"A whole new world..." (tribute to Aladdin...and Camilla's poem)

(Picture from the ferry from Spain to Morocco on Friday - Mediterranean)


 So in case you haven't heard, I went to Morocco this weekend.  It was, of course, my first trip to Africa and so I have now officially been to 3 different continents.  :)  The experience was different than anything I've experienced in my entire life.  Being from Nash County, in particular, there have not been many occasions in which I have been in direct contact with the Islamic religion and/or culture.  In Chapel Hill, it is more prevalent and I have come into contact with it, but nothing like the degree to which this weekend placed me in contact with this culture.  The Moroccan population is approximately 90% Muslim with the other 10% being a mixture of Jewish and Catholic.  That being said, the things that I saw in Morocco (from architecture to food to the people) were very different from what I expected.  Yes, I did have an idea of what I would see in Morocco but my idea and reality didn't exactly match up.  First of all, the land in Morocco is absolutely gorgeous.  There are beautiful mountains, amazing lakes and waterfalls, and stunning views of the coastline - both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic).  The architecture, for the most part, was really pretty as well (pictures below).  However, for a land so beautiful, there was so much poverty.  In Morocco there are the really rich and the really poor, there's not really a "middle class" per say.  That being said, we saw some very impoverished parts of the cities that we visited.  We saw children (and by children I mean generally under the age of 12) selling items in the street to make money (and basically harassing you trying to get you to buy it) and even begging for money at times.  We saw a very different type of society in general.  One of the things that surprised me the most (and made me the most uncomfortable yet also thankful for the life that I have) was the absolute repression of women.  I understand that the Muslim lifestyle is a way of life completely different than my own.  But I do not understand how woman can be so repressed and not rise up to do nothing about it.  In talking with Ythol about this today, in light of everything I had seen, we both remained baffled both at how, in the time that we are living in, women can think that it's okay to be repressed by men (as a society, as a whole) and men, too, have no problem doing it.  Yes, I do know that it is a different culture and I can not judge them for their way of life.  But at the same time, these are all just my opinions.  The thing must evident about this repression of women was that there were VERY few women that we saw out and about when we were walking around.  The large majority of the people we saw walking around, sitting at cafes and restaurants, and shopping at the market were men.  They sat and gawked at us, pointed at us, and openly talked about us (even though we couldn't understand Arabic, you kind of just know when someone is talking about you...especially when they are pointing at you and looking straight at you).  Our tour guide was even as open to tell us that Muslim men like their wives to stay in the house - pretty much to not leave the house at all.  They like for them to cook, clean, take care of the kids and not much else.  It shocked me how open he was about it and how very different this concept was compared to the society that I live in. 


Anyway, enough babbling about that.  On to some pictures!

 Allegra and I on the ferry ride from Spain to Morocco.  The sunset was absolutely stunning and you can kind of see the clouds with the pink tint in the background.  The ferry ride was nice but it was about 45 minutes and very "rocky" - as in I've never been on a boat that swayed back and forth so much in my life.  Thankfully I didn't get sick, but there were others that did. 

 Me on the ferry.  Tried to get the pretty background but it didn't really show up. 

 One of my favorite chica's ever - Camilla.  She reminds me soooo much of Jessica.  Camilla says/does stuff all the time and I go "that reminds me of..." and Camilla quickly finishes my sentence "...I know, your sister."  It's quite hilarious how similar they are.  This is our first picture in Africa.  On Saturday morning we took the bus from M'Diq where our hotel was to the city of Chefchchaouen.  We stopped at this lake that was nestled in between a couple of mountains to take a few pictures.  Absolutely stunning scenery.  :)

 This is the whole group from UNC that went on the trip.  Me, Amelia, Camilla, Ashley, Shannon, Allegra, and Tiffany.  :)  Love these girls to pieces! 

 Chefchaouen is known for it's gorgeous blue painted walls and doors as seen in this picture.  Of course the fact that it's Carolina blue makes it that much more gorgeous!  :)

 Another picture of the Carolina blue. 

 These are the most well known steps and doorway in Chefchaouen (as in if you google the name of the city it is very likely that this scene - minus me of course - will come up). 

 I don't remember taking this picture at all, but I'm soooo glad that I did.  It's probably one of my favorite pictures of the entire weekend.  The archways are gorgeous and so are the blue walls.  I love taking pictures and then going back to look at them and realizing that they are prettier than I thought they would be.  :)

 Our tour guide randomly stopped at on of the houses where the door was cracked open.  He pushed it open really quickly and told us to take pictures fast!  Aka we probably weren't supposed to be doing that.  But it was cool to see that the blue was continued in the house and to get a little glimpse of a typical house in Chefchaouen. 

 We stopped at a rug/blanket store on the tour as well.  This is just a GLIMPSE at the many options they had (our tour guide is in the background...sorry).  They laid out sooo many blankets and rugs, of course trying to sell us some.  The best part of Morocco is that you are able to bargain.  Good thing I had an amazing teacher - thanks Camilla!!  I didn't buy anything at this store - they were really expensive - but I did buy a couple of souvenirs and gifts for my sisters, parents, and Ythol.  I loved being able to bargain and got really good deals on everything that I bought.  I got an awesome black and purple scarf that is reallllly soft for 4 euro.  The vendor started out at 10 euro and then I slowly worked my way down to 4 euro.  It took me walking away a couple of times, but I got the price that I wanted so I was happy. 

 This is the restaurant that we ate at in Chefchaouen.  It reminded me soooo much of a scene from Aladdin.  The food was decent, not my favorite meal we had in Morocco, but still really good.  While talking about food, I'll go ahead and give a run-down of what we ate while there.  For dinner the first night we had couscous with chicken and vegetables along with a salad and flan and ice cream for dessert.  It was a good meal, but I'm not as crazy about couscous as everyone else was.  It was very grainy and sand-tasting to me and I decided that I'm definitely more of a rice person (haha Ythol).  For breakfast at the hotel there was a buffet.  I had a yogurt, small danish type thing, and three pieces of toast with butter and apricot jam.  My favorite thing was the toast...I had three pieces on Sunday as well.  It reminded me so much of home.  For lunch we ate at the restaurant shown above and had chicken and vegetables, a salad (which was more like salsa served with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives), and for dessert a bowl of fruit.  For dinner at the hotel we had soup, spaghetti, and dessert was a fruit bowl as well.  For lunch Sunday, we went to an amazing restaurant in Tetouan.  We had couscous with chicken and vegetables, salad, and an amazing custard like dessert.  It was my favorite meal of the trip and I ate wayyy more than I should have.

 A few of us at the restaurant in Chefchaouen.  Amelia, Camilla, me, Shannon, and silly Ashley. :)

 For some reason this is out of order, but it's us about to board the ferry to Morocco.  Shannon, me, Allegra, Amelia, Camila, Ashley, and Tiffany

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 On the ferry.  me, Shannon, and Tiffany.

 It definitely started raining in Chefchaouen so we had to bundle up.  Tiffany and I. 

 Picture of the spices, dried fruits, and nuts for sell in the market in Tetouan. 

 Arches in the streets in Tetouan (the city we visited on Sunday).

 They dressed two of our group members up in the traditional clothes of Morocco.  As Ashley stated in her blog, it was a very uncomfortable moment for some of us.  She put it this way: putting the cloth over their mouths made her literally feel like they were covering her own mouth with duct tape.  I definitely agree.  It made me sick to my stomach to see it and to think about it now is still very uncomfortable. 

In the restaurant on Sunday with Camilla.  :)

 Our chicken and vegetable couscous on Sunday.

 Riding a camel!!! 

 With the Atlantic Ocean in the background in Tangiers.

 With Camilla. :)

 With Allegra at the Cave of Hercules. 

The Cave of Hercules with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.  It's supposed to be a depiction of the African continent when viewed from the outside. 

All in all, it was a very successful trip.  I loved experiencing everything and being able to spend the weekend with some amazing people as well as meeting lots more.  We were able to play a lot of Spades (I know you Murray's would have enjoyed that) and Camilla and I won a veryyyyy close game with Allegra and Shannon.  :)