Thoughtful Thursday

After our very busy wednesday, we had a nice laid back thursday.

We spent most of the day at CCFA. We made and presented a powerpoint to a french class about living in America and/or Merrimack. They were kind of rowdy, but I think they liked it. We played a game where a CCFA student would talk about a subject like food and the culture that exists in Morocco and then one of us would do the same about the United States.

It was really interesting and we had a good time. They sang and danced and rapped for us, and in turn we slightly reluctantly sang for them too :P.

We have learned a lot of Moroccan culture during our stay in Marrakech because we have been able to get to know these kids better.

We were separated that night and all did different things.

Hannah and Chase had a great time with Omayma and her sister Chaimae walking around Marrakech.

Bashir took Remy and Matt out for late night McDonald's.

And Mehdi brought Imane, Marita, and Jeff to his night class teacher's English class. For 3 hours we laughed at them trying to speak English and then they got to laugh at us speaking Arabic. We had a really good time asking them questions about their lives and it was fun to teach them about American culture as well.

We don't have any pictures for today, but many stories that will hopefully stay with us forever! Already we miss Omayma, Chaimae, Bashir, and Mehdi and wish that we could have spent more time with them. If we ever return to Morocco, we will be sure to get in touch with them :)

I'm adding this on because I just found a picture and I thought this post could use it...

This is us in french class! I think Matt was talking about American music.

Mercredi in Marrakech

Wednesday morning we woke up and met up at CCFA early at 9 am. Mehdi, Bashir, and Omayma are great hosts. Along with Ms. Mandra, and led by the English teacher from CCFA, we went to an art museum and school (Medrasa). It's especially interesting to go to a history museum when the building itself is part of the exhibit.

 Bashir and Mehdi

 

He also took us through the souks in the medina. We plan on coming back when we have more time and our bargainer(Mr. Defaa). Marrakech is famous for its tanneries. In parts of the souks, there is this overwhelming smell of them. We stopped in to see one. Especially in the medina, where the roads are narrow and busy shops line each side, donkeys, horses, and mules are very prevalent. Next to pottery and tiles, this is Marita's favorite part of the medina.

 One of the tanneries in the souks of Marrakech.

Our late afternoon was spent on an excursion into the mountains. Marrakech is located in an oasis, so it is in the desert.  But the Atlas mountainsn found in Morocco lie right next to Marrakech. This provides for many different ecosystems close together. Unfortunately we were never able to go on a trip through the desert like we wanted to, so we couldn't experience all of them. On our drive up the mountain, we yet again, saw more striking views. 

 Every time we stopped, there were lots of merchants ready to sell necklaces and fake geods to us.

They were very pushy, so it got annoying, but we felt bad for them. Matt of course tried to use his bargaining skills.

Here we saw our very first camels!

We stopped for lunch in the mountains and got the usual couscous. The food couldn't really compare to the food we were used to being pampered with. We are so lucky that we have gotten to experience all the traditional and best dishes of Morocco during our stay.

This merchant tries to bargain with Matt during our lunch.

We relaxed for a little bit at Ahmed's apartment before getting ready to go out on our special dinner. Ahmed is the sous Chef for an amazing hotel in Marrakech called the Sofitel. Chase plans on getting married there. We would post more pictures, but it was already dark when we got there so it's hard to show the real extravagance that we saw...

After exploring the place and rolling around in the beds by the pool, we headed to the dinner. They had a live Moroccan band playing and we had front row seats. 

The food was SO good. They had some interesting meats like liver and lamb brains that some of us gave a try. More entertainment started up later in he evening which included singing and belly dancing. We were the royal guests of the night- Ahmed made sure all of Mr. Defaa's favorite songs were played and even got up on stage to sing. 

Yassir, Mr. Defaa, Remy, Jeff, and Matt all got turns dancing with the belly dancers before all of us went up on stage to dance.

We had a such a great night and all headed back to Bashir, Mehdi, and Omayma's houses for much needed night of sleep.

Marrakech!

Our stay in Marrakech began late Monday evening when we arrived at Ahmed and Zor's new apartment.  Another feast had been prepared for us. We don't know who to thank them enough for all their hospitality.

We slept well that night, eager to learn what Marrakech had in store for us in the next 5 days.

We woke up early Tuesday to another Moroccan breakfast. I don't think we could get sick of these if we tried.

Today was the day for us to meet the students we were going to stay with for the next few days. They attend the CCFA which is a college for young adults who want to be in the hospitality workplace such as cruise ships and flight attendants. Mr. Defaa's youngest brother, Yassir, goes to this school as a second year.

The walk to school was beautiful and gave us our first glance at the mountains. 

We met a bunch of people at the school and walked into a few classes. Some giggly girls called Remy Justin Beiber. I guess we'll have to embrace the good and bad side of being American...

We were a little nervous to be separated, but everything turned out perfect. Hannah and Chase stayed with Omeymae. Jeff, Marita, and Imane stayed with Mehdi. And Matt and Remy went with Bashir.

After lunch at a nearby cafe, we split up and each went back to our student's houses and explored a little bit of Marrakech with them.

Hannah and Chase went on a mini-tour of a shopping plaza in the center of Marrakech.

The view from Mehdi's roof was breathtaking. Even on a cloudy day. It's funny to see palm trees in front of the mountains.

That night, all the students met up at a classy cafe to watch the Barcelona and Madrid soccer match. We had a great time, and Mr. Defaa made sure to call us and check on us regularly. Ms. Mandra stayed at Ahmed and Zor's house. They became good friends :)

Casablanca

We thought it would be a good idea to separate Fes and Casablanca, even if they were on the same day.

Not much time was spent in Casablanca, but we did stop at the Hassan II Mosque and the Mall of Morocco, a taste of two different sides. Again, we didn't want to seem like awkward tourists in the mall, so not many pictures were taken. There were stores like Gucci, Dolce and Gabana, and other ritzy stores. The mall of Morocco was so that rich people wouldn't fly to Paris or Barcelona for expensive goods, they could just stop in Casablanca.

The Hassan II mosque was enormous. That day was also very windy and bright, it was good to get out of the sun and into the dark mosque. This is he hammam underneath the mosque that is only used during Ramadan, and even then, very infrequently.

The minaret is the world's tallest and the whole mosque sits right on the ocean, it was a sight none of us will soon forget!

This door was made of titanium and opened by computers.

This is the main prayer space of the mosque, it was quiet and beautiful. 

This is how we should run the rest of our classes back home, with Mr. Defaa as ruler... 

We ate lunch in the mall, and then continued to our final city...Marrakech, our desert oasis.

Goodbye already?

We spent so little time in Fes...We woke up early today to about 50 billion birds according to Remy. It was a new start to the morning. It was our day to do a bit of shopping before we set off for Casablanca and then to Marrakech. We all bought beautiful silver in Fes and we'll all remember the awesome concert and great company. Au revoir Fes!

Our resident bargaining expert, The Defaa himself.

Another beautiful mosque, one of many that pepper the city of Fes

This merchant was pretty awesome, one of the few that posed for the camera!

Our brave bodyguards, Nabil and Remy.

This picture is so sad, we had to leave Nor and Sanaa behind in Fes as the rest of us made our way to Marrakech. We tried so hard for a picture where Nor wasn't crying. 

Welcome to Fes

Today was a day full of travel, we kicked off the long ride to the hot springs in Fes, along the way Imane got terribly sick and we had to stop twice.

It would have been weird to take pictures inside the spring, because it was basically a public pool. Trust us when we say the hot springs and massage were fantastic. After bucket showers and poor water pressure, the sulfur water was refreshing. Annoyingly, no one told us we should take our jewelry off, and we had to soak them in lemon juice once we got to Fes.

It was about a half an hour drive to the spiritual center of Morocco, and its oldest city, Fes.
We stopped for a quick photo op with a view of the whole city

The walls are so tall, it's hard to get sunlight in some places. We stayed in the medina of the city, which is always the oldest part. The streets are obviously not wide enough for cars, never mind our behemoth bus, so we walked most of the way.

 The view from the roof was amazing, as most views appear to be in Morocco.

 For dinner we ate couscous, chicken, treede

Majib surprised us with invitations to see a traditional Andalusian concert at one of the most lavish hotels in Fes. Andalusian music is inspired by the Spanish Musilm community thatfound refuge in Fes after the Inquisition. Nabil, Sanaa and Nor were there as well!

Today was full of ups and down but we were happy to have a good nights sleep.