Our dreams, they are made out of real things

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This past weekend a bunch of friends and I ventured to a new land filled with mint tea, mosques and markets. That's right friends - MOROCCO!

For those of you who missed the brief geography lesson, that's a country in northern Africa. The coast covers both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea, and we spent most of our time on one of two mountain ranges in Morocco - the Rif Mountains. Enough of the facts - let's skip to the stories!

We left Sevilla on Friday afternoon and drove down to the Straight of Gibraltar where were hopped on the Fast Ferry to Africa. Apparently the water was really rough that day, so the boat ride was miserable for quite a few people. In fact, one little Spanish girl was on the outer deck with her dad and couldn't help but to throw up ALL OVER the panoramic window. I think she had strawberries for lunch. 

We had to go through customs and border patrol to get into Morocco; they stamped out passports thank goodness! I'm so sick of traveling and not getting any stamps... this time I got two, so I felt slightly vindicated. One soldier came on the bus to verify that all of our passports had the right stamp, and he totally had blood smeared all over his white jacket. Thank God he wasn't toting an AK47 or anything. Oh Africa...

First night we stayed in a hotel -- pretty nice. I was actually really impressed with our room, the food and the atmosphere in general... none of us really knew what to expect though. The next morning we left for the city of Tetuan. When Morocco used to be controled by both the Spanish and the French, Tetuan was the most important city of the Spanish territory. It had three main parts: the residential areas, the old city dating centuries back, and the modern zone which was built in he early 1900s. The roads were all either cobblestone or dirt, and they go every which way, so it was basically like a labyrinth. We walked through the old town and into the market place first. For some odd reason, I LOVE MARKETS! So many colors and sounds and smells... 

This was like a farmers market, so there were people selling produce, spices, dried goods like pasta a rice, eggs laid by live chickens, fish - everything you can imagine. The fruit all looked so plump and vibrant, and the smell of cilantro was following me everywhere - it was lovely.

We had couscous and beef for lunch with these banana and sesame seed cookies, a little mint tea to wash it all down... it was just pure love in my mouth. A couple sat by us at lunch - the guy was from Sevilla, but the girl was from Finland. When she said that, my eyes lit up and I had to bite my tongue for a few minutes so as to not seem like a total creeper. After a while I asked her what part of Finland she was from, and I told her that I was Finnish too from Grandma... she asked what her name was and I told her, and she thought I could actually speak Finnish by the way I pronounced it. We both laughed when I told her I couldn't, but then I was like - it doesn't matter, I'm still a Finn at heart! Her name was Kisah and I kind of have a girl crush on her now. 

We drove up the coast a little bit to see the point where the Atlantic merges with the Mediterranean, and then we had time to take a camel ride if we wanted. I wanted to - so badly - but I really felt that they were cruel to the camels, and I'm not into the exploitation of fury friends, so I settled for a picture with one of the babies :)

We stayed the night in Tanger - one of the largest cities in North Africa. It was kind of strange - modern, but surrounded by a super Islamic culture. Most of the time in Morocco women are not allowed in restaurants or cafes; a really nice English fellow I met who was born in Morocco told me that women who go into cafes are viewed as prositutes or whores. I was like WHAAAAAAAAAAAA? Ever'body gotta get they coca-cola, yo. That's universal. 

On Sunday we went to Chauen, a city in the Rif mountains. Our guide was about 95, he sounded and looked just like Yoda. The Jedi Master told us that they painted their homes and buildings indigo blue because it made the mosquitos nauseous. While I don't really believe that, I did love the colors. Set against the green of the mountains and the yellow bricks used for the walkways, it was beautiful.

We visited a cooperative where they make woven goods like rugs and blankets; the handcrafts were so vibrant and well made, they all seemed so unique. I bought a blanket for Colton to welcome him into the world come June, and I'm so excited to give it to him!

Low point of the trip home: the bus driver almost killed a small child. He ran out in front of us to cross the road - in the middle of the mountains - and the bus driver had to SLAM on the breaks... purses flew down the aisle, bags fell from over head and everybody was slightly panicked/annoyed. Luckily the little boy didn't get hurt. 

By the time we got home at 1030, I was Mo-rocked out.We got to the apartment around 11 at which point in time I was supposed to study for my midterms today but it didn't really happen. Oh well, one is over and it was easy... I'm leaving in about 10 minutes for the next (Flamenco - I HATE THAT CLASS). What makes it worse is that apparently I ate something terrible, because I woke up in a terrible sweat and had to run to the bathroom this morning. From 8-11 I threw up about every half hour. I just want to go into the fetal position right now and nap. 

It will be 80 here by the end of the week - summer's a coming! Hope mother earth spreads the love your way...

Other pics are up for those of you who care to seeeeee!