Senegal-Toubab Dialo and Dakar

it has been a long time since i have updated this thing, but i've been a bit busy. at the end of february i moved from rabat to dakar, senegal. it is, to say the least, different.

when i told my moroccan friends the i was coming here, they all exclaimed, oh wow, you're going to africa! as if morocco is not a part of africa... but i see their point. morocco is a blend of the middle east, africa, and europe. senegal is a world unto itself. though it is a muslim country, people are still very traditional in the sense that the pre-muslim culture prevails. i dont know how to explain that, except to say that, unlike the uber-conservative morocco, women walk around in the streets shamelessly dressed in colors that put peacocks to shame. you can here african music everywhere you go and dancing is highly encouraged.

i live with a christian family so my experience may be a bit different. first of all, we drink wine with dinner every night. my host mom, odile and my host dad jacques are incredibly kind and funny. she is senegalese and very involved in her church community. he is french and completely non religious. they have the funniest dinner conversations. my two host cousins, beatrice and marie suzanne, are really fantastic. they're both 24 and have been so amazing, taking me to great places and showing me around.

i go to school for 4 hours a day. the rest of my time i spend studying and working on a marketing strategy to get more students at the baobab center (its very intrax). i've made a bunch of friends and seveal times a week we go out to concerts or to grab beers by the beach and watch the sunset.

dakar is very beautiful, but it was clearly built without the help of a city planner. it is dusty and dirty and somewhat ramshackle. unlike morocco, where my long curly hair and complexion gave me some sense of mildly fitting in, i cant even try here. i am clearly toubab (stranger). theres no escaping that. which means that i walk around with a big dollar sign on my forehead and it can get quite tiresome always trying to not get ripped off.

but of course i love it here. the music, the people, the school. i arrived here at 11:00 pm. the next night my host cousins took me to a mardi gras party. they showed up at my door dressed like male pimps, bling and all. it was hilarious. even more hilarious was that everyone at the party was crossdressing, including the boys. one of whom was wearing a yellow dress that barely covered his ass. it was hilarious. welcome to senegal.

jesse came to visit me for a week, which was great fun. we got a chance to escape the city to go to toubab dialo, a town about an hour south of here on the ocean. we stayed at a beautiful place called sobo bade which is an artist community as well as a hotel. then we came back to dakar and braved the downtown markets.

Toubab Dialo




Dakar
i have only 5 days left here. on saturday i am going to joal where my dad was in the peace corps, with this guy moussa who works at the baobab center but is from joal originally. i heard he was almost voted mayor. then on sunday i am going to the pink lake. no joke, its pink. then, monday night at 11:30 pm, my african adventures come to an end. it'll only take me 3 flights and 25 hours of travel to get home. but for now, i have to go do my homework.

in which liz rides a camel (dromadir)

we left for the sahara first thing friday morning. the drive to azrou took only 3 hours and we arrived by noon. azrou is a small town in the middle atlas mountains bordering a forest. in this forest are some monkeys who love tourists and the food they provide. we spent the afternoon hiking in the snow and taking pictures of the monkeys. very cute and very grabby.


next up was a walk through azrou to find some batteries for my camera. i was told that the town was accustomed to tourists because they do peace corps training at the hotel we were staying at, but i only found one friendly person and she sold me batteries. the rest were young guys who hooted and yelled 'hey baby,' and one charming young man who walked up to me, burped in my face, and walked away chuckling with his friends. so very charming.

the next morning we woke up even earlier for the 6 hour drive to the desert. we drove through the rest of the middle atlas mountains, then across a plain, then through the high atlas mountains, and then down towards the desert.


we arrived in merzouga around 4 in the afternoon and had tea at the place where we got the camels. the we each got our own camel (all 18 of us) and there were several berber guides to take us into the desert. with the 7 dwarfs theme apparent in everyones camel names, i dubbed mine doc.

first of all, we had to tie our scarves in berber fashion to keep the sand out of our faces.



the very worst part about camel rides is when they stand up and sit down. their legs are very long and they pitch you violently forward and backward. also, the ride feels pretty smooth, but when you get off, your ass is really sore. but in all, the hour and a half long camel ride was amazing, especially when we got out of view of the city. you are surrounded by golden glowing sand and the sun was setting.





our campsite was directly behind the huge sand mountain in the picture above. before dinner we hiked up to see the stars. it is rather difficult to hike up sand mountains, let me tell you. every time you take a step you slide backwards. but the view from the top was amazing. getting down is much easier. mostly you slide into the dark with the distant light of the fire guiding you to the campsite.


then we had dinner in one of the tents. surprisingly good for camping fare.


when dinner was all cleaned up, out guides brought out their drums. there was drumming and dancing for hours under the stars!
(i tried to upload a video here, but it clearly didnt work.)

then we went to sleep, since we had to get up at 5:30 am. i slept until about 3 am and woke up freezing beyond freezing cold. i have literally never been so cold in my life. i was wearing a tank top, a long sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, a hoodie, a scarf, my pajama pants and my jeans. and i had a mattress and a blanket. not a pleasant 2 and a half hours until i could get up and get moving. but finally we got back on the camels and headed back to the van.


we ate breakfast and got on the road for our 9 hour drive home.

the best part about driving home for 9 hours was not the girl behind me kicking me in the bac for 9 hours. it was seeing every different kind of scenery imaginable. we drove through the desert. then up into the high atlas mountains.


then we came down into a large plain.




then we drove into the middle atlas mountains, smack into the middle of a snow storm.


as we headed down the mountain the rain turned into snow, and then stopped altogether. the land was green and full of orchards and fields.

we had a beautiful sunset and arrived home in time for dinner.

this country is so freaking cool.

essaouira

essaouira is like chefchaouen except on the beach instead of the mountains. nicole, lindsey, and i left right after work on friday, nearly missing our train. the trip takes 8 hours, a 5 hour train ride to marrakech and then a 3 hour bus ride to essaouira. the driver managed not to hit anything. we arrived late at night and managed to negotiate the windy streets of the medina to find our hotel. the next morning we woke up to have breakfast on the terrace on the hotel roof. it was clear that a storm was brewing when the crazy gusts of wind pushed a potted 4 foot cactus onto my arm. attack cactus!

we went out to wander the streets before the storm broke. found some great shopping, mostly jewelery and managed to get some lunch. then we decided to go back to the hotel when it started pouring buckets.

all of us headed up to the roof to watch the storm from the covered porch on the roof. i made some very nice british friends with rum and we spent the afternoon watching the torrential downpour. for about 2 minutes around sunset the rain stopped and the sun came out.



then it started raining again and we went to dinner. some of the best seafood i've ever had.


the next morning we woke up early hoping to see some more of the city. luckily the weather was good and we walked around the walls of the city by the ocean.






we had a beautiful walk on the beach, ate breakfast, and went home.

all in all, a relaxing weekend with some nice shopping and a nice walk by the beach. i'd love to go back some weekend when its not raining!

chefchaouen

chaouen is a gorgeous little town in the mountains; a 5 hour bus ride from rabat. a perilous 5 hours. we left in the late afternoon and were supposed to arrive around 9 pm. we would have made it early too, given the 'skills' of our bus driver. imagine windy mountain roads at night. imagine a maniac bus driver from hell who is on a schedule. imagine passing every bus, car, and truck on the windy mountain roads on on the left, when on either side you just see darkness and imagine cliff edges.

but we were almost there. 10 kilometers from chefchaouen. that was when we hit the hay truck. the hay truck was fine; a few bales fell off of the back. but the side mirror of the bus folded in half and the front window cracked pretty badly. then they had to call the police and we all proceeded to wait in the freezing cold on the side of the road for 2 hours. we probably could have walked the 10 kilometers in that time, despite our bags and walking up a mountain.
we finally arrived around 11 pm and made it to our hotel.

the next morning we woke up and went out to explore.




the streets are all blue and picturesque. it reminded me of greece.

we spent the morning walking around, going to the casbah museum, and going in circles in the medina streets. the casbah museum has an old tower with great views of the mountains.



in the afternoon we decided to hike up to the abandoned mosque on a hill overlooking the city. so, up we went, passing pot fields and the boys who guard them from tourists. when we finally got up we were amazed with the view of the whole valley. we were also amused by the spanish tourists smoking hash in the tower of the abandoned mosque.



last, we went up to the atlas hotel to watch sunset. the hotel is horribly ugly on the mountainside, but has a great view and overpriced drinks.




it was an amazing day. unfortunately, we had to leave at 7 am sunday morning as it was the only but back to rabat. but its such an incredible little mountain town! amazingly beautiful weekend!

fes/meknes/volubilis

this weekend i ventured outside of rabat with four friends east to fes. fes is an incredibly beautiful old town (it just celebrated its 1200th anniversary) and its only about 3 hours away by train. so, meghan, lindsey, noorin, debbie, and i headed out on friday afternoon. we arrived at the fes train station at around 7:00 pm.

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an open letter to fes

dear fes,
first impressions are very important. you are a beautiful, historical city with lots to see and do. you should welcome visitors with open arms. so why, dear fes, do young men have nothing better to do on a friday night than cruise the train station? seriously, shmoes of fes, do you really think that leering at a woman under a greasy mop of dark hair is the best way to get her attention? moroccan women respond to white pointy shoes and "hello beautiful"? "You have nice big asses" is the best way to get 5 american women to come home with you? for all women everywhere, let me just say, "NO."
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shmoes aside, some guys just wont take "get the hell away from us" for an answer. i understand that a large group of tourists will always attract a certain amount of attention from scammers. we attracted one such boy. i cant imagine that he was over 18. but as we tried to find the name of our hotel to call and let them know we would be there shortly, mr. scam artist decided that we would enjoy his 'hotel' much more.

"you are welcome my seesters! i have very nice hotel for you, come with me"
"my seesters, i am speaking to you, hello? you are welcome!"

After ignoring him for a few minutes we finally say "no, we have a hotel, thank you, no."

"my seester, is very good hotel, is in lonely planet. yes, family hotel, very nice! you come with me!"

"NO! leave us alone! we have a hotel! go away!"

"my seester, you are paranoid! we love you here! you come to my hotel yes?"

At which point we walk away to find a pay phone to call our hotel. the medina, or old city, of fes has over 9,000 streets and alleys and does not allow cars (only donkeys). it is the largest medina in the world. the proprietor was to meet us at bab boujeloud, the blue gate, and walk us to the hotel. otherwise we might have very well wandered the medina all night with no clue as to where we were. so after calling we hear,

"my seesters, i also have car, very good for 5 persons, very cheap!"

every town has official taxis called petit taxis that are all one color. in rabat, taxis are blue, in fes they are red, and in meknes they are white. they all have a little sign on the top that says petit taxi. they have meters (except apparently in marrakech). do not be fooled by cars that are the right color, but nothing else. mr. scam artist had two large red vans.

"i dont want anything that kid thinks is ok!" i exclaimed, and my whole group started to cross the street.
"my seester, you are paranoid!"
"um, yeah!"

and that was the end of that.

the man from the hotel, dar bouanania (tell your friends!) met us at the beautiful blue gate and walked with us for a few minutes on the windy streets of the fes medina. we arrived at a wooden door that opened into a magical place. many riads, beautiful old homes, have been turned into hotels. we opened the door and there were gorgeous tiles on the walls, the floor, everywhere. it was so beautiful! such a sanctuary from the dirty medina.





in the morning we decided to check out the rooftop terrace. the view was incredible, just breathtaking.




as i mentioned, the medina has over 9,000 streets. actually, i think its closer to 10,000. there is no rhyme or reason to the streets; they seem to go wherever they feel like going and you can either encounter a dead end, pitch black that seems to go nowhere, spaces only a child could fit through, a beautiful mosque, a university, a fantastic crafts shop, or cheap knockoff armani shop. fes's location is at a crossroads of several berber tribes, moroccan styles, and jewish artwork. everything comes to the medina to be sold. so, how do you know if you are buying a hand made moroccan camel leather purse, or a cashmere scarf made in india? and how do you find your way out? you need a guide, who comes to you for only 250 dirhams for the entire day (roughly $25 split by your group) and gets a commission from every store where you buy something. our guide, amina, was a charming woman who was recommended to us from some previous volunteers. she asked us what we wanted to see, and off we go.




the tour was a combination of shopping and sight seeing. we started at the blue gate, moved on to a madrasa, a mosque, lots of history about fes, and then walked through the residential area. this is where you might find yourself on a tiny road to nowhere. thank god for amina. then we arrived at the carpet shop, which is at the end of a random alleyway. it is an old riad which was turned into a cooperative, so families and carpet makers from all over morocco send their wares there to be sold. we get a tour of the shop and the looms and some information about carpets and the different kinds. there are moroccan, berber, and jewish carpets, each with distinctive styles. the carpets of fes usually feature "fes blue." a charming man gives us all of this information while we sip mint tea and his assistants roll out different carpets onto the floor as examples. then the sales pitch begins.




"this is art, if you see anything that touches your heart you should buy! for when in your life will you have this opportunity again!"



my friends meghan and debbie begin considering different rugs, which was great fun. at one point mr. charming rug salesman comes up to me and says, "excuse me for asking, but how old are you?" i inform him that i am 26 years old.

"i have very nice son, you would make wonderful wife for him! i promise you 100 camels, a week long wedding, you will live in the finest house!"

i inform him, no, i'm sorry, i have a boyfriend we've been together for three years. really, i'm not available.

"well," he says, "i wish you long and happy life with him! i hope he is everything you want him to be! but if he is not, you come back here, i promise you will live like a princess!" and darn, it was always my dream to be married to a 21 year old and live in fes with all the carpets i could ever want!

next we went to the famous tanneries and were all hit on by our exuberant guide, who pretended he couldnt speak english for the first 5 minutes, and then broke into perfectly accented american english. he could also do british, australian, and south african.




the next stop was the berber apothecary who gave us a demonstration of all kinds of delicious smells and herbal remedies for everything that ails you. the moroccan black seeds actually worked and i bought some. i also bought, a small bag of 45 spices called ras el hanout (top of the shop) for women who cant cook. (on a side note, i mentioned to my class this morning that i cant cook, and they told me that i had to cook to get a good husband. but honestly, i seem to be getting plenty of marriage proposals anyway, so i'm not to worried.)

and the last shop was the cloth weavers. honestly, it wasnt the best cloth shop, but i did recieve another marriage proposal. "if you marry me, you can have an entire shop of scarves!" tempting, but no camels...

my friend lindsey received the best marriage proposal of the day.
"you and me should get married. we would move to the desert. we would have two camels, you, me, and allah!"
they do know how to make a girl go weak at the knees.

we took a briaf tour of the carpenters and joiners quarter and then were ready to fall down after a day of walking the cobblestone streets, so we bid farewell to amina back at the blue gate, went back to the hotel to pick up our bags, and caught our train for meknes. first class was sold out so we had to take second class, which is only slightly cheaper and has no assigned seating. which means screw granny and the kids on their way home from the holiday, step on people and shove them in the face to get on that damn train. we americans are not comfortable with shoving granny, seeing as how she cant really get around all that fast and has been separated from her son by a swarm of people, which means we all get shoved extra hard when we *gasp* wait to let her climb onto the train.

despite that we found seats without a problem and spent a charming hour chatting in french with two sisters who were traveling with their mother to meknes for the weekend. their mother loved lindsey's blond hair and said she had a son who would be perfect for her to marry. for good measure, she said there was another son for me and a cousin for noorin. by the end of the ride we were all basically family and one of the women, who is studying french literature at the university in fes, gave me her phone number and told me to call her if i am ever in fes again.

our hotel in meknes, the majestic, was fine. it is in the new town, a block away from the train station (which we didnt know when we got into our taxis, but realized when they drove us around the block and stopped). it is not expensive. the staff is very very nice. that was the best thing about the hotel. but really, it wasnt anything special, like a gorgeous tiled converted riad.

we decided to head to volubilis in the morning, despite the rain, which was a good idea on many levels. it is a half hour drive from meknes and everyone gets a grand taxi. these are used for long hauls and are pretty cheap. we were overcharged, given what some of the other volunteers were charged, but it was 400 dirhams for a driver to take us all out and then wait for two hours while we walk around, and then drive us back with a few scenic stops. about $10 per person. and we were overcharged. i love morocco.

volubilis is an archaeological site with roman ruins. i dont know what people generally think about this place, but i though it was pure magic. that was a combination of a cool archaeological site, really fun, go-with-the-flow people to see it with, and unpredictably incredible weather.

when we arrived, it was drizzling a little bit. we all did a little bit of slip n' slide in the mud and i resolved that it would be a perfect day if i could manage to not fall on my ass. there are amazingly preserved mosaics and lots of pillars and stones. it was really beautiful and fun to walk around. then came the torrential downpour. we huddled under meghan's umbrella up against an ancient stone wall as the wind blew the rain right into us and soaked us all completely. at which point we decided we were finished with volubilis. all of a sudden we looked up and saw slashes of blue in the dark sky. soon the clouds swept up the mountain and the sun came out and the entire world sparkled and shone. we could see another storm coming through the valley and the previous storm on top of the mountain, but we were in an oasis of sunlight in the middle of brilliant green and ancient stone.









some time later when we finally left, soaked and happy, our driver took us up the mountain for a panoramic view of moulay idriss, a tiny town on the hillside. then we headed back to meknes for lunch.

as i may have mentioned, women in morocco dont really go out to eat or to sit in cafes. that makes finding a lunch spot, or a cafe to duck in from a storm quite difficult, since all cafes are filled with men. they tend to stare, make comments, or assume you're a prostitute if you frequent cafes. but we found a place to eat finally, after which we realized it was pouring and we had hours until our train. during a brief break from the rain, we spotted a patiserie called la tulipe. now there's a place that women can frequent, we thought, and headed in. well, we were wrong, but we wanted hot chocolate and tea so we just sat down and hung out for a few hours. a few women ended up coming in, but they were all with men. still, we could have done worse.

finally, soaked and loaded down with bags, we got on our first class train and headed homeward. it was a fantastic weekend and a great first trip, proving my friend neaka right. this place is crazy, totally and completely insane. and awesome, so much fun, and always an adventure.