Fes, Morocco

(Warning: I realize I look like I was sweating in 110+ heat... Because I was)
More pictures on Facebook.

Its been only 3 days since I last wrote but it feels like weeks. Not only that, I am in a totally different world. From a simple life walking the Camino for a month to a sensory overload in Morocco was a huge jump. When people asked me why Morocco next... my answer was because I was so close while in Spain, when will I ever get the chance to go again, or something like that. Once I arrived and was taken captive of Morocco's culture and essence it was clear why I came here. The culture is unlike anything I have ever experienced. The sights, the colors, the smells, the people... It's literally a different world that you have to see, hear, taste, and touch to believe.

But how did I get here is the question. It was no easy feat like I imagined it was going to be. On Friday night I took an overnight train to Madrid from Santiago. You see, Kari from IL. was going to come with me. So Friday am we went to talk to a travel agent to find the best and cheapest option to Morocco. She ended up backing out because it was a big decision and had to be made on the spot which she couldn't do. Me on the other hand... Sign, seal, and lets go! Traveling solo is fun for me and I'm ready for this next adventure so it was okay that she backed out. I ended up ditching the travel agent and walking to the train station to see if my eurail pass would work. It was around noon and I booked a train to Madrid that night and then another one to the south of Spain to a city called Algeciras all on my EURail pass. BAM!

I was on the train to Madrid all night and arrived at 730am. I sat in Starbucks to kill time and 7 hours later ( in order to use their wifi you have to buy something every 45 minutes. I asked what the cheapest thing was since I'm not a huge fan of coffee or tea and water here is so expensive. She pointed to the individually wrapped pieces of gum. I felt like a baseball player because I had a huge wad of gum in my mouth since I was there for so long...) I went back to the train station to get my second train south. After about 24 hours of travel time I was on the southern coast of Spain. When I got to the port to figure out the ferry I wasn't going to arrive to Tangier until after midnight and well without a reservation or any clue about where to go or what to do once in Morocco, I decided to wait on the ferry until the morning.

At 930am the ferry left for Tangier, Morocco. I had no idea what I was doing, where I was going, or any of the details. Literally when I stepped off the boat, back in Africa!, I looked around and saw lots of Arabic, lots of French, and started laughing because at this moment I was totally here. I made it. And the best part was I was clueless as to what I was doing- which was awesome.

I heard Tangier isn't the best of towns, it's a port city, and that Fes and Marrakesh and the desert are where to go. So I took a taxi from the port to the train station, got on a 5 hr train with no AC in about 110 degree heat, and headed for Fes. While on the train I sat across from a 25 yr old college student who spoke awesome English. He was from Fes and writing down places to go, things to see and do, and what to eat for me. When we arrived after a horrible ride that I'm choosing not to reminisce about, I was just going to get a taxi and head where he told me to go. Instead, he got a taxi for me, took me to my hotel, handled the business, had tea (I'll explain later), took me to meet his family, and gave me the best tour of Fes you could ever imagine. I couldn't have planned a better first day in Morocco.

I know this is a long post but I really want to write about what I experienced during more tour. After I dropped my bag in my room (AC and wifi!), Yassin (Friend from train) left to go see his family. I hadn't eaten all day and was exhausted. I had a pastilla, chicken and veggies with cinnemon and sugar. It sounds weird and I stink at explaining it, but it tasted different than anything I have ever had before. It was delicious! After I ate, it was like 5pm and I was going to nap. Next thing you know, Yassin brings his mother to my hotel to meet me. She said she wanted to show me the city. And so together- me, Yassin, and his mom, were off into the Medina. Fes has two parts to the city (I might not be exactly right with these numbers and explanations but I did just arrive). There is the old town (Medina) and new town. The Old Town, or medina, is where I am staying. It's really hard to explain but it's surrounded by a wall, no real buildings, just a bunch of shanty-type structures right up against one another, with 1200 streets without names. It's a maze to say the least and no cars or bikes- only walking. I don't think words can do this labyrinth of streets justice. Donkeys carry goods around, and the houses are in there along with the market. The market is very similar to Ghana's. Therefore, the sights and smells and bartering and hassling was nothing new for me. So, my tour guides took me to the Medina hotspots. I saw mosques, the oldest university in the world, co-ops where they make leather goods (the whole process from animals, to washing, to dying, to artisans), carpets (the most incredible house that makes displays, sells, beautiful rugs), clothes, jewelry, pottery, everythingggg. Now, if I understand this right, all transactions are over tea. Moroccan whiskey as they call it to be exact. No alcohol, just mint tea with lots of sugar. Everywhere we went, I sat down with them, drank tea, talked about everything, before actually getting down to business. I could tell them up front that I wasn't going to buy something, but that didn't matter. I still got the whole show- a tour of the building, how they made the goods, the tea, and usually a trip to the roof to see the view of the city. The book, 3 Cups of Tea, was running through my head all day. I think I had about 7 cups... Anyway, I ended up buying lots of stuff.

I absolutely love bartering. I feel like I'm really good at it... I just like to think that I know I don't NEED anything, I just WANT it. Therefore, if I get my good deal - great, if not - no big deal. With this mindset, however, you need to be careful. These people are trying to make a living and take care of their families. I don't want to rip them off at all, I just don't want to spend too much because I am a tourist. I think I did pretty well because they were laughing at me and calling me BERBER WOMAN, or local woman.

The population here is mostly Berber or Arab- with most people claiming to be both. The Berbers were the first inhabitants of this area, with the Arabs arriving later like the 7th century with the spread of Islam. The Berbers converted to Islam and as far as I know they all just get along. When I go to the desert I will be staying with a traditional Berber family for one night I hope.

My tour guides also took me up to some ruins just outside the medina gate that overlooks the whole city- absolutely amazing view. They introduced me to people they knew, they taught me some words in Arabic, and they explained that they want me to go home and tell people in the US about Morocco. I can honestly say it was a fascinating, exhilarating, and an awesomely-overwhelming (not sure that's a word) day. I couldn't be more happy I chose to come here to experience this country. Like I said, you truly have to come and experience it for yourself because it's too hard to hard to put into words. It's for sure not for everyone, but for a couple of days, it's definitely for me.


Sent from my iPad