Oumlil Hotel Rabat

... after class, almost of all us in the class (myself, Cory, Aryn, and Martin, plus Amina, Fatma-who has the same host family as Cory, Kelly-the girl who was on our flight, and Peter from England) all went to Oudiya and the souk. Oudiya is very pretty and looks over the water and the beach and the city inside is all painted in blue and white. Anywhosers, I'll post more about the halfa and everything later.

... Meknes back to Rabat (again, for 9 people!!) It took a long time! I'm afraid we held up the line at the train station - it's a manual process and took a bit of explaining to get the right tickets, times, etc. Anyway, we did it, and felt proud afterwards. The ticket seller spoke minimal English but he spoke more than many and, again, we got by with a combination of limited English, Arabic and hand gestures. After that, a few of us ...

... home base. The van was packed full, so I ended up in the front of the van, sitting between Abdu and Mohammed. It was the best view and Mohammed pointed out sites along the way. We drove by the King's palace, which is actually pretty close to our home base. All the ads and road signs are in Arabic. People walk along the sides of the roads and many are dressed in full traditional garb, covered head to toe (primarily the women but ...

... us that it was time to feed the worms. We dined in a local restaurant. One thing about the food in Morocco is the bread, its right up there with some of the best that I've had, always fresh and crusty. Later we walked along the outer walls past the cemetery, along the beach and to one of the forts, Kasbahs. We all entered through one of the places to a residential area. A man approached us and advised us that the best view of the ...

... Arriving in Casablanca around 4:00pm we had high hopes of visiting the world's third largest mosque, Hassan II, but we were not comfortable with surroundings and the overload of hastling that the encountered in the first five minutes. Plus, our next destination and hotel reservation was still a few hours away. Being completely foreign and overcautious, we felt it was better to continue on the train so that we ...

... had found a special place in our hearts and in our stomachs. Our second day we organized visas at the Indian embassy. Then we walked around the city. First stop was the Hassan tower, which was started in 1195 and never completed. Directly beside the town was a large Mosque where prayer was in full swing, being Friday it is the Muslim holy day. Outside the Mosque some girls started putting henna on Charis' hand. After finished part of the hand ...

... with each other and Jamie sleeping outside the tent... could this be the beginning of an overland romance?? Next day was spent lazing around the campsite, a welcomed relief to those with hangovers, thankfully I was as spritely as ever once again succeeding in not having one hangover since starting this trip. A group of us also collected mussels from the rocks on the beach. Ended up with two massive bowls full which provided us with a ...

... national park. We camped at Camping & Caravanning International, which is a bit grotty but in the most spectacular setting, overlooking the estuary. We ate dinner in the town but were eaten alive by mosquitos. When we got back to the tent we really wanted to sit outside to watch the electrical storm that was raging in the Rif Mountains but the mossies drove us inside. It was a clear night so the stars were amazing, but again, we couldn't really enjoy ...

... one - a place where people from the outside came in to sell and buy a variety of different goods. It wasn't until I took to exploring more that I began to understand it really was a sort of self-concealed city. Though the stalls may seem sundry and disorderly at first, for someone experienced they offer a quick and convenient way to meet all of your needs. And If you turn off one of the main souq streets you find yourself in a quiet neighborhood with small children running ...

Bonjour! Tonight we had musicians come into the house for our farewell party. We danced and had a lot of fun. I have one day left and then I will be back on the good old USA soil. In a reflection meeting today we were asked to think of one word that described our trip best. I chose humbled. I am so humbled by this experience. I came here as an American thinking I was going to help a third world country. But really, this third world country helped me. I ...