chicken pastilla - the food dreams are made of.

where to start?

i've been having trouble writing this entry. i'm not exactly sure why. i think that morocco was sensory overload and we packed a lot of things into just 3 days. i wish i could describe exactly how morocco felt, smelled, looked and tasted but words (or pictures, even) wont be enough. i have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't the last time a blog doesn't come easily. this is only the beginning. i think i find it hard to write about because i didn't love it. i felt on edge and nervous the whole time, sort of like the feeling when you first go to new york city or travel alone. i wasn't alone, of course, but i was still nervous. even with the tallest boys - who were mistaken for basketball players - it was nerve racking.

i've also decided that from here on out, i'm not interested in spending every moment in a big city-- i want to see more sides of the story. mckendree was thinking the same thing and so hopefully things begin to head in that direction. i also want to lay off traveling with crazy kids who only want to party because that is not the point of the trip.



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3 february 2009. first sights of casablanca, morocco.

since we lost a day to refueling, everyone was more than ready to jump ship.

there were six girls: mckendree, kelsey, rennika, cassie, caitlin &myself and we had 4 boys with us: bubber, bobby, jordan &thomas.

we all met at 0800 in the library to get our passports and make our way off the ship. i was glad to have some boys with us for safety's sake but we probably will be traveling just girls from here on out. (where appropriate, of course).

leaving the ship and making our way out of the shipyard was a challenge. there were big trucks, cranes, cargo ships, people everywhere and lots of mud. on top of all that, no one knew where we were headed. we needed to get to the train station for the 1050 train and ended up walking a great deal. walking through the port, taxi drivers were everywhere and trying to get students to take cabs and offer places to go. we opted out of a cab at first as they were very overwhelming. all of the girls were dressed as conservatively as possible which meant lots of layers and long pants. it was cool but all the walking made us too warm. there was mud and dirt everywhere and it got on all of our clothes. we were just a big ol' mess.

we eventually made it to the train station, casa-port. this was the small train station and it turned out that we needed to be at the larger train station, casa-voyageur. we took out money from the atm and grabbed cabs to head across town to the other station. the cab ride cost about 1.20USD each or 10 dirhams. we got our train tickets for 84 dirhams which worked out to be less than 10 USD for a 3 hour train ride, not bad. we went to a small cafe across the street to use the restroom and for the boys to get some food. the bathroom was quite the experience-- a hole in the floor. yeah. after the boys ate some odd looking sandwiches we headed back to the train station to wait and board the train. it seemed that the station had been taken over by sas-ers as the whole platform was filled. once the train arrived it was crazy-- everyone trying to find seats. each train car was made up of compartments rather than rows, for six people each. we all split up and i ended up sitting with a girl from unh and thomas from my group. it was a long 3 hour ride to marrakech but looking out the window made the trip easier. that and thomas's ipod. i've been leaving mine on the ship but i think i may start bringing it with me to pass the long bus/train rides.

at around 2-230 we arrived in marrakech. the station was beautiful and a taste of the juxtiposition of moroccan society, which is going to be a theme throughout the semester. after assembling with the group, we split into groups of boys &girls and took taxis to the old city where the GIANT market is. the market is so hard to describe but i'll try. there are horse &carriages waiting for passengers (like in central park), donkeys pulling carts, motorbikes weaving in and out of pedestrians, street performers, snake charmers, men with monkeys on leashes, henna artists, restaurants, men dressed in crazy outfits and people everywhere. it was overwhelming and all i wanted to do was shop! the most challenging moment of the whole trip was walking through the market and being approached by small children trying to sell tissues. it was heartbreaking and i had to hold in my tears. that image will be in my mind forever.

we decided the shopping would have to wait and we searched for a restaurant. i don't know the name of it but it was nice and we were all glad to simply be in our destination.there was some bottled water (can't drink the tap water..) and funky food -- we all shared pizzas, pastas and traditional tangine dishes. tangines are cone shaped clay dishes that cook food by convection. yummy. with some tips from other restaurant goers and the staff of the resturant we made our way back to the taxis and headed off to the hotel.

it had been decided, early on, that we would rather pay a little more for a hotel over a hostel. with the fear of theft at the back of our minds, a nice hotel with hot water sounded amazing. the four-star hotel cost each person $35 USD and we got 3 rooms - a double and 2 quads. it was probably the nicest hotel i've ever stayed at and we were nearly the only people there. after choosing rooms - i was with cassie, thomas &jordan - we decided to go explore the area around the hotel. we got some wine, which we were then told could not be brought into the hotel. drinking is not to be the theme of the trip but a bottle of wine wouldn't have hurt. people in morocco simply don't drink as a result of their religion and history. we were able to bring a bottle or 2 into the hotel to save for dinner but no one (the girls, that is) was interested in pushing our luck by getting drunk. we all sat around and got to know eachother a little bit, which was good since i'd just met the boys that morning.

upon recommendation from the concierge we headed out to a very fancy restaurant for an authentic moroccan meal. it was INCREDIBLE. i want to go back. my mouth is watering just thinking about it. it was on the 3rd floor and the entire place was tiled. it was gorgeous and there was only candlelight. it would have been a great place to go on a date. we all chose a meal which came with appetizers, main dishes, sides, dessert, fruit &mint tea. the first course consisted of 12 little dishes of vegetables, salsas, rices, peppers, cole slaw and mushrooms. we all ate family style and it was great to have a little taste of everything. after the appetizers we go our main course: chicken pastilla, tangine chicken, shish-kebobs &cous-cous with vegetables. the chicken pastilla was AMAZING. it was shredded chicken wrapped in pastry, fried and topped with powdered sugar. so healthy? ah, so good though. after stuffing our faces we had a fruit basket with the most amazing oranges i've ever had. i'm not big on oranges generally but this was so delicious. i wish i could have purchased a carton of them but fresh fruit cannot be brought on the ship. its a shame. after the fruit came some almond biscotti and little chocolates to have with our mint tea and coffee. i think we were there for over 3 hours. it was so amazing and such a fun experience. we walked around the market afterwards which was a totally different experience from daytime. there were less monkeys and snakes and more restaurants. at that point i was glad to have the boys with us. we didn't stay long and headed back to the hotel for some bbc and bedtime.

4 february 2009, marrakech.

after little sleep we all headed downstairs to have a traditional breakfast. there was fresh squeezed orange juice (so good, even WITH pulp), strong coffee, mint tea, pastries, fruits and amazing little pancakes. i don't know how to describe them but they were similar to crepes or the middle eastern pan(?) mom sometimes gets. so tastey. we then decided to check out of the hotel and stay where a large group of sas kids were staying - hotel marrakech. after packing up and leaving the hotel we walked around in the rain for a good hour and were soaked when we finally made it to the hotel. it was an adventure and we all tried very hard to not complain. we ended up getting an apartment for 6 people and ended up with 12 in our room. it worked out in the end but it made me nervous. after meeting back up with some of the boys we headed back to the market where we spent the entire afternoon.

bargaining is not one of my strengths but i think i'm getting better. its the name of the game in the moroccan souks and we all tried our best. i got some flats, more bags, a bracelet and some postcards. we also sat for about an hour at a small cafe with a man named steven from san francisco who worked as a chef for a private ship. he was one of the most accentric people i'd ever met - crazy stories. he did reflexology on all of our hands and was spot on with some of the girls. he told caitlin to be careful of her hips and back, to which she confessed she has scoliosis. he was odd so none of us took him too seriously but it was interesting to listen. he invited us to tea later but we politely declined. that would have been no good. we then found the boys - who had gotten lost - and had some lunch at one of the cafes. we then headed back and everyone fell asleep for a while. the girls and i had a great talk about life and traded stories, it was relaxing. its amazing how close people become after just 3 weeks on the ship! i feel like i can go to these girls for anything. (not that you girls at home could ever be replaced!)

we went back to the market for dinner, this time opting to walk because the second hotel was significantly closer. we ate a one of the "pop up"restaurants that appear at night. the night before we'd promised the men that we'd come back and they were so excited to see us. we all ordered small dishes and shared. this dinner was much more of a local experience and it was great fun to eat outside and smell all the amazing food. i had chicken pastilla again with cassie and some of the chicken shish-kebobs. heavenly. i want the recipe! we gave the men working a list of movies to see and had a great time joking around. the girls and i went quickly to get some knock off sneakers before heading back to the hotel. when we left the boys took a video of themselves bartering for us girls. i think the offer stood at some chickens because only curvy girls were worth camels. funny because the boys were kidding but awful because the men at the restaurant weren't and they truly see women those ways.

after some more girl talk and hating on the boys we were with, we took over the one bedroom and shut the door so that the boys would be forced into the living room.

5 february 2009. back to the ship

we got up early and made our way to the train station. we all got some chocolate croissants and cappuccinos for breakfast and purchased first class tickets home. since there were 6 girls we were able to get an entire one to ourselves which was so nice. and much more comfortable than the ride there. we headed directly back to the ship and made it in time for lunch. i contemplated heading back out for a few hours to explore casablanca but the rain and exhaustion kept me in. i learned that there was a place to send postcards from the ship so i quickly wrote some and used my moroccan stamps :)