I take a ride on the Marrakech Express

We didn't really take the Marrakech Express, but I feel like it would have been a lot quicker and less miserable had we actually done that.

This weekend the ARANAS program sent us to Marrakech. Class was cancelled on Friday, because it literally took us 12 hours to get there (though it shouldn't've), and we spent most of Sunday getting back, so we really only had Friday night and Saturday to spend in Marrakech. We'd been warned for a while that it was going to be miserably hot there, as in 50°C (which I calculated to be 122°F) but lucky for us a cold front moved in that weekend and it was only in the high 80s-low 90s.

We left the university on Friday morning at seven, in one large tour bus, a smaller tour bus, and a large van. About an hour down the road, the driver of the bus I was on made a slight swerve (very slight, or else the bus would have tipped over) to avoid a dog in the road, and we all heard a loud "bang!" that sounded suspiciously like either a bus hitting a stray dog, or a tire blowing. It was neither- the steering column broke. Which means that it was probably about to break anyway, because really the driver did nothing that wouldn't have happened in the normal course of driving anyway. The dog, by the way, was absolutely fine. The bus, however, was not. So, we all had to pile into the other big bus and the van while we spent another hour getting to Khenifra where we were to have breakfast. Once there, we all piled into this little restaurant for orange juice and croisants, courtesy of the University. Although I don't know why they didn't just have us all eat at the university before we left, because it could have saved a good two hours of sitting around while 90 people were served. I always feel bad for the places we eat when we all go on big trips together. We're like a hoard of locusts descending upon whatever small town we stop in, completely taking over the restaurant of our choice.

We arrived in Khenifra sometime around 10, and those of us on the broken bus got to wait there until after 1 for another bus to come, while the rest of the group continued on the journey. When our bus finally arrived, it was small and uncomfortable, and the A/C only worked when we went really fast. We finally arrived at the hotel in Marrakech around 7, after a short lunch break. It was a really nice hotel! While we were waiting to check in, we could see people from our group who got there before us swimming in the pool. The pools here are nice, because they are all really deep. I feel like all the pools in the states are mostly shallow, with a small deep end, which is just no fun. But not so here. Anyway, we swam around for an hour until the pool closed, and then had dinner at the hotel. Each table got a bottle of water, which the University usually pays for when we go on big outtings like this. However, this time they didn't pay for it... because they were charging 20 Ds for one bottle of water! That is an outrageous amount, considering you can literally go around the corner and get one for 5. We all grumbled about that for the whole weekend. Afterwards, we dispersed in many small groups across the neighborhood in search of a liquor store and the Haagen-Dazs store- neither of which my group found after a good two hours of wandering around.

My roommate and I slept in late the next morning and then I went to go look at some historical sites with a couple guys from my class. Unfortunately, they were all closed because it was midday. So instead, we followed some guy into the Jewish quarter and looked around an old school. Then we walked around the spice market, which was possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen. There were just piles and piles and piles of spices everywhere you turned, and it all smelled so good. After that, it was back to the hotel for lunch. I meant to take a short nap after lunch, so I could wake up when all the historical sites opened, but ended up sleeping for about four hours, so I didn't get to see them after all. But my friend Amanda and I, along with a woman from KU, took a petit Taxi to the main square called Jama el-Fna. Have I mentioned yet that I'm pretty sure there are more tourists in Marrakech than actual Moroccans? I'm willing to bet that's true. We wandered around the huge square for a while, and then made our way into the surrounding souqs. They were huge! And there were so many pretty things to buy! Mostly stuff you can get anywhere else in Morocco, but the size of it all was overwhelming! I mean, when you think "Morocco," this is the picture that pops up in your head. I didn't plan on spending any money there because it was supposed to be really expensive due to the huge numbers of tourists (I've noticed that a lot of the Europeans really don't barter much at all), but I ended up spending almost 300 dirhams. That night, we hung out by the pool for a while before going to bed. The next morning we left at 10, at lunch at the same place, and arrived back home to AUI around 8ish. All that traveling for one day in Marrakech! But I enjoyed it, and I would definitely go back.

Yesterday, Wednesday, my class and the other beginning class took a trip to Fes to look at some old medresas and an old library. We always joke that Ustedha Meriem gets her way about everything, and that everyone else follows her rules... here's proof: for time's sake, we ate lunch at MacDo in Fes, where she talked the employees into giving us sit-down service. That's right, I went to MacDonalds and they took my order at the table and then brought it out to me. Who else can say that? Anyway, we went to several old and very pretty medresas around the old medina, and then made our last stop at the Karouyeen Library (sidenote: that's a horrible transliteration, but I figure there aren't really any standard ones, so I can just make it up). It was built in the 2nd century hegira (8th Century AD), and was absolutely stunningly beautiful. It has one of the largest collections of Arabic manuscripts, which we got to see. Apparently tour groups aren't usually allowed to see them, but they always make an exception for AUI... we decided that AUI is the exception to everything in Morocco. So, this guy who was telling us about the library took us up to this super hot room and opened all these really old books that were written on gazelle skins in various calligraphic styles. He didn't wear any gloves when he was handling the books, and he just kind of flipped through them like you would a normal book. We were all kind of astounded because at home that stuff would be in a glass box and no one would be able to touch it. We saw the only surviving copy of a medical book written by some guy that covers every malady from the head to the toes in poetic verse, so it would be easy for everyone to memorize. We also saw several other books with various forms of really pretty calligraphy.

All the Moroccan students leave today or tomorrow, so we will have the campus mostly to ourselves for our last week here. I'll be sad to leave, but really relieved when my 8 weeks of super-intensive Arabic classes are finally over. I think everyone, including most of the teachers, are pretty burned-out by now.

I've got a last movie to watch tonight, and a last load of laundry to do, so I will end here. I can't wait to see everyone in a few weeks!