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Sept 12 - Camel Trek: Part Two

 

           This morning everyone woke up about 0600 and hiked to the top of this hill/dune thing to watch the sunrise at about 0630. We hiked back down and packed up our stuff, then dragged our mats back into our tents and found our next camel. Lauren found her camel from the day before, Elvis. She rode him the entire camel trek and had become pretty attached to him. I got on the camel behind Elvis and named him Abu. He was a little awkward but I liked him anyway! He had a strange growth on the side of his neck and was oddly lumpier than the other camels. Abu was very nice though so we got along just fine. The morning trek was pretty uneventful except that the camels were all pretty cranky. A few were foaming at the mouth and making weird noises. We were all a little freaked out but just figured they were sick of carrying a bunch of crazy Americans on their backs. Even still, I suggest everyone should ride a camel at some point in their life; it’s a pretty wild experience!

            After the morning trek for about an hour we made it back to the bus to begin our second 8-hour bus ride back to Marrakech. I am happy to report that we did not have any near death experiences on this ride. By now we were all pretty used to the thousand foot cliffs outside our windows and we didn’t seemed too phased by them. About a half hour into our drive we stopped at an overlook to see the Palm Groves. Everyone got out to take pictures for about five minutes. As we were getting back on the bus I was distracted by some kids and right as I turned around to enter the bus, I saw a short man holding something that looked like a corn cob. I looked at it a little longer and realized it was a yellowish-green lizard!!!! The man was shoving it at me and wanted me to take a picture of it for money. I looked at Eddie (assistant dean of student and our trip leader) and he said “Just get on the bus!” I was freaking out and couldn’t believe I just saw a lizard nearly seven inches away from me. Gotta love Morocco!

We stopped at a Kasbah (Rock the Kasbah!) for lunch. Lauren and I sat with a group of girls and an LLL (LifeLong Learner) named Vanessa. She used to be a police detective for domestic violence and child abuse. Vanessa has traveled all over the world and told us about a lot of her experiences. She told us about volunteering at National Parks in the U.S. and how they give you housing while you work in the park. Vanessa also told us about places in Spain and Italy where you go for a month and speak English to Spanish and Italian executives who want to learn/improve their English. It was pretty interesting to hear about the opportunities out there which I had never heard of. Lunch was definitely very interesting and fun! After lunch Lauren and I walked around the Kasbah. We walked into a little store and were looking at lots of pretty scarves. The next thing we know, the shopkeeper was wrapping a scarf around Lauren’s face and began tying it in the traditional way. Lauren was a little freaked out but I whipped out the video camera and got it on film. The best part of the whole thing was when the shopkeeper said “You worth 2,000 camels!” According to Jamal, anything over 1,000 is really good! HAHA! We both ended up buying scarves for 40 Dirham (roughly $5). Lauren was a good bargainer and got it down from 50 to 40. Granted it wasn’t much, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

It was almost time to go so everyone was getting on the bus. I looked out the window and saw our bus driver holding a bunny by the ears in between the two buses. He was talking to another man who was digging through under the bus. The man pulled out a knife and hands it to our bus driver. He went behind the bus and killed the bunny so obviously I was hysterical; I called him Rabbit Killer the rest of the trip! We then continued our venture through the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakech. What we drove through to get back to Marrakech was insane. The mountains were beautiful, but what really shocked me were the little clusters of people that live up there. Their houses literally come out of the mountain. Donkeys are grazing in the middle of the mountain side all over. There are kids running around everywhere and men sitting on the sides of stores. We didn’t see too many women because they are always doing all the hard work behind the scenes. I wish we could have stopped in all the little villages. They were so fascinating but also really sad. Morocco is a country with 55% illiteracy rate and after seeing the rural part of the country, I understand why. Education is not as highly valued as it is in the U.S. Children need to help their families by herding the sheep or doing other various jobs to help out. Although the poverty level was quite high in these areas, the children seemed so happy. It really opened my eyes to see that you don’t have to have everything to be happy. It was pretty amazing.

We got back to the hotel we stayed at the first night in Marrakech about 1730ish. We had the whole night free to ourselves so we could explore and grab dinner on our own. Many of us were still a little nervous to walk around at night and were glad when Jamal invited us all to the place he goes when his mom doesn’t cook for him. A big group agreed to meet him in the lobby at 2030. We showered and took naps – I caught a cold the first day in Morocco so I was trying to rest up – then got some free internet time on the lobby computers. When I logged in to Facebook, I didn’t know what to do. I haven’t been on it in so long so I pretty much forgot what to do. It was a pretty nice feeling because I realized at home I’m glued to Facebook and the internet. When we’re on the ship and even in ports, we don’t get access to that (unless we’re lucky and find an internet café). It’s a freeing feeling being disconnected to the technological world and it’s definitely going to play a part in my life when I get home. My hours on Facebook will be severely cut down when I have computer access again!

At 2030, Jamal took us into the Medina (old city) of Marrakech. We got off the bus near the Mosque and it was a sight I will never forget. Thousands and thousands of Moroccans were all kneeled down praying outside of the Mosque. With Islam, there are five pillars, and one is to pray five times a day. When the Mosque bell chimes people begin their prayers. To see that many people devoted to the same religion all in one place was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I’ve never understood the Muslim people very much but after tonight I realized they have such a strong bond with each other. Everyone is united by Islam and they all connect through their prayer – it’s amazing. When we got into the Medina we walked through the back streets of the markets and passed many stores that we wouldn’t have seen from the regular market. All of us were wondering where in the world was Jamal taking us and why are we walking down these creepy streets. When we arrived at the restaurant I was a little surprised. The outside of this place looked pretty sketchy, especially because it was down a really dark, narrow ally. When we walked in, it was a totally different place. There was beautiful tile work and archways. It turned out that this restaurant used to be some high city official’s house. We were led out into this courtyard in the middle of the building – it had no ceiling!! We could see the stars as we ate dinner! There was a large fountain in the middle with circular dinner tables all around which had beautiful table settings. Jamal told us that this type of architecture is really common in Morocco and is called “Veil architecture”. This type is used to mask what the insides of places really look like to protect the feelings of the less fortunate. The Moroccans hide how elaborate the insides of buildings are and then decorate to the highest extent on the inside. It was pretty neat!

We all sat down at the tables and introduced ourselves to new friends! Lauren and I sat with Christie, Leigh-Ann, and Julie. Our waiter was named Abdul and he was hysterical! I have found that Moroccan people are SO nice. They just want to talk with you and make sure that your stay in Morocco is the best it can be. Abdul told us all about his family and what we needed to make sure we saw while we were in Marrakech. We ended up taking pictures with Abdul and he gave us a rose. The meal was really good – Lauren and I split cous cous with chicken and veggies. We had some of the best dinner conversation yet with the girls we sat with. I have never laughed so hard. (“You want to sleep with camel? It will support your weight.”)

After dinner we went back into the souks. When we walked through the souk before dinner, it was right after sundown. Now, it was about 2230 and the place was packed. Everyone had come out to break their fast since we were in Morocco during Ramadan (part of the Five Pillars – month of fasting). It was crazy so we all stuck close to Jamal and his fancy snakeskin shoes.  Jamal gave us advice on where to buy stuff and get good prices. He also gave us the history of the markets. One of the areas that he took us to used to be part of the slave trade. It was an open square of the market and the slaves were brought there to be sold – pretty chilling. Another area he told us to stay away from because they sell contraband.  We walked back to the main square and there were motorbikes zooming around, donkey carts, people hollering to us to come see their store, and in the background you could hear the snake charmer’s music. It was pretty intense. One man brought a snake into our little group and tried putting around one of the guy’s necks. I FREAKED out because I did not want that thing near me. I couldn’t believe they just came right up to us without asking. Apparently, they do this so they can force you to pay them dirham – we didn’t think it was funny. On our walk home, Jamal gave us the history of the Mosque and we learned how to cross the street the Moroccan way. You put your hand up like Moses and just walk right in front of the cars. It was pretty fun and a little scary but we all made it across the street! We finally made it back to our hotel and got some sleep before our morning shopping adventure.

We got up early so we could go to the souks and shop. Lauren and I walked with Alyssa, Ashley, and Mike. The souks were busy, but nothing compared to the night before. Lauren and I bought our dresses from a little shop – we are both buying a dress from each country! The guy that sold them to us then wanted to show us a “real” Berber house. We followed at first, but then decided against it because we thought he was going to trap us in a shop so we would buy a rug. We spent the rest of the morning in the souks. I bought a few things and had a great time bartering! It was my first real experience bartering in the markets and I think I did pretty good!

We had to run back to our hotel to grab our bags and get on the bus back to Casablanca. On the way back we stopped at the Moroccan equivalent to Wal-Mart to get lunch. It had a McDonald’s in it, and like the typical American tourists, we flocked to it. Their credit card machine was broken so everyone made a mad dash to get to the ATM. The food was pretty much the same but tasted a little different. I got a McFlurry with KitKat and they added caramel – if only they would do that at home!

Once we were about 45 minutes away from the port, we started having bus karaoke. Some girls went to the front to use the microphone (I didn’t need it because I’m already loud enough, you all know this!) and the songs included: I Want It That Way, Wannabe, Buttercup, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, and some more. We tried to get Jamal and Eddie to sing, but they wouldn’t do it. Jamal got on the microphone (tap tap tap) and said that this was going to be the last time he got on the mic. Alyssa then presented him with the money we collected from everyone on the bus and a postcard with a special note because he was such an amazing tour guide. Our tip ended up being about $40-$50 – it was well worth it! We all got pictures with Jamal and were all sad to part ways.

We got back to the ship about 1630, but I didn’t get to board the ship until about 1800 because the security line was so long. All the trips got back at the same time and security has to go through everyone’s bags. Security has so many rules on what we are allowed to bring on the ship and it gets pretty annoying when we have to dump our water bottles out every time. They think we’re smugglers! There were probably six buses worth of students, LLL, faculty, and staff waiting to get on the ship so it took forever but we eventually made it up the gang way. I grabbed some dinner with a group of friends and watched Emperor’s New Groove with Lauren, Rosario, and Jennifer. I went to bed early that night because I had the Coca Cola Plant visit the next morning!