a child who never grows up

This weekend I went to Morocco with Discover Excursions. We took a bus from Sevilla to Tarifa, a town on the coast of the Straight of Gibraltar. Then traveled by ferry to Tangier (I managed not to get too sea sick), got back on the bus until we arrived at our hotel in Tetuan. 

We had dinner at the hotel which included soup and couscous with chicken. I was so tired from the day of traveling that I skipped dessert and went right to bed. Surprise, surprise.

Saturday morning we traveled to Chefchaouen which is about an hour away from Tetuan. Since I've traveled more in the past few months than ever before in my life, I've been researching famous writers or poets from the places I visit. Abdellatif Laabi is a Moroccan poet who was imprisoned for ten years and then exiled to France for his political beliefs and writings. Here is one of his poems...

I'm a child of this dreary century
a child who never grew up
Doubts that set my tongue on fire
burned my wings
I learned to walk
then I unlearned it
I grew weary of oases
and camels eager for ruins
My head turned to the East
I lie in the middle of the road
and wait for the caravan of the mad









We spent the day in Chefchaouen with a tour guide who told us about the rich and complex history of the people of Chefchaouen. We walked around the Medina, which is the oldest part of the town. All the buildings are blue and white for two reasons: first because the blue signifies Allah and white signifies peace, and secondly because these colors keep the buildings cool and mosquito free.

I found a bit of NYC/Milton Glaser's influence in Chefchaouen.

There were cats everywhere! And I mean everywhere.

We sampled some of his bread.

What amazed me about Chefchaouen is that such beauty comes from simply painting all the buildings a particular color.

We went shopping which was an exhausting endeavor. Everyone wants you to buy something and will barter with you until blue in the face.

My only purchase was a henna tattoo, and yes I bartered for it.

This is the view from my hotel room in Tetuan.

On Sunday we went to Asilah. Here I am with Julia and Laura.

We went to a market inside a cave. 

And then we rode camels. I was in the last group to ride the camels and had a moral dilemma because the camels, especially the first one, were not happy.

The remaining pictures are in the medina of Asilah. There were many murals, art galleries, and an amazing view of the beach!

When we left Asliah to return to Tangier for the ferry, we were warned that sometimes children will try to get on the bus to make it through customs and into Spain. Sure enough, there were kids riding outside on the back of the bus. Later we were told that two kids were hiding underneath the bus before we got on the ferry, and one more kid made it to Tarifa hiding under the bus but was found by the police and sent back to Morocco. 

Morocco is an interesting place because it is heavily influenced by Spanish and French culture. The people there speak Arabic, French, Spanish, and English! And you can watch television in any of those languages.