Theme of Morocco: "It's All Part of the Experience"

So Morocco happened about 3 weeks ago, but school and life has picked up so I am blogging about it now.

After the first week of school, I prepared myself for the Sahara Desert and a week in Morocco. I experienced things that I never would have in my life had I not gone on this trip, and I really tried to take in all of it. We started the trip with 2 days in Fez at 5 star hotels. Then we went to the other extreme and camped out in camel wool tents in the Saharra Desert. After, we concluded our trip with a night in Meknes before heading home. There are a million and one things I could write about it, but I guess I’ll just include highlights:

Things in Morocco that I won’t miss:

- Feeling like I was going to die on the first ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar: I have never felt so nauseous in my life. Keep in mind this was a huge ferry that fit our bus on it. There was a warning out in the sea after our ferry crossed and all other vessels were prohibited from crossing the rest of the day.
- Bread: Even though it was one of the safe foods that I knew wouldn’t get me sick, I couldn’t look at bread for at least 2 days after because I definitely OD’ed on it in Morocco.
- Sitting for 12 hours at a time on the bus
- Popping dramomine and bifidus pills: I swear people were like pharmacies, equipped with every sort of pill you would need for your stomach, motion sickness, headaches, etc. etc.
- Creeper Moroccan guy at the Fez club ruining our ISA dance circle: This was the biggest buzzkill I’ve ever seen and it was hilarious. Imagine 20 people in a group simultaneous stop dancing once someone creeps on you.
- Holes in the ground as toilets: no details necessary.
- The smell of the tannery and every leather product made there: By far, number one or two on the worst smells I’ve smelt in my life list.
- The smell of our camel wool tent
- The smell of our camel wool tent after it rained
- The smell of our bus after people ate their bocadillos and sour cream and onion Pringles

Things in Morocco that I’ll miss a lot:

- The beauty of an African lightning storm in the desert
- Sunrises in the Sahara Desert
- Chatting about life and dancing with Berbers (or sand people as Gina called them) on top of sand dunes
- Rocking a turban on the daily
- Feeling like real life Indiana Jones on the 4 by 4 jeep ride to the dessert
- Eye opening new cultural experiences
- Constantly singing “A Whole New World” because the streets in the Medina were reminiscent of Aladdin
- Cous cous, Moroccan tea, and the breakfast flat bread
- Stealing desserts from the hotel in Fez
- Laughing at how awkward everyone looked riding their camels
- Strolling around Meknes and learning random facts from our personal tour guide, Chris (ISA Meknes)
- Bonding and having the most random conversations on our bus rides
- Seeing the little children in the pueblos after they received our presents
- Henna tattoos
- Moroccan dance party and live music in the tent
- EVERYTHING ELSE!!!

Even with the things I won't miss, everything was part of the experience and I tried to soak it all in. By far, Morocco was one of the coolest trips I have ever been on.