Hopping Continents

I just want to remind you that we’re leaving for Africa today.

Oh, you cannot go to Africa.

Yes (sigh), they can. We haven’t forbidden it yet. We will be soon.

That was the last thing I heard from one of our program directors at school on Thursday, besides her safety warnings, which we had heard through everyone’s voices all week. Katie and I were going to do Africa and my God, we did it well.

New food with new friends!

 When we picked our unassigned seats on our RyanAir flight, we were startled when two brunettes a few rows back stood and up and yelled, “Hey! Are you from Virginia?” When we said no they decided to move their seats to right in front of ours and trust us anyways. Let me just say, when you live in a foreign country, it is so undeniably obvious when someone is American - even if they’re trying to blend in. These two beauties, Ashley and Jordon, soon became our partners in crime and we were never apart for the rest of the weekend.

Full hand henna tattoos! Ours were SUPER quality compared to other tourists...

When we walked off the plane in Marrakech with our money belts strapped around us under our clothes, I was in a state of shock that I was truly standing in Africa (and that feeling stuck with me the whole time we were there). After converting euros to Moroccan currency, durhams, the four of us exchanged numbers and headed off to our hostels. Katie and I found a gorgeous taxi driver who overcharged us by over 50% and dropped us off at the main square in Marrakech.

The giant screen in the Main Square when we arrived.  

 Culture shock would be the best way to describe how we felt. There was African music playing loudly, Muslim people in traditional dress everywhere, clay buildings, motorbikes speeding around us (with no marked street), horses and donkeys and monkeys and snakes (with charmers), and booths with food/juice/merchandise surrounding us. The only comfort was a giant movie screen showing old Charlie Chaplin clips. It was reassuring because everyone understands a silent movie. We were lost. After ducking into a random hotel, we were picked up by a man from our hostel and told not to worry.

The owner of our hostel (who made everything OK). :)

We followed this man through the square, down a smaller road, down a much smaller secluded road that had us holding each other’s arms tightly, and finally down a dark tiny dead end road in front of an unmarked door. It was at this point that we wholeheartedly believed we would be taken. (Watch Taken, the movie.) After protesting going in, the man opened the door and walked in ahead of us, which allowed me to see the main area inside that looked just like the picture online. Basically trembling, we were served tea in tiny little glasses (which we rejected), then water (which we rejected because the bottle was previously opened), and then the man who clearly was in charge sent a man out to the square to buy us our own bottle. At that point, I realized we would live. :)

Heaven in a tiny oversized shot glass!

 That night we settled into our private room at our beautiful hostel. The place was incredible and we soon realized the customer service was as well. After we were offered tea a third time, we drank it and I have to tell you… I don’t like any kind of tea and this was delicious. Turns out, Muslims don’t drink alcohol so everyone in Marrakech constantly drinks little glasses of this black tea with mint and sugar. They call it their “whiskey,” but I don’t casually drink whiskey like they drink that tea..?

Myself and camels....IN AFRICA.

On Friday, we woke up and ate a delicious breakfast at the hostel. A worker guided us through the winding, clay wall enclosed streets to our friends’ hostel and we were served another glass of fresh orange juice by them (to die for). We started our day off by getting full hand henna tattoos on the roof overlooking all of Marrakech. After that, we held our purses close and ventured out into the city where we ate yummy spiced tortilla-type things with onions for lunch. After, we headed off in a taxi to the outskirts of town where we rode camels!!!!!!!!!

Dresses and camels. What a beautiful combination. UNREAL.

After an hour and a half of camel riding, we headed to Jardin Majorelle, a famous private garden that both of our hostels had spoken so highly of. It was gorgeous and full of tourists, which was a comfort. After finding a taxi that would take four riders (they’re rare), we were dropped back off at the main square and we navigated our way back to our hostels to rest.

Girls at the Gardens!

When we met back up, we ate at Booth #100 for dinner (suggested by their hostel), and enjoyed tea that was even better than our hostel’s. Mmmmmm. Our meal was pretty tasty (couscous) and so were the potato patties, fresh salsa, and orange juice we got with it. After dinner, we ignored a million different men screaming at us… “You so skinny! Eat here! Maybe later.”

“NICE. Wow, nice. Seksy.”

“You marry me? One kiss! Just one kiss!”

or they would simply yell out Lady Gaga, Sex and the City, or Shakira. Interesting.

Lamp shop in the beginning of the Souks. (I bought a tiny one!)

It was that night we realized that I can bargain and drive down prices very well. When you are rude, suggest half the price, say there is better elsewhere, and then walk away…that tends to be the case. We had a close call on the fourth floor of a blanket/rug shop (safety-wise) that we easily got out of, but that was our biggest scare. We ended the night dancing with a drunk old man in his jewelry shop and chatting on the rooftop of their hostel.

Spices in the market. So pretty!

On Saturday, we spent our final bit of time in Marrakech in the Souks, which is their famous enormous market filled with people both buying and selling. We shopped all morning and early afternoon and got insanely good prices the majority of our purchases. When we finally figured out how to get out of the Souks and back to the main square, we used our final durhams to purchase fresh grapefruit juice. It had so much pulp in it that it was as if you were actually eating the grapefruit. So tasty!

FRESH pulpy grapefruit juice with my last few coins!

Marrakech Fun Facts:

Marrakech Fun Facts:

The city has four million people living in it.

Loudspeakers at the mosques sing out prayers for the Muslim people five times a day that are heard loudly all around the city. (Similar to Hunger Games…)

People there speak Arabic, as well as French and some Spanish/English.

One durham is the equivalent of about 11 euros or over 8 dollars.

There are cats running around EVERYWHERE. Even kittens run around the streets trying to find food. (I never touched one, don’t worry...)

Marrakech Hostel Suggestions:

Trip and Friends

Layla Rouge