Marrakech Souk

Marrakech

Marrakech is Morocco's third largest city after Casablanca and Rabat. We visited ruined palaces, tomb sites, the Aguedal Gardens, Dar Si Said Museum, Koutoubia Mosque and the SOUKS. The Marrakech souks are by far my favorite of all the cities in Morocco. They are full of bright colors, friendly merchants, fresh squeezed orange juice, scarves, shoes, pastries, cafes, lanterns, jewelery, locals and tourists. Although Marrakech is a bit more touristy than other cities it was such a fun city. The souk was so cool all lit up at night with shop lights, lanterns, and snake charmers. 

Breakfast

Spotted Twitter Birds

Street Scene

Lawrence of Arabia Home. Currently under rennovation. 

Fire Place

Bags

Casablanca

Built over the ocean

Hassan 2 Mosque

Ablutions

Hammam

Casablanca, the "New York City" of Morocco was our first stop Saturday morning. We visited the Hassan  2nd Mosque. It can accommodate 25,000 people and is the second largest relgious building in the world after the mosque in Mecca. Two thirds of it is built over the sea. As I walked up to the mosque and while I was inside it, I could feel the spiritual energy. I felt so insignificant next to something so grand and holy. Upon entering, we took off our shoes and our mouths dropped. The tour guide was explaining the significance in all the strategic placement of certain things and the symbolism behind everything. Walking inside, I was just imagining what it looked like when it was full of people praying on the large carpet and listening to them pray. That would be such a cool experience. Below the mosque is a Hammam which is where men and woman go to cleanse themselves, it's like a sauna and everyone in Morocco raves about it. I still have yet to go before I leave. Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors in any of my blog posts. I have to write them really quick because I don't have much time with a computer!

Ramadan Kareem

رمضان كريم 
Pronunciation: Ramadan Kareem 
Translation: "have a generous Ramadan" This phrase is used to wish others happiness during the holy month of Ramadan. I've been saying "Ramadan Kareem" to my host family, taxi drivers, and staff at my school. At first, I was a little bit nervous about being in Morocco during Ramadan because of the food situation and other things people warned me about. In reality though, I'm loving it more than pre Ramadan. It reminds me of Christmas in the United States. It's the big holiday of the year with good food, family and charitable moods. The only difference is that the religion is more ritual in praying and more public with it since the majority of the population is Muslim. I want to give you a taste of a typical day in Ramadan because it's so different than anything else. You hear call of prayer five times a day in each city, television shows are dedicated to Ramadan during the month (History specials, comedy skits, soap operas) , businesses close during the day especially cafes and restaurants. Women dress more modestly if they didn't already during the month out of respect and prayer is frequently spoken aloud. You should avoid eating/drinking in public if you are not fasting because it is considered rude to those who are. Every night I usually get home an hour before Ftour (Breakfast to break fast or "dinner".) My host Mom and sister are in the kitchen preparing the meal which is usually the same staple dishes every night. Then call of prayer goes off at about 7:30 and my host Mom and sister pray right in front of the dinner table. They break fast first though usually by eating a date and drinking some milk before they pray. My host Dad, brother and I begin to eat silently and wait to talk after they are finished praying. My host Mom and sister go to the Mosque every night during Ramadan, they wear beautiful jillabas and hijabs before they leave the house. My host Mom is nothing but accomodating, even though she is exhausted from fasting she still wakes up every morning and puts out my breakfast for me. I'm so honored to be able to share this experience with my host family and be able to understand the spirtitual practices behind Ramadan. It's really a cool feeling to understand something from personal experience, not from reading it in a book or from word of mouth. It has given me a whole new perspective on Islam and the month of Ramadan. 

Globals Generation

Great podcast/article I came across. So interesting and something I'm noticing among my generation. Listen to if you can, super short.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156463825/globals-generation-focuses-on-experience

Ramadan and Other Things

It's been a while since I've last posted. A few exciting things have happened. 1. We had our midterm exam, we all did great. 2. Ramadan has begun. 3. Classes are starting to come to an end.

My neighborhood!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone and that we only have four classes left. I've been loving Ramadan. The food is amazing. Every night we have traditional Moroccan soup, Mlawai, Moroccan pancakes, dates, Chebekia, fresh orange juice, smoothies, hard boiled eggs, Moroccan pizza, and other little treats. I'm obsessed with the Moroccan soup and plan on having my host Mom teach me how to make it before I leave. Seriously the best soup I've ever had. We eat around 7:30 PM right after call of prayer. It's so funny how call of prayer use to startle me and now I barely notice it and when I do, I find it soothing. I often go for jogs before dinner, and will see the people in my neighborhood walking up to the Mosque by my house. After dinner, my host Mom and sister go to the mosque to pray from 8:30 to 11:00 P.M. My host Dad and brother don't go but I think they pray on their own. Below I posted some pictures of my neighborhood, my class, and dinner. Class has been going well, it defintley has picked up and is getting harder in these last two weeks but that's expected. My teacher Aziza is awesome and is so encouraging!! This weekend we head to Casablanca and Marrakesh.

My host family! My Mom is in the front of the table praying!

My teacher, Aziza!

Tangier

Sunday morning we went to Tangier. There I found my favorite cafe, called Cafe Hafa. It actually is famous for frequent visits  by the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles. Besides that, the view is magnificent. It's overlooking the deep blue Medditeranean sea. I also had the BEST mint tea I've ever had. It basically was pure sugar, that's what made it so good! We toured around the Tangier Medina, which is famous for writers such as Paul Bowles, William Burroughs, Tennessee Williams and Al Capote. Our tour guide was very proud that he has met Matt Damon and Leonoardo DeCaprio. The movie Inception was recently made there. Sunday evening we visted Grottes de Hercules. It's this underground cave that is carved out into a reverse map of Africa and Hercules once slept there.  It was pretty cool to see. Tangier is my second favorite city after Chefchouan. 

Cafe Hafa



Grottes de Hercules



Heaven

Very proud tour guide!

Garden in Tangier

Romantic City

This past weekend we visited Chefchouan and Tangier. Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved Chefchouan. It's a blue and white city, super clean and traditional. I hope to one day go back, it's so romantic. Not to be cliche or anything but it seriously was the prettiest place I've seen thus far. We had lunch and dinner overlooking the city. There is usually three courses in Morocco. I started off with a Garlic Eggplant Appetizer, Chicken Skewers, and Chocolate Crepes. Ofcourse, I had loads of bread, served with every meal. Really killing me right now...
After lunch, we hiked up a mountain with a Mosque on it. It had a wonderful view of the city. Then we toured around the Medina. I met a artist who paints landscapes of Chefchouan, he has this tiny little shop tucked back in the Medina. I bought a blue and white landscape portrait for my dorm room. I figure it will give me some inspiration while I'm up late writing a paper. There are so many things I could buy when I'm here. Speaking of which, my concept of money is really thrown off here. For whatever reason, using another currency makes you feel like you have more than you really do. I end up buying things that I would never spend that much on in America and pass on the inexpensive authentic goods. Messed up much? At least I'm realizing now!

Bought the picture on the left!

Dessert here in Morocco! My new favorite! Cinnamon and Orange!

Laundry