Morocco!

i spent the last week in morocco with a group of students from auc and had an incredible time-- we visited casablanca, rabat, and marrakech.

CASABLANCA
as soon as i got off the plane i started singing 'as time goes by' in honor of the movie--however, sad to say, casablanca doesn't have the cool hats, humphrey bogart, or piano bars, AND it's in color. what a disappointment. what casablanca DOES have is the third largest mosque in the world: the hassan II. with the tallest minaret in the world, the hassan II was absolutely stunning. it sits right on the atlantic ocean, and with the symmetrical columns and open courtyards you can feel that it is an incredibly spiritual place. we all spent ours just sitting on the ground looking at the colorful marble mosaics that line the ceilings and walls, and enjoying the fresh air from the sea.

the actual CITY of casablanca, however, could not be farther from the peacefulness of the mosque. in fact, it's sort of the detroit of morocco. gross. parts of the old city are pretty--but in general, the city is dangerous, industrial, and um, dangerous. one of the guys in our group got his pants sliced open in two places with a knife and then had to run through the market place screaming to keep the guy from stealing his camera. fun? not so much. but it was an experience, none the less. oh, and since we were in casablance for the last day of ramadan and the first day of eid, the city was essentially closed. sigh.

RABAT
rabat, however, is a gorgeous city. we visited the king's palace and an unfinished mosque--i'm starting to really love islamic art and architecture. the geometrical symmetry, the vibrant colors, and the amazing detail work make me want to spend hours just looking at the ceilings alone. we then went to the cazbah, which used to be where the pirates suppposedly lived but is now a place for artists. morocco is particularly famous for their ceramics, wood work, and the beautiful mosaics that line every building. the cazbah's tight winding alleyways were incredibly cool and well ventilated--and the blue and white of the buildings apparently kept mosquitos away. we had tea and pastries overlooking the city and the ocean.

MARRAKECH
this was by FAR the most incredible part of the trip. the city itself is beautiful--all the buildings are an earthy red, and most have mosaics inside. it was pouring our first day there which was very exciting for a bunch of students who haven't seen rain in months and months--so we decided to walk about forty minutes to the sooq or market. the markets in marrakech are REALLY fantastic. there are acrobats and monkey tamers and snake charmers and everyone looks like a jedi. i should explain that. the traditional dress is a long, hooded robe--almost identical to the ones used in star wars (which was filmed in neighboring tunisia). but the best part of the ensemble are the leather, pointed moroccan slippers that come in a variety of bright colors--you'll see an old man in a plain robe with hot pink slippers. it's pretty hysterical. and the markets themselves were just amazing--there were spices, and scarves, and jewelry, and lanterns, and shoes, and daggers, and plates... we spent days in the market alone.

AND, i got to speak french again since moroccan arabic is absolutely unintelligible. even the egyptians on the trip couldn't communicate in arabic. moroccan arabic is a weird mix of french, arabic, and berber. oh, and there are no vowels to speak of which makes the language pretty ugly in general. but french worked really well.

anyway, i have midterms this week, i'm going to mount sinai next weekend, and nick comes shortly after that! time here has just been flying by--i really can't believe i'm halfway done.