My first visit to the African continent

It has been one of my goals since finding myself living in Madrid to make it to Morocco. After this past weekend, I am able to cross off another country from my "Places to Visit" list.

In addition to the usual suspects (Meagan and Amy), another friend of ours took a break from her studies this quarter in London to join us for our two-day Moroccan extravaganza in Casablanca and Marrakesh. While it was rather short, it was well-worthwhile.

I have to admit that I was way more paranoid and nervous than I need have been to visit. People are much more friendly than I'm used to here in Madrid (whether it's because they're not Spanish or not city people I'm still unsure), but they are generally harmless. Getting lost in Moroccan markets was pretty awesome, and it was really funny to be confused for so many ethnicities. I mean, I was asked a number of times if I was Moroccan -- my Mom got quite a kick out of that when I told her.

One of the define highlights of the trip was drinking Moroccan tea -- or mint tea, as they call it. It's the greatest thing to come from mankind since chocolate, I think. It's actually quite simple -- green tea, mint leaves, and sugar. Moroccans have a particular method for mixing the tea, which I learned from my awesome new Moroccan best friend Hakeem (I'm only 90 percent sure that is actually his name). In any case, this new tea is my new favorite beverage. For the realz...

PLUS, I bought a sweet-ass leather purse (I think it's made from camel leather!) for 7 euros after I haggled it down from 100 or so. I'm usually terrible at haggling, so this is quite a feat for me. And I did trade a $5 Wal-Mart watch for a henna tattoo I really didn't want...but these things happen, right?

I didn't take nearly as many photos as I would have liked, but getting lost in the Marrakesh sooks for 4 hours really limited what I could photograph. Spices, carpenters, mosques and leather goods are only interesting for so long. This just means that I'll have to save my pennies and come back for an extended trip to Morocco -- maybe next time I'll be armed with better French or even some Arabic -- and I'll do a better job of fitting in with the locals.

Below are some photos. Hopefully, I'll take the time this weekend to really write some more about the sights and sounds of Morocco.


Looking out onto the streets of Casablanca from a restaurant with the best falafel.


The port in Casablanca.


The spectacular Moroccan countryside, viewed from our Casablanca-Marrakesh train.


The Royal Theater in Marrakesh.


Meagan at Djemaa El Fna, Marrakesh's main plaza.


Marrakesh's biggest mosque, Koutoubia.