Las Aventuras de Colleen: Morocco

Friday was one of those days when you wake up excited. For me that day is usually my birthday or the first day of school, but this time it was because I was waking up to leave for the trip that I’ve been most excited about: MOROCCO. From the second we booked our Morocco trip I’ve been dying to go. My excitement was mostly due to the promised camel ride we would take, but the trip ended up being so much better than I was even imagining.

The best thing about the trip was the lack of planning that we had to do. We paid for the trip and then didn’t think about it again until Friday morning when we packed our bags and headed out. It was so nice to just have someone tell you to get on the bus at this time and eat this food at this restaurant and not have to worry about a thing (because my life is so full of worries as it is). The company we travelled with is called DiscoverSevilla and they plan different trips for people who are studying abroad. The tour guides are all young, fun guys which is a great marketing scheme once you realize that about 90% of the people who study abroad are girls.

We made our way to the buses on Friday in the pouring rain, and I used my umbrella for the first time since I’ve been here (it NEVER rains in Sevilla). Even the rain couldn’t get my spirits down. After a four hour bus ride full of Toba’s awful jokes and music (Toba was our bus leader), we finally got to Tarifa, Spain where we boarded the ferry. From Tarifa you can literally look across the ocean and see Morocco, and we were very excited to get our passports stamped! We’ve come to learn that when you travel within countries that are members of the European Union you usually don’t get a stamp in your passport, which made four girls very sad when they arrived in Italy. I'm sure the Spanish police man thought I was a little crazy with my giant smile when he stamped my passport, but that's neither here nor there.

Crazy fire man

After we walked through a loading dock and my fear of being kidnapped increased 10 fold, we stepped on to the coolest ferry I've ever seen. Granted, I've only been on a ferry about twice in my life, but this one might as well have been a cruise ship. It had a giant seating area with tables and a cafe and a duty free shop. Needless to say, a giant bag of gummy bears was my first Moroccan purchase. After about an hour, we finally arrived in Morocco. We hopped back on our buses and head to the hotel, which was a sight for sore eyes after all of our travelling. The hotel was beautiful and we were upset that it wasn't a little warmer because it was beach front with a beautiful pool. As soon as we got to the hotel we had our first Moroccan meal, which consisted of chicken couscous and a delicious salad. The dinner had a few surprises, which included a lady modeling a typical Moroccan dress, and a man dancing with lit candles on his head while a crazy band played.

Our tour guide who insisted that I wear
his clothes

After dinner we hung out in the hotel bar for a little bit before calling it an early night. The next morning we woke up early and headed off to a town called Chefchaouen. The town was beautiful and everything was painted blue and white. All of the houses had bright blue doors and the colors of the city were gorgeous. We had a tour before heading to lunch at a restaurant overlooking all of the city. Our tour guide was a really sweet man who spoke English and loved having us pose for group pictures. Right before we walked into the restaurant I asked to take a picture with him and he insisted that I wear his traditional gelabah and hat in the next photo. I could definitely get used to Moroccan restaurants where you sit with tons of cushions in front of open windows with a breeze.

After lunch we headed to the market area to barter for some Moroccan goods. We had to transfer our euros to dirhams, the local currency, and went to work buying things. Along the way we ran into a man named Muhammad who ended up being our new tour guide. He took us from shop to shop to help us find "the best" of everything, and each time we were going somewhere new he would yell "THIS WAY PLEASE number one!!" He thought it was hilarious and kept calling me "number one" and "Fatima" because he told me I was his favorite just like the prophet Muhammad's first born daughter Fatima. He was a crazy, crazy man but he got us some great deals on the stuff we bought, which for me included leather bags, some sandals, and a few gifts. After we had to leave the market and get on the bus, Muhammad came running after us with incense that he had bought each of us as a gift.

We headed back to the hotel and went out on the beach until dinner time. We saw the sun set over the beach and hung out for a while. I've really been missing water, and it was really nice to go on the beach even if we couldn't swim. After dinner we all hung out at the hotel bar again and on the beach a little bit more before heading off to bed for another early morning.

Michael Douglas, our tour guide

We woke up for our last day in Morocco and headed to Tetuan, which was pretty close to where we were staying. Our tour of Tetuan was full of surprises, which started with our tour guide, who swore that he looked just like Michael Douglas. He obviously looked absolutely nothing like Michael Douglas, but we weren't going to spoil his fun. He told us a lot of interesting information that coincided with what we've been learning in our Spain and Islam class. For example, he informed us that he has three wives but is looking for an American as his fourth. We knew that polygamy was legal in most Islamic countries, but it was interesting to hear about it from someone we knew. We winded through the very narrow streets of Tetuan and along the way got to see a real snake charmer (imagine Aladdin) and hold the snakes. The roads we were winding through were so narrow and there were stray animals everywhere, which broke my heart. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a very soft spot for animals, and I was ready to take every one of them home with me. The next stop on our tour was a rug shop where they gave us a presentation of some beautiful rugs and blankets that were all hand made. Some of the rugs took up to 7 years to make by two professional workers. They were so beautiful and the silk ones felt amazing, but they were also ridiculous expensive. The last stop on our tour was to a pharmacy, where oddly enough is where you can buy Moroccan spices. A man gave us a presentation about all of the different spices and herbs that they offered, and then came another awkward encounter. I'm not sure if I just have a really friendly face or what, but this guy really took to me. We were in a room full of about 60 people, and he insisted on giving me free root that is supposed to be like the natural version of Viagra. On the way out of the door he told me that he loved me, and was so happy to have met me. I guess if I can't find a husband in America I always have a back up plan.

The view from inside the cave

We ate lunch at another really cool restaurant before heading off to Tangiers, where our camels awaited us. First we took a little tour of the Caves of Hercules, which look out over the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. After chatting for awhile with some retired mobile home tour group from Switzerland that we randomly met, we headed off to the camels. I was in love the second I stepped off the bus to find a baby camel that was only 1 month old. His hair was the softest thing I've ever felt and let's just say I need to be thankful that he is bigger than a carry on size, because otherwise I couldn't have resisted taking him home.

We were (literally) thrown onto our camels by the guide who kept yelling "YEEHAW" and "OH MY GOD" and insisted that we take a "Christmas card" photo at the end. The camel ride was so fun and mildly terrifying. After we got off we watched the other groups ride and two girls actually fell off of the camel. Luckily they were alright, but I felt so bad for them! Even though we only got to ride for about 4 minutes, I will say that the camel ride was definitely worth it. After the camels we headed off to catch the ferry again, and spent our ferry ride eating dinner and relaxing before catching our bus back to Sevilla. It was an amazing weekend and I would do it over again in a second. I will say that it was nice to come home and brush my teeth without bottled water. I was so sad to leave, but now I'm excited to go to Barcelona on Thursday!