Day 22 - July 20th
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
22
42
Trip End
Aug 08, 2008
Marrakech,
Morocco
Sunday, July 20, 2008
After our sleep session, we walked to a "Grilleria" as recommended by Mustafa. It was sooooo good! I had a pizza, it was like a flat bread pizza, wonderfully seasoned, I was so happy I had it - I ate the whole thing! (It was probably about the size of a Medium pizza). After that, we got back to the hotel, then we got in another taxi and headed to do some shopping in the city center. We learned about taxis by now - they don't have meters like they do in the states - in my opinion, they can see tourists and charge arms and a leg whenever they want to. When we would ask how much it cost they would say, "well how much do you want to pay?" So, we started to get smart - whenever someone called us a taxi we would make sure that we found out how much it was while we were standing there, just so they could verify the price. Anyway, we made it to our destination and did some shopping - I strongly considered buying some décor for my dining table, I love the Moroccan finishings but realized that I'll just have to make another trip when I get a house - the apartment doesn't need it!
When we got back to the hotel we were still in relaxation mode! We were so sleepy from the day before (secretly I think it's not just the day before, I think it has been a combination of the whole summer) that we came home and took another nap, or at least I did. I went downstairs and our friend Mustafa hooked us up to get on the internet to say hi to everyone at home. The keyboards are regular letters but they're in a different order, so it was really weird to type.
For dinner, we had tickets to go to a traditional Moroccan folklore dinner. Once again we took a bus out there and arrived to another gorgeous palace. We walked out of the bus to be greeted by a line of men on horses with flags and rifles giving us the royal entrance we deserve.
Our Grand Entrance
We walked in, took some pictures in the palace and were greeted by Moroccan dancers and singers entertaining us under the tents along the way.
The Palace
Outside of the Palace
When I say "tent," I have to be careful - I said this was a palace, it was no ordinary "tent" - it was fabric draped over poles, with beautiful chandeliers hanging in the middle.
The Canopy with Chandelier
Then we made it to our "tent" to eat - another room of fabric draped over a center pole for our traditional Moroccan dinner.Entertainers would come in and out of the room, teaching us some dances, to play the drums, etc. while we ate our 6 course meal.
Entertainment
Entertainment during Dinner
Entertainment
Teaching me the Drums
I must say, this was the first time I did not enjoy my dinner in Morocco - they gave me sheep for dinner, yuck!
My Sheep for Dinner
Shajine wasn't too happy about the sheep
But, I tried it! Then we had some Kus Kus (is that how you spell it?) with Chicken and some other things.
Traditional Moroccan Bread
Now, let me share something else we learned at this dinner. We were seated with 3 other people who were all from France. Let's put it this way - they like to "share" - they all ate out of the same Kus Kus bowl, drank out of the same water bottle, used the spoon they ate with to put food on Shajine's plate. Well, maybe that's traditional to France - but I'm still American, and I think about things like Mono and other diseases that I can get from sharing with people that I've never met - but that doesn't seem to be a concern for them!
The French "Sharing"
Anyway, after the dinner there was another traditional folklore show for the guests. The entertainment during dinner was nothing compared to this - they had horse stunts, belly dancers, singers, drummers, camels, an Arabian night flying carpet and other things in this presentation for us. Well, let me be honest - they did this thing where the horses charge up to the front and then they shoot rifles when they get to the top - it scared me to death...I didn't expect it! Poor Shajine, she had nail marks in her arm...I was trying to protect her! But, it was still a great show!
They ended the show with Maa Salama, which they lit on trees. I'm not sure exactly what it translates to, but it means something about going with peace.
End of the Show
Then we got to take some pictures
Horsey did a Trick for Me!
The Camel
and even ride a camel if we wanted around the field. We chose not to because we were going to do it the next day....but we should have! 
