Rabat & Fes

Hello, all.

Although I am equally as tired as I was last night, I will describe both days in detail. I cannot disappoint you, my loyal readers!

Thursday, May 22
We traveled from Casablanca to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, this morning. In Rabat, we saw a huge royal palace and an unfinished mosque. We walked through an old fortress, which is now occupied by local residents, and, after about 15 minutes of navigating through back allies (painted white and sky blue) and little shops, we reached the Atlantic Ocean. It was a breath-taking view of the ocean, since we were elevated from still being in the fortress.

We drove by a huge plot of prime real estate which was being developed by a Dubai holdings firm. Although construction was just beginning, this 40 acre oceanfront land looked promising. There will be massive hotels, nightclubs, shopping, and entertainment venues in this area. As I referenced in an earlier entry, land development in Morocco seems to be a rather promising investment.

Later in the day, we boarded the buses to travel to Meknes, the city which our hotel is located. This hotel is, without question, the nicest hotel of the trip. The lobby area and lounges are very ornate and plush. There is a conference room, multiple bars, and even a disco in our facility. An outdoor pool overlooks a lush valley. The hallways of this hotel remind me of The Shining, but other than that, this place is great. Dinner was enjoyable, and we ate in a beautiful room covered in tile. After dinner, Emily, Bryan, and I had an hour and a half long conversation that covered a plethora of topics. I enjoyed this discussion very much.

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Friday, May 23, 2008 (Today)
Today’s activities revolved around Fes, one of Morocco’s most well-known cities. Fes is basically divided into two sections: the new city and the old city. The new city is very modern and reminded me of Southern California. There were beautiful gardens, fountains, and trendy cafes along the streets. The old section of the city, is similar to Marrakesh, and is less wealthy. While traveling through the back allies of the Fes medina, our group stopped at four noteworthy establishments:

Loom
I watched beautiful rugs and scarves woven before my eyes. The selection and variety of colors was inspiring.

Tannery
Although the smell was nauseating, we saw how leather was washed and dyed. You need to see a picture of this to see how bizarre this was. Definitely a “dirty job.”

Pharmacy
Jars of all sorts of spices, soaps, lotions, and (legal) herbs covered this tiny store. The shop owner gave us samples of all of his most popular items. My hands smelled good and felt soft after leaving the store.

Tile
Hard clay to soft clay to the kiln to painters to glazers to the store. We saw the entire process of how Moroccans make their tile. Very cool.

Upon completion of this exhausting tour through Fes, our guides decided to stop at the local McDonalds for a drink before our dinner in about 2 hours. These Americans I am traveling with went wild. Although already packed with locals enjoying their meals, this McDonalds was packed with UD students ordering food. I informally polled students, and they claimed most of the food tasted the same. To my disappointment, nobody was brave enough to order the “McArabia,” a popular specialty burger here. I noticed two local teenagers slyly taking pictures of the group of Americans ironically eating at McDonalds. The only students who could resist the greedy paws of the omnipresent Ronald McDonald were Tyler and I.

NOTE: I have not been including my criticisms of the trip because I only want to remember the positive, and you do not want to hear about the negative. I will post a comprehensive list of my criticisms after the trip after it is over, but I will give you a preview now. Students have been complaining about how “bad the food is” or “how much my stomach hurts,” and, yet, they completely indulge themselves at McDonalds. One individual had the nerve to say, “Can we have McDonalds every night?” Seriously?

After everyone glutted themselves at McDonalds, we traveled to the top of this hill which overlooked the entire city of Fes. There were some ruins of ancient tombs which proved to be fun to explore. Tonight’s dinner was one of the trip’s best. Highlights of the meal included dates and a cinnamon-sugar like pie with chicken and beef in it.

Now, I am going to sleep. Goodnight, America.