Fes/Casablanca

Okay, so LAST weekend, I went to Fes. I apologize for the late blog post...I was just writing a 6 page paper in ARABIC!!!! So yeah, that took forever, and I STILL didn't quite make 6 pages, but whatever.

Anyway, so Fes. Yeah, it was a cool city. I liked it. The medina there is HUGE, so we decided to "rent" a tour guide for the day. It's a good thing we did...we would've been so lost without him.

The adventure starts on Friday at approximately 6:12pm. On the way to Tangier, we were spoiled and had this big open space with tables as our seats. I assumed it would be the same for Fes. I assumed wrong. The train arrived and we were like, fighting people to get on. When we got on, it was compartments- Harry Potter style. However, the passageway wasn't nearly as big as on the Hogwarts Express. It was nice and tight and uncomfortable. And the train was full. So, for the first 2 of the 3 hour ride, I stood/sat in the aisle. Oh, and don't get me wrong, folks. The aisles were packed with smelly men who still haven't quite grasped the concept of a stick of deodorant and the train had no air conditioning. It was so wonderful. And then some creepy guys our age were looking at us and talking and laughing with each other. Okay, bro, I might not speak your language that well, but I know you're talking about me when you stare and then talk to your homies. It's the same in every culture and I'm not stupid.

So we finally got a compartment after a while. It was still hot, but a lot better than the aisle. We finally got to Fes around 9:30 or so, got some bevvies, and made our way to the hotel. It was a nice hotel with air conditioning. I love air conditioning.

So at 10am on Saturday we met up with Ahmed the Tour Guide. We took a little van to King Mohamed VI's Fesian palace and I managed to get a picture of a gate/wall that people aren't supposed to take pictures of. Granted, I didn't know, and there weren't any po-po around to make me delete it. And Ahmed the Tour Guide didn't care, so it was all good!

After the palace, we went to the fortress on top of the city. It was quite pretty. After that, we went in the medina to explore around. I saw a nice little hanoot (store/stand) where they were preparing camel meat. The head was hanging from the ceiling. It was awesome.

We then went to a weaving shop and witnessed a man weaving a blanket. I bought a shirt. I splurged a bit on it, but whatever, I like it. And it was what I'd pay in the US so I don't feel bad :p

We then had lunch and then went to the tannery. Fes has the country's largest tannery. It was big! Basically what they do is dip animal hide into vats full of chemicals (including pigeon poo) and leave them out to dry. After that, they take them to another vat and dye them. I bought some pretty shoes made from goat, camel, and cow.

After visiting the tannery, we walked around the medina a bit more and then went back to the hotel to hang out. For dinner, we went to Café Clock, a restaurant owned by Americans. There, we ate camel burgers. Yes, burgers made of camel meat. I'm glad I did it, but I am in no rush to eat camel meat again. I ate a freaking camel. Badassery at it's finest.

We went back to the hotel, slept in the next morning, and then headed back to Rabat. Thankfully, the train ride back wasn't nearly as bad as the ride getting there.

Fastforward a week...Friday afternoon, we decided to go shopping in the medina to get some last minute presents for people. Fastforward a few years ago...a fellow Irish dancer from Oklahoma named Miranda friend-requested me on Facebook. I accepted the invitation and we've been Facebook friends for a while. A few weeks into my trip, I decided to see what she was up to and I discovered that she was in Morocco!!!! So we met up on Friday and did a little bit of shopping together. It's funny how small the world is...

This weekend, a few of us took a train to Casablanca. A woman in our group, Andrea, actually works for the State Department and is now stationed to work in Casablanca. She graciously invited us to her place, saving us some money! We had grand plans, but ended up lounging around a lot. We went to a restaurant called "Rick's Café" for lunch. It was modeled after the café in the movie "Casablanca". It was a bit pricy, but we got a free postcard at the end of our meal. And the food was delicious.

We went back to Andrea's and napped, then later, we went to an Irish bar.

The next day, we woke up and cooked a nice American breakfast...pancakes, eggs, and BACON!!!!! It was glorious. We napped again. Then we went to the Hassan II Mosque- 1 of 3 in Morocco that non-Muslims can go to. It is the 3rd largest mosque in the world next to those in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia, and the mosque with the tallest minaret. The tour was really pathetic, but it was so worth it to go inside. It was absolutely beautiful!

So now I am back in Rabat. I have one more night with my homestay family and then I spend a night in a hotel and fly to France. I can't believe the trip is almost over!