July 21, 2015

Last evening we left for Marrakech but before we left the city we stopped at one of the universities in Casablanca to meet with a couple of students and several professors. It was interesting to see the campus and facilities. Everything was very beautiful. I enjoyed the discussion we had because it provided us with another opportunity to create dialogue with locals about important issues and questions, but this time we could hear it from the perspective of adults as well. It’s a unique experience to be able to ask serious questions about local and regional politics to indigenous people instead of just hearing the perspectives of journalists and news commentators. We get a much more real approach and get to hear stories and perspectives we never would have otherwise. These are important learning moments. However, I believe you should take everything people say with a grain of salt, because even though someone is from a place, doesn’t mean what they have to say is necessarily true. I would hear countless different opinions on American politics depending on which American I asked as well.

When we finally made it to Marrakech, I was completely taken by the city at first sight. I knew immediately I was going to like it better than Casablanca and feel like it had more culture to offer. Different from Casablanca being the city of white, Marrakech is the red city, and the walls to the Medina are beautiful. On top of that, our hotel is by far the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

Today we did the tour of the city of Marrakech, and it was unbelievable. I had a day unlike any I’ve ever had before. First we stopped in some gardens overlooking a beautiful mosque, and then visited La Palais de la Bahia, described Wikipedia as: “Set up at the end of 19th century by Si Moussa, grand vizier of the sultan, for his personal use, this palace would bear the name of one of his wives. Here, the harem, which includes a vast court decorated with a central basin and surrounded by rooms intended for the concubines. As the black slave Abu Ahmed rose to power and wealth towards the end of the 19th century, he had the Bahia palace built by bringing in craftsmen from Fez.” It was absolutely brilliant, which coincidentally, is what the name Bahia translates to.

From there we visited the souk, which was nothing like the one in Casablanca, in a good way. I didn’t know where to look because everything was bursting with character, color, and art. We first stopped at an oil and spice shop, and the man who worked there was very informative and helpful by explaining the uses of everything and letting us smell things and have samples. We all ended up spending tons of money but it was worth every penny. This is the kind of stuff Morocco is known for, and what some people come here specifically for. Plus, buying this kind of stuff in the States would be much more expensive.

After a lunch of tajine in a beautiful restaurant located inside of the Medina, we explored the souk a little more on the way out and we even got to see the snake charmers and a couple of us got a small snake put around our necks for photos. I got a taste of the aggressiveness of some of the people there trying to make money when I snapped a photo of a cart of pottery in the direction of some men who were dressed up and dancing, because they thought I had taken a photo of them and insisted that I pay them. I finally decided that trying to denying it was useless and it would be easier to just give the guy some change than have him follow me around complaining and making a scene.

Our final stop was the Majorelle Gardens, but this is the truest instance of saving the best for last. According to Wikipedia, “It was designed by the expatriate French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 1930s, during the colonial period when Morocco was a protectorate of France.” It’s immensely beautiful to be inside breathtaking gardens that are somebody else’s expression of art. I feel like this trip also exposes us to different types of art such as these gardens and the architecture of the buildings as well as the craftsmanship of some of the products.

All in all, I had one of the best days even though I have quite literally never been that hot in my life. Temperatures were pushing 115 degrees Fahrenheit and we were walking around in the sun the entire time. At least it was a dry heat! Sarah, Imari, Micki and I couldn’t stop dancing in the car on the way back from the gardens despite it being even hotter inside the bus and the water in our water bottles being hot enough to make a cup of tea. I quickly became drenched in sweat from dancing but I wouldn’t have it any other way. C’est la vie.

At night the rest of the girls wanted to go to the nightclub, and I tagged along even though I knew I was going to hate it. There was a twenty-dollar cover, which attracts an interesting crowd. Most people in Morocco can’t afford such frivolous endevours, so it was a lot of foreigners and wealthier locals. I’ve actually never been in a nightclub like that, so it was an interesting experience even though I’m lame and I didn’t drink or dance. Despite being twenty bucks shorter, I’m happy I went for a little just to have the experience and see what a nightclub in Morocco is like.