Our stay in the mountains

Day 6 on our Moroccan journey was a bit overwhelming for most of us. We awoke in Sidi Slimane around noon after going to bed very early in the morning. Aziz, Mr. Defaa's son, had gotten
sick during the night which kept the Defaas up, and us teenagers were just tired from all the travel and staying up late. We spent the morning in a cafe catching up on things in Merrimack with the free wifi connection and drinking more cafe au lait. One thing we will all miss when we go back home is the consistent caffeine dosages in the form of cafe au lait, Moroccan tea, or cafe nos nos, which many of us order now. It simply means half coffee half milk instead of a majority of milk like in cafe au lait.

We also went on a sunny walk through the city and saw a house where Mrs. Defaa lived when she was younger, the karate studio where Mr. and Mrs. Defaa met, and visited the grocery store where we bought some foreign snacks, and just took in the views of Sidi Slimane. It was very different from the other places we'd visited because it was less wealthy and less of a tourist attraction. Because the locals hadn't seen as many tourists, we attracted quite a few stares. One man on a bicycle even took a photo of us as he drove by.

After, we enjoyed a Moroccan barbecue lunch, where we ate ground beef patties with grilled vegetables and spices inside some of the freshly baked bread, along with more tea of course.

We then packed up our stuff from the house in Sidi Slimane and loaded on the bus to head to Moulay Idriss.
                                  
Even though the morning seemed somewhat extended and uneventful, and some of us were a little grumpy from fatigue and sun, it was all forgotten when we drove through the incredible green
mountains of North Africa just as the sun was setting behind them.

 Believe us when we say that the pictures don't do the view justice and it was a sight that none of us will soon forget.
We stopped by the Hotel Volubilis, where we'll be staying Thursday night, to make reservations. Watching the sun finish its descent over the mountainside pool and among the various
amenities of the 4 star hotel got us all very excited for the stay there.

We got back on the bus and headed the last few minutes toward Moulay Idriss. We saw the city clustered together on the side of the mountain and no one could believe that that was where we'd be staying. We walked through the narrow streets toward Nada's grandmothers house and took in the beautiful old city. The house is incredibly beautiful and the fact that the walls
we were sleeping inside of were significantly older than our own country... is just insane.

    We shopped around in the shops that were still open, ate dinner and lounged in the beautiful
mountainside home. It was a great ending to a crazy day and we were all excited for the days to come.

      One downside to this day was a short scare when we thought Matt was lost in the back streets of the city. Thankfully a kind stranger helped him back to the house. He was really shaken up,
as anyone would be. Thank goodness Sanaa was there to take wonderful care of him. We prepared ourselves for probably the coldest night yet in the beautiful city of Moulay Idriss.