So for my fall break, the entire IES group went to Granada, Spain, and then I continued on to London. We took a bus to Tangier then took a ferry to Tarifa, Spain. In a span of about 30 minutes, we went from Africa to Europe, which was very cool.
The IES group on the ferry:
Being in Spain was a refreshing break from Morocco. Even though I understood even less of what was going on in terms of language, the streets were clean, no one stared at me, and there was pork (the IES group was very excited for pig products). However, the south of Spain has striking similarities to Morocco in its architecture and the occasional mosque. On a day trip to Cordoba, we went to the Mesquita, which is a church turned mosque, turned church again.
Mesquita:
In Granada, we went to the al-Hambra, which is a palace designed by an Islamic architect.
The al-Hambra at night:
And the view overlooking Granada:
The time in Spain that wasn't spent in tours and sightseeing was full of tapas and all of the food we can't get in Morocco. And around midnight every night, the group would go out and stay out until around 4 AM, which is unheard of in Morocco.
In London, I did the normal sightseeing things and just revelled in the fact that everyone spoke English, which mostly involved me becoming very chatty with strangers on the street. But because I still had henna on my hands from Morocco, I actually met a group of college girls who had just returned from Fez, and Moroccans would stop me on the street to ask about my henna. My other London activities included eating as much ethnic food as I could (I had Indian food twice, Thai food, Lebanese food, and English food). I also went to a Moroccan restaurant with my London friends so they could get a small taste of Morocco. The food was pretty authentic, but the restaurant was fancier than anything I have seen here.
I returned to Morocco for Eid al-Khabir, which is when every Moroccan family slaughters a sheep. My main lesson from this holiday is that a sheep takes a really long, agonizing time to die. I will refrain from posting pictures.
This past weekend I went to Marrakech with Jenna Smith (Alex's friend from Chile), which is the most popular tourist destination in Morocco, and I can understand why. The most famous part of Marrakech (I think) is Jemaa el-Fna, which is the main square, where every night there are hundreds food stalls set up that serve amazing Moroccan food. Although the main downside of this is that the workers at each food stall are unrelentingly aggressive when trying to corral tourists into eating at their cart. Even a few harsh words in Darija (Moroccan Arabic) did not deter them in the slightest.
This is Jemaa el-Fna in the evening (not my picture):
Marrakech is also home to some of the most interesting medinas (which is the old city, where there are no cars) that I have seen. All of the walls are red, which is a striking effect. In the old city, there are old mosques and Qu'aranic schools from the 11th century.
These are the Saadian Tombs, which were built in the 16th century but discovered in 1917, and it serves as a mausoleum for the members of the Saadi dynasty:
We then continued onto two palaces: Badi and Bahia, but I have no idea which is which anymore. One is in a significant state of disrepair though, while the other is quite nice.
The other palace was for a royal family in the 15th century and featured typical Islamic architecture, meaning beautiful doors and tiles.
We also visited the Ben Youssef Madrasa, which was once the biggest Qu'aranic school in North Africa. It is also incredibly beautiful:
Finally, we went to visit the tannery district, which is marked by the horrible smell wafting from the entire neighborhood. Apparently pigeon droppings are the best way to soften leather. Of course this begs the question: where does it all come from? So of course Jenna and I asked, and people in the villages in the mountain collect it. This is as far as I was willing to research the topic. It was raining the day we went, so there aren't good pictures, but this is what we have:
And here I am with my sprigs of mint to help with the stench:
In the square one night, my adventurous friends ordered meat from the head of a goat, which is apparently very delicious, which is how Jenna and I ate goat lip.
Some miscellaneous Marrakech pictures:
The IES group on the ferry:
Mesquita:
In Granada, we went to the al-Hambra, which is a palace designed by an Islamic architect.
The al-Hambra at night:
And the view overlooking Granada:
In London, I did the normal sightseeing things and just revelled in the fact that everyone spoke English, which mostly involved me becoming very chatty with strangers on the street. But because I still had henna on my hands from Morocco, I actually met a group of college girls who had just returned from Fez, and Moroccans would stop me on the street to ask about my henna. My other London activities included eating as much ethnic food as I could (I had Indian food twice, Thai food, Lebanese food, and English food). I also went to a Moroccan restaurant with my London friends so they could get a small taste of Morocco. The food was pretty authentic, but the restaurant was fancier than anything I have seen here.
I returned to Morocco for Eid al-Khabir, which is when every Moroccan family slaughters a sheep. My main lesson from this holiday is that a sheep takes a really long, agonizing time to die. I will refrain from posting pictures.
This past weekend I went to Marrakech with Jenna Smith (Alex's friend from Chile), which is the most popular tourist destination in Morocco, and I can understand why. The most famous part of Marrakech (I think) is Jemaa el-Fna, which is the main square, where every night there are hundreds food stalls set up that serve amazing Moroccan food. Although the main downside of this is that the workers at each food stall are unrelentingly aggressive when trying to corral tourists into eating at their cart. Even a few harsh words in Darija (Moroccan Arabic) did not deter them in the slightest.
This is Jemaa el-Fna in the evening (not my picture):
These are the Saadian Tombs, which were built in the 16th century but discovered in 1917, and it serves as a mausoleum for the members of the Saadi dynasty:
We then continued onto two palaces: Badi and Bahia, but I have no idea which is which anymore. One is in a significant state of disrepair though, while the other is quite nice.
In the square one night, my adventurous friends ordered meat from the head of a goat, which is apparently very delicious, which is how Jenna and I ate goat lip.
Some miscellaneous Marrakech pictures:
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