Morocco: waka waka we are all Afrika

There are several notes written in my notebook about my three day travel extravaganza to Morocco, so I am just going to synthesize into lists.

Travel on Friday: Madrid > Sevilla > Tangiers, Morocco, Africa.
Travel on Saturday: Tangiers > Tangiers Beach? > Chefchouen > Tangiers.
Travel on Sunday: Tangiers > Tetouen > Tangiers > Sevilla > Madrid.

Things that happened/things I noticed on buses during the trip:
1. On the bus trip from Madrid to Sevilla, I fell asleep in the morning and when I woke up we were going through beautiful mountains, some with steep rockfaces. I've been so happy to see that Spain has mountains - I see them every Tuesday and Thursday morning on the train to the elementary school, but I haven't seen anything very impressive. This morning I found this place where Spanish mountains finally beat VT mountains. Little did I know what great mountains were to come in Morocco!
2. Driving from Sevilla to Tarifa to take the ferry to Tangiers, I noticed a place where there was a lake right at the foot of a mountain, just like in one of my favorite Spanish short stories, San Manuel Bueno. I was so excited to see this out the bus window.
3. The mountains in Northern Morocco are GORGEOUS. I couldn't get over this.
4. All of these points are about mountains.


Things that happened in Tangiers:
1. I rode a camel.
2. We saw Hercules Cave, and the water was so, so blue.
3. We went to look for a teahouse on Saturday night but couldn't find out.
4. Found a girl from Connecticut that is studying in Sevilla who was on the tour with us who knew people at Saint Mike's! I was so excited. First person she knows? Jordan Porco. What are the odds? It's a small world.


Things that happened in Chefchouen:
1. We fled a protest.
2. A man called me "Shakira" and said "waka waka", because he thought I was Spanish. If he had said this in front of a real Spaniard, they would have been mortified. I just laughed.
3. Between fleeing the protest and leaving on our buses, I used a bathroom that was actually just a small hole in the ground. "A non-Western toilet." That was interesting.
4. Noticed lots of animals just roaming in the beautiful Atlas Mountains, and their owners collecting them up before dark.

Things that happened in Tetouen:
1. There are cats everywhere. This is actually Morocco in general, but I noticed specifically in Tetouen.
2. Finally got to try Moroccan tea and it was delicious - so sweet!
3. I finally got the souk/zoco experience that I was looking for. It was such a cool experience to be walking through the very narrow, wet streets of the food market with entire chickens hanging from the awnings and lots of meat, fish and vegetables everywhere and people talking, selling, laughing, doing normal things. I was a little disappointed that my tour program was so Americanized and seemed so unauthentic, but this experience made up for it, a bit.
4. We saw more rugs - in both cities they brought us to rug co-ops to see where they make and sell rugs. I have never been interested in textiles or rugs or anything, but they were actually really interesting and beautiful.
5. I finally got to buy some Moroccan gifts! I was so excited.
6. I found people that are nicer than Canadians or Americans - the Moroccans were so kind, interesting and eager people. They are also all really smart - most of them know at least 4 languages. (Arabic, English, French, Spanish) - they were great.