Aurora's Blog

If you’re reading this, and you’ve never been, things I did do that I loved that I would highly recommend are:

• Ourzazate
• Ouzoud Waterfall
• Sahara Desert
• have Mohammed be my tour guide.

I would call those the “can’t miss” (specifically the waterfall, because it really is a breathtaking natural wonder, whereas movie sets you could see in other places). And obviously the Sahara Desert is wildly famous. And it’s crazy seeing sand as far as the eye can see. [And if you don’t do it all with Mohammed, you’re nuts, because he’s the bees’ knees.]

Those would be the ‘can’t miss’.

But other things I would definitely do, if time

• hang out in Tangier (love the city, maybe stop by Central Perk)
• have a ‘taco’, because it’s unlike the tacos we know in the U.S.
• see the colorful rocks in Tafroute. (It’s a pretty far drive, but it’s cool)
• maybe even go down to Laayoune, stopping at the national park a bit before it. That was fun and serene and Laayoune seemed like a fairly bustling town.

But if you are me! –

If you’re me from the future reading this, looking for ideas on what you didn’t do last time that you wanted to do, I’d like to go around the whole north coast, including the Spanish enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla.

And I’d love to take the helicopter from Ceuta into Spain and go diving in Spain and take the ferry back into Tangier.

I’d like to continue all the way to Oujda, and maybe even see Figuig, so I can really try to get to every nook and cranny of Morocco.

Obviously I’d have to see Marrakech finally.

I’d kind of like to stop by Meknes if possible, as I didn’t really spend much time there the first time. We kind of just drove through it on one of our legs.

I’d maaaaaaybe like to try camel, because I usually make exceptions for what I’d normally eat when it comes to foreign delicacies. But animals are our friends, so I don’t know if I’d feel too bad to do that.

And then I’d also like to go to Dakhla, as it would show me the country further south. It’s supposed to be a lovely beach town.

And it might be fun to go even as super far south as you can to La Guera, just to reeeeeally get to as far south as possible for funsies.

I really do hope to go back to Morocco. I had the best time. It’s lovely!

I’m having issues uploading media. But this is where I’m just gonna put any more pictures not already in the other posts. And I’m just leaving this space in case I think of any more random things I think of. What a fun time overall.

Also, random thought to anyone who noticed and was curious, I did not indeed go to Marrakech, which I thought was funny. It’s one of the main cities everyone goes to, but alas, I just ended up having other plans. And I find it slightly hilarious that I did not see Marrakech – which is the place everyone would assume I would go.

Next time!

Oh man.

It was so sad to say goodbye to my best friend Mohammed.

As he dropped me at my hotel for my last day, he said, “it was a pleasure to k-now you,” pronouncing the k in know, which was so endearing because it was just a little thing specific to him.

[Obviously no judgement on that. I don’t speak any other languages. It was purely endearing.]

And then we’ve stayed pals on WhatsApp. But it was just really special to me that he was sad that I leave. I was sad to leave!

We talked about how special it was that he went ziplining for the first time, and rode in a boat for the first time! And I had experienced new places and people and foods and everything!

It was a fun new/growing experience for everyone. He even talked to my dad during one of our adventures, when my dad called me. (Mohammed tried to convince my dad to come to Morocco, but the jury’s out. We’ll see. [When I was younger, we’ll see meant no almost all of the time, but you never know!])

It was just a really, really special trip. And I was so happy to be with someone who made me feel so safe. Didn’t try to oversell me, or come on to me, or anything. We just had a really good, fun, affordable, safe, friendly time.

AND he was so nice. He knew I loved lemons. And in Morocco, I was obsessed with sprite. It was just so cold and felt so good. I almost never drink soda at home, but in the hot, hot Moroccan sun (where I still believe different bottled water brands taste wildly different), Sprite was always there.

So, he had a cooler full of Sprite everyday. And he had lemons. And the car was always so clean when he picked me up. Just literal best tour guide. I already miss him. It was so emotional saying goodbye. I thought we both were almost ready to cry!

If you go to Morocco and do a tour with anyone other than my best friend Mohammed, you’re doing it wrong! haha

So, while I was staying in Tangier for quite a while, one day, while I was looking for places to eat – I found Central Perk.

Yes, the exact kind of Central Perk you’re thinking of!

It was totally Friends themed, and it was SO CUTE.

In the bathrooms, they had posters. One was “my eyes! My eyes!” by Phoebe, which was funny.

When you ask for the wi-fi password, they give it to you in trivia form. (It’s what Ross says when they’re moving the couch.)

They have drinks themed after the characters. The waiter says “I’ll be right back, ’cause I’ll be there for you!”

The people who work there LOVE friends. They have the giant orange couch and everything.

And they have stickers that say, “the place where Friends meet.” The whole thing was super cute.

It was a pretty long walk as it’s fairly deep in the city, but it was worth it!

So, we went back up from Rabat to Tangier.

We made a quick stop in Asilah, which was a cute teeny little town. The coolest thing about Asilah was the fun sculpture I played in.

We also stopped at the Hercules caves once we got to Tangier, and tbh, it seemed like a tourist trap. Like, the stuff in there looked very silly like a cheap theme park or something. No hate to Tangier. I love Tangier. But I’m just telling you, in my opinion, it’s safe to skip the Hercules cave, but feel free to go see for yourself.

One thing that was cool was a beautiful fountain by Scubamar’s office. It did like a little water dance, moving a lot and being in all different colors!

It just so happened to correspond with gay pride month in the states – although there was definitely no gay pride in Morocco, as it was illegal to do anything homosexual there.

But we did have a rainbow fountain.

And that pretty much covers the the trip – except I have just a couple more things to say in the upcoming days!

On our way from Casablanca up to Tangier, we stopped at the Rabat zoo.

I mean, yes, overall, it was ‘just a zoo,’ like any zoo.

But it was nice! Spacious, relaxed. One thing that was super cool was there were all these informational signs and it would say where the animals were from. The vast majority of them were from Africa.

That’s where I was! It was cool to think I was seeing animals where they were ‘supposed’ to be. [You could argue that they’re not ‘supposed’ to be in a zoo.] But I liked that they weren’t taken so far from home. I came to them, they didn’t come to me.

The food at the zoo was delicious and plentiful.

I loved the zoo. Would recommend, if you have extra time in Rabat!

All right, let’s get back into & finish up this Morocco trip!

I was in Casablanca a few different times during this trip, but mainly just for layovers (long or short).

I feel like lots of people paint Marrakesh as the main hub, but it seemed to me that Casablanca was where everything flew in/out of – especially on domestic-Morocco flights.

But as far as my one day actually truly visiting it, I did stop by the outside of the famous Mosque. I guess it’s one of the few in the world you’re allowed in as a non-Muslim woman.

But, it was closed for the day when I got there. (Plus, you have to have specific attire I’m not sure I had.) But that was fine. I hadn’t really planned on visiting the inside anyway.

Then I passed the fanciest KFC I’ve ever seen – with a whole fancy lawn set-up and everything!

And then… the mall!

I’d heard you have to stop by the mall. And it’s like “well, how special can it be? It’s just a mall.” But it was a really cool mall.

There was a giant aquarium-like thing in the middle that was beautiful. There were tons of stores in this huge mall. Also, a large fountain was outside that did like water-dancing that was pretty.

I would definitely head to the mall for a little walk, if possible.

And if I’d had time, I probably would’ve seen a movie at the IMAX just to see how different it was from America, but from looking around the lobby, it looked like it would probably be very similar.

And that was Casablanca. Then we were heading north again!

All right, let’s get back into & finish up this Morocco trip!

On our way up from Agadir to Casablanca, we spent a night in Essaouira, and then drove through Safi and El Jadida. 

This was a nice drive, by the water and everything.

We stopped for a night in Essaouira, and it was fine.

It was a little more crowded than some other places, I think because it’s the ‘famous beach town’ of Morocco.

I did enjoy walking around the medina – which was a little more open and spacious, and less crowded than some other medinas.

There were some really delicious crepes there, so that was very cool. And I met a couple of nice people – the guy making the crepes, and the guy selling a painting. 

The vibe was relaxed. And the people were very nice (as they were through most of Morocco).

So, Essaouira was fine and cool, and I would never discourage someone from going there.

But! I dunno, I think because of how it was presented to me as like the beach town, I was expecting something so special.

..Though in my opinion, I really thought El Jadida was a better beach town!

Clean. Not too crowded. Laid back. Beautiful. Walkable. That’d be my pick. Well… my pick actually is Tangier. But we’ll get more into that later haha.

We ended this little portion of the drive in Casablanca.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

Mohammed and I had a sort of general gist of what we were doing/where we were going, because I was just trying to see as much of Morocco as possible.

And once we got to Agadir, I saw all these signs for Crocoparc. So, why not?!

It’s exactly like what it sounds – a giant park of Crocodiles.

Crocodiles don’t move a ton (or at least, they didn’t as I first walked through the park). There were SO many, I wondered if some were statues, and/or real ones that weren’t alive.

Though slowly but surely, I started to see them move. And so many had their mouth open… Just sitting there with their mouth open. Turns out, it’s a way to regulate their temperature!

We got to see them feeding crocodiles. And we got to take a little journey through the kind of adult playplace type thing they had going on, with a bridge of rope and stuff.

There was an area where you could go underground and pop up in glass to see the crocodile. We really had a lot of trust in that glass!

A really fun time was had by all. I loved Crocoparc. Now Mohammed and I have matching hats in different colors to commemorate the time there!

And I’ll pick up with more next time (after we talk about the Emmys for a lil’ bit!)

I spent a night in Dar Assarou Toubkal National Park Lodge.

I had a little balcony on my room with a gorgeous view of the mountains. And the air just felt so very fresh.

It rained a lot in the morning, so I didn’t go out and do any hiking, but the view was spectacular.

If you really wanted to hike the Atlas Mountains, my understanding is that it takes multiple days. If I was gonna do that, I would be happy to do it through the lodge where I stayed. They seemed nice and knowledgable!

So, after a night and morning of taking in the majestic views of the Atlas Mountains (talked about so much on the internet, and in guide books, so we just had to stop by), it was time to keep going!

Picking up from yesterday –

So, I told this insane saga of the way the day worked out. But, I didn’t give the overview of the waterfall – which is just to say:

Ouzoud Falls is truly gorgeous. It’s definitely worth going. I would say it was one of the top sights in Morocco, for me.

It’s huge and sprawling, and lovely, and peaceful.

And I liked taking the long hike down, and the little boat. I’d do everything you could there.

(I accidentally forgot to change into real shoes, so I wore flip flops for the whole thing. I don’t recommend that, but I definitely recommend going!)

It’s beautiful from all angles, super serene. And I just loved it! Put it on a Morocco must-do list!

Picking up from yesterday –

So, then I hear Mohammed above me! And I have to like not show that I can hear him to other people. But if I don’t acknowledge him, he’s gonna keep yelling my name.

So, I take back my phone from the guy who was taking photos and wildly WhatsApp as fast as my fingers will allow, explaining what’s going on and worried he’s not gonna see or blow my cover.

I give the guy who’d followed as a guide some money and try to tell him seriously to go on, I’m done. I just want him out of there as fast as possible, before Mohammed gets down to us.

I do get the guide to go ahead of me. He takes his money and goes.

Mohammed reads my text and doesn’t talk to me out loud. He sees I’m following up behind me, so he just stays ahead of me.

There are what feels like a million stairs.

And somehow I climbed out of there, and we made it back to the car.

In a perfect world, I would’ve spent a little more time at the top, and tried to hold a monkey. But I’d already pressed my luck about a million times and Mohammed was ready to get back to the car.

So, we did.

And then I saw he’d bought me this super sweet souvenir with my name on it and everything. (We love Mohammed.)

And then off we went.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow [with one more post about the waterfall].

Picking up from yesterday –

So, there’s this man on the shore who greets me, clearly very fluent in sign language.

And I’m sure he could probably tell the absolute shock and fear in my eyes. How is there someone way out in the middle-of-nowhere-Morocco who speaks American Sign Language so fluently?

Obviously if I actually were deaf, I would be SO happy to see someone with whom I could communicate. So, the fact I didn’t react with glee I feel like really was alarm bells for them, probably. But then again, what are they gonna to me? Send me to jail for just trying not to talk to people?

I didn’t scam anyone or anything. And I over-tipped the boat guy, ’cause I felt bad.

I guess they could’ve drowned me in the waterfall, if they felt like it. But it feels like that would’ve been far too big of a punishment for the crime.

I quickly tell the ASL guy, as best as I can, that I’m in a hurry and have to go.

Then, on the way up, the guide guy who’s been following me this whole time tries to get me to pose for a pic, now that I’m all the way down at the bottom of the waterfall.

I know I have to get back up to Mohammed at this point, because he’s worried about the timing and stuff.

But I also know that plans can always be changed if we can’t drive as far, and he’s getting paid. Like, I want to be respectful of his time and everything, but I figure we’ll be fine overall.

So, I pose for a couple of quick pics, because if you’re gonna be going all the way out to this waterfall, might as well memorialize the main place to post.

And THEN –

I hear Mohammed yelling for me!

He’s gotten impatient, and started coming down (the way I’d be going up – so backwards) to find me.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow!

Picking up from yesterday –

I ended up taking the long way down. We kept going and going through more and more nature.

And then I’m getting a little stressed, because Mohammed only wanted me to spend an hour there. At first, I’m like, “how long can it possible take to see a waterfall?” But then I get there, and it’s like… oh. It could actually take a long time.”

So, we take the long way down. And then there’s this little place snack place where I grab a sprite from the NICEST man.

And then I feel even worse that I’m pretending to be deaf, because I don’t want to be lying to these nice strangers.

So, we keep on going forward and forward toward the waterfall.

And by this point, I’m starting to get WhatsApp messages from Mohammed. And I’m trying to tell him on my way. He’s surprised I’m still down there. And it’s like “aaaaaaaaagh, sorry. I’m gonna get back. Don’t worry about it!”

So, then, we keep going and we get to these very cute boats with little chairs.

And I get on one of the little boats that’ll take you around the waterfall.

The guy on the boat speaks very basic ASL!

And while I do speak basic ASL, I was kinda rusty. And I didn’t know the sign he was doing. And at this point, I can’t be like “uh, what does that mean?”

So, I look confused, but if I’m deaf, you’d think I’d know it! Aye, aye, aye.

Then he says out loud “shower.” Like he’s asking if I’m ready to get soaked by the waterfall. And I have to somehow try to play it off like I’m answering him without his spoken English tipping me off.

So, then we get close to the waterfall. It is cool. There’s picture-taking (of the other couple first, and then a few of me).

It was so hard to communicate when I don’t have speaking at my disposal. What a mess I’d gotten myself into deep far down into a (canyon?) literally and figuratively.

So, then we get off the boat, and there is a man who speaks sign language there to greet me!

And this is where we’ll pick up tomorrow.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Well, I hardly even know where to start here, because this is slightly embarrassing, but it’s a story I feel like I just gotta share with y’all.

As I mentioned yesterday, the catcalling was like out of control in Morocco. And then, not only the catcalling, but tour guides who just would NOT leave me alone no matter how many times I said no, or I didn’t need a guide.

Mohammed wasn’t allowed to go with me, because drivers aren’t allowed to go as guides. It’s like rules of Morocco with how people are licensed or whatever.

So…

Oh boy.

I just – I felt really desperately in need of having some alone time and not being hassled this whole time. So… I pretended to be deaf.

Obviously, in general, I think it’s not really a great (nor super ethical) thing to pretend you have a disability!

But I just thought hopefully it would get people to leave me alone if I made it harder for them to communicate with me. I didn’t want any special treatment. And I wasn’t going to pretend outside of trying to be left alone on a hike, like when I got back to the car, obviously I was gonna drop it.)

(I wanted to pretend I spoke another language, but I don’t speak any other language nearly enough to get by even a little – especially because many people in Morocco speak Spanish, French, and Arabic. There are fluent languages galore in Morocco!)

So, I pretended to be deaf, hoping no one really knew American sign language. And knowing even if they did, I’d hopefully remember enough to get by enough to get out of the situation.

[I feel like this is the plot to a Seinfeld episode, as it seems like a ridiculous thing I could see one them getting caught up in. Aye, aye, aye. Anyway -]

So, I walk from the parking lot out to the area where the waterfall is. And when people pressure me to be my guide, I just act like I can’t hear.

Try to go on my merry way. And most people let me!

For the most part, this is working fine. People are indeed leaving me alone.

I think I’ve cracked the code….

Until a guide comes along who won’t take no for an answer.

And this is where I’ll pick up tomrorow!

This is gonna end up being pretty relevant to tomorrow’s story, so I wanted to go ahead and give you this context!

Okay, so I loved Morocco so much. Truly. One of my favorite places I visited – in large part to the amazing driver I had for a fair part of the time, Mohammed, who was so very hospitable, and just the nicest man.

So, I don’t have a lot of complaints. BUT, the one thing I feel like I have to address, just because it will become pretty relevant in a future story in Morocco is that the catcalling was out of control – and I mean out of CONTROL.

Like, if you say no, or ask someone to please leave you alone, they just keep following you and trying to talk to you. Not one single man every laid his hand on me, but they would not stop following.

And catcalling is really bad in America too, and absolutely people in America have followed me too.

But in Morocco – MULTIPLE times, this was not a lone incident, or even one that happened just a few times – I would say it’s fairly regular actually, if you’re a woman walking by yourself, men would GET OUT OF CARS. Like, if a friend was driving, the car would pull over and the passenger would jump out to walk with you/follow you around.

Like, if you’re an American woman alone in Morocco, you will not be left alone if you are walking anywhere. For the most part, I actually didn’t walk anywhere alone, because of this.

But, I was in Tangier for 2-ish of the weeks by myself (because I had to hunker down and basically finish my thesis, and I had class, and Mohammed had other guests, and I didn’t have unlimited money haha). And as much as I was sort of ‘hunkering down,’ I didn’t want to never leave the hotel. After all, I was in Morocco!

But if you’re a woman in Morocco, as much as you possibly can, I would not walk by myself. Again, no one actually touched me. So, you’ll probably be safe in that sense. But it’s just disconcerting to have guys never giving you space.

This became such a problem that I may or may not have tried to pretend I was deaf one day, to see if that helped anything… aye aye aye aye aye aye, so buckle up for that adventure. but yeah… just settin’ the scene!

I never finished the Morocco story, so why don’t we finish that out? 🙂

So, we’re back in business, baby!

After hanging out in Tangier for a pretty long time, it was time to explore a little more. And I met up with our best friend Mohammed!

The main reason we went to Beni-Mellal is just because we were trying to get closer to the Atlas Mountains and Ouzoud Falls. It wasn’t like we were specifically seeking out Beni-Mellal.

But it was actually this cute laid back city. I felt you coulda hung out there for a day or two if you wanted.

The people were incredibly nice (but that was a through line in Morocco).

On the way there, it felt like every diner had a neon sign. (I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t ever one. But lots of places had neon signs!)

So, I don’t know if neon is more popular in that region, and why. But that was a little interesting thing going on there.

One of the ongoing things Mohammed and I used to laugh about was how “Aurora is always asking why – why, why, why Mohammed? Linada, linada [‘why’ in Arabic (I don’t know how you spell it)].”

Because I did always feel like I had a million questions. [e.g. Why is there more neon here than somewhere else?] And most of the why questions, he wasn’t sure. But then he’d turn it around to me, and ask me why certain things were the way they were in America – and so many things, I do not know the reason off the top of my head.

One of the things that stuck with me are the marriage traditions in Morocco. He said that a girl would have to bleed the first time she had sex with her husband. And people would wait for them to bring a veil or something with some of the blood on it, so everyone could celebrate.

And that just felt so invasive. And not *everyone* always bleeds. And if she didn’t, the husband might divorce her. So, I dunno. It seemed a little stressful as a woman in Morocco.

But, hey, I don’t live there!

Anyway, we’ll continue on tomorrow!

Okay, so many of you may already know this, but since I didn’t, I’ll just do a little post on this.

So, first, a “riad” is basically just a Moroccan hotel.

The internet has definitions that differ slightly. Sometimes it says it has to used to have been a fancy home for just one rich person. Sometimes it says it *has* to be in a medina, but while I was there, I stayed in some places labeled riads that weren’t in medinas.

So, I just think of it as a cute Moroccan homey hotel, basically.

(Every one I’ve seen provides breakfast. They basically all have restaurants where you can get dinner and such as well. So, they’re just this fancy, gorgeous, homey, hotel-like place.)

And medinas!

So, whenever I read about medinas online, I was like, “oh yeah, so like a hub where’s there’s shopping and such.” I thought it was gonna be like a chill city center (like The Grove in LA).

But no. It’s like a place where everything is super close to everything else, and you have to snake your way through a maze of people… It’s definitely more like New York than LA. But I can’t even think of a place that crowded in New York. So, maybe I can’t compare it to the states? I dunno.

So, yeah, a crowded place where people live, where there are stands selling food and things, where there are hotels, etc.

Personally, I actually like staying outside of the medinas. It’s nice to have everything at your fingertips, but in my opinion, it’s nicer to be able to walk around in a chill, expansive area outside of a medina.

But to each their own!

But yeah Riad = hotel. Medina = crowded place that’s the tiny inner city of any city/suburb area. (Or at least that’s my understanding of those places!)

So, basically, if you’ve never been to Morocco, I find it necessary to tell you about Moroccan tacos.

Imagine this with me – start with a burrito… But there are no beans in it, but it can be everything else – your protein, toppings, cheese if you want, some special sauce they have here (Algerian sauce – I’ve never had it before and it’s so good!). Add french fries inside the burrito. And then flatten it as though it were a panini.

And there you have it. Your Moroccan taco.

I have the SIMPLEST palate. Everybody makes fun of me for eating like a 5-year-old – my friends in the states, and now my new friend in Morocco.

And Morocco doesn’t have a ton of familiar foods, which is cool, because I want to be experiencing the culture and everything. But I also have such a limited palate… BUT I’ve found a food I like. Tacos are my jam. And they seem like a Moroccan staple, as they are available everywhere!

So, welcome to my temporary favorite food!

Well, another round of the tour comes to an end!

Mohammed had new people to hang out with. And I needed to work on my thesis.

I ended up loving Tangier. Tangier, in many ways, felt like California. There were some big hills like San Francisco. There was a cool marina/beach, like I was in Santa Monica (or another LA area place). There was even a Starbucks!

[I know, I know, for someone who loves adventure and travel, I sure do love things that remind me of home. But one of the reasons I love home is because it’s so varied and there’s always something to do!]

Overall, Tangier was probably my favorite city in Morocco, though I liked many cities.

When I got to the hotel, it was crazy because when I checked in, the front desk said the manager wanted to talk to me.

So, I thought “oh no. What could the problem be? Was there something wrong with my credit card?”

But no. He just wanted to welcome me and say if I needed anything at all during my stay to let him know. He was like a very hands-on manager who wanted to make his guests feel like a princess. And he was lovely, and very worldly, having traveled all over.

He was a super nice man. And I was happy to feel like I sort of had a friend, or someone looking after me, even though he was really just a stranger.

The hotel was great, and he even sent me from free service to welcome me! (They had these cute Oreo tiramisus which were delicious!).

And since this was a good stopping point in my trip, I’ll also stop the story here, as we’ll spend the next few days talking about my birthday! And then we’ll jump back into Morocco!

Okay, so I actually don’t have a ton to say about this hike.

It was relaxed. It was beautiful. We got to walk by the water, and have a little sprite at a place down there that sold drinks and snacks. And then we came back.

A fun little cute little hike!

Okay, this was maybe my favorite day in Morocco!

So, basically, Mohammed and I were going to Akchour to hike, and on the way there, we saw this cool looking place with this big bridge, and a zipline and everything.

And as we were passing it, he was kinda like “do you think you could do that?” And I was like “I think I could. I think we should. Do you think we should?”

And he turned around and we decided to go ziplining!

You could go on 3 ziplines, and go on the rickety bridge and stuff for only $10 [US].

We ended up going with this big group of guys, who were going at the same time.

So we all successfully went on the first zipline. And going into the second one (the longest one), I was next up and the zipline guy was talking in Arabic. I asked Mohammed what he was saying, and he was translating basically like “well, since she’s just a little girl, she might be scared because the wind is really bad, so if she waits until the end, I can go down with her, so she doesn’t have to go alone.”

And I’d learned a teeny tiny little bit of Arabic from hanging with Mohammed.

And so I whipped my head around to the zipline guy and was like “Ana las tu Heiffa!” [Again, no idea how to spell that, but that was the gist of how it sounded.] But anyway, it means, “I am not afraid!” in Arabic.

And I was so proud of myself for knowing just the correct phrase at the exact right time. He was a little taken aback that I could say that in Arabic, and he let me go next!

We successfully finished the rickety bridge and the other zipline.

And it was fun little silly morning! Yay!

Everything is blue haha.

That’s really it. That’s the city. That’s the blog post. Everything is blue. We ran around the medina where everything is blue, and we took a bunch of pictures in the Blue City where everything is blue!

The blue city, baby!

One thing I love in other countries is going to the grocery story and seeing what’s up!

So get this! If you’re American, think about what battery brand you think of as synonymous with a Rabbit mascot, or a bunny, some might say.

Energizer, right? The Energizer bunny?

Not in Morocco! There’s a DURACELL bunny!

Also, Morocco is SO about hospitality and stuff, there’s a guy at the front of the hotel to have tea with you! Not to sell it to you. Not to have you sample it to buy it. Just to have a little drink with you, if you feel like it.

And this isn’t a tiny mom & pop grocery store. This is a chain, a major store, like a Ralph’s.

I didn’t see any microwavable meals! Microwaves aren’t used in a lot of places in Morocco!

The did have Ben & Jerry’s. I got some for Mohammed, as he’d never tried it before. He thought it was good (because of course it was; it’s Ben & Jerry’s).

Hot sauce is not a big thing in Morocco. There didn’t seem to be a lot of spicy stuff – a big change from Barbados just a couple months prior.

Mohammed showed me the various baby products his daughter had used as a baby, like the local diaper brand and everything they used.

And it was just fun to see the differences and similarities in the grocery store!

Okay, so after we part ways with the random guide, Mohammed – in the nicest sort of brotherly way he could, kind of scolded me like I was a kid. (I really do feel like a toddler in foreign countries, learning about whole new cultures and experiences!)

He was kinda like “uuuh, Aurora! You can’t just go with strangers! I’m here for you! If you need something, you let me know! You got in a cab with a stranger. They could’ve taken you anywhere! You’re not allowed to have anything happen to you while you’re here in Morocco with me!

(I’ve never been good at not going with strangers. My parents were always trying to teach me that as a little kids, and I’d always just tell them ‘look, a new friend!’.)

Then, Mohammed and I drove by Parliament. Some things about Morocco are so intense. Apparently you’re not even necessarily allowed to take pictures outside of Parliament, a safe distance away from it. But there was a security guard around there who asked if we could take pictures there, and he said sure. So we snapped a couple of quick ones.

Then we passed a pretty park that I asked if I could stop in to walk around in. And as long as I didn’t get taken by any strangers, then yes hahahaha.

So, I did a little park walk, and that was my day in Rabat. Next up, Fes!

Okay, so one more thing that was really funny to be about the music conversation/music stuff is I was asking him if any of these people were also famous in Morocco.

Many of our artists are international and do world tours and everything, so I thought some of them might be. And I was asking about some of our very biggest names – Taylor Swift, Rihanna [not American, but famous there], Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys, and on and on. I tried different eras from the 50s to present day.

And with every single artist, he’d never heard of them.

Until.

I was like “What about Michael Jackson?” And he was like “Michael Jackson?! Yes, Michael Jackson is famous here!”

And I thought it was so wild that almost 13 years after his death, Michael Jackson is the only American artist known to my driver in Morocco.

He transcends everything – time, language, space, death even. Michael Jackson. Still maybe the most famous man, over 13 years after his death.

(And then obviously we rocked out to much of MJ’s catalogue.

Okay, so this was pretty fun!

As we were driving around, Mohammed was playing some Arabic music, and basically all of it was instrumental. And he would just kind of throw in little vocal ornamentation here and there.

So, I asked if there were ‘rules’ to that, or if you just do it when you feel it, and also if the general vibe there was instrumental music, or if there are a number of songs/artists with lyrics as well.

[He mainly listens to instrumental music, but not always. And there are no real ‘rules’ to inserting your vocal ornamentations. You just do what you do when you feel it.]

And then he asked if he could listen to some American music. So, we did. And I found it so funny just riding down the roads of Morocco blasting Lizzo and more. He LOVED the American music. He asked if I could leave some for him on a USB drive or something.

(I feel so very Western… Instead of acclimating, he’s the one learning to acclimate to my music – while I’m in his country! Aye, aye, aye. But there is something nice to sharing cultures! Maybe bringing *some* America stuff is okay… And if I’m bringing anything American somewhere else then bringing Stevie Wonder, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and more – American music is probably one of the best things to bring.)

So, we headed down through Tarfaya and into Laayoune!

Laayoune was the first true “city” I saw in awhile. There were signs for McDonald’s everywhere. There was what seemed to be a major stadium. We were back to kind of my comfort zone. (Not that I hadn’t been in a comfort zone in the other places, but there’s something nice to feeling more freedom – like things are closer to other things, and easier to navigate, etc.)

One of the reasons I was excited to go to Laayoune was because it officially crosses the ‘border’ (recognized by some and not others) between Morocco and Western Sahara.

Now, as far as Mohammed [and from what he told me, Moroccans in general] was concerned, the border is meaningless, and it’s all Morocco.

Although, I will say, there was police presence close to the “border” that did check my passport, but there wasn’t a passport stamping. It wasn’t an ‘official border crossing’ or anything. But there was a higher level of security there.

We drove around Laayoune for a hot second. And then, I basically just went to the airport.

(Laayoune seems very chill and relaxed and would be a nice place to go if you want to just sort of reflect, and walk through a beautiful park area, and just truly relax.)

I’d known I’d wanted to see a good chunk of Morocco if I could, so I’d agreed to this little tour thing before I’d gotten there. But I had no idea what to expect. So, I only agreed to a handful of days. And then it seemed easier to just fly from Laayoune back up north, and figure out the rest on my own.

But, I was having so much fun with Mohammed. And he had a little bit of time before he his next group was coming. So, we agreed to meet back up in Casablanca in a few days!

I’d keep my normal flight. And I’d spend those days doing laundry, and catching up on homework and school stuff. And then we’d meet up and explore a little more!

We arrived at the National Park, and walked around a little, and then we found these steps that went down to a boat in the water.

There was a man in a little boat, who seemed to have just let some people off.

So, I asked Mohammed if he thought this man was giving boat rides to random people, and if he did think that would he mind asking if we could be some of the random people he would give a ride to!

So, we ended up asking this stranger who gave us a low price to ride around on his boat.

And get this, Mohammed had NEVER BEEN ON A BOAT BEFORE!

So we took his first boat ride. And he was a little ‘hieff’ [I don’t know how you spell that, but that’s how it sounds (“scared” in Arabic).] He never learned to swim, but the boat driver and I were gonna make sure he was fine if anything went wrong.

And he was like “Are you SURE you know how to swim?” And I’m like “I passed a swim test for scuba diving! I can swim!”

(It’s funny how my confidence changes on the situation, because sometimes I’m like, “oooooh, I’m not a great swimmer.” But somebody had to be confident here, and I know that in real life, I can swim enough!)

So, we went out in the boat and got take around this little area where there’s land that stretches out on the other side of the water.

So we were in this cool little inner area, seeing land most places you looked.

And Mohammed was having the time of his life – slightly hieff, but mostly excited!

Once we got back to land, he raced up the steps, happy to be as on land as on land someone could be, but he said he was happy he went on a boat. And then I sent him a bunch of pictures that he was excited to share with his family.

His brother would check up with me on WhatsApp sometimes to see how the trip was going. I asked Mohammed if I could tell his brother he went on a boat, and he said yes. And it was so funny, because his brother was like “He WHAT?! Mohammed? You must have the wrong guy.”

And we all had a little laugh about how he finally faced his fear in his 40s, and I felt so special I got to be a part of that!

And tomorrow I’ll finish out this leg of the trip.

So, then we went down to Sidi Ifni, and I think it’s a pretty slept on gem!

It was cute and relaxed, and a nice little beach town!

A lot of people recommend Essaouira as “the beach town” of Morocco. But I would almost rather go to Sidi Ifni!

We found a delicious cafe, and ate some pizza with the beach wind blowing through my hair.

It was lovely. And the inner town felt quaint. And the people at the riad were really nice.

Then we went through Tan-Tan, and then!

We went to Khnifiss National Park – which I’m excited to talk about tomorrow!

So, now we’re up to May 15th, and this was a driving day, more than anything else, trying to get through a bunch of the country.

Taliouine is Saffron Capital, so we tried some Safran (which is shockingly expensive in comparison to the weight it is).

Un-shockingly, because I have the palate of a 5-year-old, I didn’t love saffron, but what I did love was the man who owned the shop we went to, who took pictures with everybody who came in, and gave envelopes to people so they could send cards. And he had walls covered in notes and cards and photos and things, and I loved how he just had so much of the world in there. That was cool.

And then I stayed in a cute little riad in the medina, and called it a night. And then I’ll pick up with the next day tomorrow!

So, the internet told me that it might be worth visiting both major sand dunes of the Sahara desert in Morocco, because the sand was different, or tit was a different vibe between Erg Chegaga and Erg Chebbi.

And some people disagreed and were like “once you’ve seen the Sahara desert, you’ve seen it.”

I thought “how often are you in Morocco? If I’m making my way around the country, trying to see as much as possible, I should try to see as much as possible. Why not stop off and see this other dune?

And I stand by that decision, because why not. But also, after having done it, I’m in the camp of the Sahara desert is the Sahara desert. To me, there’s no humongous difference between the dunes. If anything, I would pick Chebbi over Chegaga, because it’s easier to get to (and also Chebbi is the one where Mohammed’s family owns the camp, and we’re already bffs).

But! Since I did get to also try Erg Chebbi, I’ll tell you about it.

Basically, we passed a little oasis on the way there, which was pretty cool.

And then as far as the dunes themselves, they are SPRAWLING. I saw nothing but sand for as far as the eye could see.

I had been driven over an hour away from civilization to get to these dunes, and then a man took me out on the ATVs, and I just had to trust I was gonna be able to follow him and get back (and he was fast!).

But I was able to. And it was cool to ride around in the Sahara desert. The guys asked if I was okay when I got back though, because my face was reeeeeed. So, it’s always hotter than you think it is. Be safe out there!

It was pretty cool just riding around in this sprawling-sprawlingness.

And that was really it. Then the driver I was with that day drove me to the camp at Mhamid. And I spent the night.

(I was with other drivers because Mohammed dropped me off at this Sahara camp to see what this one was like. But I was back with him the next day!)

I got to walk all around Ait-Ben-Haddou – another place where movies are shot.

The guide just kind of told me about some movies there, and how a big Game of Thrones scene was shot there!

(I know this is a short post, but I don’t have anything groundbreaking to say about Ait Ben Haddou. You just walk across a little bridge over there, walk all around this things, going up, up, up ’til you see the whole thing, then come down and call it a day. And I’ll talk about a new part of Morocco tomorrow!)

I don’t think this will read as funny in words as it seemed, or as it is visually in my head.

But everyone talks about how I was going during the right season. The roses should be blooming, and rose valley would be gorgeous.

There were like… no roses (or at least very few), which was kind of hilarious to me.

But! It was still fun. I went to a store that made all sorts of oils and hair stuff and face stuff with roses, and the woman who worked there was super nice.

And I got to see their back room. And they had a HUGE pile of roses, so maybe that’s where all the roses went.

They also had a pink wall outside, which I thought was funny, because even in Morocco, they’re setting up instagram opportunities haha.

And that was the valley of roses, and we’ll continue on tomorrow!

Todra Gorges was gorgeous!

It’s such a lovely place where the air feels so fresh. There’s this water that’s bubbling through, and there are areas where you can sit and have lunch on the water.

It’s long and you can just walk down the whole thing.

I’m sorry ’cause I feel like I should be filling a whole post. But I don’t know that i have a lot to say. But I would say definitely stop by and visit the Todra Gorges when you’re in the area!

Mohammed took me sandboarding, and man was I not good at it haha.

It surprised me that just walking on the sand dunes in and of itself was hard. But then again, I think everyone knows walking on sand is harder than a flat surface, so I don’t know why I’m surprised by that.

And then, basically, you just strap into the board at the edge of the sand dune, and go down. The dune was steep!

So, yeah, I just went down, successfully didn’t die, and called it a day.

We also stopped by Erfoud where we got to hear about fossils, fossils galore, as that’s kind of Erfoud’s whole thing.

We also got to see this really cool oasis that had this whole system of how places shared water – a simple system of people sharing, and moving rocks around so they could split the water between areas of things people are growing. It was lovely.

And then we’ll keep on going in Morocco tomorrow!

I got there May 8th, flying back June 16th.

So, first up – the Sahara Desert. I got into Casablanca. I ate and sort of re-situated myself. And then I flew on out to Errachidia, where I met Mohammed.

Mohammed is my bff now.

He picked me up from the airport and drove me out to Sahara Sky Luxury Camp, that he and his brother own.

I think I was the only person there, because I didn’t see anyone else the whole time I was there.

The one embarrassing thing that happened was once we started driving in sand, so it was a fairly bumpy ride, I was catching up with some emails and stuff on my phone. (I am still in grad school, so I do have to still do some responsibilities at home.)

Anyway, between starting at the tiny blue screen in my hand and having this big ol’ bumpy ride, I had to ask him to stop the car so I could puke in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

It was gross, but also the Sahara Desert was lit up by brake lights, and that part looked kinda cool. (I took a picture of it, after puking so we can all enjoy it together!)

He offered to hold my hair. And we might be best friends now, but at the time, he was just some practical stranger. So, I’m okay on that.

And yeah, then I hopped back in the car. We went to the camp. I went to sleep. And I’ll pick up here tomorrow!

Welp. Here we are again.

I explained in my blog about my trip to Egypt that I went there because I wanted the safest way to get across America after the mask mandates had been dropped, since I had to get to the east coast for a mandatory in-person final for grad school, and finally my graduation ceremony for undergrad.

And now we’re back in a similar boat!

So, I have approximately six weeks, give or take, to kill before I have to be in New York again for the actual full-on end to my graduate degree.

And I didn’t really know what to do with them.

I gave up my stable apartment in New York (in large part, because I was like never using it anymore).

So, I didn’t have that to just hang out in.

I could’ve sublet an apartment on the east coast. And I thought about doing that. But with so much not seeming super safe because Covid rates are rising, like, what am I gonna do? (And also I’ve already spent a good deal of time on the east coast.)

I could go BACK home, but if I’m trying to avoid flying domestically, I’d have to go through another country (or risk flying home without the mask mandate).

So, then I was like “what if I did half of that? What if I went to Morocco instead, and then just turned around and came back?”

…And that’s what I did!

So, we’ll start the Morocco adventure tomorrow!