Morocco

Morocco

This was my first venture into Africa, my first experience in a Muslim country, and the first time travelling that I felt significantly out of my comfort zone: more than the typical I’m-lost-and-don’t-speak-the-language type of experience.

However, to begin, a little sightseeing in Marrakesh:

In the courtyard of the palace that separates
the rooms of the 4 official wives

Palace of the Grand Vizir. This is where the Grand Vizir of old days lived with his staff and family, including his 4 official wives and many concubines. One of the most interesting sections of the palace was the royal disco, where the Grand Vizir would host private parties with drinking, dancing, and women. In these parties, the only seeing men were the Vizir and his personal friends. The rest, even the musicians, were blind men trained from birth to serve the king- this was so that they couldn’t witness the goings on that occurred with the women.

Biggest Mosque in Marrakesh

The biggest Mosque in Marrakesh. Apart from being a place of worship, the mosque functions as a center of education and a place where spiritually lost people can come to seek guidance. The three windows on the tower represent what they consider the three most important prophets in history- Abraham, Jesus, and of course, Mohammed.

Pits filled with pigeon poop

Traditional leather making: There are only two places in Morocco that still process leather by hand instead of in an factory setting, and Marrakesh has one of those places. Due to the intense smell of animal flesh, bird feces used for processes and who knows what else, everyone was given a piece of mint to smell as we toured the place. It is basically a group of pits in the ground filled with water and whatever the liquid is that they dip the skins in to turn them into leather. The workers stand thigh deep in the pits and pass the skins from one pit to another to work the magic. As ugly as the process is, the results are beautiful; colorful leather rugs, bags, shoes and much more.

Jemaa Fna Plaza: According to UNFCO World Heritage Sites Jemaa Fna Plaza has various meanings in Arabic, two of which are mosque or assembly of death or mosque at the end of the world.

I couldn’t have said it better myself, considering I felt like I had stepped out of any semblance of morality or decentness and entered a free-for-all, every creature for himself, survival of the fitness zone. The desperation of the people to make money is incredible- but far more incredible, the lengths they will go through to obtain even one dollar. The best way I can describe the feeling of being a foreign female walking around with two other foreign females is to say that we were like gazelles in a lions den. Like Justin Beiber in a mob of 13 year olds. Like flys around my sister Colleen. All that to say, I felt very vulnerable because of the constant pestering and harassing of the vendors. 

However, everyone made it out no worse for the wear and I love the souvenirs that I got in the process. My favorites are a traditional Moroccan tea set and a kilo of dates. Soooo delicious!

The food was a nice change from Spanish food, and I loved getting some actual spicy food for the first time since September. Although some things were more strange than others, I enjoyed about everything that I ate and/or drank. Some highlights:

Amazing pastries that were mostly all made with
almonds or marzipan

Chicken couscous from the plaza. It was very cheap and not
 actually all that good, although I like couscous in general

The name of this dish is tangier, taken from the name of the actual dish it comes in. My favorite meal of the trip! 

Avocado "juice" which is basically blended avocados (I think they add a little milk and sugar as well)- strange but good