Morocco

Early Friday morning, early as in 3:15 am, we climbed onto a bus in Granada and made our way South. After collecting more students from Malaga, we finally arrived at the Straight of Gibraltar in the early afternoon. There, we boarded a ferry that took us from Algasiras, Spain to the Port of Tanger Med in Morocco. We then continued on bus to Fes where we had dinner and stayed the night at a nice, little hotel. There wasn't a lot of options as far as activities for the night because it was encouraged that we don't wander too far from the hotel, especially the girls. Even just stepping off from the bus we attracted strange looks as a large group of Americans.
On Saturday, we were led on a tour of the Medina. We stopped at a carpet shop that boasted hundreds of handmade carpets of all sizes. We learned about the significance behind some of the different patterns, colors, and materials used in each.
Next, we went to a textile shop where we saw them making scarves, all kinda of clothes, tapestries, and more. There were so many elaborate and beautiful colors and materials it was overwhelming. 

After that, we stopped at a leather factory. There they not only sold a variety of colors of leather backpacks, shoes, jackets, wallets, bags, and more made from camel, sheep, and cow hide-they made everything in house as well! We saw, and smelt, them drying skins as well as coloring them in big bins of color that were built into the ground outside the shop. It was incredible.

Our next stop was lunch where we enjoyed traditional Moroccan cuisine of seasoned vegetables, couscous, and chicken. Delicious! After, we saw some beautiful handmade metal work and witnessed the full process of creating ceramics-the original clay, the formation, engraving, firing, coloring, re-firing, and more. Next was a beautiful palace with huge, golden doors and decorative archways. By this time we were all exhausted and excited to head back to the hotel for some rest before the night's activities.

 That evening, we went to a traditional Moroccan belly-dancing and drum show. The women were dressed in exquisite garments fashioned with dangling strings and jewels. They moved their bodies in ways I could never even imagine doing and pulled some of the students from the crowd up to dance with them. It was quite a scene! In the background, men played drums to lead the beat of the dance. Simply fantastic!

 Sunday morning we were off to the desert! For lunch we stopped at a restaurant in the middle of a beautiful oasis. The food was again spectacular and the view was even better. It was incredible to think that we were on our way to a desert yet in the middle of this great forest. A few hours later, we came to a stop in the middle of a barren, sandy dessert. Here, we transferred onto jeep 4x4s and headed deeper into the abyss. At first, our Moroccan driver proceeded with caution but soon enough we were flying over mounds of sand out in the open land. It was a blast! That night we made camp in large tents and were entertained by a wonderful drum show. And then we slept like babies under the African sky.

The next morning we were awoken by the locals who look us for a walk into the hills of the desert to watch the sunrise. A young boy guided me far from the camp and showed me his favorite view. It was breathtaking. I felt as though I could reach out and touch the perfectly round and glowing sun. We took in the view for awhile before heading back to camp for breakfast.

Next it was time to ride the camels! Each of us were assigned our own camel and were led to the dunes. The ride was bumpy and I could not imagine riding on those humps all day long! We climbed atop a large mound and took in yet another spectacular view. Finally, we arrived at a small town and were shown a local school and were able to shop around for some gifts. By this time it was HOT and we were looking forward to some shade back in the tents.

That afternoon, some boys had rented a snowboard so yet again we headed out into the dunes for some extreme sand-boarding. Along the way, we met some kids who accompanied us and even wanted to carry the board. When we got to the top of a large hill, it was time to put our skills to the test. It was a blast riding down on the board but also just running down the dunes as fast we we could and tumbling into the sand at the bottom. While playing in the sand, I realized that the dunes were home to some of the biggest beetles I had ever seen in my life. And one decided to crawl up my leg! When we were done playing, we watched the sunset then made our way back to camp.

 The next two days were filled with nothing but bus rides back through the dessert and then to the ferry to take us back to Spain. Along the way we stopped and donated some items and clothing to local nomads. Overall, Morocco was a truly incredible experience. Amazingly, no one got sick and we all made it back in one piece!