31 May 2009
27 May 2009
there's no place like (2nd) home
Tomorrow I leave Cádiz. How can this be?? I don't know... (Also, there will be more pictures soon, I just have too many last things to do to sit here waiting for them to load...
25 May 2009
المغرب/maroc vi
Last one, I swear...
So we managed to get rid of the guy who seemed to be scamming us, and went in to catch the ferry. There were a ton of people still waiting, even though we were if anything, late. We ended up waiting in the terminal for about a half hour before they let us line up. We then waited in the line for another half hour to forty-five minutes before actually getting on the ferry. And then once on the ferry we didn't actually leave until an hour and a half later. So the ferry left Tangier really late. It was supposed to be about a 45 minute ferry ride, but after probably an hour and a half into it (yes, after having departed from the port), we overheard some other Americans lamenting the fact that even once we docked in two and half more hours, we still wouldn't be where we supposed to be. WHAT??! Turns out because of BAD CONDITIONS (haha. hah. Oh wait, NOT funny) the ferry actually wasn't supposed to go at all, and the only reason we were on a ferry was because this was the biggest one - the ONLY one they thought was big enough to make it through the swells, and furthermore, this ferry was NOT going to Tarifa, but to Algeciras, where there would supposedly be a bus to take us to Tarifa. Of COURSE this would happen to us on our way back to Spain - I think Spain really just doesn't want us to be here... Good thing we're all leaving so soon, I guess.
So we managed to get rid of the guy who seemed to be scamming us, and went in to catch the ferry. There were a ton of people still waiting, even though we were if anything, late. We ended up waiting in the terminal for about a half hour before they let us line up. We then waited in the line for another half hour to forty-five minutes before actually getting on the ferry. And then once on the ferry we didn't actually leave until an hour and a half later. So the ferry left Tangier really late. It was supposed to be about a 45 minute ferry ride, but after probably an hour and a half into it (yes, after having departed from the port), we overheard some other Americans lamenting the fact that even once we docked in two and half more hours, we still wouldn't be where we supposed to be. WHAT??! Turns out because of BAD CONDITIONS (haha. hah. Oh wait, NOT funny) the ferry actually wasn't supposed to go at all, and the only reason we were on a ferry was because this was the biggest one - the ONLY one they thought was big enough to make it through the swells, and furthermore, this ferry was NOT going to Tarifa, but to Algeciras, where there would supposedly be a bus to take us to Tarifa. Of COURSE this would happen to us on our way back to Spain - I think Spain really just doesn't want us to be here... Good thing we're all leaving so soon, I guess. I have NEVER been on a rockier boat. Ever. It was terrifying. You could hear the the doors to the bathroom stalls slamming as we rocked from side to side and throughout the entire trip there were people running to the bathrooms, where you could hear them pucking. For about 3 hours. If you wanted to walk around you couldn't without bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball or something between the walls. And I swear I could hear dishes and bottles falling off shelves. When I looked out the window (bear in mind that this was at about 2 or 3 in the morning) everything was black. Except for when a swell would break on the windows (EVEN THOUGH WE WERE ON THE THIRD DECK) and everything would go completely white for a few seconds. I was convinced we were going to make like the Titanic and go down.
But we survived. We finally got in to Algeciras at about 5 in the morning, went through the passport check, and made our way out to the bus. Which was full. They told us we would have to wait for this bus to drive to Tarifa and come back for us. So we went back into teh building and sat on the floor. And waited. And waited. There was a gigantic group of Koreans who were all clearly dressed for the beach, sandals, visors and all. Finally we overheard someone saying they had found a taxi and that it would cost 20 euros or so to drive to Tarifa. Which, split between 4 of us was nothing. Or close to it.
We arrived in Tarifa at 7:30 in the morning and upon finding that the (sketchy) hotel was locked up, we buzzed the manager. A head poked out of a barred window part way down the side of the building, and he called us over. We gave him the money, he gave us the keys to two double rooms. Inside, Sarah and David went to their room and Michelle and I went to ours. But when Michelle opened the door, she screamed, yanked the keys out, and ran down the hall away from the room. There was someone IN our room. Our tired minds might have blown the situation a little out of proportion, but it seemed like it could quickly turn into a horror movie. The hotel was NOT nice. We had looked in the bathroom on the way to our room and seen that the showers were dirty and seemed kind of concentration-camp-like. We ran back down the stairs and outside and buzzed the manager again. After explaining 3 times what had happened, he told us apologetically that he had given us the wrong key and that we should come back to the window. This time the room he gave us was empty. Thank goodness.
After a kind of short night's sleep, we got up in the morning to look around the town. Tarifa's nice - a little surf town - but I wouldn't want to spend more than maybe 2 days there unless I knew how to surf. Correction: windsurf. It must be the windiest town I have EVER been in.
We found a little café that served delicious smoothies... I got one with plums, almonds, honey, cinnamon, orange juice, and yogurt. It was unbelieveable. We went back later that day for an early dinner (by Spanish standards) before catching the bus from Tarifa to Cádiz (which went well, surprisingly).
We found a little café that served delicious smoothies... I got one with plums, almonds, honey, cinnamon, orange juice, and yogurt. It was unbelieveable. We went back later that day for an early dinner (by Spanish standards) before catching the bus from Tarifa to Cádiz (which went well, surprisingly). And THAT is the end of my Moroccan adventure. Finally.
21 May 2009
المغرب/maroc v
(I'm SORRY! I'm really, really bad at this!!)
So the next day Michelle and I took a 60 cent taxi to David and Sarah's hotel, where we left our bags to walk around the Medina a little bit more and visit the Mellah (Jewish quarters). It was definitely different not having a guide with us, but I think that since we had had the first day entirely guided, it made things much more comfortable. I think that one of the strangest things is the bars where women are not allowed. They were literally filled with men drinking tea spilling out onto the sidewalks. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a hundred men in each bar.
We split two taxis from the Blue Gate to the Royal Palace (the petit taxis are only allowed to carry 3 passengers - we were 1 too many).
It was really beautiful, but to be honest I really liked the dusty old Medina much, much more. We asked one of the guards how to get to the Mellah, and he directed us down the street. This street was completely lined with shops and very, very crowded. We walked to the end, where there was an arch leading to another store-packed street. 
Here we asked a man how to get to the synagogue. Upon hearing this, another man came up and pulled us off down an alley, telling us, "My sisters, my brother, you come with me. I show you everything. I grow up here, I tell you everything. Don't worry." We tried to tell him we really only wanted directions, but he was extremely insistent. We walked through a labyrinth of tiny streets and at least a dozen little jewelry shops displaying gold necklaces, rings, and head ornaments. He kept repeating, "Come, my sisters." And his friends kept popping out and telling us what a good guy he was and how for only a small tip he would tell us all about everything we wanted to know. But the truth is he was leading us farther and farther from anything we knew and I realized we would NOT be able to find our way back without him. We somehow finally managed to convince him to take us back to the main road.
We walked and walked and finally got back. At this point we had about a half hour to get back to the hotel, get our things, and catch the six hour train back to Tangier.
Once in Tangier, we had yet another adventure... We wanted one last authentic Moroccan meal before we left, so when the first taxi driver asked us where we wanted to go, we had a restaurant picked out and asked him to take us there to eat. Unfortunately, the place was closed. We asked him if he knew of anywhere that had good, cheap Moroccan meal. "Ohh, yes! My friends' restaurant, very good, very good. Very poor. You like seafood?" (Ummm, whaaaat?) Yes, we like seafood, but when we got there after about a half hour of driving around Tangier (though I never intended to actually visit Tangier, I have seen everything there is to see there...), we discovered that apparently this man took "authentic Moroccan food" to mean fried fish and tortilla. The very LAST thing any of us wanted was typical gaditano fare... They did, however, have couscous on the menu, which I really wanted. Of course, they were out of couscous. How is this even possible?? Couscous is to Morocco as fried fish and bread is to Cádiz!!!! Literally, it's the most common meal there. We ended up actually getting a delicious shrimp tangier that was fantastic, so I guess it worked out...
Unfortunately, when we paid and went to find the taxi driver (who had insisted on waiting for us, and initially wanted us to actually LEAVE all our bags in the back of the car - uhh, yeah right!) had vanished. None of his friends knew where he had gone. And we only had 20 minutes to get to the ferry... We stood out in the street, desperately trying to get two petit taxis, when finally the guy came back. He took us to the port, where the second we got out of the taxi, some guy grabbed us saying, "Come with me, you going to Tarifa? You come with me. Ferry canceled because of bad weather, I will help you." We shook him off, assuming that it was a scam.
So the next day Michelle and I took a 60 cent taxi to David and Sarah's hotel, where we left our bags to walk around the Medina a little bit more and visit the Mellah (Jewish quarters). It was definitely different not having a guide with us, but I think that since we had had the first day entirely guided, it made things much more comfortable. I think that one of the strangest things is the bars where women are not allowed. They were literally filled with men drinking tea spilling out onto the sidewalks. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a hundred men in each bar.
We split two taxis from the Blue Gate to the Royal Palace (the petit taxis are only allowed to carry 3 passengers - we were 1 too many).
It was really beautiful, but to be honest I really liked the dusty old Medina much, much more. We asked one of the guards how to get to the Mellah, and he directed us down the street. This street was completely lined with shops and very, very crowded. We walked to the end, where there was an arch leading to another store-packed street. 
Here we asked a man how to get to the synagogue. Upon hearing this, another man came up and pulled us off down an alley, telling us, "My sisters, my brother, you come with me. I show you everything. I grow up here, I tell you everything. Don't worry." We tried to tell him we really only wanted directions, but he was extremely insistent. We walked through a labyrinth of tiny streets and at least a dozen little jewelry shops displaying gold necklaces, rings, and head ornaments. He kept repeating, "Come, my sisters." And his friends kept popping out and telling us what a good guy he was and how for only a small tip he would tell us all about everything we wanted to know. But the truth is he was leading us farther and farther from anything we knew and I realized we would NOT be able to find our way back without him. We somehow finally managed to convince him to take us back to the main road. We walked and walked and finally got back. At this point we had about a half hour to get back to the hotel, get our things, and catch the six hour train back to Tangier.
Once in Tangier, we had yet another adventure... We wanted one last authentic Moroccan meal before we left, so when the first taxi driver asked us where we wanted to go, we had a restaurant picked out and asked him to take us there to eat. Unfortunately, the place was closed. We asked him if he knew of anywhere that had good, cheap Moroccan meal. "Ohh, yes! My friends' restaurant, very good, very good. Very poor. You like seafood?" (Ummm, whaaaat?) Yes, we like seafood, but when we got there after about a half hour of driving around Tangier (though I never intended to actually visit Tangier, I have seen everything there is to see there...), we discovered that apparently this man took "authentic Moroccan food" to mean fried fish and tortilla. The very LAST thing any of us wanted was typical gaditano fare... They did, however, have couscous on the menu, which I really wanted. Of course, they were out of couscous. How is this even possible?? Couscous is to Morocco as fried fish and bread is to Cádiz!!!! Literally, it's the most common meal there. We ended up actually getting a delicious shrimp tangier that was fantastic, so I guess it worked out... Unfortunately, when we paid and went to find the taxi driver (who had insisted on waiting for us, and initially wanted us to actually LEAVE all our bags in the back of the car - uhh, yeah right!) had vanished. None of his friends knew where he had gone. And we only had 20 minutes to get to the ferry... We stood out in the street, desperately trying to get two petit taxis, when finally the guy came back. He took us to the port, where the second we got out of the taxi, some guy grabbed us saying, "Come with me, you going to Tarifa? You come with me. Ferry canceled because of bad weather, I will help you." We shook him off, assuming that it was a scam.
10 May 2009
المغرب/maroc iv
(Apparently this is where they put up posters of political candidates - each spot is about 3 feet tall.)At the tanneries I believe I smelled the worst smell I have ever smelled in my entire life. Wait, no, I take that back - I think that beached whale in Oceanside still takes the cake. But this was second. Of course, the people who worked there had no problem with it, but we were given each several sprigs of mint leaves to smell as we overlooked the tannery.
It was incredible to see so many animal hides hung up in one place. It was a very large space, and the workers looked so tiny down there. Of course, since it was Labor Day, there were only a few people working, but we were informed that on a regular day there can be as many as 250 hide-stompers (apparently that's one of the primary tasks). We were able to see one or two, though, as well as someone stripping the hair off a hide (Donkey? Goat? Sheep? The un-trained eye may never know...).
After we left the tannery, we visited several artisan shops - a weaver, a potter, an apothecary... We ate a delicious Moroccan lunch, similar to dinner the night before, and continued with our sight-seeing.
This included a stop at the largest mosque in Africa, supposedly built by a woman named Fatima in something like the 14th century (though I'm still quite fuzzy on the details). We were not allowed to enter. There were pieces of paper posted all over the entrances stating in several languages, "Non-Muslims not permitted." While I understand, I confess that I would have loved to see the interior. We saw a couple famous fountains (I'm not sure why they were famous - I'll have to find out) that were very beautiful, with incredibly complex mosaics, and ultimately returned to the riad for (some more) sweet mint tea before heading back out for dinner. Our guide was very, very concerned about our safety, and must have repeated his plan for us at least seven times: "We go back to riad, I talk to woman and ask her to call a taxi for you. This taxi will take you to eat, and you tell him when you want come back and he come meet you then." Seven times. "You are like my daughters, I worry for you." (And then the plan again...and so on and so forth.)We got the taxi to come take us to dinner just inside the Blue Gate, at a terraced restaurant called La Kasbah. INCREDIBLE food. Did I already talk about this? That's okay, I'll do it again. I had a chicken tagine with dried (yet so juicy!) plums, toasted almonds, cinnamon, caramelized onions... And wonderful music. Which I now have on cd! It was a wonderful night, which ended, once again, with cinnamon dusted orange slices and sweet mint tea...
09 May 2009
المغرب/maroc iii
(cont'd)
When the guide finally arrived, we headed out to explore the Medina. After walking down to the main road where Michelle and I had been waiting earlier, Mohammad called out to various vans driving by, seemingly asking them for a ride! He turned to us and explained that he thought it best not to walk to the Blue Gate for the sake of time. He kept repeating, "I just want your happiness. My only job is to make you happy." Well, that's nice.
Somehow I ended up in the front seat, while everyone else slid into the back, and Mohammad tucked himself into the trunk! After a short trip, we arrived at the blue gate. People, bikes, carts, donkeys, petit taxis were everywhere! And we just stood there, the five of us, taking photographs in the middle of all this chaos, which just continued swarming around us, as though we weren't even there! It was unbelievable. 
Finally, we entered the Medina, and it's hard to imagine, but the chaos of outside was multiplied by a thousand. Maybe not, but it was all squeezed into narrow streets lined with shops and stands. People came through on donkeys and horses carrying loads of coca-cola bottles or nuts or bread. There were live chickens, roosters, even peacocks sitting on crates and baskets filled with dried figs, dates, raisins - every kind of dried fruit and nut you can imagine. And all around incredible architecture. All the ceilings were painted and ornamented beautifully. The ground was a different story. Filled with unpredictable steps and trash (it being not only a Friday - the Muslim world's Sunday - but also the first of May - international Labor Day).
While we're completely overwhelmed by everything going on around us, taking photographs, etc., Mohammad is navigating through the streets so quickly, that I was afraid we were going to lose him! I honestly believed I would turn around for one second and he would be gone. Thankfully, this did not happen. 
We wandered around looking at all the stands for a while, little by little working our way to the tanneries...
When the guide finally arrived, we headed out to explore the Medina. After walking down to the main road where Michelle and I had been waiting earlier, Mohammad called out to various vans driving by, seemingly asking them for a ride! He turned to us and explained that he thought it best not to walk to the Blue Gate for the sake of time. He kept repeating, "I just want your happiness. My only job is to make you happy." Well, that's nice.
Somehow I ended up in the front seat, while everyone else slid into the back, and Mohammad tucked himself into the trunk! After a short trip, we arrived at the blue gate. People, bikes, carts, donkeys, petit taxis were everywhere! And we just stood there, the five of us, taking photographs in the middle of all this chaos, which just continued swarming around us, as though we weren't even there! It was unbelievable. 
Finally, we entered the Medina, and it's hard to imagine, but the chaos of outside was multiplied by a thousand. Maybe not, but it was all squeezed into narrow streets lined with shops and stands. People came through on donkeys and horses carrying loads of coca-cola bottles or nuts or bread. There were live chickens, roosters, even peacocks sitting on crates and baskets filled with dried figs, dates, raisins - every kind of dried fruit and nut you can imagine. And all around incredible architecture. All the ceilings were painted and ornamented beautifully. The ground was a different story. Filled with unpredictable steps and trash (it being not only a Friday - the Muslim world's Sunday - but also the first of May - international Labor Day).
While we're completely overwhelmed by everything going on around us, taking photographs, etc., Mohammad is navigating through the streets so quickly, that I was afraid we were going to lose him! I honestly believed I would turn around for one second and he would be gone. Thankfully, this did not happen. 
We wandered around looking at all the stands for a while, little by little working our way to the tanneries...
on a side note
if the gaditanos could make smoking look more like this... it might be slightly more okay. or at least glamorous. instead they just insist on blowing a bunch of smoke all over! gross.
08 May 2009
المغرب/maroc ii
(cont'd)
I had originally thought that my cell phone would work in Morocco, because the people in my program on my network had not had problems when they had gone (except for the fact that it must cost over a euro just to send a text...), however upon arrival, I found that my phone did not work. This was problematic. I sent an email to the other two in our group with the address of our riad, where we had agreed to meet the next morning, but as it turned out, they did not have internet. I also sent them text messages via Skype (both of their phones worked...what was wrong with mine??), but had no idea if they received them, since I couldn't receive an answer.
Meanwhile, Michelle and I ate our breakfast - by far the best breakfast I have had since I've been abroad (of course that's not saying much, since up till recently I've received two slices of white Bimbo brand bread with Nutella and a cup of coffee with whole milk every single day). It began with a little cup of homemade vanilla bean yogurt and a fresh strawberry smoothie (and some other fruits, too, just not sure which). This was followed by something that looked kind of like pancakes, but were fried and a bit bread-ier, with various spreads: something like applesauce, honey, fig marmalade, butter (of course), and some sort of sweet potato spread that was extremely delicious. With this they offered us also coffee and sweet mint tea. So far so good on the food front!
About a half hour after our scheduled meeting time, David and Sarah still had not arrived. Michelle and I decided that maybe we should wait for them out by the main road, which they would certainly use if they took a petit taxi (super cheap - only 60 cents between their hotel and our riad). It was really hot out, and we could not have looked more out of place. This was definitely the closest I ever want to come to traveling alone in Morocco... We sat there for maybe 45 minutes, and the whole time I think every single guy that saw us would come over and say something - sometimes in English, sometimes Spanish, sometimes Arabic, sometimes French. There were little boys, too. One almost crashed his bike! It was as though they had never seen American girls before... Very strange. There was a group standing by a wall behind us that would actually take turns coming up and walking by us one by one. Then they would go back to the group and someone else would come by. SO WEIRD. Finally, the people who owned the riad came by and said that our friends were waiting inside!!! (Admittedly mixed feelings of irritation at the difficulty in communicating and relief that they had finally made it.) As it turns out, they had walked, instead of taking a taxi, which, in my opinion was a great idea in theory, but terrible given the circumstances. They had walked through the Medina (a labyrinth!) to get to us. Meanwhile, we were wondering if we should give up and get a guide for the day for just the two of us!
We drank some more mint tea (I can see why they drink so much of it - it's delicious! But very, very sweet... I thought Spaniards and Italians had sweet teeth, but that's nothing compared to Morocco! Everything is sweet) and waited for our guide, Mohammad, to arrive.
I had originally thought that my cell phone would work in Morocco, because the people in my program on my network had not had problems when they had gone (except for the fact that it must cost over a euro just to send a text...), however upon arrival, I found that my phone did not work. This was problematic. I sent an email to the other two in our group with the address of our riad, where we had agreed to meet the next morning, but as it turned out, they did not have internet. I also sent them text messages via Skype (both of their phones worked...what was wrong with mine??), but had no idea if they received them, since I couldn't receive an answer.
Meanwhile, Michelle and I ate our breakfast - by far the best breakfast I have had since I've been abroad (of course that's not saying much, since up till recently I've received two slices of white Bimbo brand bread with Nutella and a cup of coffee with whole milk every single day). It began with a little cup of homemade vanilla bean yogurt and a fresh strawberry smoothie (and some other fruits, too, just not sure which). This was followed by something that looked kind of like pancakes, but were fried and a bit bread-ier, with various spreads: something like applesauce, honey, fig marmalade, butter (of course), and some sort of sweet potato spread that was extremely delicious. With this they offered us also coffee and sweet mint tea. So far so good on the food front!
About a half hour after our scheduled meeting time, David and Sarah still had not arrived. Michelle and I decided that maybe we should wait for them out by the main road, which they would certainly use if they took a petit taxi (super cheap - only 60 cents between their hotel and our riad). It was really hot out, and we could not have looked more out of place. This was definitely the closest I ever want to come to traveling alone in Morocco... We sat there for maybe 45 minutes, and the whole time I think every single guy that saw us would come over and say something - sometimes in English, sometimes Spanish, sometimes Arabic, sometimes French. There were little boys, too. One almost crashed his bike! It was as though they had never seen American girls before... Very strange. There was a group standing by a wall behind us that would actually take turns coming up and walking by us one by one. Then they would go back to the group and someone else would come by. SO WEIRD. Finally, the people who owned the riad came by and said that our friends were waiting inside!!! (Admittedly mixed feelings of irritation at the difficulty in communicating and relief that they had finally made it.) As it turns out, they had walked, instead of taking a taxi, which, in my opinion was a great idea in theory, but terrible given the circumstances. They had walked through the Medina (a labyrinth!) to get to us. Meanwhile, we were wondering if we should give up and get a guide for the day for just the two of us!We drank some more mint tea (I can see why they drink so much of it - it's delicious! But very, very sweet... I thought Spaniards and Italians had sweet teeth, but that's nothing compared to Morocco! Everything is sweet) and waited for our guide, Mohammad, to arrive.
07 May 2009
المغرب/maroc
Never thought I'd be able to say that I took a weekend trip to Morocco... but I did! And though getting there (actually mostly just getting back) very strongly resembled my first journey to Cádiz, I can safely say that I had the most amazing trip and it is one of my favorite places I have visited while here. Everything I saw was so picturesque and so beautiful, and while I would never ever EVER visit alone (I got a little - very little - taste of it, and that was definitely enough for me), I know that I want to go back and see more of Morocco.
We spent our time only in Fes. We - back up. By "we," I am referring to the four of us who went - three girls (including myself) and one guy. Ok, again. We left Cádiz on Thursday and caught a couple hour bus to Tarifa, the southernmost point of Spain (and actually of mainland Europe, as well). From there, we caught a ferry to take us to Tangier, Morocco. The exciting part about that was in realizing that it was only 30-45 minutes to Africa! It was a pretty rough ferry ride, but we arrived safely in Tanger, where we were immediately greeted by people hoping to drive us, or offering a place to stay, or tours, and on, and on.
I had booked a riad earlier that day, but because we waited so long to finalize our lodging situation, there was only room for two of us. The other two in our group found a hotel, but I must say that our riad was heaven. They sent a taxi to pick us up and bring us to the riad (dropping the others off along the way), where Michelle and I were greeted with Moroccan fava bean salad; typical Moroccan bread; a tagine with chicken, dried apricots, and plums; and for dessert fresh orange slices covered in cinnamon. After all of this, they offered us sweet mint tea, as well, but it was already 1 o'clock in the morning, and we felt kind of bad that they were still cooking for us.
to be continued...
We spent our time only in Fes. We - back up. By "we," I am referring to the four of us who went - three girls (including myself) and one guy. Ok, again. We left Cádiz on Thursday and caught a couple hour bus to Tarifa, the southernmost point of Spain (and actually of mainland Europe, as well). From there, we caught a ferry to take us to Tangier, Morocco. The exciting part about that was in realizing that it was only 30-45 minutes to Africa! It was a pretty rough ferry ride, but we arrived safely in Tanger, where we were immediately greeted by people hoping to drive us, or offering a place to stay, or tours, and on, and on.
I had booked a riad earlier that day, but because we waited so long to finalize our lodging situation, there was only room for two of us. The other two in our group found a hotel, but I must say that our riad was heaven. They sent a taxi to pick us up and bring us to the riad (dropping the others off along the way), where Michelle and I were greeted with Moroccan fava bean salad; typical Moroccan bread; a tagine with chicken, dried apricots, and plums; and for dessert fresh orange slices covered in cinnamon. After all of this, they offered us sweet mint tea, as well, but it was already 1 o'clock in the morning, and we felt kind of bad that they were still cooking for us.
to be continued...
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