Okay...so I know that I just posted about my home stay in Rabat, but I just had to write a blog about my Valentine's Day! Cheesy right?
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| All the Pottery! |
So most of you know that Valentine's Day is not my favorite holiday. It's just corporate America's way of capitalizing off of our relationships when we should be devoting ourselves to those relationships every day anyway. I came to Morocco with the expectation that I wouldn't run into such consumerism on February 14th. NOPE! Haha! People have been selling candy grams (not condom grams like at MC!) and asking people to be their Valentine all week (gross!). Needless to say, I was disappointed that Valentine's Day followed me to Africa.
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| Babamansour |
HOWEVER! I would like to point out that I had the BEST Valentine's Day! And not in the way that you would expect :)
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| Heart-shaped window pane things <3 |
I traveled to Meknes with 6 amazing people, and we just had the time of our lives! We saw the old prison of Meknes, Prison de Cara (which once held around 60,000 prisoners!); the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, the place where Moulay Ismail (some ancient king) is buried (this guy had like 500 wives and 800 children!); the Old Medina; the Babamansour; an old manmade lake; had lunch on a rooftop; took a horse and buggy to the train station (with 7 people on board...it was uncomfortable); and crammed 7 people into a grand taxi (that uncomfortably sits 6 on a normal day). We had a blast to say the least!
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| FOOD! |
Meknes was such a beautiful city, and we really did have a fun time. Our first big adventure was lunch on the roof. We were just walking around thinking about food when Raul spotted some tables and chairs on the roof of a building and was like: "How about we eat there?" BEST DECISION EVER!
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| Prison de Cara |
We had a three course meal for 150dh...so like $15! SCORE! I had a Moroccan salad, a chicken couscous, and fruit for dessert! Plus mint tea :) I am living the high life over here! Haha!
The prison and the mausoleum were very interesting places. The prison was creepy and dark and Raul decided to appear out of the shadows and scare the living daylights out of me! The mausoleum was a much brighter and happier place! Lots of sun and bright colors on the walls and floors. Beautiful!
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| Mausoleum |
To get into the Old Medina, we had to ask for directions, and this guy took us through and we ended up at his shop (not a huge surprise to be perfectly honest...we knew it was coming). I made a wonderful purchase and got a carpet for 100dh (basically $10!). The guy wanted 350dh, but I only had like 300dh on me, and we still had to take a grand taxi back to school, so I was able to talk him down a bit :) He was so nice too! This other guy in the shop was not. I just asked him a question about a lantern, and he pulled a candlestick down and tried to get me to buy it. I just kept telling him that I didn't have any money left, but HE WOUDLN'T STOP PUSHING! GRRR! Note to self: never ask questions unless you have money to buy!
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| Aren't we cute?! |
Afterwards we walked outside the walls of the Old Medina to a man-made lake, Sharij Swani. It was really beautiful and peaceful. We just hung out for a bit to relax because we had been walking most of the day.
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| Sharij Swani |
Now...my favorite and most memorable portions of the day: the carriage ride and grand taxi ride! Lauren wanted to go to the train station because someone had left a 'hidden treasure' for her there, but we couldn't find three petite taxis to take us there (petite taxis only take 3 people each and we had 7 people...rats!). We just randomly see a horse drawn carriage...Raul says: "Wanna take that to the train station?" THE GUY AGREES! We rode in that carriage for like 20 minutes to get to the train station. We couldn't all fit, so I had to sit on the laps of people, but it was so much fun! We got so many stares! But it was also a very pretty ride because we caught the sunset...VERY VALENTINEY...haha!
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| Our Romantic Ride through the city |
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| Just look at that sunset! |
After our "Romantic Ride", we had to walk a ways to the train station because the horse couldn't go far into the downtown area. I had an apple in my hand, and this like...9 year old kid tries to take it from me. I'm sure you're thinking: "Why not just give him the apple?" He wasn't just trying to get the apple. He kept grabbing my wrist and my bags and my jacket. NOT COOL. At first I ignored him because that's what you're supposed to do, but he wouldn't stop! So I started saying "Laa", which is 'no' in Arabic and "Va", which is 'go' in Spanish. But he wouldn't let it be! All of a sudden, Alyssa, a super soft spoken person, comes out of no where and yells at him in French and says a few choice words! He finally backs off. THANK YOU ALYSSA! Who knew that I would be harassed by a young kid...like...really?!
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| MY NEW CARPET! |
We finally get the train station, find the treasure (just some kind of gum thing and a note), and we try to find a grand taxi to take us back home. Well..the only one we can find wants to charge us 300dh (it's usually 180dh)!! We knew were were being ripped off, but not everyone had their passports so that we could find a hotel and wait until morning to come back. So what did we do?? We crammed 7 people into one grand taxi. The normal amount is 6 people. How big is a grand taxi? NOT VERY BIG. About the size of my Honda Accord. How did we fit 7 people in? Two in front with the driver and 5 in the back. How did we fit 5 people in the back? I laid across people's laps.
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| Crammed in a Grand Taxi! |
Bear in mind that it's illegal to carry 7 people in a grand taxi. ILLEGAL! There are also police checkpoints along the route from Meknes to Ifrane....POLICE CHECKPOINTS! So...when we passed those aforementioned checkpoints, I made myself as small as possible, put my head near their feet, and they covered me with my jacket. SKETCHY! Haha! But we made it back safe and sound, OBVIOUSLY! No worries!
This was definitely one of the best Valentine's Days ever, and it's certainly a day that I will never forget! Ma'Salaama!