Intercontinental Hotel Tangier

... as the ones dad and I had eaten on the first night. We passed many herds<br>of goats too. After a while dad was joking with everyone and people were<br>sharing foods they had brought on, it was really nice. Dad had smartly got<br>heaps of dried fruits and nuts for such an occasion. We left dad to go it alone<br>in Casablanca and it was exciting to spot a sliver of the sea in the background<br>to the shanty towns that made up the outskirts of the city there. We kept going<br>along the ...

... a hotel on the beachfront that turned out to be not too expensive. <br><br>The bloke at the desk was pretty disinterested in helping us out with info. Begrudgingly told us that internet access was &#8216;outside&#8217;. We dropped our bags off in our 5th storey room that had a great view over the deserted beach and ferry terminal. First order of business was to find food. Turns out that the abandoned airport was just a glimpse of things to come ...

... area. We reached a carpet and good stuff store where we were assured by the guide all the materials were kosher (probably not the best word to use even in a liberal Moslem country). Well, we got a great pitch about the beautiful carpets they brought out then wandered through the store only to be assailed by equally persistent salesmen only different from the street hawkers in that they were better dressed. After half an hour of this I'd had enough. We were ...

... and chips (so much food at such a little cost), it was nice to eat something other than tangine, couscous or brochette....(although always delish). We eventually made it into the bustling port of Tangier as the sun was setting. We had a few hours to kill for dinner, internet, shopping for supplies and anything else we got up to.....before boarding our overnight train to Marrakesh.....all I can say ...

... practising their English and trying to give us tours of the town. We considered taking a donkey to Paradise Beach just out of town but then realised that there would be more stalkers there and we wouldn't be able to swim in the inviting, turquoise water because it is not the muslim thing to do. Unless we swam in clothes. I tried on a few designer jellabas. By the way, i have a kaftan now and have started to live in it. It is full-length ...

... deal with the two young men's bosses. Yes! You read right - that was the catch! I ended up buying a small brick of hashish to make sure I walked out of there alive, and then tossed the drug away in the street. Besides fraternating with the local gangsters, I saw belly dancers, ate wonderful native dishes, and swam naked in the Mediterranean Sea.

This morning, I finished up my packing and then met up with Melissa and Marissa, some friends from ISU, to go catch the bus to Morocco. There were 8 of us from ISU going, and also quite a bit of people from U of I too. But in total there was 80 some people in our group!! Our bus left around 1:30 in the afternoon to Algeciras, the port city of Spain. The bus ride was long, about 4 hours total, and through the mountains. We stopped outside of Málaga for about an ...

... since there aren't many arab countries in this world that are available for us to travel to. Some of the customs are beautiful here, as is the land this country occupies, and had I decided to not come based solely on fear and rumors, I would have missed out on some great experiences. Really, traveling this country makes me realize again what a small world we live in, and how much more accessible the world is to us once we let go of the fears and apprehensions of experiencing it.

... very cute. Our next stop was to the beach, which was absolutely incredible, huge stretches of sand, and of course camels hanging out. Then we headed back into town, and walked into the Casba. The Casba are these narrow maze like streets, it would be almost impossible to find your way out. It was Friday, so it was actually pretty quiet, which was nice. Our first stop in the Casba was ...

Hello all! Well, my classes are done, and I am now officially allowed<br><br>to teach! :) Feel the sense of accomplishment? Yeah. It´s there :) <br><br>SOOOO...... Today, I took a day trip to Morocco! I went by myself.. <br><br>Took a 2 hour bus ride to Tarifa, then a "35 min" ferry ride to<br><br>Tanger...took more like an hour.... It was kind of intimidating<br><br>traveling there alone, but it all worked out. <br><br>I ...