Spring Break '08

Jennifer and Whitney on the bus on our way to Essaouira.
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Essaouira

Okay, so I had an amazing spring break!  First, I traveled to a beach town called Essaouira, which is in southern Morocco.  I was with a group of exchange students.  I really loved this town, it was just gorgeous.  It was actually pretty similar to Chefchaoun, with the tourist, chill atmosphere, and good shopping, except it had the ocean instead of the mountains.  I was here for 2 days, and did most of my gift shopping here, since the prices were pretty good.  We were able to rent an apartment for 6 people for 2 nights for 900 dhurams which is just about 120 dollars (split between all of us).  While we were there, we met some Moroccans that owned or worked in shops there.  At first they were just trying to sell us stuff, but once they realized we were poor students, the just kind of showed us around and taught us a lot of stuff, especially about Moroccan spices.  Also, they were able to give us some good deals on anything we wanted to buy.  The networking in Morocco is really incredible.  Anything I could possibly want to buy, our new friends new someone that sold it and could give us the "Moroccan price", which I don't think was quite the Moroccan price, but I definitely didn't pay the tourist price.  At one store, a guy tried to sell me a pair of really nice earrings (real silver and all) for 700 D's (about 100 dollars), but I was able to get the price down to 200 D's (about 25 dollars).  Thats how much they jack up the prices for tourist, but if you're smart and you are used to it, you can get good deals on anything.   I'm honestly becoming very good at bargaining.

Some terrain on our way to Essaouira.
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Horses

We really didn't eat out much in Essaouira, since we had an apartment we bought some spaghetti and cooked in and had sandwiches on the beach for lunch.  Jennifer and I were able to get a free ride on horses on the beach. At one end of the beach there was a congregation of horses and camels for tourists to take rides on, and after I took a picture of some horses, the owners came up to us and asked us if we wanted to ride.  Of course, we didn't want to pay to ride for an hour, but we were able to convince them to give us a test ride (it was actually their idea) for free, with the promise that we might come back the next day for the real thing (yeah right!).  But it was really fun, and I finally convinced them that I had ridden a horse before, and was able to go for a little canter.  It was really fun!  Other than that we just chilled on the beach and enjoyed the great weather

A donkey and cart, man on the phone, and a pretty town in the background
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Moroccan Boyfriend/Shopping with Gina

On Monday, I took the bus to Marrakech, to meet CJ.  Oh, I haven't told everyone yet, but I have a Moroccan boyfriend, name of CJ (long story, real name is Abderrahim Batahi).  Anyway, we have been dating for a couple months now, and he's great and incredible and all that good stuff :).  So, I met him and dropped my stuff at his sister's apartment, since she lives in Marrakech.  Then I met up with Gina to do some serious shopping (for clothes, for ourselves).  It was really fun, but it is much more difficult to bargain shop in Morocco than in the U.S. if you want good stuff.  They don't have Gabe's or TJ Max.  However, we were able to get some pretty nice stuff for not bad prices.  Then we went to karaoke with CJ, his sister, and many of her friends.  It was really fun hanging out with Moroccans, they are so friendly!  And fun!  The next day Gina and I just walked around and did some touristy things, like walked through the old Medina, and visited the main square, which I talked about last time I went to Marrakech.  We were hassled some, but I think I'm getting used to it.  I just respond in a friendly manor, and if the person crosses the line then I get cross with them.  Also, Gina speaks enough Arabic that she can really astound people enough to have them leave us alone.  It's actually pretty funny when they first hear her speak, they just don't know what to do!  Needless to say, we survived, and had a great day.

some sheep and goats
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The Clubs and the Square

That night we went out to the same club I went to last time I was in Marrakech, Theatro.  However, it wasn't as fun this time because it was a Tuesday and therefore there wasn't any big show and it wasn't very crowded.  But we had a great time, dancing and socializing with Moroccans.  The next day, Gina headed out to Agadir to do her own thing, so it was just CJ and I doing our thing.  I got to ride a camel, which wasn't very exciting.  They seem to be walking slowly, but they take long steps.  And the one I rode was kind of lazy I think, or they are just clumsy, because it tripped a couple times because it didn't pick up it's feet high enough.  But it was fun and worth it.  After the camel ride we just walked around the square some more, drank some very fresh orange juice, ate boiled snails (really good!) and chawarma (of course, it's my favorite), and chilled at a cafe with tea.  CJ enjoyed entertaining some of the children that came up asking us for money.  I don't know what he said to them, but they found it hilarious, and I think part of the time they were making fun of me, but thats okay.  He also tried to teach them how to ask for money in English, which I can't decide if thats good or bad.  Haha, probably doesn't matter either way.     The rest of the week we just hung out, cooked, and enjoyed the weather.  It really reminded me of Florida, except it's in the desert.  It was so warm, and there are palm trees everywhere.  Its a really beautiful city, all the buildings are clay painted in a orangish pink color that is very appealing.  And there were so few tourists compared to other places I go and stay.  I really enjoyed being with Moroccans, and being able to get my way around the city by myself.  I don't know much about the country, but I am able to get places and get what I need on my own now (at least mostly).

A country house
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Agadir!

On Friday, I caught a bus to Agadir to meet up with Gina.  She had found a nice comfortable and cheap little hotel there so I stayed with her, even though a girl I know from school, Amal, invited me to stay with her and her family.  Hopefully if I go back to Agadir I will stay with her, but I wanted to keep Gina company in her room.  That night we went to a club with Amal and on of her friends.  The club wasn't as big as the ones in Marrakech, but it was still really fun.  I'm really starting to love the music, and it was fun to just have a girls' night out.  After we left the club, though, I was in my first Moroccan car wreck.  It's honestly kind of surprising that it didn't happen earlier as crazy as people drive here.  But luckily it wasn't bad at all.  Amal's friend's boyfriend hit her (the friends car) which we were in, but no one was hurt, just a little shaken up.  But everyone felt alot better when he just said "I'll write a check of it tomorrow."

The ocean!
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The Beach

The next day, Gina and I made our way down to the beach after eating tajines.  It was just gorgeous, so we went swimming in the ocean for a little bit, but called it quits after a congregation of young Moroccan men had formed around us.  So we just laid out for a while in the sun, then when it started to get chilly went back to our room and relaxed until it was time to get some food (Pizza hut, which is really good here!) and then get on our bus.  We took the overnight bus from Agadir back to Ifrane, which took about 8 hours.  When we got back here (less than 24 hours from when we were swimming in the ocean) it was snowing.  That was a bit of a disappointment, but luckily it has warmed up in the week that I have been back.  Hopefully it will continue to get warmer here!

Essaouira!!
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This weekend I'm just going to stay in Ifrane, relax and try to catch up on some things.  I had a great spring break, but now I'm sad because I feel like the countdown to the end of the semester has begun, and I don't want it to come!