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So now I can say I've been to 3 continents! Morocco is in northern Africa, very close to Spain. Last Wednesday, my parents, Jane, and I set out to explore a new land! We flew with RyanAir to Morocco (I think my parents really enjoyed the nonstop 2 hr sales pitch for perfume and snacks). When we got there we went to the hotel, which was like SO awesome. Nice recommendation, preach, we owe ya one. That night we hopped in a cab and asked if there were any good restaurants around. Our cab driver proceeded to dump us in a sketchy alley where he promised a typical Moroccan restaurant that we'd love. Where do I even start? We walked up some steps and came to a long hallway lined with dancing/chanting Moroccans. was it scary? a little. did i feel like a vip celebrity? absolutely. they're really good at making everyone feel like they have just been twiddling their thumbs until the tourists arrive. It's like someone picked us up and threw us into the most "Moroccan" habitat ever. They had all kinds of entertainment like a belly dancer, a lady balancing a tray with candles on her head while doing the splits and being creepy, people playing music and singing, etc. After 3+ very interesting hours and wayyy too much food for 4 people (none of us speak arabic or knew how to order Moroccan cuisine) we headed back to the hotel.

Thursday morning we walked out of our hotel to walk to the market. We were followed by a man, abdul or somehting, that claimed he wanted to guide us. We told him thanks but no thanks. He kept saying, but really I dont want your money I just want to show you. We literally couldn't get him to leave. He did have some good information though.. Should we be surprised that we followed that parasight around for 4 hours and we ended up giving him money? They really know how to get ya. My parents nicknamed him paraSIGHT because he wouldn't go away but he did have some good information and take us to good places, i guess. The market is like nothing I've ever seen before! It was probably my favorite thing about Morocco. There are hundreds of souks full of different things, anything you can think of. You can walk down one street and end up in some maze and have no idea how you got there or how to get out to find the main square. The square is really cool too, its called Jemaa el Fna. There you can find anything from snake charmers, street performers, monkeys that do flips, and LOTS of fresh squeezed orange juice. Another thing about the market is haggling. Gotta be aggressive in those souks! Usually you can talk them down a good bit, shopping for things is more fun when you feel like you struck a deal.

Friday we were picked up by a friend of a friend who drove us to the mountains. We called him Abdog for short, and he is a Christian that lives in Morocco. He helped with the translation of the bible into the Berber language (the Berbers are the indigenous people-they live in the mountains and don't speak Arabic like in the city of Marrakech). He took us to a missionary's house that we know through friends. From there we went even higher up and went to a real Berber home! The family invited us in, the girls went to the kitchen where they were preparing food for us. It was like nothing I've ever seen! These people really live off the land. They were boiling water over burning firewood in their clay oven. We got to see them make the bread, too. It's so good! Although it would have tasted better if I wasn't so worried about the lack of hygiene. What they did was take the firewood out of the stove and wipe the insides clean and then slap the dough onto the sides of the interior of the stove! the bread cooked there, and it was tasty yum yum. Qué rico. that's what pilar would say. her influence lives on with us during our weekend trips.They also gave us olive oil to eat with it which they pressed from olives that grew on their own olive trees! I could go on but I won't. It was quite an experience though! Then we went to a restaurant where abdog told us his story. We had to be kind of hush hush since Islam is so prevalent there (hence the nickname and lack of picture of him) It's so crazy that people are still prosecuted for their beliefs. He's such an inspiration!

Saturday we went to Essouria, the beach. It is roughly 2 hours away from Marrakech. Amy and Kristina, two of our friends that go to Auburn, came with us! It was a really pretty drive. It seems like Morocco has every type of landscape there is: desert, beach, mountains. It's a beautiful country! Saturday got pretty crazy. We haggled in the market, saw goats standing tree branches, rode camels, the usual. Jane and I rode Jimmy and Kristina and Amy had Blanco. Couldn't get the parents to do it but maybe one day we'll go back to Morocco for round 2 with the whole clan and hit up the Sahara.

Sunday we came back to good ole Alcatraz. Just kidding, I love Alcalá. Seriously, though. Jane and I brought my mom to Alcalá Magna, the mall in our hood. We love it! We went to VIPS to eat dinner (it's got american food and I think dottie was ready for that). Dad must have eaten a little germ in the berber house because he wasn't feeling too well. I stayed the night with them in their hotel and then sent them off home Monday morning! It was sad, but we had so much fun! Thanks for coming to see me parents! Don't cry mom, I'll see ya in 2 months!

What else, what else? We watched yet another disturbing movie in film class. Last night we met some friends at Casa Roja, our favorite tapa place, and all went to Media Pinta together! Love Tuesdays with the Instituto B peeps. Here are some pictures of this past week- I don't have many and I had to borrow from Jane because I used mom's camera in Morocco!

Dinner on the first night!

te amo!

dad gets rubbed down in a spice shop (we can thank parasight for bringing us there)

monkey in Jemaa el Fna!

the "water men" - apparently they're typical moroccan icons or symbols FYI you gotta pay to take pictures with or of anyhting cool in Morocco

berber homes!

goats in a tree!

Jimmy and Blanco!