I’M OFFICAILLY IN MOROCCO. This place is a dream! The beauty of the culture and scenery is IMENSE. I want to catch you all up on the last few crazy days of my life. So I flew here by myself, which wasn’t as scary as it sounds because I met some cool people along the way! I got off the plane in Madrid and found a couple that was also going to Casablanca. Crazy enough their son studied Arabic when he was in College!! What a small world right? They were nice enough to let me tag along to find the gate. Once we got to the gate the mom went to get some drinks and brought me back a water bottle. How nice!!!! I actually ended up sitting next to this Moroccan man at the gate who started a conversation with me about my visit to Morocco. He was eating almonds and handed me a handful and said “here breakfast!” PEOPLE ARE SO GOOD. We talked for about 45 minutes and he gave me some advice and pointers about Morocco. He said I had to try Tajine a traditional Moroccan dish that is his favorite. He also helped me with my Arabic, which was so fun. I’ll never forget how kind these people were to me! It reminded me why I love travel so much. They all wished me good luck with my journey and I was finally off to Morocco!! While in the air we flew over the straight of Gibraltar and I could see both Spain and Morocco. Both Europe and Africa so close yet completely different worlds. A girl that is studying abroad with ISA as well named Kyla was also on my plane so I found a buddy to go through customs with. Stepping off the plane and seeing Arabic written EVERYWHERE made my heart race. I could finally use the language that I have been studying for over a year now! Kyla and I found Mousin (One of our ISA directors) and the rest of the early group to get picked up and headed for the hotel. Mousin is awesome. He has to be one of the most friendly/energetic/Happy people I have ever met. We got to the hotel checked in and got our baggage up stairs. Jamie (My friend from Arabic class who is living in the same homestay with me) got in about four hours later. We then had a meeting on safety, ate some dinner and went to bed. Casablanca The next day we woke up and got a tour of Casablanca. We went to a catholic church and a few palaces and then headed to The Hassan II Mosque, which is the third largest mosque in the world and it was BEAUTIFUL. The way the light from the chandeliers reflected on the floor was mesmerizing. After we were on our own to eat lunch and do some exploring. We hung out of the beach for about an hour and then we left for Marrakech! Marrakech We got to Marrakech around dinner time and explored the city to find a place to eat. We ended up going to this place called “star food” and got tajine which is a traditional Moroccan meal that is delicious! All Tajines taste different because you can really make it any way it is just up to the person. It gets its name from being made in a stone pot called a tajine and you normally put in some kind of meet and a bunch of different vegetables. SO GOOD. That night two girls that Jamie and I met named Carson and Tabitha came to our room to hang out. They are both extraordinary and I am so happy to be meeting such insightful people who really love to learn about other cultures and are so open-minded. Tabitha also sings and can play guitar and Jamie brought her guitar so we had a jam sesh! The next morning we got a tour of Marrakech including the oldest building in the medina which has a whole ceiling made out of gold! The building itself used to be the home of a sultan and his wives. The outside was very plain but the inside had beautiful tile work and carvings. Our tour guide talked to us about how in Muslim culture they don’t like to show off to people the things they find beautiful because they believe the more eyes who see it the more it looses its beauty and how they don’t want to boast and brag about what they have or make people feel jealous of their things. Their beautiful things are for their eyes only. This really stuck with me because I could not agree more. I thought back to Mozambique and when we went to chacas and how very few people had ever been there and seen its beauty and how that made it even more beautiful. Being here I have been thinking a lot. A lot about how beautiful our world is and how there are so many beautiful people in it from all different backgrounds and religions and cultures. It’s refreshing to be surrounded by people who feel the same. After that we went to the souq, which is a big market in the medina where you can bargain to buy things. I got to practice my arabic and I was surprised with how much I remember and how much I actually know. Its such an awesome feeling being able to communicate with someone is their own language. We also so a guy with a cobra who was playing flute and the cobra would come out of the box just like in the movies haha. We had lunch there on a rooftop that over looked the medina and during our meal the call to prayer went off. It was the first time I heard it in person and got shivers from how beautiful it was. After that we headed back to the hotel and went for dinner at star food again because it was so good the night before and got tajine for the third time in a row haha. Then we went back to the hotel and packed for Ouzoud the next day!! Ouzoud Falls We left Marrakech and headed for the Atlas Mountains to a place called Ouzoud falls which is home to North Africa’s largest waterfall. Oh My Gosh it was BEAUTIFUL. There were also apes there and one jumped on my head for a peanut haha. They were so human like!!!! We hiked down to the bottom of the falls and went cliff jumping which was so much fun. Everyone would cheer for who ever was jumping. The cliff was about thirty feet high so for someone who is afraid of heights like myself, it was for sure and adrenaline rush. We hung out at the falls for a few hours and then had lunch on the side of a cliff that over looked the falls. Another great thing about Morocco is it is super cheap!! Ten dirham are equivalent to one US dollar. Our lunch cost six dollars and consisted of salad, a huge tajine, mint tea, and yummy yellow mellon for desert. After lunch we left the falls and headed to our hotel for the night! These last few days of my life have been an absolute dream. I am already completely in love with this beautiful culturally diverse country I get to call home for the next three months. More to come on my homestay city of Meknes soon!!!! SO much love to all of my friends and family on the other side of the world. I miss you all so much. Always Jess
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AuthorHi I'm Jess!!! I have a soul for traveling and loving people. All kinds of people from all conners of the world from all walks of life. I've left pieces of my heart all over the world. This is my safe space to write all the things on my heart. I hope you find some comfort and encouragement in the words on these pages. Thanks for reading friends (: Archives
July 2016
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