Surfing in Morocco!

View from the apartment

Yay! Spring break has started. As you know, I started it with a Moroccan wedding which was pretty amazing - once in a lifetime experience. On Sunday, Jennifer went to pick Anthony (her friend from England, coolest accent ever!) up from Fes and they had quite an adventure with the grand taxi. The taxi's windshield wipers apparently didn't work and the driver had to break off a wiper blade and use his arm with the blade to see because it was pouring. What an adventure for those two. Then on Monday at three in the morning we (Jennifer, Don, Anthony, and I) left Meknes to go to Marrakesh and spent seven hours on the train. I tried to get sleep but it was hard. We arrived in Marrakesh around 10-ish and found our way to the medina. The medina is wonderful! Shops, snake charmers, monkeys, henna ladies, and snack stands everywhere! I would have taken pictures but they chase after you and ask for money so the next time I'm in Marrakesh I will try from afar and hopefully get away with it. We got breakfast in the medina square and then met up with five American ISA students. We walked around the medina while we sent two people to buy the bus tickets. Good thing because the first couple buses out of Marrakesh to Agadir were sold out. We finally found one that left at three in the afternoon (there are no trains connecting Marrakesh and Agadir, only bus) We got on the bus and went on our way. The route to Agadir was spectacular. We were able to see the South Atlas Mountains, highways that literally led to no-where, wild camels (at least I think they were wild), and bodies of water. It was a very scenic bus ride. We booked an apartment through a couchsurfer (great idea to do). The couchsurfer, named Ali, and his American girlfriend, named Jamie, picked us up from the bus station. Jamie had to flag us to them because in Moroccan law, Moroccans are not allowed to bug/follow/kind of be around Americans because some strange reasons that I do not know. The Moroccans can get into serious trouble with the law. There are so many police around that we had to kind of hide ourselves from them. They took us to the apartment and let us settle in. Around ten at night we headed out to get dinner at a restaurant called Tanit. Tanit is a great place to eat and they had a live band - not American style band, I mean the tribal-style, out-of-the-desert type of band. It was an awesome experience. We finally settled in for the night and had a great night of sleep after a lot of traveling.

On the beach

After taking a cold shower (this apartment doesn't really have warm water) in the morning, Jamie, Ali and I headed out to find the others to pick them up to go surfing - the others (Jennifer, Don and Anthony) were out exploring the coast. After picking them up, Ali took us to a great beach, dropped us off and then picked up the surf board along with the other four Americans. Once everyone was together and all the surf boards were there, we went surfing!!! None of us had any experience what so ever so Ali showed us the basics and then sent us out in the water with him to surf. I was actually getting the hang of it - I stood up like three/four times!! Crazy - I actually surfed in Morocco! It was hard because you have to time yourself with the wave, paddle like crazy, make sure you are on the wave when it comes and then trying to keep your balance, stand up and stay there. I would most definitely do it again without question.

Me surfing!!

So far this has been a wonderful spring break. More updates to come later on in the week. Tomorrow I am heading to Agadir and having lunch with Sarah (my boss's friend, she's in the peacecorp just outside of Marrakesh but working at a kids camp during this week in Agadir), Thursday I am going to Essaouira and then Friday I am having a relaxing day at the beach or if the waves are right, getting my surf on.

Wedding Crashers

Alright, so I already typed this all out, on accident clicked select all and deleted everything, freaked out and instead of clicking undo I clicked on my "edit tab" (where I can find all my drafts) and it saved right before I clicked the tab. So here I am again, starting from the top and hopefully it's as good as the last one.

Anyways, Good news: I went to a traditional Moroccan wedding and am now home in Meknes blogging about it; bad news: (besides me deleting everything) I couldn't take pictures because of two reasons: 1) some people there were superstitious and taking a picture of them is a bad thing and 2) I'm not apart of the family and the family is very traditional and conservative that they wouldn't like it (the bride wore a hijab through the whole wedding)
My friend Khadija invited us (me and my roommate Jennifer) to this wedding. This wedding is actually Khadija's friend's cousin's wedding so Khadija wasn't even relate to them but they still welcomed us to come and experience it.

Me and Jennifer modeling off our caftans 

We left Meknes around 4:30 yesterday afternoon to travel to Tawjtat (about an hour and a half away) by the city bus and yes, it was very crowded, hot, sweaty, and it smelled like fish - someone went to the fish market before they boarded the bus. We arrived in Tawjtat around 6:00 and was greeted with welcoming kisses and hugs. There were mostly women there with little kids (some men showed up to grab things and leave but they didn't linger long). They were so glad that we came that they served us bread with butter and honey and some tea. We were told that the wedding "starts" at 7:00. Well, we actually got ready at 8:00. All the women did put on beautiful caftans and did their make-up and we actually didn't leave until 9:00 (hey, that's not 7...that's right...Moroccan time: late is on time). We all stuffed in a van and went to the one and only hotel in town. This really isn't a hotel but a motel but since it's the only one in town, they consider it a hotel.

We found our places and while we were waiting for all the other guests and the bride and groom, me and Jennifer had a question and answer session with Khadija. We figured out that the bride is 20 years old and the groom (age unknown but he is way older than 20 that's for sure) is a wealthy vegetable farmer and they are both Berber. This couple actually had a three day wedding. The first day is the henna party. All the women (bride, of course, aunts, sisters, and close friends-female only please!) went the day before the first reception and got all henna-ed up. Their henna looked like the lady that I bought my rug from in Khemisette (check out her hands and feet in my photobucket account). The second day (this is the one I went to) is considered the bride side. They hold the reception in her home town. They had a men only reception at 1:00 in the afternoon and then the women dancing and celebrating party from 9:00 at night to 5:00 in the morning (the men showed up around dinner time and most of them sat in the corner- this is mostly a party for the women). The third day is exactly the same but it's at the groom's home town. We also found out that the bride hires a lady that helps her out through the whole wedding experience. She brings all the caftans, jewelry, make-up, random accessories, and so on. She follows the bride around making sure that everything is fitting right, that her dress isn't getting stepped on, and making sure she looks great - how wonderful, I want one. She also brings three ladies with her that sings/chants whenever the bride moves (they also help out with making the bride look wonderful).
The bride and groom finally showed up around 11-ish at night. They had their decked out car (like in America) and there was a band welcoming them to the party. Obviously everyone went outside when the band started playing and people started dancing like crazy. The bride was dressed in a pretty white traditional caftan. When the bride and groom came inside, the bride was carried into the air on this:

Bride sits there and is carried in

The men that carried her in the air were dancing and turning. It was pretty amazing. They then brought her to her throne which looked like this:

The bride and groom's throne

The groom sat right next to her and they were watching everyone dance. Moroccans love to dance and I actually dance like a Moroccan. It was wonderful because throughout the night people would grab me and take me to the dance floor to bellydance with them.
Then all of a sudden the atmosphere changed from dancing to excitement; the bride got up and walked into another room and only the helper lady along with her three other ladies went in. That's when we figured out they were changing her into another caftan! She changed to a purple caftan (the groom changed too but it's not a big deal - sometimes it was just the tie color when he wore a tux or he put on a different djellaba). She came out and sat on her throne again. Then dinner was served. The bride and groom along with the mothers and some aunts sat here:

The head table

The first dish that was brought out was chicken. There was three big chickens in the middle of the table. I sat with about four Berber ladies along with Jennifer, Khadija, a nice old lady that loves to dance, and one that actually breastfeed her child before lunch. They passed around the bread and started to dig in. Finger food for the whole table! Let me tell you, the Berber ladies know how to take apart a chicken. Then the server came by and asked if we were done and then took it away. He then brought another dish - lamb shanks this time. And once again when we were done, he took it away and then replaced it with fruits - apples, oranges and bananas.
Then after the food the bride changed again! This time in the blue. Each time she changes caftans the camera guy (video and pictures - only one guy does both) would video tape her leaving the throne and going into the changing room, leaving the changing room and going to the throne and then taking pictures while the helper lady helped her pose with her groom. Then the Moroccans went to dancing and music!
After dancing and picture taking, the bride changed into another caftan - pink this time! I thought she looked like a beautiful mermaid :). When she and the groom sat down, dancing and music resumed. After a while, she got up again and went to change into another caftan. During this time I decided to become bellydance barbie and show the bride's sister (she's only like 13) some elegant arm and hands moves - a big no no. So of course, I started to teach her on the dance floor while everyone was watching - even the older ladies. An older lady signaled me to come near her; she was sitting down in one of the corners of the room with a bunch of other older ladies. They were all clapping and cheering me on so I decided to go towards them. I thought she wanted to learn how to do elegant arms and hands and I was excited that I could teach Moroccans how to do something! Well, I was wrong. When I got to her she cheered me on and clapped a lot. Then she got up and pointed to both of her sons and then pointed to her ring finger. No one there spoke French so through my broken bad Arabic and body language translation skills, basically she was trying to marry off one of her sons to me. I was shocked! What?! I had no clue how to say "I have a boyfriend" in Arabic so all I really said was "laa, laa, laa" (laa means no in Arabic) over and over again. She had a strong grip on my arm and she wanted me to sit right next to her. Thank goodness Khadija's friend came to the rescue and took me away from the older ladies.
So note to self: when called at, don't come (I only thought this applied to men on the street but I guess you have to watch out for the older ladies that still have sons to be married off).
The bride finally came out and this caftan is so unique you have to see it because I don't think I could describe it to you.

Google image- not the couple

Her colors were red. When she came out, the groom was in a djellaba this time and they were both carried in this time (in their own separate thing - doesn't look like the one above - it was wooden). The guys carrying the wooden things were dancing, bouncing, and turning while keeping the bride and the groom in place. At one point the groom stood up in the wooden thing (while in the air) and was dancing as well. During this acrobatic scene, the guys brought the two wooden things together and the groom actually kissed the bride on the forehead (in a very traditional wedding, the groom and bride are not allowed to kiss until everything is set and done and the marriage is official). They then got dropped off at their throne again. And of course, dancing and music resumed. This time around with dancing and music, tea and little goodies were served to all the guests (it was about time because I was really thirsty and all they had was tap water that everyone drank out of one glass together).
After tea, the bride changed again. This time into the last one! She came out in, what I would describe it, a real wedding dress - one you would see from the 1980s in America. It was so beautiful and during this caftan/dress, one long song was played (or at least it seemed like one song to me) and by the end of it the bride and groom waved good-bye and got into their car and left. By that time, it was 5:00 in the morning (technically 6:00 because Morocco just changed their clocks today for daylight savings).
We walked back to the bride's mother's house and finally went to bed around 7:00 in the morning but we had to catch the bus at 8:00 so we only got 40 minutes of sleep.
I am now back in Meknes, finally finished my blog (without deleting it this time) and am now packing for a long week at the beach :D Yay!
Oh if you have any questions about the wedding, let me know. Since I deleted the first blog on accident, I might have left out some minor important details.
Bslama!

It's almost Spring Break :D

Hello world!
I haven't written in a while and now since all my midterms are done I have free time to concentrate on other things. Let me fill you in on what I have been doing so far:

• Bellydance Barbie is teaching the American and the Moroccan students how to bellydance :)
• Went to Fes for a day
• I bought my first Amazigh rug (it's huge and heavy!! and now I have to figure out how to get it home...)
• Ate dinner at a random shop owner's house from the medina and it was wonderful :D
• And got invited to a Moroccan wedding this Saturday
• Getting prepared for spring break (I'm red from laying out in the sun for a little over an hour!)

That is what I have been doing so far. Let me start from the top:

Bellydance Barbie Teaches! Yup to both the American and Moroccans. Now don't get the wrong idea about Moroccans; trust me, they know how to dance, they just don't know the nitty-bitty techniques that I focus on so when I'm done with them they are going to be the talk of the town  :D. Well, I teach bellydance once a week and it's just in my apartment so I have to move everything in the living room aside. A couple weeks ago I was able to fit 20 ladies in the apartment. There are no mirrors and I have to stand on top of a table for everyone to see. I am now being called "teacher" from some of the Moroccans. It makes me smile :).

Kids singing the national anthem

Fes is amazing and it's less than 40 minutes away from where I live. This time I didn't go with the big ISA group. Instead I went with 7 other people but we basically separated into 3 different groups and went our own way. It was great wandering through the twists and turns of the medina, buying scarves, and yes, being followed by a couple guys that really wanted to be our guides. Trying to get away from our so called guides we stumbled upon a random alley way and heard little kids singing. We followed and then was pulled into the school. The teacher insisted and encouraged pictures and videos. It was really cute. Fes is a great city but by about 5 I was Fes-ed out and had to go home and relax. 

Rugs, rugs, rugs

My first Amazigh rug :D. I seriously don't know how to get it home. I'm hoping that my boyfriend will take a big suitcase and we can put it in there but I think it will weigh to much so I was thinking maybe a carry on - but that would suck carrying around a rug in the airport or I was thinking that I can just ship it home for a lot a lot of money. Hmm, what to do, what to do. Anyways, for my culture and history class we took a field trip to a town called Khemisette. This is where most of the rugs are traded and sold to merchants to resell the rugs in their stores. The real deals go on at 4 in the morning. We didn't get there until 10-ish so we missed out on the fun chaos of trading but we did buy wonderful beautiful rugs. My professor knew two of the ladies that have their own shop so they treated us to breakfast and tea. After that we did our major shopping. We each got a big rug and some picked out smaller ones. It was a lot of fun. The picture is the mess we made at looking at almost every single rug in their shops. We didn't negotiate on prices because they gave us great prices since we came with our professor but usually it is expected to negotiate. My rug is not in that picture. I will have to take a picture of it later and post it online.

Now onto the next fun amazing thing that I did - I ate dinner at a random shop owner's house from the medina. Let me start with the second to last point - I was invited (along with my roommate) to attend a wedding this Saturday (can't wait!!!) so on Monday we (me, Jennifer, and Khadija) went to the medina to buy the wedding gift. We bought them a teapot and tea glasses but in the process of finding the right teapot we walked into random shops and one shop owner fell in love with us. Khadija was there to translate everything but he basically called himself our Moroccan dad so he invited us over to meet his daughter and his wife. They have an amazing house in the medina (not even a 5 minute walk from their shop). I took pictures of their house so check out my photobucket account. 

Our new Moroccan family

So that is what I have been up to since I last updated.
Morocco is amazing and if you ever get the chance make sure you go!! I love it here :)
Bslama!

Photobucket account: http://s1193.photobucket.com/home/bellydance_barbie/index

A Grand Weekend

This weekend, I would say was one of my favorites! Not only did I feel more Moroccan than ever (oh by the way, I am becoming a pro at using the squatty pottys - yup that's right), I touched people's lives by helping them out with food, clothes, and fun.
So Saturday night I got invited over to a Moroccan girl's house.

Guest sitting room

The picture I put up is the guest sitting room. In this Moroccan home, there are two sitting rooms. Each sitting room has a couch stretching from one side of the room to another and, as you can tell, there are tons of pillow on it (this couch starts on the right corner of the picture and ends all the way to the left corner). I slept in this room right by the window. The other sitting room is the dining room/living room. This is where the computer, TV, kitchen table and the bookshelf is shared. What I love about this country is the many languages that people know. This bookshelf had French, Arabic, and English books! Their bathroom is the traditional Moroccan bathroom (there is a French style bathroom and a Moroccan style bathroom; I think you can figure out which one is which). Before our wonderful dinner, my friend took me around her town (it's another portion of Meknes) but before we did that, I had to cover my hair because being blonde in a Muslim country gets a lot of attention so now I'm a pro at wearing a hijab. For dinner, my Moroccan friend's mom served me and my roommate (Jennifer) Harira (really good Moroccan soup) and homemade bread sort of thing with things inside it - whatever it was, it was good.

Yummy goodness- bread thingy with things inside right next to the Harira soup

That night was perfect! In the morning, I was awoken by the call to prayer.
Some background information on the call to prayer - they do the call to prayer 5 times a day to remind Muslims to pray. It is done through loud speakers throughout the city and it's scheduled on the sun cycle so everyday it's at a slightly different time. I have always heard the other call to prayers but never the morning one (and when I mean morning - like 5/6 in the morning).
To me, I love hearing the call to prayer. I don't know what they are saying but it sounds like they are singing so at 5/6 in the morning they were singing to me in a different language and it was so beautiful :). Oh-another fun fact: if you have ever heard the call to prayer you might have realized that it echoes from one Mosque to the other. It's that way so they do not create chaos (what kind of chaos they are anticipating, I'm not quite sure).
So that was my weekend at my friends house feeling more Moroccan than ever.

Berber ladies waiting to get supplies

Sunday morning we all got together (about 15ish Moroccan girls and about 13ish ISA students) at 9 in the morning and headed out to a Berber village about an hour and half away. The day before some people volunteered to pick up supplies for them to bring (flour, tea, sugar, blankets, couscous, etc) and some of the Moroccan girls asked their families to donate old clothes, shoes, and bags. On the way there and back we never had a dull moment. We were either dancing in the aisle way or chanting and singing in Arabic. When we got to the villages, we were told that they only speak Arabic and the Amazigh language so the Americans had no way of communicating to them. It was awkward at first but after a while most of us got used to doing hand motions for everything. We gave the lwomen blankets and food supplies and we gave the kids balls and coloring books with markers. Some ladies had tears in their eyes and was extremely thankful. There was a fight that broke out (it was someone claiming that someone else took more than their share). We got it resolved by handing out clothes and shoes. Along the way home, we stopped at a couple other Berber villages, had a picnic in Ifrane next to the river and we literally had a full out dance party on the bus. The bus driver stopped the bus in the road, turned the music on high and we all danced in the aisle. It probably lasted at least 5 minutes I would say (or at least it felt like it). Thank goodness we were on a country road but there were still cars passing us.

Another Berber village with Amazigh people and Moroccan and ISA students

Well, bslama my peeps. I'm meeting up tonight with the ISA Paris group. They just came back from the desert and we are going to have a party tonight! (party meaning drinking tea, smoking shisha, and coming home around 9/10 - oh yeah, the Moroccan way of life! Love it!!)

Casrabat

Salam
Before I start talking about my weekend, I would like to say - hearts and prayers for everyone that was/is affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Mother nature can be cruel sometimes.

Now onto my weekend. This past weekend, I went to Casablanca and Rabat (hence the title - Casrabat) with the ISA group. Saturday was our Casablanca day and Sunday was our Rabat day so I will start off with Casablanca.
Casablanca means white house in Spanish. Casablanca is one of the largest cities in Morocco - fun fact of the day: 50% of the cars in Morocco are in Casablanca! Crazy. Well this large city is located right on the Atlantic Ocean making it a must see city! If you go to Casablanca, you have to see the largest mosque that was built by Hassan II.

Hassan II Mosque

Before I move on, I need to give you a history lesson of the kingship in Morocco. Right now Mohammed VI is ruling the kingdom. His father was Hassan II and Hassan's father was Mohammed V. (Mohammed is a very common name because the first born son is either named after his father or after Mohammed - oh it has a variety of spellings also). Morocco gained it's independence under Mohammed V.
Anyways, that was a quick history lesson for you but yeah see Hassan II Mosque. It started building in 1987 and took 6 years to build! It's huge! Part of the Mosque is actually above the ocean. They built it like that because in the Quran, there is a verse that states that God's throne was built upon the water. Pretty cool, huh? Well, they only allow one english tour a day at the Mosque and we almost missed our spot but good thing we didn't because the inside is so beautiful!- there are basically no words to describe it besides wow, ohhhs-ahhs, amazing, crazy, well, can't really put it in words but hopefully you get it.

We also visited Place Mohammed V. It's a huge fountain in the city across from some government buildings - pictures on photobucket.

Place Mohammad V

Since Casablanca is a big city, this is where all the cool nightclubs are at. I actually skipped out on the nightclub scene because I had a huge headache and had to go to bed around 9 but from what the others told me, they had a lot of fun dancing and drinking until 4 or 5 in the morning!

Atlantic Ocean

I think I've talked about Casablanca enough so now onto Rabat! 

Rabat (in Arabic ribat means fortress) is also located on the coast and is the capital of Morocco. We walked through the Kasbah des Oudaias and got to see and enjoy the ocean view from above (Kasbah means: type of medina, Islamic city, fortress; so Kasbah des Oudaias means Fortress of Oudaias). The weather wasn't ideal - sprinkling pretty much the whole day - but it was still pretty. The Kasbah in the olden days was used as a defense mechanism (right between the Atlantic ocean and the Oued Bou Regreg river) and today, people from all over buy houses in the Kasbah.

Kasbah
hmm, I think I just found my new house ;-). The houses in the Kasbah are way too expensive (in the billions) for me but maybe one day . . .

Cafe Maure

After this we headed to Cafe Maure which overlooked the river and is connected to the Andalusian Garden. At the Cafe, they were really trying to sell their pastries and mint tea to us - it only worked on a few of us. They do some hard selling over here! Besides that, the river and the garden was very peaceful and beautiful to look at. Oh, and the garden smelled amazing! 

We then headed to Chellah. No one has probably heard of Chellah so I'm going to explain. This ancient part in Rabat was first occupied by the Phoenicians then the Romans took it over (when they were taking everything else over). The Romans abandoned it and then Sultan Abou al-Hassan Ali took control of it. Abou al-Hassan is known as the Black King in Morocco with a rich cultural background. His dad was from Black Africa, his mom was Amazigh and he married a white woman - pretty amazing for being in the 14th century. Anyways, Chellah, I like to think of it, is a clash of different cultures in one; there were a mixture of different architectures in this one small spot - Roman, Moorish, Egyptian (Cleo's son came to Chellah), Islamic, and Turkish. Both Abou al-Hassan and his wife are buried in Chellah so, of course, I took pictures (photobucket it).

Mohammed V Mausoleum

Talking about dead people, after Chellah, we went to Mohammed V Mausoleum where we saw King Mohammed V, his brother Prince Moulay Abdallah, and his son King Hassan II's grave. It's like the Taj Mahal in India but different because it's in Morocco. Their tomb is above ground but the Kings and the Prince are buried below the Mausoleum. There are guards all over, one at each entrance (there are four entrances) and one in each corner of the building inside (again, four). Then there are guards on horses outside of the Mausoleum before walking up the stairs. Nothing bad is going to happen to the King's grave.

Each of the city had their own uniqueness to it. Each had a different energy and vibe. Casablanca is more fast paced and grand while Rabat is the quiet and laid-back city. I would most definitely go back to both of the places but I really liked Rabat more. 

My next trip that I will post about is my spring break trip! I'm super excited about that one - more details are to come.

I hope you enjoy reading my blog. If you have any questions about Morocco and their culture, comment on here or send me an e-mail heathermeppelink@gmail.com. I would love to hear your comments :)

 

Bslama!

Hogwarts in Morocco ;-)

As you know (it's in my event tab) this weekend I am going to Casablanca and Rabat with ISA so you probably won't get an update until I come back either on Monday or Tuesday (it might be really long so be prepared to read). To occupy your time I would like to entertain you with a little story that I wrote. If you like Harry Potter, you are going to like this!: (Harry Potter in Morocco)


We each received a letter through e-mail letting us know that we were the proudly selected to attend Hogwarts: Moulay Ismail in Morocco. Each student took their separate ways to arrive to Platform 9 3/4 in Granada, Spain. Once there, we crossed the sea and was picked up by the snazy ISA bus. Our headmaster, Daniel, explained some house rules: do not go into the forbidden forest (aka pretty much all of North Africa and Middle East), make sure to be in class everyday, and don't be late. He told us "The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room." On the bus before the big dinner, we each put on the Sorting hat and got separated into four different houses. The ladies in Apt 21 floor 7 each values hard work, tolerance, and loyatly which placed them in Hufflepuff. The other ladies in Apt 3 floor 2 values creativity, learning and intelligence which placed all five of them in Ravenclaw (Tova is the sixth that already got sorted a semester before). All the boys demonstrated courage, bravery, and loyalty which placed them in Gryffindor. Slytherin was given to the girls in Apt 5 floor 3 because they value cunning, leadership, and most of all, pure wizard blood (I'm in this house). The two very lucky ladies in the homestay are actually visiting students from Beauxbatons. Madame Maxine thought it would be a great learning experience for her two (favorite) most gifted pupils to live in other parts of the world (and it just so happens that tajine and mint tea happens to be her favorite treats).

Before leaving to our dormitories, our headmaster told us that he hopes everyone receives an "O" for outstanding and then he recited a riddle in a strange language that wasn't in French and Arabic; later we figured out it was darija. We each were welcomed by the wonderful dinner that our house-elves prepared for us and had a great night sleep before starting our studies.

I hope you enjoyed that :). I might be updating more "Hogwarts in Morocco" later on in the trip so look out for them.

A walk in Fes

A walk in Fes is one that cannot be forgotten. The winding roads, donkeys (or horses, or mules, don't know what they are)  as mailman, and the smell of the tanneries everywhere. Fes can either be spelled with an "s" at the end or a "z", either works. If you heard of Fes, you probably heard of the massive medina and that it's the largest living medieval Islamic city in the world. The reason why it has a massive medina is because there are actually two Medinas and one Ville Nouvelle (remember: medina means old city and when the French became the protectorate of Morocco they made Ville Nouvelles in every city). In the medina, there are thousands of streets and most of them are dead ends and basically only a hand full have street names so getting lost in the medina is the thing to do (it's not really recommended but it happens to everyone).

That's me in front of the Medinas. Crazy big! Anyways besides it's size, Fes is really known for their leather so of course we went to the tanneries. Before I talk about the tanneries I would like to mention a neat fact. Cars are not really allowed in the medina (unless they want to try to fit) because the streets get to narrow at certain parts that they will get stuck, so the mailman is actually a donkey! Here's a picture:

You need to watch out because some of the donkeys have attitudes. They will whip their tails and walk all over you if they have the chance. We actually got into a "traffic" jam in one of the streets because one of the packages off a donkey fell and that caused the next mailman to stop which freaked out the first one, needless to say, that was the weirdest "traffic" jam I've been in.

Alright, now about the tanneries - they smell! Welcome to leather heaven. Dead skins and dyes everywhere! Before going upstairs in a leather shop to see the tanneries, the shop owner gave us mint leaves. They smell so much better than the leather.

One thing that I do like about Morocco is that even though this is a developing country, almost everything you get is handmade. We went into a shop where you could watch pottery being made, painters painting the pottery, mosaics being chipped into tiny pieces, and actual tables being made.

The more I explore Morocco, the more I unveil it's secrets and it's magic that attracts travelers from all over the world. It's something that I can't quite put in worlds but let me say, I am falling in love with this country more and more everyday.