Bonjour, mes amies et familie! I cannot believe today’s date is August 17th. This summer has flown by and it seems like just yesterday that Heather and I were flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After 60 days, 9 countries, and countless memories I cannot believe how blessed I am to have had such an incredible summer. This has been the adventure of a lifetime and I am going to be thanking my parents for the rest of my life for allowing me to come on this voyage. Thank you, Mom and Dad!! I LOVE YOU!!!
The last country we visited before our 9 day trip across the Atlantic Ocean was Morocco and I wanted to share some stories with you all from my time there. The first day of Morocco, Heather and I got off the ship we went to the city of Marrakech, where we checked into our lovely hotel and ate a traditional Moroccan dinner complete with cous-cous and curry chicken…yummmmm!!
A group of us girls decided we wanted to venture out to Djemâa al Fna Square, one of the coolest places I’ve ever been in my life, complete with fortunetellers, snake charmers, monkeys, fire-eaters, and acrobats. It was soooo fun to see everything!! We made sure to dress as conservative as possible when we went out because we heard that Moroccan men were even more aggressive to American woman than Egyptian men. It was also the first time in the entire voyage that Heather and I didn’t have at least one boy with us when we went out, so we were a little nervous. We had to take a taxi that was meant for four people to the square and there were six of us crammed in. Heather had to sit on someone’s lap and we nearly died in traffic a couple times on the way there. When we got to the square we were completely overwhelmed with all there was to see, smell and feel. There was smells of sewage, spices, incense, body odor and food. There were so many people I couldn’t even guesstimate the amount in the square that night and everyone was bumping into each other, invading one another’s “bubbles”. It was a lot like the boardwalk of Venice Beach, California except at 11PM in the evening, African, on crack and with only Moroccan men. There was smoke coming from the square because of the street vendors selling food on the way to the “souks” (the markets that came right after you went through the Square). We saw acrobats, fortune tellers, a man with an owl (which I still don’t understand because it wasn’t that neat), and lots of men holding monkeys on chains and leashes. Well I kept getting grabbed by men in the crowd every time we’d stop and watch a performer. I was feeling very vulnerable and afraid so I just kept praying that it would stop. I was dressed very conservatively but there weren’t too many American girls out so Heather and the rest of the girls had to keep the men from harassing me and another girl we were with. Heather is such a wonderful best friend…she’s so fierce and strong when I need her to be (even though she’s fierce and strong ALL the time). We had two men with monkeys the size of a 7 year-old child thrown on two of the girls we were with. They were both bitten and scratched by these monkeys and I was so terrified of how big there were I paid the man 20 dirhams (about 2 dollars) just to keep the huge monkeys away from me. We made it to the beginning of the “souks” where there were women harassing us to do henna on our arms and legs and crazy Berber tribe witch doctors who were selling all these herbal remedies of everything from crystals to cobra snake skins. We were walking towards a shop and a shop owner had a wooden snake he shook at me and I lost it. I was so freaked out at that point I was frozen with panic. Heather kept shouting and trying to get me to move away saying it wasn’t a real snake but I was paralyzed with fear. I was exhausted from all the aggressive men, performers chasing me down for money since I took a picture of their performance, women with henna, and men throwing monkeys at us. We shopped for a while longer and ended up taking a crammed taxi ride back home, praying to the good Lord we wouldn’t get in a wreck. We made it home to the Imperial hotel to get some sleep and woke up to eat a buffet breakfast downstairs.
We walk into the breakfast line and see our friend Shannell in line at the buffet and she saw us and ran up to us, throwing herself on Heather and I. Our other dear friend, Rachel saw us after Shannell and did the same. The night before was horrific for them, including taking a crowded Moroccan train from midnight to three in the morning to Marrakech, and finding out that our hotel had no rooms left expect the “Presidential suite”. To add onto this, the girl they were traveling with was craaaaazy, so that didn’t help things. We decide they would stay in Heather and my room that evening to save them some money. Even though having 5 girls in a room with only two twin beds would be a little squished, we knew how to make it work from our time in Cairo with seven of us in one hotel room…yet again, to save money. The girls went off to do zip-lining and go on a Moroccan “ropes course” that day while Heather and I did sightseeing with our tour. Our guide, Latif, was amazing. He showed us everything: the mosques that housed all the tombs of the previous Moroccan kings, queens, princes and princesses, the palace of Moroccan royalty, a traditional Berber tribe pharmacy (a little more legit than the Berber witchdoctors that we had seen the night before but it was still sketchy…with their jars full of animal parts including a jar holding a hedgehog which apparently did something to help with the sinuses) and then a traditional Moroccan meal complete with sitting on pillows and washing our hands in the middle of the table from a man pour water on us into a ceramic bowl. It was fun. After lunch we did some shopping in the “souks” and we made it out to the square which was much more manageable during the day, even though daytime was when the snake charmers were out. I really wanted pictures of the snake charmers and all the snakes they had on carpets but I was terrified to get anywhere near their tents because I knew if I showed any interest in them the snake men would come and throw snakes on me like they were doing to all the other tourists. I gave “backsheesh” AKA: tip money to Heather and my camera and told her I’d stay a safe distance away while she took pictures for me. Well, Jocelyn and Christen go towards the tent and two men immediately throw snakes on their shoulders and force them to take pictures with them. Watching this, a woman doing henna approaches me and I tell her I’m not interested and about a minute later her henna friend comes up to me and says, “Hurry we have to get away from the snakes!” and I was terrified immediately because I was thinking she saw a man with a snake coming up to me from behind. She grabbed my hand and I ran away to her tent with her and she immediately started drawing henna all over my fingers and right hand. I didn’t want it but she kept drawing away and in about 25 seconds, my entire right hand was filled with “traditional Berber designs” and I was told I needed to pay her 100 dirhams (about 12 bucks). I was furious and started yelling at her because I didn’t even tell her it was alright to start putting henna on me and now I was supposed to pay her. Meanwhile, Heather was yelling at a snake charmer to keep the snakes off of her and we met in the middle and the henna woman attacked Heather with henna on her hand. We decided we’d just give her 50 dirham each, and she would just have to deal with it. We later found out from our guide, Latif, that we over paid by about 30 dirhams so I was mad at myself. We approached a man with a little baby monkey and this time I was very stern with him. “I want a picture with your monkey and I will not tip you if your monkey scratches or bites me.” He was kind of afraid of how forward I was so he just nodded in agreement and I grabbed him baby monkey and handed it back. My friend, Christen, who was taking my picture was ambushed by another monkey that was gigantic and I finally just screamed at the man, “You can’t just throw monkeys on people and expect to get paid!!!” The whole situation was ridiculous. I’ve decided Djemâa al Fna Square reminded me of the first Indiana Jones movie where Indiana was in Egypt and Miriam was put in a gigantic straw basket and they were running through the markets and squares. I think Steven Spielberg got the idea for that part of Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark from this square. The rest of the trip was pretty mild after we got out of Marrakech, filled with lots of bus rides and truck stops. I’ll never forget my time in Marrakech, Morocco though: complete with snake charmers, monkeys and Berber medicine men. Morocco was constantly busy and overwhelming but as chaotic it was; I want to return. The pandemonium that ensued on our trip to Morocco was something I would love to experience again. After all, if everything went smoothly and safely, I would have no good stories. ;)
Thank you all for reading my blog/e-mails. I appreciate your loving thoughts and prayers more than I can ever express and I love you all dearly. My friend, Tristan on the ship made a speech at Convocation saying that “The Semester at Sea Summer 2009 voyage wasn’t the adventure of a lifetime, it was the beginning of a lifetime of adventures.” I could not agree more. While this truly was a summer I will treasure dearly for the rest of my life, I know that this voyage has only left me thirsting for more countries to experience, cultures to explore, people to love on and journeys to take. I have always loved three things: Jesus Christ, people, and traveling…and I know I’ll continue pursuing those three things for the rest of my life. My dear friends and family, thanks for all your love and support!! Can’t WAIT to see you all!!!
Angie Blattner
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