Morocco

We really think that all of us had beliefs about how we thought Morocco would be. Spending a week traveling to 4 different cities within Morocco we all came to realize how fortunate we are to live in America. We also came to appreciate what Matt has been doing for a good 21 months of his life. As Matt said (paraphrasing of course) “You can’t depend on anything in Morocco”, we came to learn that this statement is very factual. While you would like to think that everywhere in the world is like America that for sure is not even close when it comes to Morocco. Moroccans are on their own time schedule and appear to be very easy going, laid back individuals who do not have any concept of time or schedules.

One of the things we noticed while traveling across miles upon miles ((kilometers upon kilometers)) of Morocco was the beautiful landscape and scenery that provided us with a lot to watch while busing/taxing/training our way around the country. While beautiful, Morocco had a lot to be desired when it came to wealth. It seemed that most Moroccans lived in poverty or don’t desire material wealth. Men would be found in groups sitting hour after hour at small cafes drinking hot tea, while women would be at the homestead taking care of the children and the everyday chores. We found ourselves a number of times saying to each other how if the men would put forth an interest in working on developing a trade rather than sit and drink tea all day every day, maybe Morocco would not be classified as a 3rd world country. While this is how we feel, we also interacted with Moroccans while visiting Fes, Khenifra, Marrakech, & Casablanca and they were all friendly & happy living happy lives. Realizing that the majority of the people in Morocco do not have the chance to travel the world or see anything than what they are accustom to, they don’t know any difference and have nothing to compare their ways or living and beliefs to.

We feel we can speak for everyone when we explain our feelings of how we felt when we stepped off our plane into the Moroccan airport, looked around and felt out of our element… kinda like for once in our lives we were outsiders. No English, no readable signs, just stares and lots of them! Seeing Matt brought a sense of relief to all our minds because he was our lifeline, the one we depended on for just about everything for our 6 nights in Morocco! After not seeing Matt for 21 months it was so great to see him just because we hadn’t seen him in forever, but it was also great to see him because we felt safe and like we were little kids lost in the grocery store found by the one who could get us through it all, and he did! Great Job Matt!

One of the many things that when asked about Morocco that immediately comes to our mind is DIRT. Morocco is a very dirty country. Not dirty as in unclean people (although they don’t shower daily), but dirty as in dirt and trash. Morocco has a great abundance of fresh produce, livestock ((minus pigs)), as well as everyday materials like Tide & sponges. We believe that at someone’s house there would be a trashcan, but while walking the streets you would just see trash laying everywhere. For instance, one man who was on our bus from Khenifra to Marrekech, got off the bus during the lunch stop and threw his food wrappers on the ground, no second thought about littering he just didn’t care about throwing trash onto the ground. Trash is also set out on the streets and many a time dogs and/or cats would pick through the trash for this is their way of surviving. (FYI – Dogs are wild and are not common household pets to Moroccans). This trash that gets picked through by the dogs and/or cats then sits there and collects on the streets. The other form of dirt is the dirt that turns to mud, while Morocco does not have an abundance of rain and wet weather, we were lucky enough to visit while it rained so we experienced firsthand how dirt surely does turn to mud. Unfortunately due to the mud and rainy weather we were not able to visit the site that Matt has devoted the past 2 years of his life. Taxi’s aren’t overly in favor of trekking out to his site in the bad weather so we did have to pass on seeing the site, which was a letdown for we were all looking forward to that. Thankfully Matt had pictures he was able to share so we could see all his hard work in some form! 🙂

“Matt, Where’s the toilet?” asked Josh. Oh, it’s over there, it’s a hole in the floor. Yes, you read that correct, the toilet is a hole in the floor. And not any floor, it’s a hole in the floor of the shower. Before leaving for Morocco we were under the impression that a Turkish Toilet was basically just a hole in the floor. Just a simple, disgusting hole in the floor. Many questions were pondered before going, such as how do you hover above during, which hand should us use – my left or right and where exactly does the stuff go? Not only were these questions answered once in Morocco, but we can honestly say we like the idea! The Turk, as we come to call it, is actually a very clean concept. In theory, no body part should ever come in contact with an area that someone else’s body part has touched. In fact, if done correctly, the discharge or its splatter should not come in contact with your body either. You just have to get the right distance and approach – that’s it. Now as far as where does it go, well let us tell you that it’s a fully functional utility. Just think of your toilet at home, just without something to sit on. Once you’re finished using the Turk, you fill a bucket with water and wash everything away. It actually flushes!

More importantly, the Turk is in the same room as your shower. No, actually the Turk is IN your shower. Yes, not directly where you stand, but over just a few feet. Now while at first this seemed very disgusting, think about the potential. We’ll let you draft your own mental images, just make sure to think of the last time you were showering and all of a sudden had the demanding urge. It’s just a few feet and squat away. Wow.

Our first full day in Morocco was in the town Fes – did you ever feel like a mouse in a maze? We spent several hours walking through the alleys where merchants sold everything a household ((Mind you, a Moroccan household)) could possibly need. After walking through this seemingly endless maze, we turned a corner and smelled quite possibly the worst smell ever. Welcome to the Tanneries! You might be wondering what exactly a Tannery is – it’s a place where animal skins and hides are turned into leather. Yes, you read that right, turned into leather. While we can’t describe the process exactly ((We guess it might be a Moroccan trade-secret)), we can tell you it involves cleaning, dunking and washing the skin/hide/leather in many different tubs filled with many different, all-natural liquids. In fact, in one of the first steps when the remaining hair and stuff ((Just think, J-E-L-L-O)) need to be removed from the skin, squirrel urine and poop ((Mo, should that be squirrel BM?)) are used. Which, oddly enough is not only very harmful to us people, but also smells like, um, yeah, gag reflex. Honest to God. Just think, next time you use the leather whatever ((handbag, gloves, jacket, slippers, etc)), we’ve smelled the smells and seen the squirrel stuff pits! All joking aside, it was amazing how labor intense and time consuming it is to manufacture just one leather product. And think most of the labor is manual. We didn’t see any machinery. Later that day we went to a store/hole in building to see a man selling carpets. Earlier in the trip Matt had mentioned to us that he would be bringing us to this store and that, while we probably didn’t think we would want to buy anything, to make sure we brought money with us… Just in case. The carpets were out of this world as was the man who opened his store especially for us. All of the carpets were either handcrafted on-premise or locally by Moroccans. It was interesting to see that the carpets made by women had an unfinished end. To them, this allowed them to continue to improve on their trade and never fully complete a carpet; meaning they never will stop learning.

To Moroccan Women, leaving the one end unfinished meant that they never finished that carpet. This allows them to continue to grow and improve on their trade and have something to come back and finish. While it’s very hard to explain in type, it is basically a spiritual belief that they were never fully finished here and have much more work ahead. Because when all of their work is finished, there’s nothing left. As Matt had predicted, we did purchase our own Moroccan carpet which can now be seen in our dining room, under the dining room table!

Matt expressed to us prior to our visit how Moroccans love Sugar Tea, we witnessed firsthand how hot sugar tea is to a Moroccan like a beer is to an American, only 100xs more popular. Moroccans drink hot tea for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, really like it is their job. Remember all those men at those cafes during the day! We tried the hot tea a number of times while touring Morocco, we also tried freshly squeezed orange juice, which we both feel was the best OJ we ever had. Another famous drink that Moroccans drink is apple and banana juice. Not apple juice like you would find here in America though, both these juices are made with juice and milk; it reminded us of a milkshake. While good, we would still have to go with the fresh OJ! Coffee isn’t overly popular in Morocco because it is a country of sweet tea lovers, but they do have what is known as Nes-Nes. Similar to coffee, yet not coffee at all oddly enough. The biggest difference of all is that hot beverages like tea and coffee were served in glasses, which did not do much for keeping the drink hot for a long period of time!

Our introduction to Khenifra, Matt’s town, was interesting especially because we had just spent 4 hours in a Mercedes Taxi Cab. Now being that there was six of us, we had to take 2 taxis. When we left Fes, there was a bit of confusion and our taxi’s separated. No worries right? Wrong. We did not meet up with each other until we reached the outskirts of Khenifra. 4 hours in a taxi cab freezing in the back seat, unable to speak to the driver due to the huge language barrier, aka we not knowing the language. While the ride was amazing, it was a bit nerve racking because we weren’t sure where the other cab was, nor were we sure our driver was even headed to Khenifra. Seeing the land and undeveloped hills, mountains, valleys, and just all of the landscape out our car windows was a very surreal experience. Seeing such things like a man on a donkey walking through a small town, children playing in the fields, wild dogs, domesticated sheep, all while listening to Enya, really made you realize exactly where you were and what you were experiencing in that moment! Once we parted ways with our cab drivers we entered Matt’s apartment building and were greeted with flight after flight of stairs… no problem… luggage in hand, over shoulder and our steady feet ready to go, we made the 1st of many trips up the steps!

The town of Khenifra, to us, seemed a bit on the old fashion side compared to Fes and Marrakech. Women were seen with other women, while men would be at their cafes having tea – and the women would tend to be fully covered more so in Khenifra than in the other cities we traveled through. It was an experience to walk through the town and see dogs eating from a trash bag, and men selling popcorn on the streets and eggs by the number of eggs you wanted. Our first night in Khenifra Matt made us Tagine, which is similar to what we know as a Crockpot, only a Tagine has a round base and a cone shaped top that sits on the round base. In this you can cook whatever you desire. We had this two times while at Matt’s place and both times had chicken with fresh veggies and seasoning! The interesting thing about eating from a Tagine however is that you tend to use bread rather than silverware, plus you use your right hand to eat since your left is used to wipe and flush (or rinse the hole with bucket water) when using the bathroom. The produce and chicken were purchased at Souk, similar to a Farmer’s Market here in the States. Matt tends to go to Souk every few days, for refrigeration isn’t as common in Morocco. With living in a city, refrigeration is available but limited and a lot smaller units than what we are accustom to here in the States. Many families do not own refrigerators and the families who live in the bled actually live off the land and are lucky to have electric or even running water. We believe we can speak for the other 3 American visitors when we say “We loved Tagine”!!!!

One thing that Matt expressed was that Morocco never gets rain and is very dry. Well the two days we were in Khenifra rain was present. Present to the point we were not able to travel to the site Matt has been working on for the 2 years he’s been a PCV. While we were all very disappointed, Matt was able to share pictures of what he has done and showed us models of what the finished project would look like. Instead of playing in the mud, we stayed in and spent some quality time playing 9-No-Peakie, a card game that we only learned a matter of days before our trip to see Matt. In fact, Aunt Diane learned the game in the Philadelphia Airport, so she only had a few hours and games in on Matt. While we threatened to bring Hand & Foot to play with Matt, we decided not to press our luck and stuck with this simple fun game. Matt caught on rather quickly and even played the game while in Marrekech, Rome, and the airport! Hmmmmmm, maybe we found a game he likes!

The second day in Khenifra brought rain, which brought 9-No-Peakie, it also brought Sarah, a fellow volunteer who lives about 40 minutes via taxi from Matt. She came to visit and we had a great time getting to know her. Matt and Sarah have become BFF’s and in fact they have “gone the distance, the blue star distance” as BFF’s should to prove to other PCV’s that they are the “best” BFF’s! It was very cute hearing their stories and experiences they have shared while in the Peace Corp together. The evening Sarah was in town, Mom, Dad, & Aunt Diane retired on the early side to their room down the hill, and the 4 of us had a fun time drinking wine & beer (both Moroccan) and devouring a pot of Sarah’s home popped popcorn. Josh even sufficed his 2 Big Kats, which hit the spot! It was great to get to know Sarah; she was a bubbly, fun, energetic girl who certainly without doubt has helped to get Matt through his Peace Corp experience as we are sure he has done for her!

Marrakech was a unique experience. While both Fes and Khenifra were two unique experiences, what made Marrakech unique to all its own was the fact that teeth, yes teeth were sold in the square during the daytime hours, while in the evening you could eat from cart vendors in the very exact same spot you purchased teeth from earlier in the day. Not only were false teeth sold, but included in the odd items sold on the square were squirrels & turtles. Monkeys on chains and snake charmers were also two daytime attractions at the square. We did not purchase any of the unique items, nor did we partake in charming of the snakes or have a monkey sit on our shoulder, but it was a unique opportunity to see the livings of some of the Marrakech folk.

The square was an amazing attraction, for during the day you would find the mentioned above, along with juice carts & dried fruit and nut carts. These carts remained on the square during the evening hours as well. However, where the snake charmers, monkeys on chains, and the various vendors were, at night these things were all replaced by food vendors. We were in Marrakech two nights, the first night after an attempt to eat at a different square on a rooftop, we could not order dinner until later in the evening, so we went back to the main square and ate at a restaurant there that overlooked all the activity of the square below. This was a fun experience and while dining we enjoyed the entertainment of the square and our adoptive cats which liked to sit on the rooftop, hoping for a tid-bit of food. The second night we returned to the place we went the night prior that didn’t serve food until later, this night however they weren’t open, so back to the main square we went, this time however we weren’t overly hungry, so we ate from a food vendor. This was another unique experience. We all ended up just having a Hirara soup that Matt recommended. It consisted of a tomato based soup with chick peas, noodles, corn and veggies; it was on the bland side so some salt would have probably made it better in both our eyes!

The second day, which was a full day in Marrakech, we took a bit of an adventure on a Site-seeing bus. The bus was a double-decker bus, which you toured around the city. Included with the tour was the ability to get on and off the bus at different stops as often as you liked, the bus was “yours” for 24 hours. Matt suggested we see the Jardin Majorelle, which is an arrangement of gardens. These gardens were beautiful and we did get a few pictures, but of course our camera battery died so we did miss some shots we would have liked. Mom came through with the use of her camera so we weren’t without a camera for too long 😉 Another neat thing which Matt said to not get too overly excited about because it wasn’t all as magnificent as it sounded like it would be, was The Palmery. This, trying to describe the best we can is an area that is filled with palm trees. Now these palm trees aren’t top of the line palm trees that you would find outside a resort, they looked like real genuine in their natural element palm trees. It was neat to see palm trees in a natural setting and then have camels lying around next to and within this area. It was magnificent in its own way…. real if you would, just real.

Our final day and night in Morocco was spent in Casablanca. While we weren’t sure if Casablanca would be doable we found the time before heading to Rome to fit in a few sites and we are glad we did!

The Hassan II Mosque was recommended as a site worth seeing, now while we saw many mosques while in Morocco and heard The Call to Prayer (which happens 5 times a day and follows the lunar calendar) many times, there are only 2 mosques known that Non-Muslims are permitted to enter. The Hassan II Mosque is also the biggest, as it holds 50,000 people. We were able to do the tour of the Mosque and even as visitors we had to take our shoes off when entering. No chairs or pews were within the walls of the mosque, only carpet in select areas and kneeling pads, which of course faced Mecca. Before praying however, both men and women must wash themselves in washrooms. Separate male and female washrooms were located on the bottom level of the mosque. We were informed that each person who comes to pray must wash certain parts of their body before they may pray, some parts more than once! The Mosque is currently open to the public and is used for prayer.

Being that it was our last night in Morocco we decided that eating Moroccan style was the way to go. Where else in the world can you get your hands on authentic Moroccan food, come on we had to go Moroccan! We found a restaurant that Dad and Matt ate at when Dad visited Matt in April. The restaurant wasn’t open for business however until 6pm, so we ventured down the street a bit and decided to have a beer in a bar, Speciale Flag beer to be exact. Now, Matt  made it known to us that women are not permitted in bars in Morocco, at least Moroccan women aren’t permitted. We as foreigners are permitted to enter bars and drink. Men look at foreign women as “easy”, so we knew this entering the bar and figured what the heck, it wasn’t going to kill us to share a beer as a family! It was a fun time and Matt did take notice that the bar we were in he classified as a better bar than most others in Morocco. Very clean and rather trendy, it was fun to sit and have a beer with Matt, Mom & Dad and Aunt Diane. Cheers Morocco!

Dinner was a great experience and once again great food! We had a variety of dishes, most of us having Tagines of some sort. The atmosphere was phenomenal, with tile walls, couches, and small chairs, it was an experience that will never be forgotten. Once again we had a cat join us for dinner, which was pretty comical considering this time we were indoors!

Our first and probably only trip to this part of Africa, we had a fabulous time! It was an experience of a lifetime to be able to see Morocco live and in person and experience a different culture and lifestyle than what we are used to in the safety of America. It was great to see and spend time with Matt, being able to see him interact and do something as simple as say hello in a language that we would have no idea how to do! It made us both appreciate what we have and when faced with a person who doesn’t speak the English language we now understand how it feels to be placed in those types of surroundings and just how scary it can be. Matt, thank you for taking the “challenge” of touring us around the country of Morocco, we know that touring 5 other people all who do not know a lick of Moroccan dialect can be a bit overwhelming and stressful. You did a fabulous job and we will forever remember the opportunity we had when visiting you in the Peace Corp. – Thank you!

Highlights from Morocco

• MMMMM Pasta Salad, Pringles, and soda – Paris Airport
• Debit card withdrawal issues; Commerce what?
• Watching The Mummy on TV in ENGLISH; we don’t get picky when it’s the only English channel
• Eating breakfast on rooftop – breakfast made just for us (brought table up, walked food over from restruant)
• MacDonalds vs. McDonalds; Is it that different?
• Crazy taxi ride in Bob Marley taxi
• Had italian for lunch – funny, we’ll be in Rome in two days
• Police man in middle of road directing traffic – MacDonalds vs. McDonalds he he he…
• Car with NJ plates – Lexus SUV
• Orange juice vendors fighting over us
• Little girl following us waiting money
• lady pinching Mo and Papa smurf
• Megane car, yes a car named after Megan!!!
• Sleeping at the airport on the journey home

Travel in Morocco

We felt that the travel in Morocco needed a complete separate section of its own! Travel in Morocco was not as easy as one may think. Once we stepped foot on Moroccan soil after a 6 hour plane ride from Philadelphia to Paris, then a 4 hour layover, followed by a 3 hour plane ride to Morocco, we jumped on a train for an hour to Casablanca. While we technically landed at the Casablanca Airport, it is in fact an hour by train away from Casablanca. No problem. Once in Casa, we came to find that the next train to Fes was in about 2 hours, so tickets are purchased and we head to a nearby cafe for “snacks” while we wait. 5 Orange Fantas, a Nes-Nes, and about 5 packs of Henry’s later, we head back to the train station. After about 5 hours on a train we arrive in Fes.

After touring Fes we bought out two Mercedes taxi’s to take us to Khenifra. 2 taxis because of the number of people we split up and planned to follow each other on the 4 hour ride to Khenifra, nope, our taxi’s separated and we didn’t meet up until we are on the outskirts of the city of Khenifra. Josh, myself, and Dad shared a taxi and our driver nearly froze us out with leaving his window open the entire trip! He also continued to stop every 20 minutes or so. One thing we did learn was that telephone is a universal word because this is what he said every time he stopped. We had an on going joke about how he must be calling his girlfriend or wife! No other words were spoke to each other for we could not understand what the other was saying. It was perhaps the quietest 4 hours on the entire trip!

Leaving Khenifa, Matt purchased first class seats on a buss to Marrakesh. This trip would take 6.5 hours, with minimal stops on the way. Thank goodness Matt purchased these tickets for if he hadn’t we could have been thrown up on by a Moroccan who isn’t used to the idea/concept of motorized transportation. The trip by buss wasn’t all that bad and it was really rather relaxing to look out the buss window and see the country side & other cities, again it put into perspective just how lucky we are!

After visiting Marrakesh, we took a 4 hour train to Casablanca. While in Casa, we took a Petit Taxi to the Mosque, again with there being 6 of us we had to split into 2 cars. Our driver was fine and got us there in rather good time, he however did not have change and was waving his 100 duram at other taxi drivers and even pulled into a gas station to find change. At first Megan thought that the guy was going to rip us off, but then later realized he was just trying to find us change. He dropped us off at the Mosque and found change from a nearby taxi driver and brought us our change back – now how often would that happen in America –

The next morning we took the 1 hour train ride back to the Moroccan Airport. This was unique because we were on a good number of trains during our visit and not one played music, well this one did. We had our own compartment, which we had in the past, but this time dance music blared out of the speakers into our compartment! It was a bit bizarre considering this class of people appear to quiet and reserved.. maybe not when it comes to their train music!

When we reach the airport we literally walk the length of the terminal about 5 times. All the employees of the airport have our flight listed at different terminals, so we wonder back and forth trying to find the correct terminal. One thing we learned about Morocco is like Matt stated, “you can’t depend on anything” and that is the truth even when it comes to the transportation schedules mean nothing!