Secondly, hold on to your hats people, because this is going to be a long blog post. I apologize in advance for that, but I'm not going to hold any info back about this trip because it was just so unbelievably beyond amazing!!
Background Info
Let me start off by saying I felt completely safe every second I was there. I was slightly worried about the anti-american sentiment there may be with all the goings on in Libya and just the other problems Northern Africa has been experiencing. I knew there was very little chance of me 'blending in' and that was definitely true because I stuck out like a sore thumb with my pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. But I'm glad to report that most people there were happy to see me because they thought they would be able to get me to pay ridiculously high prices for their goods...but there will be more stories about that to come. Moral of the story - I'm home safe and sound.
I went on this trip with my program, and I'm happy that this was a trip that was included because, if I'm being completely honest, Africa wasn't exactly on my list of must-see's while I was here. After going there now and experiencing it I realize how silly of me it was to not want to take the chance and try a new culture. Anyways, we had 3 days in Morocco, and we visited 3 cities - Tetouan, Tanger and Chefchaouen. Here's a map so you can get a visual of where I was! A - Tetouan, B - Tanger, C - Chefchaouen, D - Sevilla
We left early Thursday morning. My friend Tracy had been visiting all day Tuesday and Wednesday (blog post to come if I get time, but I thought this was more important) and so I dropped her off at the bus station at 6am and then left for my own trip at 7:30am. We had a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Algeciras, Spain which is where we boarded a ferry to cross via the Straight of Gibraltar. Being the wildly intelligent person that I am I knew to take Dramamine because being in the back seat of a car makes me sick, so I just assumed this would as well. I assumed correctly. And unfortunately, I wasn't intelligent enough to take the Dramamine very far ahead of time so it helped very little. There were warnings being announced about how bad the seas were and to be sure to stay in your seats. I managed not to throw up (sorry if that was too much information) but I was incredibly sick feeling the entire time. After we got off the ferry we were in Ceuta which a Spanish city located on the continent of Africa. We eventually crossed the border into Morocco, and I got my passport stamped which always makes me happy!
Day 1 - Tetouan
Our first day was spent in Tetouan. This was by far the most eye-opening city we visited. It was very poverty-stricken and some of the sites I saw there will truly stick with me for the rest of my life...and, unfortunately, some of the smells will too.
We started off by going to a sort of trade school, where talented students learned the skills of woodworking, painting, sewing, ceramics and a few other things. It was kind of odd because we all just crowded in these rooms where the students were working and basically watched them like monkeys in a zoo while they did their work...so the students all seemed a little uncomfortable. But, they were incredibly talented and it was fun to see what they did!
After the school we went out to eat at a traditional Moroccan lunch. It started off with an African Vegetable Soup, which wasn't exactly to my liking. Then we got beef kabobs and a plate of chicken and vegetables with cous cous...the food so nice they named it twice :-) There was a crazy performer there who I would love to upload videos of but it hasn't been working! They finished off the meal with some traditional Moroccan tea, which is a green tea seasoned with spearmint. To me, it tasted like you were drinking a piece of spearmint gum so I guess you could say it was 'not my cup of tea' hahahaha sorry guys, I had to go for the pun. John, I feel like you'll be kind of proud of that one.
After lunch, we went on a tour of the city in the central market area. Our guide started out by telling us to keep an open mind, and that he was not going to take us to any tourist destinations but show us real life in Tetouan. I am actually really grateful for that, because if I'm going to go somewhere in Morocco I want to get that real life experience. I was definitely excited for it...and nervous as well, for good reason.
We started walking through the market and all I could do the whole time was hold my hand over my nose and mouth to keep from smelling anything. And I would have covered my eyes if I could've continued seeing where I was walking. I have never seen anything like this market. The stench of fish was sooooo strong, and I already don't like the smell of fish. There were people butchering chickens and plucking them and there was blood and feathers in the streets. Yikes. Talk about being out of my comfort zone. I think I've got about one picture of the market because I was so focused on just not being disgusted and trying to act normal and here it is:
After this market we walked around a bigger sort of plaza area for a little while, and then went to a market where they sold goods like clothing and shoes. I was definitely more comfortable there!
Just as I was getting more comfortable and starting to enjoy myself, our guide had another surprise for us. He started handing out sprigs of spearmint and he said it was for us to use it to mask the smell. Here's where I started getting nervous. I thought to myself, "Why, AFTER the horribly strong fish smell and chicken guts, would he be handing out sprigs of spearmint for us to mask the smell?" Well, he told us we were going to the leather tannery. Now I started getting even more confused, and Britt says that it's probably just because there's so much leather and the scent will be strong.
Yeah...that's not exactly what the smell was. The smell was more along the lines of rotting flesh, as in piles of rotting flesh, and blood, and ponds of curing liquid. We started walking through it and you can see 'clotheslines' with flesh hanging on them. I was utterly shocked by what I saw. You can see the area where all of the floor is just stained red and you just get a mental image of animals being skinned there. So we're walking over that part, and then we see the biggest 'pool' yet and I look in and see a huge, white, bloated carcass floating in the water. That was the last image I needed to see and from that point on I just looked at the ground (which was covered in blood and pieces of flesh but better than seeing dead carcasses). I'm going to put up some pictures of this experience so you guys can see what it was all about. For those who are easily disgusted, scroll down quickly.
That was the end of my experience in Tetouan! As completely disgusted as I was by the tannery and the market I can honestly say that it was a completely new experience for me. It made me beyond grateful for everything that I have in Spain and back home. Though I'm traveling to new countries and cities and experiencing different cultures, this trip just took that to the next level and I don't think that's something many people can say so I'm kind of happy about it!
Day 2 - Tanger
Tanger was a much more developed city in Morocco. While I won't go as far as saying it was the same level as a developed European city, it's definitely making strides towards it. We started out our day there with a tour of the Coca-Cola bottling factory there. It was really cool to see how the products were made and the different processes like filling and labeling. And we managed to have a lot of fun goofing around afterwards while enjoying our free Coke and waiting for the bus.
The tour ended at about noon and we headed over to the Caves of Hercules. Apparently, there's a mythological story involving Hercules and him having duties given to him. I'm not exactly sure of the history behind it, but this cave is said to be where Hercules came to rest after completing these tasks. It wasn't all that big of a cave, but the cool thing is that when you look out onto the Atlantic Ocean from inside it's a mirror image of the continent of Africa.
After we got done with our visit to the cave we were wondering what was going on because we were done about an hour early and we were told to get back on the bus. Then the bus started driving and stopped again near the beach, where there were 4 camels with saddles on them. Our program surprised us with camel rides. So I can now say I have ridden a camel in Africa :-) My camel was kind of a pain in the butt. He was fine when we first started, but then my saddle started sliding off of his back, so I was sort of falling off of the camel and when the ride was over he didn't want to put down his hind legs, so I was stuck hanging on for dear life while his front legs were down and the trainer was yelling at him to put down the back ones. Once in a lifetime experience to say the least!
We spent some time relaxing by the beach after that and then went to have lunch at a restaurant that had a beautiful view of the ocean. It was pure bliss. I had a truly amazing day in Tanger!
Day 3 - Chefchaouen
Hands down most gorgeous little town I've ever been in. The drive from our hotel to Chefchaouen was about an hour and a half and the whole drive there we were surround by the Rif Mountains. We arrived in Chefchaouen and it was just breathtaking. The streets and houses there are painted blue in a celebration every year, and the city has a natural source of water through a river/waterfall that comes from a natural lake in the mountains. You can't make a prettier picture in your head.
We started out the day with a tour throughout the city. We walked alllllll over it and just took it all in. We then had some free time to do some shopping, my favorite :-) We were all warned that bardering was very common practice here and I was nervous as to how that would go for me. Here's why: Two years ago I went to buy my first car. On my list of requirements was that it had to be a stick shift. I found the perfect one and took my Dad with to help make sure everything was in order, etc. etc. The salesman approached us and started telling us about the car and then said how it was a stick shift and he knew that wasn't a huge selling point and my Dad was about to use that as a bargaining point, but my blonde-self started going on and on about how much I loveeeed driving stick and then we couldn't get the price any lower because of that. I'm happy to say that I learned my lesson and actually enjoyed bardering with people and telling them how they're purses weren't worth that look at this scratch and the zipper's not put in right and on and on and on. I managed to get my purse down from 350 dirham (about 37 dollars) to only 200. I was pretty proud of myself for the bargains I got.
So, we went to eat lunch and then headed back to get back on the ferry to return to Seville. I'm happy to report that the ride back on the ferry was much smoother and I remembered to take my Dramamine earlier as well. Thanks for hanging in there through this lonnnnng blog post. As a parting gift to you I leave you with pictures of the oh-so-gorgeous Chefchaouen, a must-see if you're ever near Morocco.
