Nothing becomes real until it is experienced

Where to begin? Quite simply, this trip turned out to be nothing like I had planned. Go to Africa...take some pictures...ride a camel...the end. How ignorant and uneducated we are. I traveled through Morocco through a program known as "Morocco Exchange". A little background on Morocco: 32 million people, of which almost 99% are Muslim. Their official language is Arabic but they also speak a Darija Arabic, Berber dialects, and French. Notice there is zero English. Also, Afriquia (Africa) is not all desert. Yes....VanPelt didn't do his job in History class neither did Ms. Tomlinson in Geography.

(On the rooftop of the Women's Center in Tangier)

We took an hour boat ride across the Mediterranean Sea from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco. Besides the Arabic signs, the first thing I noticed was the smells. No, its not dirty and sweaty. It was fresh and very distinguished. I've never smelled fruit in the air like I have there. Also the colors...so vibrant. We visited a women's center and had conversations with Moroccan students about cultural diversity, education, and typical life. Most students go through college. It doesn't cost anything to attend school but living expenses make it difficult. Most students stay through completion of college because once you quit, you can't return. I found it interesting that their problem wasn't lack of education, it was there are no jobs after graduation. There is such a great divide. You are either uneducated or very highly educated. Its like there is no middle class. The markets anywhere in Morocco are huge. Many small tents which are all covered and connected, selling any type of spice, fruit, veggie, even live chickens and many dead parts of animals hanging around. My favorite was walking through the fish!

 I was scared to take pictures at first because I didn't want to be disrespectful; however, on the other side of the man there was swordfish and even what looks like sting ray?

 Spain has fields and fields of olive trees....but so does Morocco. Olives are served and sold everywhere!

 The intestine looking thing on the right tastes just like the Fig Newton cookies Grandpa Smokey always used to have in his apartment! The market pictures were from all over Morocco.

When we got to Rabat, we met up with our host family. Kylie and I stayed with a family which consisted of a Grandfather, (Grandmother deceased) two of his daughters, and their niece. So kind of confusing situation. But the little girl's mother lived on the other part of town (Sale') and living with her Grandfather and two aunts was much easier for her to go to school....I looked at it like comparing Humboldt and Dakota City. But Sale has much more poverty than Rabat.

 (Left to Right): Aunt Nazha, Kylie, Myself, Ghita - pronounced Rita, Granfather, Husband of Fatima, and the other Aunt, Fatima.

Honestly, kids my age can't fathom living with a family like this for two days and I couldn't either before doing so. And I say from the deepest of my heart, Kylie and I were truly blessed to be placed with this family. I will tell more as to why later...
Things to know about Moroccans: there is a Call to Prayer 5 times a day throughout the town, they eat with their hands, and their toilets....wait, what toilets?

....Mother, you would not have survived.

The first night we had chicken with what may have been cooked plums and onions on top. They were very sweet. We ate everything with bread which they make daily. They say a family of four goes through 10-12 loaves of bread a day. But they look like a small size pizza  and are much thicker than that. After supper we enjoyed some tea and learned Arabic words and the dialect for a simple conversation, which Ghita kept testing us on. Also, they gave us Arabic names! Kylie's is Marryam named after Mary from our Bible, and mine is Hannan, which means tenderness and feelings of love! So we decided to give Ghita an english name: Elizabeth which she pronounces (E-liza-bet)

To keep this from getting too long, on Sunday we visited an educational shelter in Sale' which was funded by donations. They provide education and summer camps to the children who can't afford schooling. We talked with three (30-40 year old) Moroccan men about the cultural differences and religious views. I'll quick share the two messages which struck me to the core:
1. "God gave me two hands, and he gave someone else none. He gave them to me for a reason." In their religion they believe there are two iihad's: a minor and a major. The minor is the battle with one another (war, arguments with family, loved ones) and the major is the battle with oneself. Basically, the major battle in life is within...choosing joy in bad situations, acting with love...
2. I talked with one of the Moroccan men, Nazeem, after the meeting and when the group dispersed. We had a great conversation and later he gave me a little trinket to remember Morocco! BUT He shared that he went to California for a few months and told us of his experiences and then said... "Americans have everything, yet they know nothing". And I know for me to write that means nothing to you all, and you may feel offended; however, when you visit a third world country...and you see that they know of nothing else in the world but what they have grown up with...You try to hold back tears when thinking about how uneducated and racists we are. I thought of Great Aunt Naomi and her time in India.. we let media dictate all our prejudices.

We visited the Roman ruins -- Chellah and the Mausoleum of King Mohammad V. While sitting viewing exactly what the picture is showing..the call to prayer sounded. It was amazing. In the distance you can see a little city and then to the left further in the distance is more of Rabat. You could hear the dinging of the bells and then you could hear people singing. Once in a lifetime...

Lunch was an experience! Not one...but TWO whole fish! Scales, fin and all! It wasn't bad..until dearest Fatima grabbed at the fish's face and put it on my plate. I think I can...I think I can...

After lunch we were to meet with two Moroccan students and explore the old fort, markets, etc. Then something neat happened! Little Elizabet asked if she could come with us and our Excursion leader let her and told us that shes never had something like that happen before! As soon as we left the door she latched onto my hand and didn't let go... :)

 We checked out Rabat's Kasbah, which is an old fort that looks over the city and the ocean. We even went down onto the beach and rolled up our jeans and walked in the water! Afterwards we walked through the markets where they sold Moroccan shoes, leather jackets, food, etc. And ended at a cafe where we had the BEST milkshakes I have ever had. I think it was because I hadn't had any chocolate or dairy in forever.

We met with some people from the Peace Corp and listened to their experiences in Rabat. Afterwards we visited a Hammam. For those who don't know...those are public showers. So a group of us girls walked up into the Hammam. At first it seemed like the locker room of a pool but much smaller of course...but you take off everything except your underwear (which is optional) and you are given a bar of green gooze which is soap and a little scratcher mit that you use to wear on your hand and scrub with! So....you basically go into a bedroom size room which has tile floor and no windows or lights. Then there are large 5 gallon pail buckets (not the farm kind) and what looks like a water troff which cows and horses drink out of. haha you fill your bucket and take a seat and scrub away!! Um...awkward? Maybe. But it is what you make of it. I'm just glad I'm not a guy because the boys said they had Moroccan guys come up to them and help scrub their backs! Our culture is so different! But it felt AMAZING to shower.

Supper was a simple...some kind of bean soup and bread. Afterwards the ladies asked if we wanted to try on some of the traditional clothing. So we did! Then next thing we know Elizabet is dancing and wants to teach us! Fatima loved our camera and took a ton of pictures of this! Then she showed us how to pray. We have the funniest video of our "prayer" too. I can't wait to show everyone when I get home. Even though we laughed uncontrollably throughout the dance lesson and even through the prayer (in the least disrespectful way possible) I learned that the women choose to wear those outfits and not because they are told to. And these really nice outfits they wore at weddings. What a privilege to be trusted and welcomed enough after just two short days to wear their traditional clothing, learn their prayers and dances. We were given their address and told we were always welcomed in Morocco and in their home.

Rizlane(right), their neigbor was our translator

In the morning, little Elizabet watched me brush my teeth from across the room and looked like she was going to cry. When saying bye, Fatima grabbed us and kept kissing our cheeks, multiple times left and right side. Then when I pulled away she grabbed me and pulled me in for some more goodbye kisses : ( Broke our hearts as we walked away from our 2 day Moroccan family. From Rabat we drove to the Rif Mountains and visited a family up in a mountain village of 360 people. It was completely different than the city. Myself and a few other girls helped the women cut vegetables and we had raw veggies, bread, and kuz kuz for lunch.

So this is why mom always had me in the kitchen...I looked like a pro!

My friend Cat, on top of the mountain we hiked after lunch!

Kuz Kuz on the middle of the table

Which is really hard to explain but kind of like small small pieces of Spanish rice? We talked with them. Of course a translator is doing all of it for us. Then we walked up to a peak of a large mountain/hill that their village was between. The view was absolutely breath taking. Unfortunately I don't have those pictures but can get them from a friend here soon. Definitely top 3 most beautiful things I've ever seen. On the way up a village girl ran and jumped onto the side of me. Surely just to use me for the hike up....I was sweating and felt like a pack mule. But she made up for it by picking me flowers and putting them in my hair.

  We drove to Chefchaouen and took a short walk through the medina (which is where the old town is). This town is built on a mountain and the buildings are all white and/or light blue.
Amazing. I remember wishing mom and dad were there with me to see how beautiful this place is. We stayed in a very nice hostel and had supper that night at a restaurant. We had time to walk around, explore, and barter. I got two scarves and a plate. Not sure what I'm going to do with it...but I got one heck of a deal :) Do I sound like my mother's daughter? We went to the top of the rooftop as a group afterwards and talked about our experiences from the weekend.
In the morning I had the opportunity to wake up earlier and hike to a view point and take pictures. Totally worth it. From there we drove back through mountains, fields and cities to Ceuta and crossed the Moroccan border back to Algeciras, Spain. Then another 3 hour bus trip to Granada.

Now can you see why riding camels wasn't as big of a deal?