Why, yes, now that you mention it, I have ridden a camel. Huh.

So Morocco was a little different than how I imagined Africa was going to be, but it was nice all the same.

We took the ferry from a point in the south of Spain, (Algeciras, don't ever go there, it is shady) which took about an hour. We landed in Tangiers and went almost directly to a center for abused women who were living there and learning skills like weaving, sewing, and cooking (stuff that they will be able to get a job doing) but they were also being educated in computer skills and other basic things. We spent the afternoon talking with a couple of university students (who were engaged to be married) about the Islamic and Arabic culture as they experienced it, and about the traditional way of courting before a marrage, and some common misconceptions and stereotypes about Arabs and Muslims.

After this we headed for a three hour van ride (stopping once along the way to ride some camels) to Rabat, Morocco's capital city. We met our host families and got settled in for the night. The next day we saw a couple sights in Rabat, met with a university professor for more discussions and cultural immersion. This was particularly interesting because the professor was especially liberal, concidering his religion and there were very concervative Muslims participating in the discussions. We then spent the afternoon talking to and being shown around the city by some students. They taught me how to count to 10 in Arabic, but I only remember 2, which they taught me in Moroccan Arabic, not traditional Arabic, so it doesn't even do me any good...In the evening we went to a Hamman, which are communial baths...that was definately an experience...

We spent the last night with the host family and headed out early the next morning for Chefchaouen where we spent the night. One the way we stopped in a very small village, parked the van and headed for a hike into the mountains. Along the way we met a boy who lead us to his small farm house. We spent the afternoon talking with his family about the lifestyle and educational oppourtunities of families that live outside of cities. This families oldest boy had to go to high school in the nearest city (over and hour and a half away). He had to live at the school, and he saw the family two or three times a month. This not very common though, because a family has to be able to afford to pay for the child to go to school, which most aren't able to do. We shared a meal with them and played soccor with the kids, they took us on a hike through their land (beautiful) and headed off to Chefchaouen.

The city, we quickly found out, is the tourist destination of Europeans. The majority of citizens speak English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Arabic, and some speak more, to accomadate. We passed the night walking around the shops, and shared mint tea with a shop owner and his son as they tried to get us to buy their rugs (and we gave in, dang it!).

The final day was spent traveling. We crossed the Moroccan-Spanish border at Cueta. This was heartbreaking, to say the least. There were a ton of Moroccans hanging around the cars and lines of people trying to cross, and we could see them on the hills, waiting for an oppourtunity to cross the border. Our group leader said that sometimes the Moroccan authorites turn thier backs and just let them through, just to give them an oppourtunity at a better life in Spain. We got through the Moroccan border patrol without problem, but the Spanish border took a while, and was a little scary. We walked through a tunnel that was chain-linked fence (walls and roof), only big enough for a single file line, and about a block long. About halfway through we passed a elderly women going in the wrong direction, acompanied by three guards, and she was crying. I can only assume she was caught trying to cross the border without permission.

On this happy note, we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and made it saftely back to Algeciras, where we seperated. I learned a lot when I was in Morocco, it was an amazing experience. I can honestly say it is the first true culture shock that I experienced, but I am glad I experienced it.