Welcome to Morocco: One of the most insane experiences of my life!

Sept 10 – Marrakech, Morocco

We are finally in Morocco!!! We docked in Casablanca at 0800 and had to be in the Union for our Moroccan diplomatic briefing by 0830. There were two people from the U.S. Consulate in Morocco there to give us some details about the country statistics and different things to expect while in Morocco. The camel trekers had to be ready to go immediately after the briefing to get our passports, and bus/room assignments. Luckily, I was on the same bus and rooming with my friend Lauren! There were four buses full of SASers who went on the camel trek (nearly 200 students). There were so many of us!! We loaded the buses with our backpacks and were off to Marrakech. Jamal, our awesome tour guide, gave us a little briefing of Casablanca as we drove through the city to leave. I couldn’t keep my eyes from looking out the window – there was so much going on! Lauren saw someone give a thumbs down to our bus which made us a little apprehensive to arrive in Marrakech. We knew things like that could be expected but I think to actually see negative feelings towards us were hurtful. Anyway, most of us slept on the four hour bus ride to the city but were very excited once we arrived in Marrakech!
Our bus dropped us off at the Djemaa el-Fna Square which is where all the souks are located. We had lunch at a restaurant right inside the square for our first Moroccan meal. The place was so neat! We walked down some stairs, through a hallway, past a mosaic fountain, through a garden like pathway, and into the eating area. Everything is a process! The tables were beautiful; from the dishes, napkins, tablecloth, and seats. It was all so extravagant. Lauren and I sat with some new friends Kim, Alex, and Quanju (a student from China). Kim and Alex are both on our bus so it was nice to get to know them better. Lunch was really good. They give us bread to begin with then bring out the real food. Just for the starters there were five plates of different foods including: sweetened carrots, beets (which I actually tried Grandma!), potatoes, eggplant concoction, and salsa with tomatoes and onions. Then they brought out the main dish of chicken marinated to look yellow. For the first dessert a plate of orange slices covered in cinnamon – which wasn’t my favorite. The second dessert was a plate of pastries which Morocco is famous for. They were delicious! To end lunch they gave us a small cup of hot mint tea – which was soo good! I couldn’t believe that was only lunch! To top it off, during the meal a bird flew in the restaurant and was just hanging out with us. The whole experience was nuts! Everything was so different from the U.S. After lunch we left the restaurant to head out for some free time in the souks.
The Marrakech souks are the most famous in all of Morocco so it was pretty exciting to be shopping there. When we entered the square I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped. I had never seen anything like it – it was pure chaos all around us. There were mopeds and motor bikes honking like crazy while zooming in and out of the crowd. You could hear the music of the snake charmers engulfing the square. Monkey trainers were anxiously trying to get you to take your picture with the monkey for dirhams (Moroccan currency). Fresh squeezed orange juice carts lined the walkway into the markets one right next to the other. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Lauren and I were a little overwhelmed and clung onto our trip leaders, Charlie and Carol, just to be safe! Charlie is a psychology professor on SAS and Carol is his wife. When Jamal told us to meet at the bus at 5:00 a man came up to us trying to imitate Jamal and act like our tour guide. I was freaked out because he was trying to get us to follow him around and we didn’t need his assistance. After we ignored him long enough, he finally went away and Charlie, Carol, Lauren, and I began exploring the souks. I couldn’t stop looking at everything. We got away from the main square and walked deeper into the markets. There were shops with carpets, lamps, traditional Moroccan clothing, shoes, leather purses, jackets, belts, even animal hides. We even walked right past a snake charmer and I couldn’t believe a cobra and python were just hanging out in the middle of the market! It was insane!!! They warned us during the pre-port briefing that you might hear “Balek, Balek” which is what donkey cart drivers yell to have you get out of the way. Well, no sooner were we walking through the streets did I hear “Balek, Balek” and I turned around to see a donkey cart running straight for me. I got out of the way in time and then of course tried to take a picture of the donkey! The cart driver started yelling at me saying he wanted money for the picture! Apparently, you have to be sneaky when taking pictures because they try to charge you. I couldn’t believe it! I got away in time so I didn’t have to pay him though! So far all I could think about Marrakech was: this place is crazy!
The sky had looked like it was about to pour so we headed to a nearby building for some cover. As soon as we got under it down-poured! A bunch of people joined us and the shop owners were scattering to cover their belongings. After standing under the building for about 20 minutes it was time to head to the bus. We didn’t have far to go so we took a run for it. All of a sudden I was standing in the middle of a ten foot wide puddle up to my ankles and couldn’t find a way out! I took a run for it and ran deeper into the puddle, finally emerging with completely soaked sneakers! Everyone was waiting for the bus completely drenched and all we could do was laugh! What a way to start our adventure in Morocco! The bus came and took us to our hotel where we could dry off and relax before dinner. The hotel was better than I expected. I couldn’t believe how fancy the bedding and curtains were. Our room even had a balcony! The toilet was a little crazy because the flusher was a push lever – something I’d never seen before! We napped, showered, and headed out for our folklore show and horse fantasia about 8PM.
When we arrived at Chez Ali, two lines of men on horseback with guns were waiting for us! It was crazy. We got our pictures taken with them and entered the palace like arena. There was music coming from everywhere. Different Moroccan culture groups were stationed along the way singing and dancing their particular type of music. I got my picture taken with the group from the Sahara – you can recognize them because they wear the color indigo. We walked around the huge sandy pit (where the horseshow would take place) and arrived at our huge dinner tent. The place was decorated like a scene from Aladdin! Lauren and I sat with Carol, Charlie, Eddie, Christie, Lucas, and Louis. It was an entertaining dinner to say the least. The meal was fabulous and we had some amazing cous cous! About every five-ten minutes a different singing group came through the tent to entertain us. I was pulled up to dance with the belly dancer!! I definitely looked like an amateur! After dinner the horseshow was about to begin. We all ran for spots on the bleachers so we could see. Each rider would do a trick on their horse as the horse rode around the arena. It felt like we were at Medieval Time: Morocco style!!! It was nuts! The show proceeded to be pretty crazy with lots of music, some from Star Wars, and a belly dancing show. The fantasia show ended with fireworks and we headed out to the bus. I think we were all in awe that we just saw a show that could have been seen at Disney’s Epcot Morocco! It was a crazy and wild experience, but I loved it!! I couldn’t wait to camel trek the next day!