Title: Three months In

Entry:

We are nearly done with three weeks of our trip and I honestly feel like it's been three months. Everyone on the boat agrees too. There are so many deep connections between people as if we've know each other for months. In fact one of my friends (Madison) made the comment that "each day is so concentrated." And she is so right. So, much goes into one day on this trip whether we are at sea in classes or whether we are in port traveling. I can't even imagine how much history I will have with this trip by the end. Heck we still have about eleven weeks left.

So, for this month, well actually week, we were in Morocco. We made port in Casablanca five days ago. As soon as the ship was cleared the students going on the camel trek (including myself) were able to get on the bus and head to Marrakech. It was about a four hour bus ride. Once we got there we went straight to our first meal. Everyone was hungry because it seems like we always get to food later than normal when we are in port. This place was the perfect first stop. We went to a restaurant that was right around the corner from the Souk (market). This is one of the most exciting areas of town with street performers, food, and all kinds of different little shops. The restaurant was Al Baraka. It was so beautiful with precise and detailed decorations. It seemed like everywhere we went after that never failed to impress us with the decor and ambiance. It was built in the typical style of Moroccan homes in that it had an entrance that led to an outdoor court yard which connected to surrounding rooms. We sat at the tables which were always lower than we are used to but had stools and short couches instead of chairs. The tables always had tons of hand painted dishes that were very colorful and all our glasses and silver wear. Most of the time the dinners were brought out in multiple courses. One big platter of each course was put in the middle of the table and we all shared from the one heaping course. I don't think we ever finished a course between the 5-8 that sat at one table. The first course was usually some mix of cooked or raw vegetables, the second and sometimes third course was usually the meats, and the last course was dessert which was always fruit. And a Moroccan meal wouldn't be complete without mint tea at the end. The tea was always amazing! The most unusual but always delicious part was the course with the meat. It was fun to be surprised and try to work together to figure out what it was. Sometimes it wasn't all that hard because it was beef or chicken but we did have some other interesting ones. The first was a meat that looked green but it turns out that it was lamb/veal that had a green sauce. Another was some kind of sausages. There were two different kinds; one was a patty shaped, beef-looking sausage and the other was red mini sausage links. We never knew what they were unless someone asked because it was a prepared set menu. The last interesting meat caught us by surprise. It looked like chicken kabobs so most of us didn't pay any attention but because we were told about it ahead of time one of the more experienced travels asked what it was. Turns out that the chicken kabob wasn't chicken at all, it was pigeon. Apparently it's common ground in Morocco. That's one way to control the pigeon population. I wonder if New York would ever consider it.

Anyway, after our first meal we headed out to the Souks! We walked around for a bit and got some money (Durhams). A tour guide invited us to go with him through the Souks because it can be pretty intimidating with all the people in skinny alleys, all trying to buy and sell all at once. It's a pretty crazy environment. We walked through a few alleys of Souks then we were led to the pharmacy. The pharmacy being a holistic approach to healing. We walked up a stair well that was full of spices. Everywhere you looked there were jars, troughs, and other containers with all sorts of colors of herbs. We were led into a room that had nothing but shelves all over the wall with not one more space for any other jar. It was a very beautiful sight because of all the different colors. A man began to give us a speech about all the herbs and their assorted cures. Some solved dry skin, some got rid of cold sores, some made you go to sleep, and the list went on and on. Meanwhile, a chain of events was about to cause something exciting.

As we had been walking around the Souks we noticed that a storm was coming in. We all enjoyed it because the dark clouds surround the mosque in the background of the Souk made for some very cool pictures. While we were listening to the speech that the man was giving to us to storm broke loose. The wind started to blow pretty hard and we were about to find out. None of us really noticed it but there were windows behind some of the jars that were on the shelves behinds us. One time the wind was just strong enough to suddenly knock a few jars off that nearly drop on a girls head and fell to the floor with a big crash. Naturally, it scared the beejeesus out of us. Luckily the jars missed the girl though and she wasn't hurt. Plus, it made for some more really cool pictures because like I said they were all sorts of colors. For the most part the ones that fell were red so someone made the comment that it looked like a crime scene. They fell in just a perfect way that it made a cool pattern so I have some cool pictures to show you when I can. After that the storm cleared up pretty fast and we set back out for the bus to our hotel.

The next day we left for our seven hour bus ride through the Atlas mountains to the Sahara mountains where we got to ride the camels. It was a pretty touristy trip but I still had a lot of fun. The camels were tied together in links of about five or six and a local nomad led it through the edges of the Sahara. Unfortunately, there weren't enough camels for everyone so we either had to get of and let our partner go or ride together on the camel. The trek only ended up being about an hour and a half one way which wasn't very far at all from our buses. The next day we took the same path back and got about another hour and a half ride.

We did stay the night in a nomad camp though! It was a nomad camp for a king. It had an outdoor WC, three huge dining tents, sleeping tents, and a large common area with a fire pit. Every inch of the camp had Berber carpets covering the ground and they even had blankets that sort of fenced in the camp. They also had electric lighting. So, to say the least, it was still touristy but we had a great time. We had another traditional Moroccan meal in the dining tents and had time to socialize and wonder out into the Sahara. Some friends and I wondered out and layed on the dunes and watched the stars. I have never seen so many bright stars in my life. It was so dark out there in the middle of no where that it seemed like you could see twice as deep into the sky. The Milky Way has never been so clear and we even saw several shooting stars. That night we could sleep anywhere we wanted; out on the dunes, in our sleeping tents, in the dining tents, or even on the carpeted common area by the fire. I chose to sleep in the dining area on the really comfortable couch seating. But at about 3a.m. it was so cold! That was enough to keep you awake.

After the camel trek we had another night in the hotel and another chance to go to the Souk and shop. Then, back to Casablanca!

That brings us to today. I just got back in from watching Casablanca get further and further away. Most people usually go out to the decks to watch the disembarkation. My favorite spot is the observation deck which is at the bow of the ship. We are now out at sea for another seven days of classes. Then, Ghana!

Also, there were a few people from the fourth grade class that I wish I would have mentioned last time. Austin said he wanted to learn Spanish and I can't agree with you more now that I have been to Spain. It would have been really useful and would have made a lot of things easier but you can't learn every language. I really love French and hope to pick it back up when I get to school. So, stick with Spanish Austin. It takes a ton of practice but it will be worth it when you get a chance to travel. I also wanted to tell Jacob that you should try paella. You said you like spanish rice then this is the dish for you. It's rice that is cooked i a big frying pan with different sauces and some kind of meat, usually seafood. If you ever see paella on a menu somewhere I highly recommend it. And if you ever go to Spain you need to seek it out. I also have a little story for Cody. You know I never thought I would say this but here it goes. I had eaten so much Moroccan food which is so delicious and really good for you. But it is so light that it was hard to feel fulfilled for long so the last night I was in Marrakech I had to get some good ol' food from the States. We went to McDonalds which is everywhere. I don't think there will be a place that doesn't have one. When we went I got the best thing on the menu, a Big Mac with fries and a coke. And then I went all out and got ice cream. I figured you would appreciate this Cody since your favorite food was a Big Mac. That should hold me off for a while though.

Well, until next time...