Tangier

We were welcomed into Morocco by our wonderful friend Taha, who picked us up from the ferry. We arrived around 10:30pm and went to Taha's house where his mom and brother greeted us with pastries and Moroccan cookies. We stayed there briefly and then went to Youssef's house, where we stayed for most of our time in Tangier. Youssef's mom had prepared a delicious meal of cous-cous and other typical Moroccan dishes. Everything was so good, we couldn't stop eating. We finished the meal with fresh fruit and then Taha and Youssef took us around the city at night pointing out all the different parts of the city. We spent most of our time in Tangier relaxing, going to the beach, exploring the medina (which is the "old city" in every city surrounded by protective walls) and hanging out with our boat friends. We took a day trip to Assilah which was a Spanish city and it's medina is famous for an art festival where every year artists come in and paint all over the walls. While we were there some artists were working on their projects and preparing for the festival. We went to Chefchaouen for 2 days to visit our friend Youssef's hometown. Chefchaouen is known as the blue and white city because all of the buildings are painted white and the doors are different shades of blue. This city is nestled within the mountains and is absolutely beautiful. It was pretty hot while we were there, 43 degrees Celsius. We also had the opportunity to go to a Moroccan wedding, which was really cool. This wedding was a split wedding so technically only women were allowed to go, so Brooke and I went with Youssef's mom, aunt, and cousins. Youssef and AJ were able to come later, but they had to stay upstairs on the balcony. It was a wedding unlike anything from back home and so much fun! There was lots of dancing, talking, and waiting for the bride's new outfits (she changes dresses at least 3 times and all are beautiful.)

Everyone keeps asking how I would describe Morocco to people at home, which is actually hard to do. Personally, it's how I pictured it to be, except that obviously isn't the same for everyone else. I would compare it to a mix of other cities that I've traveled to before, but what I've found here is that it isn't really about the different cities, it's about the people and the culture. American society is very individualistic (hard to believe I know), where as the Moroccan culture is collectivist, with a huge emphasis on family. It's such a different atmosphere and everyone makes you feel like you belong and have lived here all your life. I've also had some great discussions here, especially on politics and Obama. It's so intellectually stimulating to be able to have political discussions with people who aren't from the United States because they offer a unique perspective that isn't being formed by the American media; it's one of the things I miss most from the boat. There are a lot of international news channels here (BBC world news, CNN international, Fox news, AJeerzah international), that aren't as biased as they are back home. A lot of the people I've talked to aren't a big fan of Fox news, but I can't imagine why... But the food here is amazing and our friend's parents think we never eat enough and are always giving us more food. I probably have gained 10 pounds from Morocco alone. Chicken tagine is probably my favorite. It's cooked in this special dish with different vegetables and spices and the meat just falls right off the bone. It's so good and you eat it with bread; but really you can't go wrong with any of the food here, it's all that good. We are having a great time here so far and I can't wait for our roadtrip around the country!