Erin's Travel Blog

On the third day we ate breakfast for the last time with our families. Of course, we had fresh bread and cookies to go with our tea. Steph, Nora and I made sure to take pictures with all the family before we left. On our way out of the city to drive to the Rif mountains , we made a quick stop at the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V . It is an unfinished mosque, which would have been the largest mosque if it had been completed. I took plenty of pictures of the beautiful patterned devised by islamic artists. I think it's so amazing how creative they can be without depicting anything living. After our quick walk through what would have been the mosque, we piled into the van and drove to the Riff Mountains, where we had a personal visit with a family living there. We picked up a guide along the way – a man who was born in the village and left to go study in England. He led us on a quick walk through the countryside around the village before taking us to his sister's husband...

The second day we woke up and had a giant breakfast of fresh bread and cookies made by our host mother in the bakery. Mmm they were so good; l-makla bnina. One of the best parts of eating breakfast there was being able to see the sunshine on the roof/deck through the kitchen door. Our family's house was...interesting. I think it was pretty typical for a Moroccan house. A big wooden door on the street opened to a short passageway leading to a courtyard, which I assume is shared with other families. Another door in the passageway opened to a winding staircase that went up to our family's house. The bathroom, equipped with a turkish toilet , was half-way up the stairs. Once you reached the top of the stairs there was a long, skinny room with a TV and couches lining the walls. The kitchen was through a doorway on the right. There was a small bedroom at the far end of the TV room and another large sitting room down there and to the right. We slept in this large room. Couches lin...

Whew! It's already been two weeks since I was in Morocco. What an exciting whirlwind of a weekend. It was like a mini aftertaste of Semester at Sea , like a memory snack. First of all, I must apologize for being such a bad blogger. I just can't ever get myself to write a post before I climb into bed at midnight. It's all the spanish reading, I assure you. But in my own defense, I did write a couple posts on my iPhone using a horrible app that just deleted everything I wrote and told me it was posted. And now, my Morocco trip with Morocco Exchange : I started and ended my trip with an overnight trip on the bus. It was not fun either time. But my options were limited since I guess not many people go from Madrid down to the very southern tip of Spain - Algeciras . So I got on the bus on Wed night at 10 pm and arrived in Algeciras at 6 am. I had to wait around for two hours to meet up with the rest of the group for the Morocco Exchange Program. Because Semester at Sea tau...

Voy a Marruecos en una semana. Estoy nerviosa, no sé por qué. He ido a Salvador, Brazil. ¿Qué lugar pueda ser más peligroso (además de las otras ciudades en eso país)? También, yo las sé las regulaciones de vestir en sitios religiosos; fui a India y Malaysia. Pienso que es que me hacería daño. No hay facilidades medicales suficientes en caso de una emergencia, sino en ciudades grandes como Rabat y Casablanca. Y esas también son caras. Sería problemas con seguro contra accidentes. Yo no sé. Pero, al mismo tiempo, ¡estará en Maracas, en Casablanca, en Africa! Estoy excitada. Si queraís saber más sobre lo que hacerá, aquí es la página web: http://www.moroccoexchange.org. I'm going to Morocco in one week. I'm nervous, but I don't know why. I've been to Salvador, Brazil. What place could be more dangerous (besides other cities in that country)? Also, I already know the rules of dressing in religious countries; I went to India and Malaysia. I think it's because I coul...