So I spent the weekend camping in the Sahara desert.
(I cannot believe I just typed that sentence.)
I was a little apprehensive at first and definitely not as excited about it as I should have been. We had to meet at the bus at 4:00am on Thursday morning (which is extra early in Spanish time) so as I am trudging to the bus with my very heavy bag in the rain and passing people who were still out from the night before, I was a bit . . . unenthusiastic.
We took a bus to a ferry to a bus to Fes. Fes is the second largest city in Morocco next to Casablanca. Due to a very unfortunate mistake on the hotels end, we were forced to move to a five star hotel. It was really rough. Just kidding, it was awesome. The hotel lobby was beautiful with mosaics on every single and Moroccan chandeliers hanging from the brightly decorated ceilings. However, I have to say Fes was not an awesome first impression of Morocco, but in my un-enthused state I probably didn’t give it quite the chance I should have.
In Fes we went to the Medina, medinas are the old parts of the city, usually, as they are what used to be the city. The one in Fes is the oldest functioning medina in the world, dating back to 859, and is also known as one of the last four medieval cities in the world. Basically it is a series of over 6,000 buildings crammed into a very small space with narrow winding streets that form a dangerous labyrinth of doom – if you got lost, that is. The Medina isn’t just a touristy thing, though; it is still completely functioning with shops, mosques, schools (including the oldest university in the world, founded by a woman I might add…), and homes for a total of 156,000 people. So there is the factual side of the Medina.
My experience of the Medina was interesting to say the least. We traveled with a tour guide; there was no way our leaders would let us loose in there. It was filthy, smelly, dark and wet. Seriously, I have never been exposed to a place like that. Once you got over the nauseating smell, stopped thinking about what you were stepping on, and quit flinching when the feral cats jumped from roof to roof over you, it was really cool.
We were there on a Friday, their religious holiday, so it was much quieter and less crowded than it normally is. Thank God. Vendors were still selling everything under the sun from their shops. Bowls filled with fruit lay out for you to sample, crepes were cooking on these giant stone ovals, silver and leather products were dangling everywhere, and delicacies such as “beef in fat and oil” were abundant. I could go on and on with everything they were selling, but we would be here for a while.
Our tour guide took us to a bunch of different shops (where, of course, he was getting a cut of the profit). We visited a rug shop where we were greeted with mint tea and smiles before the hard-sale begun. I remember hearing some girls saying at lunch that they don’t even know how they ended up buying the rug – these were some quality salesmen. We also visited a silk shop where we got to see the looms where they made every single scarf, blanket, etc. in the shop. We stopped at a jewelry store and a few other little places where they had the most beautiful silver jewelry, lamps, and mosaic covered things I have ever seen. The coolest place was a “pharmacy,” though. Here they sold all natural remedies for everything. I spent way too much money here, but it was seriously so cool. Lipstick that changes color based on the chemicals in your body, a coal you sniff to clear your sinuses (it totally works, too), and all sorts of spices and teas. It was lovely. We were also taken to a tannery were they made leather goods like they have been for hundreds of years. It was horrible smelling, but it was really cool to see the giant stone holes they cleaned the hides in and the rest of the process of turning a bloody animal hide into a usable piece of leather. Finally, we went to a pottery place, where they literally stomp on the clay in a hole until it is the right consistency before hand spinning, painting, and firing them.
They also chisel every tile for the mosaics by hand before laying them face down and spreading plaster on them to create the mosaics. So that was cool. All of it was cool, and such a different culture. I loved it, but I am very thankful we had someone who knew what they were doing to guide us.
That night we went to a Moroccan show where we got little snapshots of a few different aspects of their culture. We saw two different belly dancers, who were both beautiful and incredibly talented. There was some awesome drumming and a magician who blew my mind. It was a really neat show and the performers really knew how to keep us engaged, always pulling people up to teach them how to dance or something. Belly dancing American boys are hysterical. So the video is of a belly dancer, I just thought it was really unique.
So then we were in the desert at our camp. Let me tell you, I was definitely shocked and pleasantly surprised at how nice everything was. The camp staff, all locals, greeted us with smiles, compliments, and Berber Whiskey (mint tea) after we had dropped our stuff off at the tent. Our tents were semi-permanent solid things that slept 10 people each. We had little mattresses with sheets and a camel hair (I think…) blanket. There were light bulbs hanging from the top of the tent that were on when we first got there, but they ran on a generator so were a little spotty. The dinning tent was huge and beautiful. There were intricate handmade red rugs covering the entire floor and silk hanging from the walls. We even had a little bathroom, although the toilet (yes, singular) only worked for a couple hours with over 140 of us using it… then it was just the Sahara desert and you. Okay, and the locals who hung around the camp waiting for you to leave so they could bombard you with questions.
On that note, the locals were really cool. They are known as the “Berbers” which was derived from Barbar from when the Romans called them barbarians. That isn’t their technical name, but I am not sure I ever learned what their technical name was. They hung around outside of the camp, so whenever you left the walls of the camp you were approached by a few of them. They don’t necessarily get a lot of schooling past primary school so they learn most things from the tourists. Most of them could speak 3-4 languages fairly well. It was incredible. So they were around a lot and we had a lot of funny, awkward, and enlightening conversations with them.
Dinner was incredible; the Moroccans know how to eat. There was always the lingering fear of getting sick, our leaders told us it was likely we would. Some people did, some people didn’t. I was one of the fortunate people who did not, so I enjoyed plenty of delicious food. After dinner we explored the dunes a bit with some Berber friends before heading to our warm beds a bit early.
The next morning I woke to the first of five daily prayers, always done at first light, being spoken over loud speakers in the village. It was kind of cool to lay there in that just-woke-up haze listening, it almost sounded like a song, maybe it was, but my Arabic isn’t quite good enough to tell you. A few minutes later they came around and woke us up so we could see the sunrise. That was so incredible, my friend Lauren and I hung out with a Berber while watching the sunrise, and he is gets credit for the photo. We then took a little siesta until breakfast, creeps, jam, and Berber Whiskey.
Then was the good stuff. Camels. One hundred and forty camels showed up to accommodate our group. My friends and I managed to get on the first group of camels and enjoyed the view of the Sahara without any hindrance. Most of us wore turbans to keep the sun off, a good choice, as it was hot. Plus it made us appear way more legit… I don’t care what the laughing Berber children thought. Pierre, my camel, was a champ. However, camels are not like horses, five minutes into the ride, my rear end was ready to murder me. The fact that I was riding a camel through the Sahara desert helped keep my mind off of it. I still cannot believe that was real. Enjoy the [ridiculous] video I took while on Pierre. We took a little [butt] break at this massive dune that my friends decided we had to hike up. So we did, and I made it, and it was likely the most accomplishment I have ever felt. Until I saw the little Berber kids running up and down it like it was a speed bump.
By the time we had eaten until we couldn’t any more, we were all a bit tired and decided to engage the culture and siesta for just a minute or two…. So that is a lie. We did get up to see the sun set though, that blew my mind. I don’t think I can even describe it, you know? It was one of those moments that seemed completely unreal and entirely too outstanding to comprehend. It looked like a painting; all of the right colors in exactly the right places.
We met up with some friends after that and played cards back at the camp until another wonderful dinner. At dinner they had a local band playing some typical Moroccan music that was so fun and unique and, naturally, ended in a Moroccan-style dance party. The servers and the other camp workers joined us and it was just a party.
Me and three other friends decided to go lay out and look at the stars after the dance party. I have never seen anything like that before, another one of those “is this real life?” moments. We lay out on the dunes looking up at the sky, no real city lights for miles around us, and the music of local drums beating in the distance (that sentence is for you, Tom). There was no way not to think of the vastness of the universe and all that entailed when looking up at something like that. We chatted about it for a bit, but then simply lay in silence reveling in the fact that we were seeing such an amazing sight.
As usual, however, a Berber came up and started up conversation with one of my friends in Spanish. He eventually started telling jokes in Spanish, which she did not get at all. Then the conversation got a little more personal, discussing the effects that Moroccan food had one some of our group, which was just fine and my friend seemed to be having a grand time. Until we realized that seven other Berber guys had made a semicircle behind us. So my friends’ private conversation with the Berber guy had actually been a little show. Me and my other two friends just about died. Tears streaming down our faces and bellies aching from laughing, we made our way back to camp where we very contentedly slid into our sandy sheets and slipped out of one dream and into another.
We spent the majority of the next two days traveling. If I never sit in another bus it will be too soon. The ferry was cool once we actually got on it; the weather was horrendous so it was really late. BUT because the weather was so bad, the ferry rocked around a lot, it was an adventure and made me thankful in an entirely new way that I had not gotten sick. Four days of travel for two days of adventures, but in reality the whole thing was such an adventure and entirely worth it. Plus I got four more stamps in my passport, so that was another bonus.
So that was Africa. It was an incredible adventure, so thank you Mom and Dad for helping make it happen. -->
Otherwise, life is going great. Midterms are done with, thank goodness, it seems silly that they expect us to study while we are here. There is so much else to do that seems to be much more important that taking a test, I’m learning so much in my classes but so much more by just being here. Luckily I think most of my professors understand that. I feel more and more at home in Sevilla, especially when Cade and I now know almost every server at our favorite place. My Spanish has gotten so much better; I can actually understand my host father when he speaks sometimes and I can hold conversation with everyone else. Someone asked me for directions the other day, in Spanish, thatwas a huge compliment – and I knew how to tell them where they wanted to go. So that was cool.
I do have to say, though, that being away from the US during the election was weird. Everyone is so detached from it over here that it seemed strangely unimportant. Not to say it isn’timportant, just all of that pre-election madness was nowhere to be seen. We knew who won, what passed, what didn’t pass and that was that. I think I may leave the country for presidential elections more often.
I have just over a month left here. A whole month. Only a month. I definitely feel both ways. My schedule is crazy and I know it will fly by. Sevilla, England, Sevilla, Portugal, Italy, Home. WHAT? So if you are thinking about it, I really want to make sure I make the most out of my time left over here and with the incredible people I have met, so thoughts for energy and intentionality would be wonderful.
So that is me. Thank you again for sticking with me, I cannot express how wonderful it feels to have people back home interested in what I am doing over here. Feel free to send me an email or something and let me know how you are doing or your thoughts on what I am doing!
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