I can not begin to explain how eyeopening it was to visit Morocco this past weekend… It was definitely a weekend packed of various {but fun // interesting} events and eyeopening experiences. Let be begin by saying that at this point of my life, I that realize so many people complain about the little things: not getting the shoes the wanted, having too much homework and studying to do, being too tired during the day, the water heater not working, etc… Coming from the United States to Madrid was culture shock enough; however, just from a little travel to Gibraltar and Morocco from Madrid was also a MAJOR shock to me. Let me rewind a little bit to tell y'all about my journey to a new border, as well as my experiences while I was there.
First off, note to self {and others}: DO NOT EVER take a six and a half hour bus ride to get a a place you can easily get to by train or plane. Studying in Madrid, I wanted to experience traveling to a variety of places, and Morocco has always been on my bucket list. I always see the stunning pictures of the “Blue City” {Chechaouen} and the colorful camels on the beach or in the Sahara Desert. I wanted to experience all of that; however, I knew that it would not be a place to go on my own and that it would be best to with a set up group, via one of the online programs for college students. Originally none of my roommates wanted to go, so on the first day of school in Madrid, in my journalism class, I met a girl, named Emma, who I clicked with instantly. She was from Texas; I go to school in Texas. She has a boyfriend from California; I’m from California. She's into faith; I’m into faith. She's into a lil exploration; I’m into exploration… We booked our trip to Morocco together within just two hours of knowing each other. The only problem was that the program did not depart from Madrid, we would have to get to Seville, in order to catch a bus with the group we booked Morocco through. We did our research: flights to Seville were pricey, train rides were marginally priced, BUT the bus ride was CHEAP!! We decided to save our bucks and take the night bus, which required us to leave Madrid at midnight and not arrive in Seville for about six and a half to seven hours later. Two of my roomies decided to join us, so we were going to meet Emma at the bus stop. We were not thinking and we left our apartment about thirty minutes prior to the departure of the bus, had to catch two separate metros, run a few blocks to the train station, and we of course got lost in the bus port {or whatever you call it}. We were two minutes late BUT our drive waited for us three stragglers, thank goodness!! The drive was LONGGGGG and extremely uncomfortable. Reclining chairs, yet if a chair was to recline, it was practically laying on top of the person behind the chair… I had that issue with the person in front of me, so I felt bad doing it to the person behind me. Running on absolutely no sleep, the bus stopped around 3:30 in the morning at a big gas station which also had restrooms, a market, and a food court, so Megan {one of my roommates} and I got out for the pitstop. Once we were done with our business, we walked back to the bus BUT our dang driver wouldn't let us back on!! The door was open but he refused to let us back on for ten minutes, and to this day we do not know his reasoning… he said a bunch of words in Spanish {that neither of us could understand}, then drove in a circle, and then pulled up and let us in… it was super strange… three and a half hours later we arrive in Seville.
Upon arrival, it was still dark and we still had about two and a half hours until the next bus would pick us up from a plaza in the heart of Seville. We sat in the little autobus cafe for about and hour and then made our way to the next stop. The program picked us up and we were on our way!! It was about a two hour ride to Gibraltar; however, we made a quick stop about an hour out of Gibraltar to pick up another group of students prior to exploring the tip of Spain {which just so happens to be owned by the United Kingdom}.
Gibraltar was absolutely beautiful and full of history!! After passing through customs to enter into a new territory, our large group of about sixty, loaded a range of small, private buses. The streets were super narrow, only allowing one car to pass at a time, meaning it was a two way street but cars had to yield and take turns passing one another. Lining the winding streets was a variety of trees, monkeys jumping around, and old fashioned looking houses. We approached out first stop in the new place and reached a point where we were able to view a beautiful lighthouse on the tip of the shoreline, as well as an intricate, yet simple, synagog. Given only about ten minutes in that part, was not long enough to treck across to both the synagog AND the lighthouse, so we decided to take the opportunity to look out at the water and see such an amazing view… the one place that you can see three different countries {CRAZY I know}!! After loading back up into the small tour buses, we continued our way up the mountain. Winding through the bustling streets and driving through a variety of manmade tunnels from a long time ago.
We arrived at the very top, where we had the chance to explore St. Michael’s Cave and interact with monkeys. The cave was so crazy {I guess I was so mesmerized I forgot to take pictures}. It was formed entirely from limestone and had different colors flashing, sounded of dripping water in certain locations, and had walkways leading people along a walking path throughout. Because I didn't want to spend my whole time int he caves, and I wanted the chance to interact with some monkeys {given there weren't many out due to the rain}, I didn't want to spend my whole time in the cave. Once I made my way out, people who were a part of our group were all in awe of the few monkeys that were out and being fed peanuts by one of the men who worked in Gibraltar and knew a bunch of the monkeys by name. I witnessed a girl’s Coke-a-Cola being stolen by a monkey, two monkeys mating, and I even had two monkeys jump on me {which ultimately scared my mama when she got pictures… panicking that I may get lice}. Although it was unexpected having a monkey jump from a railing to my shoulders, it was quite the memory. Once about thirty minutes passed, we made our way to the main center of Gibraltar where we were given free time to explore on our own and treat ourselves to lunch {and clean water} prior to our main departure to Morocco. OH!! Also, on our way back to the main buses, we had the opportunity to walk across an airport landing; the one place in the world that allows pedestrians to walk across an airplane tarmac, which was pretty neat, to say the very least.
From Gibraltar, we had about a twenty minute bus ride that got us to boat port, where we went through customs {I was able to get across two avocados and a knife thank goodness}, and we loaded a large ferry. Within just a few minutes I was asleep on a couch, and within about an hour and a half I was woken up by one of my friends and a TON of people just waiting to exit the ferry. We made our way to the official Moroccan border which two about three hours. We sat in standstill traffic with access to no wifi and no bathrooms, so by the time we finally made it to our janky hotel, we were ecstatic. The hotel rooms were musty red and orange and were decent considering our location {however not so great considering they told us we were practically staying at a five star hotel}. The dinner matched the appearance of the hotel… we had ABSOLUTELY no idea what we were eating, but we all ate it anyways because we weren't sure the next time we would have the chance to eat.
As day two rolled around, we were awoken by our wakeup call saying that we have thirty minutes to get ready and load the bus. We packed our bags for the day, I made my avocado toast, and we loaded up in order to begin our next journey. We passed a massive royal palace that was so plain, and surrounded by guards. We passed a multitude of greenery, with tons of cows inhabiting it. We passed hitchhikers, people carrying crops on mules, and people begging for food and money, ultimately leading us to a look out location where there were local Moroccans attempting to sell jewelry, wooden pieces, jewelry boxes, etc…
After the quick stop, our bus made its way to a beach located in Tangier, which had camels awaiting our arrival. Personally, I did not think it through that there would be so many people on this trip, so I figured the camel ride that was part of our payment was going to be pretty long… I was wrong. There were only about five camels that were dedicated to people riding them, and there were so many more of us. The ride lasted about fifteen minutes, and the rest of the time was spent walking up and down the beach or interacting with other students. About an hour and a half passed, and then everybody in the weekend group had their chance on a camel. To be honest, it was kinda scary though. I rode on a camel between Megan and Emma, but for some reason Megan’s and my camel had something going on. Whether it was love or hate, I don't know; but the man who was leading the pack of camels kept having to stop because my camel kept trying to reach its head back toward me and do something {hopefully not bite lol}, and he would hit the camel {which I was highly opposed to}. Once we made our way down and then back up the beach, my camel did NOT want to sit down. it went down on its front knees; yet, would not go down on its hind legs so I was literally hovering and gripping onto the camel for dear life.
Once we were done at the beach, the buses headed to Chechaouen, also known as the Blue City, where I just so happened to bump into a few of my friends from TCU {who are studying abroad in Seville} on my way to lunch. Lunch was a buffet of food that I can honestly say I won’t miss: flavorless steamed carrots and cabbage, shrimp, salad without dressing, bland couscous, etc… Following lunch, we were guided up and down the blue stone walkways, all different shades of blue. It was absolutely beautiful; so Pinterest worthy. There were random street vendors set up with a variety of goodies, ranging from food to clothing. Cats were wandering the streets and scavenging for food and there were random locals that would try to get people to purchase goods from them. After walking with a tour guide, we entered an authentic Moroccan fabric // sewing shop, where we were all given a demonstration of how they wove rugs, carpets, pillow cases, and scarves. I had never seen so many vibrant and extravagant pieces of fabric before, and I was so temped to purchase something that I managed to bring back a plain white scarf as well as a beautiful blue floral scarf. Once we were finished with our official tour, we were given about two hours of free time in which Megan and I explored and looked to see if we needed to make any further purchases. We retraced our steps of the tour we had just been on, in order to have more time to look at things, and once again, people would come out of houses asking us to smoke who knows what with them… We kindly denied and continued onto where we waited for the bus and had marginal wifi.
Following the long day in the Blue City, we were taken to a palace within the walls of Morocco, where locals put on a show for everybody part of our experience, and where we were given food. Once again, the food was NOTHING to write home about… I had a slither of couscous and tried some interesting rice and something yellow. The music was loud, the dancers were entertaining and interactive, and the atmosphere was something I was not used to. Men were dressed in long green outfits, were wearing hats with tassels, and they were jumping all around the room. As we left the palace, they proceeded to ask each one of us for money as we walked past in order to get to the bus.
Although the plan was to have an hour break and then meet the group as an entirety in the lobby to go to a Moroccan club, my roomies {Emma and her friend} and I instantly fell asleep and did not make it out. With the expectation of getting a wakeup call, us three were surprised to hear the phone ring and the words “the bus is leaving now, where are you?” come out of the phone. We realized in that instant we had to throw ALL of our stuff together in order to head to the bus where the rest of the group was waiting for us. Of course, none of us were dressed or fully ready {or ready at all}, so we spring to our feet and started chucking all our clothes across the room. When we finally got to the bus, everybody was staring at us and we loaded up. Us three had to sit next to random people on the bus and get ready at the same time. I was munching on my avocado, attempting to put contacts in, and trying to look somewhat decent as the bus kept hitting bumps and moving around.
We finally made it to Tetouan, where I can officially say how blessed I am to be living where I am, and to be privileged to have what I have and do what I do. The skyline of the city was pure white and the streets were covered in people. There were people with stands trying to make a living, selling fish, fruits and veggies, nuts, live chicken, etc… I witnessed a guy grabbing chickens as their feathers flew everywhere. Men were going up to the girls begging them to purchase things or trying to get girls to follow them to show them around. The streets were extremely dirty, bathrooms consisted of a hole in the floor, and the air {for the most part} reeked. The day was grim and cats, once again, wandered the streets. We went on a tour throughout the city where we were shown the palace of Tetouan, we were taken to an apothecary {where I bought fresh cactus // coco lotion and true Moroccan oil}, and we were given the opportunity to walk around the main market area where all the leather and goodies were. There were some beautiful handbags, purses, teapots, dishes, etc… Everything was so colorful and stood out, in comparison to the city overall. Before we were to venture back to the ferry where we would be taken back to Seville I wanted to get something as a memory. I stumbled upon a super cute purse that was blue leather and ultimately talked myself into buying that, as well as a matching red one for my mama. Without realizing until later, on the boat, I bargained with the man selling it and it actually smells absolutely appalling {so if anyone knows how to get the smell of camel hide // poop out of a purse, let me know}.
The trip finally came to an end, and I can say after another ferry ride and then another seven hour bus ride back to Madrid, I am so thankful for all that I have in life. I am thankful for the home I live in, the experience my parents are allowing me to have while abroad this semester for school and work, and I am exceptionally grateful to God for giving me such an amazing life. I am happy I was able to experience Gibraltar and Morocco, and if I were to go back, I believe it would only be to go to the Sahara Desert to ride in ATVs or go on a camel ride there; however, I am in no rush to go back because I have so much more I would like to experience. I can’t wait to keep y'all updated some more because I just keep planning more and more fun things!! Stay tuned!!
xoxo v
