Kelley, I don't think we're in Europe anymore....

So this past weekend was insane. I had so much fun and feel totally accomplished to check off my list that I was in 3 continents in 1 month: North America, Europe, and Africa. Only rock stars on tours do that. Anyways, Morocco was beautiful. I was surprised to see that it was really green in North Africa. We took took a bus and a ferry and another bus to get to our hotel in Morocco. I believe the town we stayed in was called Tetouan at a 4 star hotel called Dreams hotel. I roomed with my friend Kelley Westerberg and enjoyed the nice beds, strong shower pressure, and view from our room. Saturday was the beginning of our journey at 7 am. Our guide's name was Arabic so he referred to himself as Michael Douglas because that's his favorite American movie star. The entire trip he went back and forth between Spanish and English. We saw live market in Tetouan and exchanged our Euros for Dirhams (Moroccan currency). The market itself was interresting but also overwhelming. At times there were smells that were horrible, and then you would walk by an old women selling fresh cilantro and mint.
After the market they took us into this beautiful "art gallery" and showed us the handmade rugs of the Moroccan women. They had different ones of different sizes and demonstrated them in a large room for all of us to see. We could hold on to some if we were interrested and discuss the prices later. In Morocco most places do not have set prices, they barter. After the demonstration was over different men/venders came to get you and discuss with you prices personally. I had three things that I was interrested in and the guy offered 375 Euros for all of them to me. I was completely discombobulated because the men don't give you time to think, all they do is ask your price and then suddenly they shake your hands and tell you its a deal for 100 Euros. So for 100 Euros I bought a hand crafted rug from Morocco. I keep telling myself that it is a magic carpet because I have no idea why I bought it or spent that much money. Whatever the case my grandchildern will enjoy this rug, correction magic carpet, because it has to stay in the family for many generations. I'm thinking of selling blood to actually pay for it. I guess I have a lot to learn in life when it comes to being quick on my toes. I'm going to blame this on the fact that my mom didn't have that little brother I wanted and neither did my Auntie Mo. If I had a little brother, it would have been easier for me to not buy that rug.
After this, me and some other people were still in shock. We got to ride camels in Tanger which was a highlight of my life. One more thing to check of my list, riding a camel in Africa. But I actually think the camel was half dead. Before ending our long day we got to see the point in Tanger where the the Mediteranean sea and the Atlantic meet. There was a light house to mark the spot and off in the distance you could see Portugal. It was mid afternoon and beautiful. I actually saw a vender selling hand carved elephants, turtles, and camels. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted a little elephant. So I bought one where the Mediterranean sea meets the Atlantic ocean. I really felt my journey was complete.
Sunday we spent touring a town called Chechaouen. It is located in a mountain range that used to be apart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain before the two continents split. The life there was cleaner and more intruguing than the other two cities we saw. The people did not hassel you to buy things from them either.
The trip was successful. The food was ok, not my favorite as I consider myself to be kind of a food conosouir. They used cuscus in many meals. Also we had to buy our own drinks on the trip. It is also not healthy for foreigners to drink the tap water so we didn't do that. We did drink a mint tea that was delicious, but one thing that I really enjoyed was a desert of oranges. The thing that made it great was that they sliced oranges and sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on top of the oranges. It was so fresh and perfect to end a meal.
The people are mainly Muslim in the areas that we went. If we say women they were just doing their shopping for the day. It was only men out socializing. In the apartments that we saw usually 5 families of about 5 or 6 people each live there. That means about 25-30 people. It is just different. Most people that we met were atleast bilinguel. If people saw us they spoke Spanish to us assuming we were European and listened to our guide. We met many people that spoke 4 languages, Arabic, French, Spanish, and English. This really makes me think that Americans are lazy when it comes to studying.
The trip home was long and I learned a lot. I couldn't help but feel mesmerized by the scenery and thankful for everything and everyone that got me to that point in my life. I might have come back with a lighter wallet, but going to see things like I saw changed my perspective on life and people in one tiny weekend.