We've officially hit the best part of my year--the time when I fall in love with the place where I'm living! I remember this happening in undergrad at ONU, grad school at Memphis, and now here in Fes! And, it always seems to occur around the same time. I suffer through the long winter months, and make it to the beginning of spring. . .and BAM! I offically love the place where I live. I love the food, the culture, the people, the friends I've made--I feel at home. Yes, it's still hard to live here (and it's actually becoming unbearably warm already), but I'm actually looking forward to coming back next fall. I have high hopes for my classes, and there are so many more trips I want to take, places I want to see, people I want to meet, and languages I want to learn! So--two thumbs up for Morocco! (This revelation came last weekend while I was riding the bus to visit a friend in Tetouan. We were driving through beautiful, lush coutryside, and I just realized how much I like it here.) (*I would like to add another side note: this was originally written last weekend, although I'm just publishing it now. The euphoric feeling about Morocco has lessened this week as we reached temps in the 100s. I still like Fes, but the heat makes it hard to love anything at the moment. . .)
So, what have I been up to, you may ask. Last week was our 2nd spring break. I traveled with a group of 14 people to the Sahara desert, although we all traveled in different ways. I went through Marrakesh (did a lot of shopping in the medina), and then we rented a car and drove the looooooooooooong drive to Marzouga, Morocco.
While I've been told, and have kinda sorta learned, that nothing happens in Morocco the way you think it will, I still was surprised that, of course, things didn't turn out as expected when we went to the desert. The trip we thought would take around 7 hours from Marrakesh took us about 10-11 from start to finish. We picked up a man whose car had broken down and drove him into Ouarzazete (the "Hollywood" of Morocc, as many movies have been filmed there). My brain was fried by the time we arrived from trying to speak in Arabic with him, but he kindly invited us into tea for helping him (gotta love Moroccan hospitality!). When we got back on the road we were told we had 4 more driving hours to Marzouga. By the time we got to Marzouga, it was dark and I was exhausted from riding in the car. Men in turbans swarmed our car, since we were obviously tourists, asking to take us to whichever hotel they were promoting. We promptly replied we had reservation at the Palms hotel and were dismayed when they told us it was an hour back up the road in Erfoud (we had seen the hotel they were talking about). After a lot of miscommunication in Arabic, English, and French, after calling the other vehicle that was coming directly from Fes and finding out they didn't know the address but were just planning to "ask around" when they arrived in Marzouga, after handing the phone off to a Moroccan to speak with someone else to get directions, we finally found someone who knew where the hotel was. We followed him 20 minutes back the other direction until he pulled over by a bunch of road signs and pointed out into the darkness. (Oh, and in the midst of all this, the hotel kept calling, asking where we were; of course I had no idea what to tell them when we were in the middle of nowhere and didn't know how to say "unpaved road" as you'll see in a moment.) We took a chance and started out into the dirt/desert/unpaved "road," following the tracks we could see in the dark, worried that the Peugeot rental car was going to fall apart at any minute. We drove more and more, unsure where we would end up, bouncing around in the backseat like rag dolls as we bottomed out over many bumps in the road. Luckily, we kept seeing signs for the Palmerais Hotel (Oh yes, we even had the name wrong). At least we were travelling in a semi-correct direction. The hotel called yet again, and amid the constantly cutting-out phone reception--we're in the desert after all--he said he was coming to get us. Coming to get us??? We don't even know where we are!!! But, like the weary seafarer who seas the lighthouse in the distance, we, sure enough, saw headlights about 10 minutes later. Praise God! It was a 4x4 come to rescue us and lead us the rest of the way to our hotel.
The rest of the desert trip is really quite uneventful. We road 4x4s around the desert the next day, traveled by camels to an oasis the day after that, and spent two nights in Berber tents camped in the dunes close to the hotel (with running water and toilets!). It was hot, but it was beautiful. What a crazy, small feeling to be surrounded by looming sand dunes, unable to see anything else but sand. What would happen if we were trapped out there? It was an insane, unrealistic feeling that I can't even describe. Sitting on the sand gazing as the sun sank below the horizon in front of us and the moon rose behind us what more incredible than anything I've experience traveling thus far. I can't wait for my next adventure!
Much love to you all. Thanks for following my adventures with me. Praying for blessings and peace on you.
So, what have I been up to, you may ask. Last week was our 2nd spring break. I traveled with a group of 14 people to the Sahara desert, although we all traveled in different ways. I went through Marrakesh (did a lot of shopping in the medina), and then we rented a car and drove the looooooooooooong drive to Marzouga, Morocco.
While I've been told, and have kinda sorta learned, that nothing happens in Morocco the way you think it will, I still was surprised that, of course, things didn't turn out as expected when we went to the desert. The trip we thought would take around 7 hours from Marrakesh took us about 10-11 from start to finish. We picked up a man whose car had broken down and drove him into Ouarzazete (the "Hollywood" of Morocc, as many movies have been filmed there). My brain was fried by the time we arrived from trying to speak in Arabic with him, but he kindly invited us into tea for helping him (gotta love Moroccan hospitality!). When we got back on the road we were told we had 4 more driving hours to Marzouga. By the time we got to Marzouga, it was dark and I was exhausted from riding in the car. Men in turbans swarmed our car, since we were obviously tourists, asking to take us to whichever hotel they were promoting. We promptly replied we had reservation at the Palms hotel and were dismayed when they told us it was an hour back up the road in Erfoud (we had seen the hotel they were talking about). After a lot of miscommunication in Arabic, English, and French, after calling the other vehicle that was coming directly from Fes and finding out they didn't know the address but were just planning to "ask around" when they arrived in Marzouga, after handing the phone off to a Moroccan to speak with someone else to get directions, we finally found someone who knew where the hotel was. We followed him 20 minutes back the other direction until he pulled over by a bunch of road signs and pointed out into the darkness. (Oh, and in the midst of all this, the hotel kept calling, asking where we were; of course I had no idea what to tell them when we were in the middle of nowhere and didn't know how to say "unpaved road" as you'll see in a moment.) We took a chance and started out into the dirt/desert/unpaved "road," following the tracks we could see in the dark, worried that the Peugeot rental car was going to fall apart at any minute. We drove more and more, unsure where we would end up, bouncing around in the backseat like rag dolls as we bottomed out over many bumps in the road. Luckily, we kept seeing signs for the Palmerais Hotel (Oh yes, we even had the name wrong). At least we were travelling in a semi-correct direction. The hotel called yet again, and amid the constantly cutting-out phone reception--we're in the desert after all--he said he was coming to get us. Coming to get us??? We don't even know where we are!!! But, like the weary seafarer who seas the lighthouse in the distance, we, sure enough, saw headlights about 10 minutes later. Praise God! It was a 4x4 come to rescue us and lead us the rest of the way to our hotel.
The rest of the desert trip is really quite uneventful. We road 4x4s around the desert the next day, traveled by camels to an oasis the day after that, and spent two nights in Berber tents camped in the dunes close to the hotel (with running water and toilets!). It was hot, but it was beautiful. What a crazy, small feeling to be surrounded by looming sand dunes, unable to see anything else but sand. What would happen if we were trapped out there? It was an insane, unrealistic feeling that I can't even describe. Sitting on the sand gazing as the sun sank below the horizon in front of us and the moon rose behind us what more incredible than anything I've experience traveling thus far. I can't wait for my next adventure!
Much love to you all. Thanks for following my adventures with me. Praying for blessings and peace on you.
