Morocco and Caleb

From November 6 to November 14, I was in the beautiful land of Morocco. It was my first trip to Africa and I do not think it will be my last.

The first destination was the city of Marrakech. It is a lovely city with fun markets, various spices, wonderful coffee, cheap food, palm trees, beautiful mosques and palaces, and many interesting people. The accommodations for my group was very close to a bakery and café. The bakery was filled with pastries and croissants. A croissant came to be about $0.10 American so it was a wonderful way to start the day. And the café served a drink called nus-nus (half-half) which is steamed milk and espresso for $1—also a great way to start the day.

Our time in Marrakech was filled with hearing speakers about the culture, having a Moroccan Arabic session, bartering at markets, and being able to enjoy music. We had one evening where we heard two musicians whose ethnic line came from slaves who escaped the African slave trade. That made the music incredible. There was an African feel to it, as well as an Arab sound. It was a mixture of many different factors which reflects the culture of Morocco. Morocco is in Northern Africa, just below Spain, was colonized by France, and on the outside of the Arab world. All of that plays into a very distinct Moroccan culture as well as music.

To say the least, I really enjoyed the music so I ended up buying an instrument. It was a way for me to really put my bartering skills to the test. I tried out a few stringed instruments in a music shop, and my asking price got me a small three stringed lamb skin instrument of some sort. I have no idea what is called or how it should be tuned, but it has been really fun to try and play it.  

Using the Moroccan instrument and the limited Moroccan Arabic we knew to make children's' song.

Another destination for our travels was the Eureka valley. It had incredible scenic views and was an opportunity to learn about the Amaghaze population in Morocco. The Amaghazes—also known as Berbers (translates to Barbarians)—is an ethnic minority in Morocco that faces many identity difficulties. Their language and culture has been difficult to maintain in an urbanizing and globalizing world, but it was great to see actions being taken to preserve it. Our day in the Eureka Valley included a beautiful hike, traditional cooking, mint tea, and more music and dancing.

The Eureka Valley

Former camp cook goes to work

Superstar dancers

After Marrakech and the Eureka valley we travelled to Fes. Fes was incredible because it has one of the oldest medinas in the world. This means that it as an old medieval part to the city, which also happened to be where our hostel was. The medina was like a maze and was very fun to navigate through. Our time in Fes was filled with various speakers, tours, and time to explore. A highlight in Fes was coming out of a café and having an 11 year old sales man try to convince us to come to his parents’ restaurant. This sales men ended up being our tour guide through Fes as he brought us to his cousins scarf shop, and then to another relatives leather store. Like I said before, the Medina was confusing, so having a tour guide was very helpful. The evening included lots of laughs, cups of tea, and the purchase of a few presents that may show up at Christmas time.

The gate to the medina

What the evening with the salesman/tour guide became

Our time in Fes almost took us to the end of our time in Morocco, however we had an evening and a morning to explore Casablanca. The Atlantic coast in Casablanca was beautiful and was also a place where many young men spent time playing soccer. I saw this and realized that I was a young man who likes soccer… so there was some potential for fun here. I walked on the beach wanting someone to invite me to play with them and before I knew it someone yelled Swesteiger (A name of a famous German Soccer player… I am blonde so I guess it makes sense) and passed a soccer ball to me. I ended up playing in a game which I was the only non-Moroccan. It was interesting because I really like to communicate in sports, but there happened to be a language barrier. That meant my communication was a mixture of French, Spanish, Arabic and English. I am not great at any of those languages, but it was really fun to try and communicate with people.

A quick stop in Rabbat on the way to Casablanca. This is where Tom Cruise was in the new Mission Impossible movie.

The next morning included a visit to the King Hassan II mosque. It is only a few years old and is the third biggest mosque in the world, and the biggest outside of Saudi Arabia.

This blog post ended up being longer than I expected, I guess that just proves that it was a wonderful trip.