Adventures in Morocco

On Friday we got back from a week in Marrakesh and oh my it felt good to be home in Scotland again. I loved being home in Norway and I loved our holiday to Morocco, but there is nothing quite like coming back and getting ready to work again. Had my first day of semester 5 today and our lecturers did a great job scaring us half to death! We have tons to do and not all that much time to do it on. However this is going to be a great semester, I can just feel it in my bones.
Back to Morocco; I had a great time while being there and seeing a culture that is very different from ours (both British and Norwegian). I suddenly also realized why it takes a generation or two to adapt to our culture. I guess you can say it opened my eyes in a way. Marrakesh was more or less exactly what I had imagined it to be; some beautiful buildings and really cool markets but still had a lot of poverty all over. We spent most of our days in the Medina and saw most of the things worth seeing. I didn't know much about Morocco at all before I went and I really regret not spending more time researching the city before I got there. Jack had a bad reaction to some of the food and that made me reluctant to try anything new. I was going to try a camel tagine though, but they were currently sold out. Words can not describe my disappointment. It was an exciting city to be in, but a week was a bit long. A long weekend or 5 days would have been enough. We went to a square called Djemaa El-Fna where during the day there were snake charmers there who scared the crap out of me (I hate snakes) and people with monkeys in a chain for you to take a picture with. Before I went to Morocco I was told by the person who gave me my vaccines to NOT touch any of the cute (or not so cute) animals, as they tend to carry quite a few nasty bugs about. I kept this in the back of my mind and stayed clear of any monkeys. During the night there was a lot of interesting shows on. However, it just didn't feel safe. Some thing was just not quite right and when I guy was arrested tings got really uncomfortable and I was dead sure a riot was going to break out, so we stayed clear of that place after dark.

Also in the Medina there was the Souks. This was like a huge market. It was very magical the first time we went there, but we would never have found our way out of there is it wasn't for Connor's map on his phone. The place was huge. The sales men in there were very pushy and always tried to rip us off. Being a foreigner there pretty much meant that they would offer you things at British prices. Luckily my mum used to take me to flea markets as a kid and bargaining is my thing. Even when I ended up paying one tenth of their original price they seemed pretty satisfied when I left. I bought tons of earrings and a tagine plus some souvenirs for my family. They sold the strangest of things there and I really wish I had taken the time to buy a camel leather bag, just because that would be awesome.

Everything was in French (just like you'd expect from a previously french colony). Luckily Connor and Jack both did french in School and we could kinda make out what most things meant. It made ordering things in restaurants a bit harder though. We stayed in hotel Hotel Assounfou which was really nice. They say they have a pool, but was empty the whole time we were there and did not really seem worth going to. There was also only wifi in the reception area. It made my bragging on facebook quite limited. Everywhere we went there were orange trees and so much sun! I loved the holidays despite it's flaws. New experiences are always welcome and I am already looking forward to going somewhere else and explore the rest of the world!