I have entered a different world...

I am now in Fez, Morocco. No pics on this blog as I don't have too much time. Might not be till I leave Morocco as there are not many places with WiFi here (shocking, I know). But first, pick up from last time:

Barcelona was a lot of fun, wish I could have stayed there longer. Roxanne and I took an overnight bus from there to Madrid (saved money for a hostel that night). I didn't sleep much though as the bus was jam packed and my legs are too long to get comfortable. We stayed at a hostel in Madrid that was very nice, rated best hostel in the world a few years back. I really enjoyed the food in Madrid. There were places where you could buy a beer and get free tapas (Spanish appetizers, basically). Some places the beer was only 1 or 2 euros and you get a huge plate of good food. We explored the city a bit and saw an Egyptian temple. That night, our hostel served free paella (famous Spanish rice dish with seafood and chicken). I met some Brazilian friends from our room and went with them to a club. It was very expensive but huge. 7 floors of people! Biggest club I have ever been to, played mostly techno and pop.

The next day was Roxanne's last day. I hope she had a lot of fun! She saw a lot of places in two weeks, and I think it was a good trip. We went to the airport, then after she left I waited around for about 5 hours. My dad's flight was delayed. He eventually got in and we headed back into Madrid. We didn't plan on staying there long at all so we found a room and bought our train tickets for the following morning. There was some confusion, though, and apparently we were at the wrong train stationt! The next morning we had to run to make our train on the other side of Madrid. The train took quite awhile without many views, but we made it to Algeciras in the very south of Spain. There we read we could just 'hop on' a ferry as they run all the time. We waited two hours for the first ferry until the port guys determined the large hole we could see in the side of the ferry might be a problem. What a joke, people were really pissed off after waiting so long. We waited more until another ferry was ready. We got on and it didn't leave for another hour. Some girl got heat stroke and her father went beserk. It was a really chaotic ferry ride.

Later that night, we got to Tangier. It is really interesting city as people speak Arabic, French, Spanish, and English (many people speak all 4!). The city is full of hustlers and scammers, though supposedly it's better than it used to be. It is the first Arab city that I have ever been to, and it was hard to know what to expect. Along the street, 98% of the people are Arab, but they are all used to seeing tourists. Tangier has a long history of Westerners arriving into Morocco. We found a very nice hotel and had a good Moroccan dinner. The next day we went walking in the medina. The medina is the old part of town, every Moroccan town seems to have the old city and the new city. The medina is an absolute maze, the streets are extremely narrow and there are people everywhere trying to sell you stuff. There are fake guides and hustlers everywhere too. It can be pretty overwhelming at times. People sell everything from meat and vegetables to handmade goods, carpets, fake American branded stuff, and candy. Then came the real scary part: I got pickpocketed.

We were walking down a narrow street and these two guys were walking toward. A car was behind them. In the space of about 1 second, the car honked its horn for the guys to move, only one of them moved and forced me to split between them. The road was so narrow they both rubbed up on either side of me. I was very aware of what was happening and knew they got way too close to me. My wallet is always in my right front pocket, but unfortunately I had my camera in my right hand at the time. I reached for my pocket as they slid around me but the guy was so close to me I couldn't get my hand down. As they passed I sensed something was very wrong and reached in my pocket as I turned around towards them. Of course, wallet gone. I yelled really loud and ran back a few steps and got right in the guy's face who passed on my right side. The other guy had turned and was now walking away from me. I screamed in the guy's face to give it back and he seemed scared, but kinda gave a blank look. I was about to punch him in the face, which may not have been the best idea. When I screamed at him though, I saw the friend turn out of the corned of my eye and held my wallet out and came back to me. I suspect the first guy handed it off to the other one as I was turning. Anyway I ran to him and grabbed my wallet back. He acted like it was somebody else down the street who had taken it and he was being nice and returning it to me. I knew it was bullshit, but the whole situation happened in about 4 seconds and my heart was racing. I made the guy stand there, lifted up his shirt, counted the money in my wallet, etc. I looked again and again, but could not see anything missing in my wallet. The other guy had walked away at this point. I still wasn't exactly sure what to do, if I went to the cops up the street, not sure what I would tell them as the guy would deny it was him, and there also didn't seem to be anything missing. So I pretty much walked away and our day continued...

Later on in my room, I counted the money again and again, and I *think*, though cannot say for sure, the guy swiped 200 durhims from my wallet (about $25). I don't know for certain how many I had in my wallet, but adding up what I spent it seems like one note was missing. That would also explain why he turned around and gave me my wallet back like nothing was wrong. Oh well, I had dollars, euros, and durhims in my wallet totalling about $600, plus my debit card. So if $25 was taken, that's not the worst that could have happened. I am just glad I was pretty vigilant about it and very aware of what was happening. I am now super paranoid about it and generally walk with a hand in my pocket.

So after Tangier, we took a train down to Fez. Fez is a very old medeival Muslim city. It is the artistic, spiritual, and intellectual capital of Morocco. It has the oldest university in the world. I think we got very lucky on the train ride down as we sat next to our new friend Amine. Amine works in the tourist office of Tangier, but was born and raised in Fez. He speaks perfect English, as well as Arabic, Berber, Spanish, French, and Italian. I thought he was about 35 at first, but is only 26. 10 years ago, he had a serious heart condition and got sponsored by a bunch of charities and the Rotary Club to come to New York for surgery and recovery. I guess he feels he owes America a lot, and he has basically been our guide in Fez for free! He made several cell phone calls from the train and we had a driver when we arrived, a room at a guesthouse (not quite a hotel) booked and everything taken care of. We are seeing things in Fez that we never would have found on our own. He led us into the Medina last night, which was larger and had even narrower streets than Tangier's. The sights and smells are unlike anything I have ever experienced. We drank Moroccan scotch (joke name, it's mint tea, no alcohol) and went to a restaurant that is in a 500 year old home. Amine knows people everywhere we go, and gets us good deals. Our room was 50% off! And at dinner we got free salads (not American salads, think huge plates of appetizers) and free dessert. I ate a chicken, lemon, and olive dish which was very tasty.

We walk a lot here, but also take some taxis as they are extremely cheap (under $2 across town). The people here drive like psychos, there are few traffic signs and roundabouts everywhere that are just free-for-alls. Nobody wears a seatbelt, there aren't any in the back of cabs. Oh, and it is hot. Really hot. But actually not quite unbearably hot. I prepared myself for the worst as someone told me it gets to 48 or 50 degrees sometimes here (120F!) It isn't nearly that bad. Range seems to be 95-105 or so, and very, very dry. Our room has air conditioning, but when we are outside we sweat all day long. Even most of the Arab people who are used to it sweat a lot. We drink lots of water, probably 5-6 liters a day each! My dad bought a couple of Moroccan carpets today from a government run co-op. They were each made by poor women, usually widows who are supported by the government, they took over two years to make! There are about 1 million knots per square meter of carpet, all made by hand. Unbelievable... He will probably keep one rug and try to sell the other, maybe at an art show in Seattle. You can sell them in the U.S. for hopefully about 5-6 times what you buy them for in Morocco because the government does not allow them to be exported. The buyer must actually arrive in person, pay for it, and have it shipped home.

In a little while, we are going with Amine to a hammam. It is kind of like a Turkish bath, very traditional here, I am not sure exactly what to expect. Tonight, he is taking us to his family's home where his sister will show us how to cook Moroccan food. And we aren't paying a dime for this! We are going to actually go to the market with his family, pick out food, cook it, and eat it. It sounds like an amazing experience. Tomorrow, we are most likely leaving Fez. We still need to work out a few details, but Amine is arranging a driver who works for a tour company to take us on a 3-4 day adventure through the mountains and the Sahara. We are going to head south and see many small villages. Tomorrow night, we hop on a couple camels, head out to an oasis where we sleep! We will wake before the sun rises and head back to the nearest town. Then our driver will take us to several other cities and some rivers and gorges. Another day or two and he will drop us off in Marakesh, another Imperial city like Fez. Though Fez is more cultural while Marrakesh is more fun and party. From Marakesh we will probably make day trips to Casablanca and other cities on the coast. We each bought plane tickets from Marakesh, so we don't have to hassle with the damn ferry and the train. My dad will fly to Madrid on the 8th of August to catch a flight the next day. I will stay on my own two more nights in Marakesh, then fly to Seville, in southern Spain. It is supposed to be a very interesting and beautiful city. It is close to Portugal as well, so I will take a train there a few days later.

I have so much more I could say about Morocco! It is a really fascinating place, some places beautiful, some very dirty, the people are all interesting and we hardly see other tourists. Most of the women dress fairly modern but not all. You are more likely to see a girl in American designer jeans than a woman with a veil, or burqua. I have only seen two or three women with their complete face covered. Morocco has a huge mix of people from different backgrounds as well. More people speak English than I expected. I have learned a few phrases in Arabic. Almost everyone speaks French too, as there is a huge French influence everywhere from colonial times.

Not sure when I will be able to blog next, very hard to find WiFi here, and very little time as we are constantly doing something! Hopefully when I get to Marakesh I will be able to. And I have taken a lot of pictures! I will try to post them when I get a chance.