España: Esto No Es La Vida Real: Waka Waka Eh Eh, This is Time for Africa!

I don’t exactly know what I was expecting of Africa and all I knew about Marrakech was what I saw on the Amazing Race. Half of our group went to Morocco the week before we did, I tried soooo hard not to look at everyone pictures and ruin the surprise of it all for me. Friday morning came and I still could not believe we were really off to Africa. The Sevilla airport is rather small compared to all other airports ive flown out of so we walked onto the runway to board the plane…in the pouring rain might I add. That was a fun touch. We had a quick 90 minute flight and we were in Morocco!!! We landed and were greeted with a nice Moroccan thunderstorm. We were bombarded with Arabic and French. I forgot that Morocco was at one point a French colony which would explain the French everywhere. After we all cleared customs we made our way to the hotel we would be staying in. In was only a short ten minute drive from the airport but we were all floored by the sheer number of people in the streets and the amount of people Moroccans can fit on mopeds. They legit can fit entire families on there, dogs and all. All of the buildings are made from this reddish clay so everywhere you looked, you saw red.

We got to our hotel and it was such a nice room with our own balcony which looked out over the gated entrance to the hotel and out onto the city of Marrakech. We all wanted to head to the coveted markets we had all heard so much about but we had to change money into Moroccan Dirhams before we could go anywhere. The conversion was for sure in our favor. 1 Euro was more or less 12 dirhams. After converting 50 euros, I felt like such a baller with just about 600 dirhams. With our new Moroccan money, we were off to the market. In true style, the skies opened up and we were yet again treated to African rain. Trying to find the market in Marrakech was nearly impossible. All the street signs were in Arabic and trying to cross the street was like playing in traffic. They had no stop lights or crosswalks and motos, bikes, horse and buggies and vespas ruled the roads. After getting directions in Italian we had finally made it to the market. I have never seen anything like this. All the shop workers would try and get you to come into their store with promises of handcrafted goods at cheap prices. We soon learned you needed to barter for everything and immediately offer half of whatever price they first offer you. I ended up buying these beautiful scarves, one purple, one pink and one teal all for 170 dirham. The original price for one was 150 dirham haha Not bad if you ask me! Once dusk hit we wandered back to the hotel. We wanted no part in being out past dark in Morocco. When we walked back, we heard the calls from the tops of the towers calling all Muslims for prayer. Nightlife in Morocco is very uneventful especially for women since drinking is severely frowned upon plus its not like I want to be out making African friends in a place where I don’t speak the language. Bedtime every night was 11 or 12. Such a huge difference from Sevilla where 11 or 12 is when we usually go out haha

Saturday may have been one of my favorite days since being abroad. We started off the day with a city tour with a local guide. She spoke French, Arabic, English and Spanish! We were so impressed but she took us first to the royal tombs. When we were trying to walk in and we were haggled by multiple people to buy random knick knacks and jewelry. We were clearly uninterested but they didn’t get that. Once we finally got inside, we were congregating into a line, then some jerk behind us felt it necessary to yell, “Queue up properly” like take it easy buddy! After that we were off to another arab palace. It reminded me of the alahambra in Granada, but seeing these ornate houses never gets old. Our final stop was this all natural pharmacy where they had remedies for everything from snoring to allergies. It was so cool to see how they preserved such an old tradition and how it was still such an important part of life to them to this day. During our walk to the main square, we passed though a typical meat market. This was absolutely flooring. They had whole cow carcasses hanging as well as headless chickens in the front of the store but then live chickens flying around in the back. Having the meat unrefrigerated and just in the front was totally unsanitary but oh well. The most shocking thing I saw either was the heads of cows just hanging there along with the other meat or someone carrying a dead peacock away from the market. I was in total shock and awe that I didn’t take pictures but this might be one of those things best left to the imagination. After the scaring market trip we had an hour of free time before our camel rides! We attempted to shop but shocking, it started to rain again so we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the camels. The camel ride was totally worth every penny of the 200 dirham I spent on it. We got picked up at the hotel and taken to this little village 20 minutes away. Side note, Moroccan driving is borderline insanity. Anyways, we got to our camels and mine was one of the first ones to stand up. Not knowing what to expect, I’m sure everyone looked on in sheer horror at my face as it tried to get up. I literally thought I was going to fall off but it was fine once it was on all four feet. We were like five minutes in and people were already making camel toe jokes which kept the mood light. We ventured into this little village and stopped half way though for tea and classic bread. After our two hour ride, I had never felt more sore doing nothing in my entire life. But I can now cross riding a camel in Africa off of my bucket list.

API loves underestimating our little hiking adventures. When they said to bring comfy shoes because we were doing a hike, I brought my sneakers, sid shirt and hoodies and hoped for the best. They should have included a little asterisk advising leaving all coach bags at home. Little did we know we were in for a four mile hike/rock climbing of the Atlas mountains. It was like being on the stairmaster for hours but we had some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. Seeing cactus, palm trees and snowing mountains all in the same view is very hard to grasp. Also knowing that if you slipped you’d basically be done for was also less than comforting. But all in all the hike was amazing and Kepa, our API leader said it was perfect practice for Extremadura which is our excursion in two weeks. I am slightly worried. Oh well but when we got back to Marrakech we headed to the market for one last go. But this time instead of rain we were treated to a HAIL STORM! Yep that’s right, we were trapped in a hail storm in Africa. Who would have thought? I ended up getting earrings with the hand of Fatima on them which is supposed to ward off all evil. We were absolutely drained for the busy day and I didn’t even stay up for my 21^st birthday. How lame? But I wouldn’t have even been allowed to drink anyways.

Monday morning bought our last breakfast buffet and a surprise serenade session from the entire wait staff of the restaurant. It was kind of embarrassing but I was glad to see all the fellow APIers join in in song as well. They gave me this candle and lilies as well. It was so sweet of them. I tried to check my email/Facebook before I left and facebook didn’t work because the Moroccan government had blocked it!!! How crazy. But anyways we were off to the airport hoping to get back. I noticed they had spelt my last name wrong on my boarding pass which would mean bad news at home but thank god for lax African security as I breezed right on through to head back to Sevilla! I had started to get some really bad allergies in Africa from all the pollen so my nose was all stuffy and due to the shitty air pressure in the cheap flight, my ears and sinuses had never felt worse. Landing had to the be one of the worst experiences ever. My ears were popping non-stop and when we finally made it, they wouldn’t unclear and it felt like I was underwater trying to hear things.

I had never felt more excited to return home to the Sevillan rain. Sevilla is starting to feel like home more and more every day. I know I get home sick about home, but once I am home, I will be getting homesick for certain things about Sevilla! If home is where the heart is, I think I have spread some of my heart all over the world, leaving a little bit in Norfolk, Sevilla and most of it in Amherst! In two months, I will be home. This program is flying by. I feel like I just got here and now its half over! There is still so much I want to do and see. I know that there is no way I will get to do it all. Love and miss you all. See you soon! Besitos! xo