Mercure Rabat Sheherazade 2m

... going to Oudiya (which is like an old fortress/city in Rabat) but we went to the souk instead, in order to rent clothes (that's what you do here) for the Hafla (party) at school on Thursday night. The souk was fun. 4 of us girls went with one of the instructors, to find our caftans/takshetas for the hafla, and we all got pretty ones! They are all very sparkley with lots of sequins, and embroidery ...

... with this placement and we're working through them. We make a good team, and balance each other well at the hospital. Her comments really meant a lot to me, and gives me a bit more confidence going back tomorrow. This afternoon, a few of us went to get train tickets for our weekend excursion to Fes and Meknes. We were buying for 9 people (3 tickets each). One ticket from Rabat to Fes, another from Fes to Meknes, and another ...

... bags, because they expected tips. None of us had changed our money to Moroccan currency yet and only one girl had Euros on her. They accepted the tips in US dollars but seemed a bit put out by the inconvenience - I couldn't understand anything they said but did hear the word 'Americans' expressed with sarcasm. Oh, well, live and learn. We should've just said "la shukran" (no thank you)! We had a 30 minute drive from the airport to ...

... there is a job called a fluffer, at least that's on of the groups occupation according to his application, if they only knew what that was.....

Eventually all was done and it was time to go and explore the city. Lene, Heather and I went for a walk around the capital Rabat. The taxi driver dropped us off near the central markets at one for the many entrances of the Medina. We wandered around for a while before our stomachs ...

... team... Now a realize that Tyler and I can't fool anyone into thinking that we belong in Morocco, but a 6'6'' blond wearing a Cal State University shirt?!?! I am proud to be American, but there are certainly places in the world where flashing our American status is not advantageous. Luckily, Pat was able to catch the high speed train and arrived in Madrid just as our flight was about to leave for Casablanca ...

... and their cafe or mint tea (Moroccan Whiskey). In the markets you could buy amazing selections of olives, spices, or dates in addition to entire cows and perhaps a dozen different birds (including pigeon). The food stalls seemed to specialize in grilled cow and sheep head sandwiches...we decided to try it another day. Arik noticed a Schwarma restaurant which he justified as dessert. Here as well the food was amazing....by this point ...

... you've done well and just made Rabat look a darn sight better. Of course that night we had to go check out the bar - cold beer woo hoo. Ended up turning into quite a hilarious evening with some of the boys resorting to a non conventional diet of cat food followed by the introduction of 1,2,3,4 - a truly brilliant drinking game which saw us into the early hours of the morning. Ending, I am told, with two certain people getting rather ...

... at sundown then the fun begins, everyone closes down for half hour while they break the fast. That night we ate in a local place, having tagine with rice and salad, with the usual hariri (soup) to start. It was great and we weren't ripped off - hurrah! From Larache we headed off to Moulay Bousselham, a sleepy fishing village that has become rather trendy over the past couple of years, it;s about 60kms south of Larache and on the other side of the Merdja ...

... neighborhoods of Rabat. And you get the impression that only those with the privilege of living behind the veil can ever know its depth. Upon entering one of the giant doorways into the Medina, you find yourself amongst a swarm of people and motorcyclists trying to maneuver around the series of goods displayed on the ground, tucked into stalls, under large covered roofs, or even in a multi-storied mall that seems to arise out of nowhere. I first took this area to be only a ...

... in the wide-eyed stage, and I can't say I understand my surroundings any more than I understand my host mother when (in Darija) she tried to explain to me this morning that it was actually only 6:30 am this morning, because the King had decided to end daylight savings time early so that when Ramadan starts tomorrow, people won't have to wait so long to eat. Hopefully I'll be able to provide so more interesting descriptions soon, but for now I have some serious language studying to do.