I think it’s safe to say that all of this traveling is finally getting to me. It’s the week after fall break and instead of feeling fully restored to continue with school, I only feel more mentally drained than when it began.
The main reason is that I was off on another trip this fall break. Wow, that made it sound like a chore. Let’s try again:
I WENT TO MOROCCO LAST WEEK, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??
A whole new continent and culture to check off my list and yet I’ve had such a difficult time sitting down to tell you about it. Well for one, I’ve certainly had a hard time recovering from the trip (and still haven’t fully recovered, by the way). Going to Morocco is like going to Mexico in the fact that you shouldn’t drink the water and you’ve got to be extremely careful in your food choices. Let’s say I chose wrong… I’ll save you the details and just leave it at stomach virus.
We started out the trip in Fez, then stayed in the desert of Merzouga for two nights and our final night was spent in Meknes. I can’t really tell you much about the city of Meknes, although I hear it is nice.. I spent the evening covered in 5 blankets convulsing, thinking I was on the brink of death from a combination of a mild cold and what I like to refer to as the Moroccan plague… It was casual.
Fez – The Medina
It was late in the evening when we arrived in Fez on Friday (30 October), so we didn’t have much time to explore. I did however get a chance to reunite with my great friend Alex Muckey who just so happens to be studying abroad with ISA in Granda, Spain this semester. ISA programs in both Spain and Brussels by some struck of luck went on this adventure to Morocco together. Muckey and I have been friends and homeroom buddies since middle school- I’m pretty sure back then we could’ve never even fathomed that the two of us would end up exploring Morocco together.
Other than that, my favorite part about Fez was by far the Medina. At first coming to Morocco was so surreal… It was hard to get used to the new architecture and arabic written across all of the signs with very little English translation. This has got to be the first country I’ve ever been in where I couldn’t use context clues in order to understand what signs were saying.
Anyway, the Medina is at the core of Fez- built on a location rich in water and surrounded by hills, it’s a cluster of buildings stacked upon each other and hidden inside are countless markets and residential spaces. Over 300,000 people live in the Medina; it is terribly overcrowded. This can be attributed to the fact that the cost of living is very cheap here compared to other areas in Fez.
The streets are packed with people (and donkeys)- there are no cars allowed in the Medina, but even if they were they couldn’t fit through the streets because it’s hard enough for a group of people to pass through them. There’s no nightlife within the Medina, all of the shops close at sundown and there are so many little alley-like streets that you’re sure to get lost on your own.
Saturday we spent the entire day following our trusty tour guide, Mohammad, through the Medina. I don’t know how anyone can memorize the 9,000+ streets that the Medina has to offer, but somehow Mohammad has done it. We visited a pharmacie where we got to try various spices and Moroccan remedies, a Moroccan rug ‘palace’ with 4 floors of the most gorgeous textures and patterns I’ve ever seen and the largest tannery in North Africa dating back to the 14th century.
We also made two additional trips outside of the Medina to a pottery warehouse where we were treated to a bowl-making demonstration and got an insider’s look at the design process and the front gates of the royal palace.
Merzouga – The Sahara Desert
This was by far my favorite part of the journey, save for the bus ride to get there. I’d guess that we spent a total of 10 hours on the bus that day, but the desert views and experiences were well worth it.
Camping out in the desert proved to be a lot more glamorous than I expected. We were welcomed whole-heartedly by the Berbers who fed us, showed us the ins-and-outs of the Sahara and taught us how to embrace what they call the “Africa System.”
Our first full day in the deserted started out with an early wake-up call to get a beautiful view of the sunrise over the desert. That morning Sydné and I met Idird, who took us to the sand dunes and showed us how to write our names in Arabic. I should note that many different Berbers showed us how to supposedly write our names in Arabic, but somehow they all turned out differently. I’ll let it slide- from our own experience Bethany and Sydné are difficult names to tackle in the English language as well.
Monday was also dedicated to the long-anticipated camel ride through the desert. There were 100 students in the group (which I didn’t love) and that meant they had to get a camel for every single one of us. All morning lines of camels were trekking to our camp from neighboring villages. As you can imagine it takes quite some time for 100 camels to show up, given that they aren’t very fast (although I heard that camel racing does exist). So, we had plenty of time to goof off. Two Berbers showed up on dirt bikes and they’re such fun-loving people that it wasn’t hard to convince them to take me for a spin.
I don’t think I’ve ever sat down to imagine what a 100 camel caravan looks like, but I can tell you that it’s equal parts overwhelming and freaking cool. Getting on a camel is one of the strangest things I’ve ever experienced- if I had to compare it to anything, it’s like being on mechanical bull in slow motion. When you mount them, the camels are laying down because they’re just so massive. It’s a little shocking when they stand up at first (1) because they’re so tall and (2) because they use their back-legs first. So if you’re not expecting it you get jerked forward, feeling like you’re going to fall 8 maybe 9 feet to the ground. Once it’s all over though, sitting on a camel makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.
We took the camels into the nearby town of Merzouga, but first we made a pit stop to climb- no run up this massive sand dune. I wanted to take a leisurely pace, but Mohammad grabbed my hand and went into a full on sprint as if it wasn’t a big deal. And I’m struggling behind him hacking away because of the sand that’s flying in my face (and also because he’s in better shape than me, obviously… but I still think it was the sand holding me back).
We continued through the desert- last stop was the village of Merzouga where we stopped at pool to cool off. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our camels and return to camp on foot. It wasn’t extremely hot in the desert (thank goodness we went in early November) but even still it’s amazing what a difference a turban can do for your face. The turban protects you from pesky sand (which I still can’t manage to get rid of, by the way) and sunburn- I only got a little red on my face, which is pretty rare for me.
That night our new Berber friends showed us the best sand dune to watch the sun set. They are such fun guys- they said they always enjoy it when tourists come to camp in the desert. They tell the silliest jokes and at any second they might grab your ankles and pull you down the sand dune yelling, “African bobsled!” And they are always trying to find an excuse to use your camera, or get you to take a picture of them.
It’s hard to explain how beautiful the desert truly is… Not only because the endless sand dunes contrast perfectly with the blue, cloudless sky, but also the beauty of the people that we had the pleasure of meeting. I consider the Berbers to be some of the kindest and silliest people I’ve ever met. They showed us a great time and I would love to visit again in the near future.
Inshallah.
Bethany en Belgique 