MOROCCO!
Yes, you heard (well, read, I suppose) that right...Morocco! This week Skye and I both took our maiden voyage, by boat nonetheless, to the continent of Africa. We went with the travel group EMYCET and, boy was it a whirlwind.
Before we get there though, a few tidbits from this week. I met Marta, the new teacher I am working with, and she is absolutely lovely. I think we are going to have a ton of fun together getting our preteens to learn via songs and games (the more middle school embarrassment the better right). We played good ol' Simon Says with the 6th graders to introduce the "Interaction Function" topic and talked about the importance of vaccines in my 5th grade sections.
On Wednesday us auxes came together for another movie night, this time to watch Watching the Detectives. Renne has become our movie curator and co-host for these evenings. The rest of us simply show up with some snacks and enjoy! It's a wonderful way to get everyone in the same place midweek to catch up and veg out.
During school on Thursday I was coerced by my students into dancing flamenco with them for their show this upcoming week. At first I flat out refused but after them chanting "Teacher Yess" (they pronounce "Jess" like "Yes"), I finally conceded.
Skye and I started our Moroccan adventure with a blablacar to Málaga after work on Thursday. We checked into our hostel and went in search of dinner and some fancy drinks. After we ate and figured out our taxi situation for the next morning, we met some wonderful women in our hostel room and tried to get a couple hours of sleep.
Friday was one of the longest days (not in a bad way!) of my life…beginning at 2:30 am and ending at 11:00 pm. Skye and I got onto a tiny bus in Málaga that took us to the port at Algercias. We met six of our travel companions (all American as well) and commiserated about our joint lack of sleep. Our driver gave us directions on what to expect for passport checks and getting on/off the ferry, and then we were off with our Argentinian guide Mira.
Once we docked in Africa, we all gathered together (there was 18 total in our group) and went to go meet our Moroccan tour guide Ahmed. He gave us a lovely, bilingual welcome to the country and we began our drive to Tetuán.
We had a typical Moroccan buffet breakfast at a hotel and it felt bizarre to be eating breakfast after being up for almost 6 hours. After spilling coffee everywhere and almost on myself TWICE, I finally ate some yogurt and cucumbers and an English muffin type thing.
From breakfast we drove to Chefchaouen, nicknamed the Blue City for a very good reason: all the buildings are dyed an indigo shade of blue. We met our tour guide of the afternoon, Abdul, and began touring the ancient city.
Being surrounded by bright blue walls and doors was truly a surreal experience and I have never felt so completely immersed in a strange world before. We learned that the blue coloring is completely natural, and that some people repaint their houses up to five times a year! They say the color to repels mosquitos and keeps their dwellings cooler in the summer months.
Abdul shared a lot of anecdotes and lessons about Muslim culture as we toured and it was so fascinating to learn about everyday life in Morocco. One of the new facts for me was that Fridays are the holy day in Muslim religion. Also, no one “owns” the dogs that roam around the city and if a dog touches you, you must change clothing before going to pray.
We had some free time, so Skye and I wandered around trying to not get harassed into eating at a restaurant. Right when everyone started leaving the mosques, a large, peaceful protest for Palestine started. Ahmed moved our group away so we could continue our tour before going to lunch.
Lunch was a wonderful assortment of bread, fresh veggies, and a tajine style chicken dish (veggies for me!). It was delicious but far too much food for our half awake brains and bodies to process.
We drove back to the hotel where we got to shower and lay down for a bit which felt amazing. Skye and I almost missed dinner because I had the time wrong. Thankfully, “Despacito” blasting from the restaurant woke us up.
Saturday morning started at 7:00 am with a buffet hotel breakfast and some coffee. It was a very similar spread to the day before and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to have olives with my first meal of the day.
We hopped back in the bus and headed to our first stop of the day, a viewpoint of the sea. Ahmed made sure we were all awake on the ride there and told us lots of interesting facts about Morocco and what we were seeing out the windows.
Some fun facts that were new to me: Ramadan is either 30 days or 29 days depending on whether or not there is a full moon, Argon trees only exist in Morocco, and the word “Medina” means the old part of a city.
We drove through the city of Tánger on our way to the coast and it was wildly different from the city we visited on Friday. Tánger is a large, modern city with some separate sections that have a heavily European and American influence. We also passed the royal palace where the majesty entertains and receives guests (he lives elsewhere in a royal residence).
Our first bus exit was to take pictures at the point where the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans meet (there is a huge rock that marks the divide). It was a beautiful view despite the clouds and we all grabbed a group pic, the first of the trip!
We then headed to a beach to go on a camel ride!! This was absolutely spectacular and unlike anything I have ever experienced before. My camel and I were the caboose of the line and she was not a fan of that at all and kept trying to pass the camel in front of her. Thankfully there were no mishaps during our short walk down and back the beach, but mounting/dismounting is quite jarring.
From there we drove to the Caves of Hercules which is said to be the birthplace of Africa. We took a tour of the caves and learned about how the entrance to the ocean looks the mirror image of the map of Africa (minus South Africa).
After that it was back to Tánger to see the medina there and visit a pharmacy. We learned about the cosmetic and health benefits of argon oil as well as a wide range of other products native to Morocco. I was very focused on what was being said and apparently that was visible on my face because the tour guide asked me why I never smile…whoops.
Skye and I bought some lotion and other things (psst Christmas gift for you, Dad). The group went to another shop and the two of us were singled out again, we’ve come to the conclusion it’s because people think we’re related? However, once it was obvious that we were not going to buy any rugs, we were led to our lunch spot.
Again, lunch was exceptionally delicious and very filling. We wrapped up with a sweet mint tea and a cookie which was a highlight for me, although it was all very tasty. We had some free time in Tánger so Skye and I went on the hunt for some postcards.
After rejoining the group, we got back on the bus, this time to the coastal city of Asliah. I think this city was my favorite from the ones we visited with the striking contrast between the white walls and bright blue doors. The streets were also wider and it was so pleasant walking along next to the coast.
Skye and I joined the other two auxes in our travel group, Elena and Monserrat, for some Moroccan beers. Alcohol is hard to come by in Morocco so we decided to take advantage of this opportunity to relax and have a drink. Elena and I split a bottle of wine since they didn’t sell it by the glass, and we all had a great time getting to know each other.
We had a singalong bus ride back to the hotel only pausing at 6:30 so that Ahmed could pray. This was the fourth of the five daily prayers and it occurs at sunset. The sharp contrast between reggaeton music and prayer was very notable, but a very cool example of the mixture of cultures we experienced this weekend.
Us four auxes regrouped to have our final dinner in Morocco together and we ended up staying at the table well past when everyone else had left just laughing about the day.
Our last day in Africa began in the city of Tetuán, the birthplace and current residence of our tour guide Ahmed. We started our tour in the modern part of the city before moving on to see the medina.
From there we visited a typical sweets shop and had free time to taste some of Moroccos famous pasteries. All I have to say is that I am so grateful to not have a nut allergy because EVERY option contained at least one kind of tree nut. The honey/simply syrup used by the bakers was a bee magnet to the max so while we were trying our treats, we kept ducking and swatting at the insects.
After we were filled up on sugar, we followed Ahmed around an artisinal market where all the goods are handmade right there. It was really impressive to see the intricate craft of the leather workers and other craftsmen. We also stopped by a rug store and got to see how the typical Moroccan carpets are made.
Our tour ended with a look at the local tannery where they cure all of the animal skins to make leather since that is a big commodity here. I think we were all ready to be done with our walking tour and thankfully it was time to sit down for lunch.
Lunch was a delicious mix of vegetarian soup, couscous and vegetables, and mint tea. We were also treated to live music and had the opportunity to have henna tattoos drawn on us while we ate. Skye and I opted out of that last part.
We said goodbye and thank you to Ahmed before driving to the port to start our travels back to Motril. I was a little bit worried that we wouldn't get home until 3:00 am since the ferry is often delayed and our bus options from Málaga to Motril were limited. However, we were lucky and our travel day ended right after midnight.
This weekend was truly a magical experience and I am defintiely going to look into more group travel experiences for the future. It was so cool to take a trip with people from different places and backgrounds! Morocco is a beautiful country with wonderful people, delicious food, and beautiful sites. I am so glad that Skye and I took advantage of traveling to another continent since it is so acessible for us!
Now, time to rest up and recover until our next trip <3
Jess omg, first of all what’s with you and looking related to everyone lol, also it’s Anna idk if it tells u who comments what. Secondly, holy cow! ur blog is so inspiring to me, u seem to be having sm fun and it’s so nice to see that “the dream” is possible so soon post grad!! I for real am so happy to see you loving ur best life and to have met such a Badass like urself even for only a summer. Keep Killing it!!
So cool - that Camel is definitely smiling! Love the posts - thanks buddy!
Getting woken up by Despacito >>>>>>