Exploring Morocco

If there's one thing I love about my fellow Morocco Team 5ers , it's that we were always up for another adventure or seeing more of the beautiful and diverse country we were calling home for the next month. To that end, here are some of my favorite pictures from the cities we've visited:

Casablanca
I'll start with the city we're calling home, Casa. Ironically, it's the city we've spent the least amount of time exploring since the first weekend we arrived! I detailed most of it in a previous post, but I didn't have a chance to share other pictures from Casa.

Our guide in Casa

A beautiful church next to our hotel

Palm trees line many of the streets downtown

This area has a lot of nice cafes and upscale stores

Hassan II Mosque, which has the tallest minaret in the world

The entrance to the medina of Casa

We also visited the medina in Casablanca, where we saw the souk (the market/shops) and many other things. A medina is an old arabic word for "city". The medinas in northern Africa are typically walled with narrow, winding roads that contain ryads (or houses), mosques, markets, and other things. Find out more here. I've since wandered through far more complicated, congested, historic, and even hectic medinas than the one in Casa, but I feel a sense of comfort or coziness here that I haven't felt in the others.

Chicks!

Inside the medina

Fes

The entrance to the Fes medina

The entire Fes medina...and we didn't get lost!

Fes was another amazing city whose medina was built in 859AD. We could have easily gotten lost among the winding roads and alleys within the souk. Amid all of the sights, smells, sounds, and bustling crowds, there was the most beautiful architecture and rich diversity.

We also had the opportunity to see many people at work producing the goods sold in the medinas, including the leather workers, ceramic workers (creating tajines, pottery and mosaics), and other artisans.

 

The leather tanneries

 Volubilis

After Fes, we drove by Volubulis to see the ancient Roman ruins nearby.

Chefchaouene
This was probably the most picturesque and beautiful town we visited. The city was founded in the 15th century and had a rich religious and political history.

Tangier
Tangier reminded me a lot of Beverly Hills, CA. It was a hilly city situated on the coast of Morocco, just 13 miles from the Spanish coast.

Gibraltar, in the mist

We can see Spain from the Moroccan coast!

Beautiful street art in Tangier

A parking lot for all forms of transportation

Since this was our program director's home, she invited us into her mother's home for an afternoon tea. The spread she prepared for us was amazing, and it was a unique perspective into a Moroccan home.

Imane's entertainment/family room.

The beautiful (and delicious) spread from Imane and her family!

Moroccan tea

This was a very quick snapshot into our travels, but I could write pages and pages about each of these cities. Each city was so unique, I truly enjoyed getting a taste of the diverse cultures and histories that make up Morocco.

#ibmcsc #morocco5

Weekend Trip to Marrakech

I loved Marrakech. Loved, loved, looooooooooved.

Something about the energy, from the first time we set foot in the square at 11pm Friday night, just felt like a spirit match for me. I like Casa, and admittedly I haven’t seen nearly enough of it yet, but Marrakech has been my favorite city to visit in Morocco so far. I loved the drums you could hear constantly, the smells of the barbecued chicken and meats coming from the Square, the traditional Berber dancing and singing, the treasures you could find in the Souk. The people were different; the sights, smells and sounds were different; the buildings were different; even the languages (Berber) were different! I absolutely loved it, and I immediately felt connected to the city in a way that I hadn’t experienced just yet.

We got in late Friday night and went straight to the Square for dinner. We sat on a rooftop, where we could overlook the entire Square and hear the music that was playing.

After our tajines and brochettes, we ventured into the Square briefly to see what was happening. Surrounding the food stands in the middle, there were people gathered playing the drums, dancing, and selling their handmade goods, even though it was already after midnight!

The scene in the Square of Marrakech

The next day, we visited several royal palaces, had lunch on another rooftop, and then spent the rest of the day shopping along the winding alleys of the souk.

There were spice markets, leather goods, jewelry, metalworks, souvenirs, and anything else you could imagine. My favorite part, though, was interacting with the people who were selling the goods. While negotiations were a part of the process, I was intrigued by some of the conversations and stories and backgrounds I would also hear.

Most interestingly to me was the mixture of people I saw in the street and who were selling goods. There were a lot more people from the South and a lot more Berbers. These individuals were darker skinned, and, in short, they looked like me! Still, while I was walking throughout Marrakech, many people shouted out “I like your color!!” as I passed by. I found that absolutely fascinating. From most people, it seemed genuine and unassuming, but I wondered why there was still something noticeable about darker-skinned individuals. And I also wondered if it was because I was African American or not Moroccan that they called out, or if they would have remarked the same to another African from the south with the same color. Before I leave, I would like to know what the relationship is between darker and lighter skinned Moroccans. Coming from the United States, where one constantly confronts different things about different skin colors, I wonder what it’s like here, particularly given that we are on the African continent. Admittedly, it’s also the “Culture and Politics” major in me that wants to know how skin color affects social constructs in Morocco, if at all. More to follow on that as I observe more interactions!

Overall, we had an excellent time on Saturday and even more fun on Sunday. Will be back shortly to recap our last day in Marrakech!

Architecture like this was hidden all over the city!

#ibmcsc #morocco5