Excursion, Day 1: Seeing Red

Hello, blog.
Wow, it’s been some time since I last saw you.
How are you?
Yeah, I know. I’m sorry I… I just got so busy and forgot to write! I mean, with midterms and traveling and –
What’s that, blog?
Yeah, you’re right. I have no excuse. But I’ve got so much to tell you!
Well here, maybe this will make you feel better….

Once upon a time, in early October 2009, the 7 members of the BU Rabat Program, along with their program coordinator Fadoua and their trusty driver Muhammad, boarded a van for points unknown. They took with them only a few bags and bottles of Sidi Ali (water), and took away only memories.

Well, memories along with a few souvenirs.

After packing up the van, we headed out, leaving the city for only the second time (after Casablanca). In the first of many long drives through the kingdom of Morocco, we passed through some of the agricultural areas of the country and glimpsed the mountain chains in the distance. After about 5 hours of driving, we pulled into the thriving city of Marrakesh.

The Red City is actually quite beautiful. The stone around the area has a reddish iron tint to it, so all of the original buildings also took on this reddish hue; nowadays, it’s actually a law that any building within the medina has to be painted this shade of faded red. Which makes the city alluring, but also makes it very easy to get lost….

After checking in to our hotel, we found a random restaurant and ordered up some Moroccan food – I got chicken kebabs with veggies (and some very traditional French fries), and then had my first taste of bastiyya by stealing some of Anthony’s dish. Oh. My. God. So delicious! It’s a recipe traditionally from Fes which essentially takes chicken, egg, raisins and almonds and wraps it all in luscious fried dough with cinnamon-sugar (like at the good ol’ Terryville Fair!). There’s also a very common recipe that uses pigeon meat instead… I prefer to believe that we ate the chicken variety. I personally enjoyed the cats which roamed freely throughout the restaurant, but my travelling companions seemed none too pleased and forbid me from trying to slip them any food. Pity.

For the afternoon, we had free time to visit the city as we pleased (with reimbursements for any museums or gardens!). So, we split up – one group went off to the Sa’dian Tombs while my group headed toward the Majorelle Gardens. Unfortunately, this meant braving the city’s horribly corrupt taxi system. As there were 5 of us, we had to split into 2 of the little golden cars. I was in the second cab, and our driver told us that we’d merely go off the meter of the leading taxi, which would have posed no problem – had the other driver chosen to actually use his meter. Instead, he insisted that it was broken so that he could trick us into giving him far more money than the ride was worth. Despite the fact that the girls in the first taxi told him repeatedly to turn on the meter and even had him pull over so they could get out and find another, he fell through on his promises to use the legally-mandated taxi meter. So, we paid the drivers about half of the ludicrous 30 dirhams they demanded and went on our way.

The gardens themselves were a bit smaller than I had expected, but were gorgeous. Picture lots of trees and cacti with fountains and ponds and tourists. All very peaceful. Yves St. Laurent (who was born in Algeria – go figure!) actually owned the gardens until his recent death, and there is a monument to him set up in one hedge-lined corner.

From there we went back into the medina toward the Medrasa, though Katherine and I decided to walk in order to see some of the city life and avoid another taxi fiasco. Instead, we were approached twice by men who offered to lead us and to whom we explained that we were students and could not afford to pay them for their services. The first then left us alone, but the second insisted on showing us the way to our destination, only to curse us loudly when, upon arrival, we repeated that we had no money to give him.

The inside of the Medrasa was gorgeous with its intricate tiling and woodwork and a small fountain in the central courtyard. Inside they set up a few of the rooms to look as they would have when the Quranic scholars had resided and studied there. Believe it or not, they were even smaller than a modern college dorm. Next, we spent a little bit of time in the Marrakesh Museum, which contained mostly modern artwork and a few examples of traditional costumes and weaponry. Finally, we looked at the Qoubia, a squat 2-story tower that is one of the last surviving examples of Almoravid architecture (dating from around the 12th Century, I think).

Before dinner, we spend a little bit of time wandering through the souk – so much larger than the few market streets to which we have become accustomed in Rabat, the market here is massive and maze-like, filled with goods and people and a little bit claustrophobic. Eventually, we ended up in the city’s famous Djemaa al Fnaa, which can be translated either as “Square of Death” or “Square of Nothing” – competing stories claim that the square was where the severed heads of dead enemies used to be displayed or that there had been plans to build a massive mosque in the square, but that these plans had come to nothing. Either way, it is now a huge open arena where musicians, storytellers, snake charmers, and performers of all other type gather to entertain the tourists and locals alike. I was amazed at how crowded the huge square became as the sun went down, and the energy throughout the place was amazing. We bought some fresh-squeezed orange juice from one of the vendors, along with some apricots and delicious candied peanuts that seemed to be covered in sugar and sesame seeds.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant / juice bar called Dallas and I had some chicken pizza (made “Moroccan” by the addition of a few olives on top) along with a cocktail of orange, banana, and peach juice. Over dinner, we decided that, since we were now living outside of America, we needed to become fans of football (soccer). So Fadoua took us out on a jersey search and we picked teams… mostly by who had the nicest-looking jersey and best reputation. I am now officially a fan of Inter-Milano! Granted, we just suffered a few crushing defeats, but whatever – I’ll stand by my newly adopted team through thick and thin!

Since everyone was exhausted after our first day of travel, we took a calm night and headed to sleep at the hotel. Anthony stuck me with the smaller of the two beds….