Morroc- the Casbah

So I know I still haven’t written about Spain, but after spending 5 long days in Spain there is a lot to write and it’s taking a while. We left Spain on Wednesday, the 8th of September, and we got to Mocorrco on the morning of the 9th. We were supposed to have a day in between to prepare, but the schedule changed and the transition was quick. I’ll post about Spain later, but I want to post some things about Morocco while it’s still fresh in my mind.
First of all, I got a bit of a bad first impression of Morocco yesterday. After the ship briefing and a diplomatic briefing I was very excited to get into the country and experience something completely different. I bought a Rabat half day tour from Semester at Sea because it was really cheap and I thought it would be a good way to get to know the country in a safe and reliable way. The ship is docked in Casablanca and Rabat is the capital. The bus ride was about 80 minutes and I did a lot of thinking and people watching out of the window of the bus. Our guide was great and I learned a lot of interesting things about Morocco. Our first stop was at the palace. It was really gorgeous, but we only had 20 minutes there. I thought it was very interesting that the current kings wife was a commoner when he met her and after the were married, she was sent to the UK to learn how to be a royal lady. Haha. There are cats all over the place here and there were some sleeping on the windows of the palace. We got back onto the bus to go to the mausoleum where the royals are buried. It was really beautiful, but parts of it were only halfway constructed and never finished. I was walking back to the bus with the group and a bunch of ladies with henna paste came up and asked if we wanted henna tattoos. I said no to the first one and then another woman approached me. She grabbed my arm and started drawing designs on my hand and the whole time I was yelling “No, no, no!” When she finished she said “You pay now!” and I tried to walk away, but she had a hold of my arm. I could see the group walking in the distance so I asked her if she had change and she said yes. I gave her my 200 dirham bill and then I said “I want change”. She proceeded to tell me “Price two hundred”. At that point the tour guide came up and yelled at the lady and told her to give me change. Thankfully I got 170 dirham back. I know these things happen all the time, but I was sort of shocked. I felt a little better that a couple of people on the bus had also been henna-d against their will. We continued through a casbah and walked from the bus to the shore to look at the ocean. I got back to the ship and relaxed the rest of the night and had a lot of much needed sleep.

While we were riding in the bus I kept looking at the women walking along the streets in their traditional attire, complete with headscarves. Men were wearing more modern clothing. I was expecting more women to we wearing more modern western styles, but out of 100 women, only about 5 were. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with Ramadan, which ended yesterday. After the communal prayer at 7PM no one was on the street because they were all at home breaking the fast and celebrating. Today was the first day of Eed ( I haven’t a clue how to spell that) so most things were closed and we saw a big celebration in the city center.
Tomorrow is September 11, and as you probably know, a church in Florida is planning on burning copies of the Quran tomorrow for a protest. We have been warned by the US Embassy officials that there may be some counter protesting or some sort of outcry here tomorrow. I honestly cannot believe that someone would do such a thing. Especially a religious organization -it makes me sick. I find it odd, but amazing that I will be in a Muslim country on September 11. I know that in the US we have the right to free speech, but I can’t grasp why anyone would want to so blatantly insult so many people. There are so many different forms of Islam and so many different people who follow the Quran and this is going to insult all of them.
The embassy officials also showed a slideshow with some important precautions and information about Morocco. In a recent survey, countries were surveyed and asked if they have a highly favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or highly unfavorable view of the US. Only 16% of Moroccan people surveyed had a favorable view of the US. Everyone in the room was a bit stunned and it made everyone a bit nervous as to how we would be treated. On the other hand, the US and Morocco also have a very long- standing treaty of peace and free trade. After interacting with the locals here and talking to some in particular, I have learned that we need to separate the actions of the US government and the people from the US into 2 different categories. Everyone I met today welcomed us with open arms (I know part of it is the money we will spend here). Some even said “Oh, I love Americans. They are so great and nice!” Interesting. One of my friends is in a video journalism class and he interviewed a Moroccan family from Rabat yesterday. He said they were so friendly and told him that their favorite American movies were Braveheart, Troy, and Twilight. Hahaha.
So today I went on the Casablanca city orientation which was amazing and we got to see the beautiful Hassan II mosque here in town and a bunch of other gorgeous places. I took a lot of pictures and I will hopefully put some up if I can find an internet café.
Tomorrow I may go to Marrakesh and see the markets and the mosques there. I would like to do a camel trek, but I am not sure if I will get a chance to do that.
I have heard a lot about the fire in Boulder and that sounds crazy! Everyone better have taken pictures! I miss you all and I will try to update everything soon.
Love,
Michaella