Reminiscent Summer Mornings

This whole summer seems to be going by in a blur. I'm only weeks away from going back up to Seattle and I honestly can't tell you what I've been doing these last two months. Lots of sleeping I guess? Well, I've finally kind of gotten my life together to start working on the paper I have to write as a reflection on my time in Morocco. So far, I think I've maybe written two paragraphs (of around 15 pages...) but it's something. With only two paragraphs though, I see that everything is slowly but surely fading from my memory. Not as a whole, but the little details I expressly told myself I wanted to hold onto.

Anyway, this all prompted me to break out the journals and sketchbooks and stacks of mementos of my whole year. In that stack I found the letter my friend Josie wrote to me while in London. She typed it out on the old typewriter she had just bought somewhere in town as I lay on her bed, eyes-closed, exhausted, and finding the repetitiveness of the loud typing soothing. I love reading and rereading this letter because it so succinctly sums up my feelings at the end of my time abroad, especially in the last few lines:

"'God willing'- as your favorite Arabic phrase goes, we shall enjoy tomorrow....Today we couldn't believe we were 21, almost done with college and a year away from being responsible for ourselves. We couldn't believe a year abroad was almost over. Here's to another day we can't believe happened...and the future that is impossible to plan and will according to our designs- a future we can only hope for, to reach out across the water towards a future we greet with the words 'God willing.'"

Straight From My Sketchbook

When I travel I always bring my favorite watercolor kit that allows me to paint in almost any situation. While I was in Morocco I made sure to bring them since I knew I would want to capture all of the colors and vibrant images around me. I'm a bit shy sharing my art, but I'm very proud of this batch of watercolors and I wanted to share my memories of Morocco as seen directly through my eyes.

These are in chronological order, starting in Rabat and ending in Marrakech. I would either find a way to paint a scene or two during lunch or snap a picture and work on it later in our hotel room or on the bus. Excuse the quality (I should have scanned them).

Rabat Parliament

Rabat kasbah- Andalusian gardens 

Fez- shop in the medina, tiles and views

Sketch of gate into Fez 

Same gate in watercolor- Fez

Fez medina by night

Oum-er-Rbia riverside lunch spot

Oum-er-Rbia lunch 

Khénifra wool souk

Lunch before heading to the desert

Interesting buildings on the way to Ait-ben-Haddou

Ait-Ben-Haddou

Marrakech orange juice carts and brochette

Ait-ben-Haddou & Marrakech

Somewhere in the Atlas

The last few days in Morocco seemed like a dream. At the same time as though we'd just gotten there, and we'd been there for a month. I was exhausted and profoundly sad to see the time coming to an end. Upon our return from the desert, we embarked on a two day bus-heavy journey. Each day spending about 6 hours in the bus with plenty of stops in between.

Not much happened. Jokes, sleep, car sickness, silence on the bus. A few overpriced orange juices from the only café for 100km. Gorgeous countryside that turned back into lush, colorful hills. We stopped for the night in Ait-ben-Haddou. A city that neighbors the Hollywood of Morocco. And where any 'desert' or 'Arabic' scene in a movie is shot (even some Game of Thrones...).

We crossed the High Atlas, the mountain range that runs through the middle of the country, on our way to Marrakech.

Orange juice carts that line the plaza

We hit Marrakech in the morning, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed by it. Coming from such an isolated place, I was not exactly a fan of the mass of people and overwhelming amount of tourists. I guess it was good that we ended on a less exciting city. I think if maybe I'd had more time there, or a better grasp of where I was while in the medina, I would have enjoyed it more.

We only really had an afternoon to explore on our own. I left with three friends and we got thoroughly lost. When we eventually got back and later joined our whole group for dinner, I got a glimpse of what's special about Marrakech. At night the main plaza, Djemma el-Fna, turned into a buzzing center lit by a thousand lightbulbs.

Dinner time

We ate dinner outside in the square. Served family style on a long table by a meat cart. A mix of everything to share. And it was tasty. A nice way to spend our last evening together. After dinner we strolled around in small clusters listening to the groups of musicians and the story tellers that grabbed the attention of massive crowds.

I don't think I even begin to do justice to Morocco. I wish I had the words in me to more effectively share my experience there. The people, the language, the colors, the attitude, the smells, the tastes, the sun and the words. It's there that I discovered how beautiful Arabic is, both spoken and written, and I think I've found my next language to study. I know this won't be the last time I see Morocco. Besslama le Maroc, inch'allah.

A Night in the Sahara

Dromedaries- I'm the second shadow to the left

Spent the night before our Saharan adventure in Erfoud. It's a little warm out there, so we didn't set out for the desert until late afternoon. Before meeting our Tuareg guides, we had lunch with these lovely men. They sang us songs and fed us and gave us lots and lots of tea (a common theme). 

Blue man music

 We met at a group of 4x4s afterwards to dive on in. We sped through pre-dune desert land before finding the dromedaries (one hump, not two...but camel is easier to type, so I'll say that) that were to take us our to the camp in the dunes.

Speeding through the desert

 We rode our beasts for 1-2 hours into the dunes. The sun setting slowly behind us and the desert wind picking up. We arrived at our camp just in time for the guides to shout, "Run! Run! You have to see sunset from atop that dune!" Only one person I believe actually succeeded in seeing it. Climbing that monstrosity was quite a physical feat and I only got about half way up. I was determined but my heart was telling me to stop. So I perched myself on the side of the dune and enjoyed the still pretty spectacular view.

Dromedaries 

My saddle

The dunes

We laughed and ate all together in the camps before splitting up for various activities. Some went off and listened to a drum circle happening in a camp next door, others talked around the dinner table, and I went off into the dunes with friends to lie and watch the stars. Definitely clear and bright like I've never really seen before. I don't know how long we sat out there, but we stayed until the moon rose and we played with the shadows of the moonlight before going to sleep on small pads under these same stars.

Our camp

We woke up nice and early to catch the sunrise. Perched again on the side of a dune and wrapped in sleep, blankets, and scarves, we watched together. And like that our time in the Sahara was over. We were back on the camels after breakfast and in our bus again three hours later.

Sunset dunes in the wind

Cedar Forest, Azrou & Khenifra

Forêt de cèdre 

 We sadly said goodbye to Fez and started our journey inland and south. Our first stop was Azrou, where we picked up some guides and took a hike through the Cedar Forest. They was hilarious and astoundingly knowledgeable about every inch of the forest. I think all of us walked away with a few pieces of cedar in our bags and some new jeux de mot.

Khenifra

After a morning in Azrou, we continued on to Khenifra. No one understood why we were going to this small town where there's nothing to see. What we were doing there was meeting with some Peace Corps workers that had a project going in town. While none of us were the biggest fans of the woman we met, we liked her program and meeting the Moroccan women working to become independent business women.

Our second day in Khenifra we drove out to Oum-er-Rbia, the flowing river that hosts an interesting lunch destination. I hiked with Victor and my friend Sarah up towards the source of one of the rivers. That's where we got great pictures of the whole area.

Oum-er-Rbia

Oum-er-Rbia was fascinating: little covered porch-like rooms along the edge of the river that can be rented for lunch. The noise of the river was loud, but it facilitated a lazy, warm afternoon where we sat and ate and didn't feel the pressure to talk too much. My favorite part of the whole day was the little boy that I think belonged to the woman cooking our lunch. He kept watching us, so Greg and I went over, gave him some watermelon and used the very very little Berber we were taught to ask him his name. Mulad was a quick friend. He even walked us all the way back to our bus when we left. Blushing and running ahead of us the whole time. We tried out all of our Berber phrases and would get a little nod from him every time it was right.

Riverside lunch

 We spent one more night in Khenifra before packing up in the morning. Before we left we went to the souk (market) where the energy was astounding and animals were everywhere. Then back into the bus, this time to the Sahara.

Morning light

Fez

Fès

This has taken me longer than I had anticipated. Writing this got me reflecting on Fez again (which meant too many good memories rushing back), and I still don't know where to start. It was definitely my favorite city. It was an experience, so lively and spiritual and beautiful. Not only did the city just live up to all of my Moroccan expectations and any dreams I had of the country. But I feel that it's there that I met the most amazingly warm and welcoming people. Shop owners, old friends, new friends, strangers, students. Everyone was excited to teach us what they could about Fez, life, love, friendship, stereotypes, language, and (of course) food.

Orange juice is my drug.

We arrived in Fez the afternoon of the 21st, after a few hours in the van from Rabat. And one of the first things we did was get a guided introduction to the medina. The Fez medina is madness, or at least it seems that way at first. A complete labyrinth of winding streets, dead ends, and unfamiliar noises and smells. Our initial walkthrough with the professors ended in a lunch where I discovered my favorite orange juice of the trip (a place I would revisit three more times). As a big, noticeable group of Americans (mostly girls), we were quite popular while walking the streets. I got offered, "1000 camels! A beautiful house! Jewelry! Children." Finally Dad, you can sell me off! The comments, while tiring at times, were always entertaining.

The labyrinth city

We were taken up to a fort that overlooks the medina. It was shocking how much the countryside looked like home. Rolling golden hills, just like my part of California. And this continued until our drive into the dessert. It was a bizarre sensation feeling at home thousands of miles away.

One of my other favorite sights that day was a university. Yes, a university. I wish mine could boast this level of decoration.

Koranic calligraphy  

Stolen from my friend Amy- me, the mint and the tannery

The tannery

And to end on a slightly stinky note, we stopped by a tannery. We were given sprigs of mint to offset the smell. Though I didn't find it nearly as bad as they had prepared us for. Dinner that night was fun. I went out with three friends and we did lots of shopping before stopping for some street meat. Not my best decision (it didn't end well the next morning), but it was delicious so I have no regrets.

While shopping we stumbled across a shop in search of leather bags. We spent so much time looking around and joking with the female shopkeeper in French that they eventually offered a seat to the male friend we had dragged along with us. And this, turned into a offer to have tea with them. "You have to say yes. It's our hospitality!"

Just the day before I had explained my expectations to Faith, my hotel roommate, "I'm trying to come into this expecting nothing. But, the one thing I want is to be invited to tea. Just once. And I'll feel like this trip was everything I ever wished for." I was internally freaking out as she invited us, so incredibly happy that it was happening. It was so nice to share tea, talk about languages (learning, teaching and sharing) and she had some gems when it came to life and love. My personal favorite being: "I don't know why girls nowadays date so many boys. It's like eating cake, once you've had too many, you stop tasting the differences. So find a nice cake that you like, and stick with it, before you loose the ability to taste." Each of us returned to her shop a least once before departing (often bringing groups of friends to buy plenty from her) to say goodbye and had one more glass of tea.

Call to Prayer

Our second day in Fez started early, for me that is. Sick from the street meat the night before, but determined to go explore with my friend, Greg. So I somehow gathered my nauseous self and we wandered around the exterior walls, up to ruins of the tombs of the Merinides.

Tombs of the Merinides

Later that morning, we started a two day lecture/discussion with English language master and phd students at the university. Professor Bekkaoui welcomed us and gave us a rousing lecture on Orientalism and the sustained image of the Arab world in the west. Our discussions with the students stemmed from this subject and turned into an eye-opening (on both sides) sharing of ideas. It was easy understanding their frustration with us when they kept asking us to generalize the US or American feelings towards things. And our response was constantly, "Yes, but, we all live in such different parts of the country and lead such different lives." And they explained how it's the same for them. They live in an "Arab country" but they can't define what Arab is, there's a large population of non-Arab native peoples (Amazhir, Touareg, etc.) and that it's sad how the US groups any and all Muslim countries together so effortlessly, without knowing the massive differences among them.

University Mohammed Ben Abdallah- Fez

This continued onto the next day. During which we shared lunch with them and continued our sometimes heated debates. The Americans were sad to say goodbye, but I know we're all grateful that our professor organized this for us.

After our first day at the university, I followed my professor, Victor, and three other students to his old stomping grounds. Victor lived in Morocco for 8 years, 5 of those in Fez. So he brought us to the shop of some of his very old friends. His friend, Aziz, and the friend's brother occupy a tiny shop on one of the larger streets in the neighborhood. Aziz was incredibly genuine and had some great philosophies on life. He speaks perfect, and terrifyingly fast French, so listening to him was at times a challenge. We chatted plenty before he showed us some beautiful Berber weavings and explained to us the intricacies of the art form.

Gates into the city

My last night in Fez was filled with more delicious food with friends, some swimming in the hotel pool and last minute cornes de gazelle, which quickly became my new favorite Moroccan treat.

An out of focus, but appropriate, depiction of the medina

Rabat & Casablanca

My trip to Morocco was quite long and so much happened. So there's quite a lot to say. We went to Rabat, Casablanca, Fez, Khenifra, Erfoud, Azrou, Oum-er-Rbia, Ait-ben-Haddou and Marrakech. The trip was the conclusion to my program abroad. Our final exam of sorts. The goal was to go out and encounter the Francophone world. And I'm so very lucky to have seen that part of the world. Yallah! Here we go.

Mosque tower in the Rabat medina

I left with 13 other students from Seattle and two professors on the 18th. We flew into Casablanca and were in Rabat early that evening. The adventure really started the next morning. We had meetings around 10am every day, but I decided to get up early and explore with my friend each morning before our group days started. Our first morning in Rabat consisted of a stroll through the Medina (the old, walled city). We wound up finding a cemetery and a door to the ocean.

Rabat seaside

 From there, we continued along the cliffs looking out at the Atlantic that hit the western coast of Africa. The first day I was struck by the smells. Especially the mint, sold in heaps on the almost every street. (I'm now pretty obsessed with mint tea, which I will be forcing on all of my friends and family upon my return to the US). When we did make it back to the hotel to meet everyone else, we were immediately shoved in the van to make the hour drive to Casablanca. I really enjoyed hearing our bus driver speak. Most of the time we spent in that van, he was chatting with Victor (our professor) who quickly found out what a brilliant man he was. A physics academic studying in France until one of his parents fell ill and he had to return to Morocco to support his family, and that's how he ended up as a chauffeur. He had such a kind smile and seemed genuinely excited to show us his country.

La Grande Mosquée Hassan II- Casablanca

In Casablanca we went to the Grande Mosquée Hassan II. Built in the 80/90s under the King Hassan II, this mosque is enormous. It's situated right on the water and absolutely dominates Casablanca. It is one of the only mosques in the world that visitors are allowed in. So we got the tour (from a very sassy guide) and I marveled at the detail and architectural majesty.

Thé à la menthe- Moroccan whiskey

We were back in Rabat for dinner that night. Our professors walked us through the medina, which by that time was completely packed with people. Navigation of a group was very interesting and quite time consuming. We went up to the kasbah and had one of hundreds of mint teas in the Andalusian gardens.

The next day we got to meet Abdallah Zrika, the poet I've been raving about for some time. And the beautiful Touria Hadraoui. In the morning Zrika read us a few of his poems and then spent hours with us discussing his work, life, the intricacies of translating poetry and so many other things. What I really enjoyed was how he talked about his words, saying that each has not only a personal history for him, but often a color, a smell, a taste. As a visual person myself, I really like the idea of colors and sensations with marks on a page.

Mausoleum 

So Zrika in the morning. And for lunch I roamed the medina again, this time with a different friend. We got a little lost, so lunch was never actually found. But we did get tea and stare out at the ocean while I drew and she read. In the afternoon we met Touria Hadraoui. She is a stunning malhoun singer (Here's a video of her singing). Malhoun is a very traditional form of Moroccan singing, where the songs are called poems. She is the first woman to sing this male-only form of music. Hadraoui also talked about her life, how she discovered the malhoun and she even sang a few poems for us. It was incredible to hear her. And the malhoun seemed to fill the room in a way that we had never heard before. She was just absolutely lovely.

We had a few hours to spare after the meetings, so we asked the van driver to take us around to whatever he thought was worth seeing. We went to some mausoleums and then to ruins of an old city. That night I ate pastilla (not pronounced like tortilla) which is delicious. A sweet pastry filled with meaty bits and covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon. Sounds bizarre, but oh so tasty.

Salaam waalaycoom from Rabat

Mosque tower ruins- the storks are believed to be good luck. So they're allowed to nest absolutely anywhere they want

And with that we were done with Rabat. On to Fez in the morning.