Hello everyone!

I have arrived back on the ship after exploring what I think was ALL of Morocco. I am exhausted to say the least. I have come to realize that sleep isn't very important while in port. It is all about fitting every possible thing into 4 days while gone and that is exactly what I did. I experienced a whole new array of things while being in Morocco for this short while that I want to share with you, but I thought I would give you some background information about the country first…

Morocco is a Muslim country and the majority of the people that live there speak both Arabic and French. Women throughout the country dress both in very conservative clothing, with nothing but their eyes showing, and others in simply pants and a shirt. I noticed that as you traveled to more remote areas of Morocco the more conservative the dress. There are many more men around than women. It was very uncomfortable walking past a group of local men because their eyes tended to wonder a little to much as they saw all the American girls not wearing the traditional Muslim clothing. The traditional food is called Tagine. It is the only thing I ate the entire time I was there, I am pretty sure it is the only thing they ever eat.

First day in Morocco was super exciting. We arrive into the city of Casablanca and see land for the first time in about a week. A couple friends and I got off the ship and caught a cab to take us to the Mosque in the city (which is the third largest Mosque in the world). We ended up having the cab driver giving us our own personal tour for the entire day. It was pretty unreal. The cab driver would get out and show us around and pick out places in the city we didn't know about that we should see. Because of him we were able to see the entire city of Casablanca in a span of 6 hours. He chose a delicious place for us to eat lunch where we ended up meeting a man originally from Jordan, who has a son living and working in Minneapolis. The world is much smaller than you would imagine. This man from Jordan ended up calling his son on the phone and we had a conversation with him about Minneapolis while we ate lunch there in Casablanca. After lunch we were brought to the local market where we saw just about anything and everything. There was people selling cow hooves, olives, purses and even garbage. It was extremely local and our cab driver led us to the areas most interesting. I had never seen anything like it and I was shocked and saddened at the same time to see the poverty these people were living in. Later that night all the Semester at Sea kids were ready to hit the town, we saw many clubs along the beach and were all super excited. Things didn't go quite as planned because Ramadan had just ended and for 7 days after Ramadan the Muslim people aren't allowed to consume alcohol so no clubs or bars were open. Being an American we obviously were extremely oblivious to this and almost a little embarrassed we didn't know. We ended up walking by the beach and had a great time anyways!

Day two rolls along and we have an extremely long journey ahead of us. 100 students on the boat signed up for a camel trek through the Sahara desert. Unaware that the Sahara desert was all the way on the other side of the country and past the beautiful Atlas Mountains, we endured a 14 hour bus ride. Yes, 14 hours. I could have driven from Minneapolis to Denver in that time frame. The bus ride allowed us to see so many different parts of the country including the Atlas Mountains and many villages with people living in literally houses made out of clay and mud. We were unaware of the time to travel there so everyone was a little bummed, until we arrived at the Sahara desert it all became worth it. At the Sahara we were greeted by our friendly means of transportation..camels. The camels brought all 100 of us to a camp sight in the desert. Let me tell you, riding a camel is a lot harder and uncomfortable then it may seem. My legs are still sore today from it. Once we arrived at our camp sight I was blown away. I was expecting to be really roughing it in the middle of the Sahara desert, with a tent and maybe a sleeping bag if I was lucky to go along with it. But no, we were sleeping in giant tends with beds on the ground, sheets, running water, and electricity. It was so cool. Everyone climbed the sand dunes and watched the stars for most of the night. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Sitting on top of the sand dune it really hit me that I was in Africa in the middle of the desert doing something amazing that I will remember for the rest of my life.

After our 'intense' camping experience we all got back on our camels and trekked back to our buses. From there we made our way to the city of Marrakech. Marrakech was completely different than Casablanca. I personally liked it a lot more because it was a lot cleaner and the market area was massive and lively. So that night a group of us walked around the market where there were hundreds of people eating and shopping, it was super cool to be immersed in the area like that. There were even people that would randomly put giant snakes on peoples shoulders, thank god I was not one of them! We had dinner, which consisted of tagine. That ended up to be my 5th plate of tagine in the overall 3 days I was there…it's safe to say I will be fine never eating that again. After dinner we went to one bar and one club which was so much fun. I had never experienced nightlife in a different country, but everywhere we went was playing American music. It was great because we could all sing a long! The group I was traveling with consisted of people that could speak both French and Arabic. It was a lifesaver having them around because it made our means of getting around and bargaining prices so much easier. At one point in a cab ride I was drawing a picture of the boat to show the cab driver I needed to get port so having these people around was a treat!

Overall I had an amazing time and I am happy to say my first stop on my long journey was a successful one!!

Ash