to hear us try to replicate them. It was a good time.

Struggling

Frenchies dancing!

The best part of the night followed, when a few of us went to the top of one the dunes, laid back, and watched the shooting stars. In the middle of the desert, there is really very little competing light, making the stars super bright. I think Malone counted the most shooting stars, 10 I believe. Some of them were crazy intense and looked like fiery comets. It was awesome.

We brought our mattresses outside and quickly fell asleep under the Saharan sky.  (Tacky, but true)

Bed!

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            The next morning, we were woken up at 5:30 AM before the sun rose to pack up and travel back on the camels while the sun rose. We left at 6:00, riding the same camels, except for Andrew who chose to walk instead (crazy). The hour and a half ride back was significantly quieter than the ride the afternoon before had been. The sunrise was beautiful, naturally, and we arrived back at the hotel/departure point to breakfast awaiting us. I am LOVING crepes and apricot jam. I’m going to have to learn how to make them.

Sunrise

Andrew walking the dunes

Saying bye to Charlie

            At this point, we all felt disgusting. After 5 hours in the van, a night in the desert, all anyone wanted was a shower. Too bad though, because we had a 10 hour bus ride ahead of us. We slept most of the way back, seeing as we had each slept at the most 4 hours the night before. We stopped for lunch at the same hotel in Zaida and I had, you guessed it, tagine.

            It was a long ride back to say the least, but we finally made it around 6:00 PM. A shower has never felt better in my entire life. I felt human again. It was an early night for all of us and I was definitely still tired this morning at the orphanage. But honestly, I can’t even explain how fantastic this trip to the desert was, and all I have to say is that THANK GOODNESS I took so many pictures. :)

Crazy

Until later with pictures from yesterday in Casablanca, au revoir!

-Allie

Day 7: En Route to the Sahara, Part 1

Unreal

Friday started as usual, with a trip to the orphanage. It was a great day and went by really quickly. Nadir, a nurse, and I had a sweet game of monkey in the middle. So much fun. We returned after placement for a quick lunch, last minute packing, and then we were off to the desert.

     Our guide, Hamsa, picked us up in a sweet van and we began the first half of our 10-hour drive. Hamsa was THE BEST and brought us to a bunch of wicked cool stops along that way. It really helped to break up the trip. We saw some beautiful views as well as some monkeys! Right off the main road was a foresty area filled with monkeys that Hamsa told us are only in Morocco and Gibraltar. We fed them bread and peanuts, and a few people got a ride from the horses of sketchy men. The monkeys break and eat the peanuts just like people, so weird.

Hamsa! The best guide in the world.

Sweet bubble van.

Awesome views

"God, country, king" written in the mountains

Chillin', eating peanuts

Om nom nom

    But the coolest thing was when Hamsa decided to stop at a nomad’s home along the road. He offered to give the woman’s son a ride to the town we were headed to in turn for a chance to see inside their hut.  Outside, the woman and her son had a few cows and a chicken. As nomads, they pack up and leave every 15 days or so to find new food for their livestock. Their house was made of woven cloths hung over large wooden poles. Inside, there were multiple mugs to sit on as well as a small kitchen area. The woman and her son spoke Berber (but so does Hamsa) and they not only let us into their home, but also offered to make us tea. It was sweet and delicious and I still can’t believe we had tea with a nomad.

Nomad tent and livestock

Entrance to tent

Tea!

            Back inside the van, we finally reached Zaida, the place we were staying for the night. We were all happily surprised at the hotel. We each had our own bed and a working toilet, hooray! Dinner was delish and the first of 4736579 tagine meals I would have in the next 24 hours. After dinner, Kate, Meghan, Malone and I asked Hamsa and our driver Omar to take us into the town to walk around. Even though it was late, Zaida was poppin’ because the town is a popular stop of travelers. We walked through the market stalls and a pottery shop. The vendors are all so friendly—one gave me a sample of a sugarcoated peanut. Mmmm. It was so awesome walking around with Hamsa. Having a translator made me experience everything so much more.

Zaida market

            Back at the hotel, we played a few rounds of Catch Phrase and called it a night.

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            The next morning, we showered—what would be the last for a while—and had a breakfast of coffee, Moroccan crepes, and apricot jam. Not only was this ride long, but it was hot. And with another 5 hours to drive, we made many stops along the way.  

Coffee!

Crepes!

Kate's mint tea

            We stopped at a local market with piles and piles of fruits and vegetables, clothes, and other obscure things were for sale. The people were not too keen on having their picture taken, many of them shading their faces. A woman told Hamsa she would let us take her picture for 50 Dirhams  (I snuck one anyway.) Apparently, they don’t want their picture taken because they think when people from the West see the pictures, we’ll think they are dirty and poor. I think their way of life is beautiful and only wish everyone saw it this way.

Piles and piles of produce

Child and mother with another baby on back

            We stopped for lunch in a cute little gas station/café. Another tagine for me, oh boy. Haha. Also, we experienced our first mini sandstorm during lunch. All of a sudden, you could here the wind and then we had 2 seconds to look the other way and cover our water glasses, bread basket, etc (none of which I managed to do). It only lasted 5 or so seconds, but afterwards, EVERYTHING was covered in sand. Crazy. Luckily our food hadn’t come out yet. Welcome to the Sahara!

            After lunch, we still had a few hours left, and broke up the trip by stopping to see an oasis in the desert. It was so neat to see all the palm trees and greenery in the middle of dry, dry land. Then, we stopped to see some baby camels drink Coke out of a bottle, what a sight.

Oasis!

Haha, I think I might send this picture to the Coca Cola Co. 

 Lastly, we stopped at a marble factory. Marble is very prevalent in the desert area of Morocco. What is unique about it though is that it has fossils! A long, long, long time ago, the Sahara was covered in water. Eventually, the ocean dried up, creating fossils in the Earth. Because the fossils were there for so long, the stone became marble. The marble at the factory was absolutely beautiful and the fossils—snails, squid, etc—were really cool. We saw a marble working sanding around the fossils and the marble cutting machine, which cuts 1 cm every 10 hours. Slow moving. But it was definitely worth it when we were brought to the showroom. I may have bought a few things. ;)

Marble snail fossil!

Marble tables and fountains

Marble saw

A short while later, we arrived at our departure point! I’ll leave you hanging here and come back with a post about our night in the Sahara later. Teaser: it was arguably the best experience of my life. The pictures are killer. Can’t wait to show you!

I have no words.

Off for now, a bientot!

-Allie