May 16, 2016

Last day in Morocco. It sounds as mellow as the day before, which must feel nice. Classes, food, and time to work on art projects.

Before leaving Tangiers she found some major ice-cream. 10 dirhams=1 dollar= 10 scoops of ice-cream!

From here on out the rest of this trip will be under the "Spain" label on the left hand side of the blog.

May 15, 2016

A mellow sounding day. Breakfast, church, lunch.  Then time to work on art--apparently it has been hard to find time to work on art at all--which is supposedly a major purpose of this trip. Looking at her itinerary, I can see why this is a problem!

They had a dinner at 8  (Early by Moroccan standards).

May 14, 2016

After visiting the Tangier Galleries, they got to see the Herculus caves. She liked the caves, but thought the tide pools were even cooler.  And saw Cap Spartel--where the Atlantic meets the Adriatic sea.

May 13, 2016

In Tangiers. Not her favorite city, but she got to make flower wreaths, something she's never done before.  This picture looks at Spain from across the straight of Gibralter.

The famous rock of Gibralter

May 12, 2016

Today they left for Tetouan sicne they spend a lot of time on buses, I'm glad the pit stops are interesting.

They visited the shops and medina. The day finished with a spectacular sunset.

May 11, 2016

After classes and lunch they got to visit Akchour.

May 10, 2016

May 9, 2016 Monday

Sunrise over the Sahara

No news, so I'll put some other interesting facts here. No doubt of great interest to Catherine was the warm chocolate melting cake that she found.

In Fez there is an American veteranarian place that was started in the early 1900's. It's sponsored by Americans and people can go there and have their animals taken care of for free. Every year the US donates money to keep it open.

One of the teachers has brought his six year old daughter, Elsa along. Elsa is loving all the cats everywhere. She speaks cat. She practices all the time, but is no longer allowed to practice cat on the bus.

If you watch the Abu Dahbi National Geographic Channel, it only shows weird weight loss commercials from the 90's. 

May 10, 2016 Tuesday
Today they are in a city I've never heard of and weirdly, for the area, it's raining.

Turns out this is a city I should know. It's nicknamed "The blue city" for good reason and is one of Catherine's favorite places so far.

They're off to the medina and then Catherine is going to try to clean her jeans and art supplies--thankfully not paper or any art itself, from a shampoo explosion. AS far as we know the shampoo does not smell of divine seduction, but since the label is in Arabic we can't be sure.

May 8, 2016

May 8, 2016

Catherine called for mother's day and was able to fill in a lot of details about her trip. There has been A LOT of time spent on buses.

She enjoyed Fez. Some of the streets are so small it's hard for even one person to walk through. They were in a non-touristy area which she enjoyed greatly.

The jumping off point for the camel trip was a lovely resort. She especially appreciated the soft pillows. Apparently, Morocco doesn't really do soft pillows. Or soft at all. That was what was so difficult about the camel ride. The hump is covered with padding and then a hard saddle is put on top of that. There is no cushioning on the saddle and the ride is bumpy. I can see where that would be tough after about 10 minutes.

Here's a camel parking lot

This is Reginald, her camel. she thought he looked like our cat, Tigger.

My favorite experience that she told me about was in the desert. The rest of the group had climbed to the top of a giant sand dune. Catherine stopped part way up and just let the group go on out of earshot. Then she had the whole huge desert and the sky to herself. She says she's never seen such stars. She just sat there as part of the universe and feeling small.

May 7, 2016

May 7, 2016 Saturday

They left for Fez and had lunch in Azrou, visiting the souk afterward. Back to Fez. It sounds like an interesting place.

They got to visit a newly refurbished tannery. These things have been around for thousands of years.

To my great envy, Catherine got a hot stone massage. Only $15 for 30 minutes.
She also picked up some laundry soap. She says that all of her clothes now smell like "divine seduction."  And for Mother's Day, I will be getting some fancy day and night creams made with Moroccan oils.

The hotel in Fez has weird lobby music. "It was motab (mormon tabernacle choir) style organ before breakfast, then Star Wars and now flute versions of Abba songs.  over in Thailand, Dave is getting Abba music as well. Never knew they were still so popular!

May 5 CAMELS

May 5, 2016 Thursday

"TIME DOES NOT FLY WHEN YOU'RE ON A CAMEL"

Catherine got very lucky. Two days before the camel trip, it rained for the first time in 4 years. So the weather was in the 70's and breezy. I asked why time wasn't flying? Wasn't it fun? She said it was fun for the first 20 minutes or so for the remaining 3.5 hours it was rather painful.

They rode to Khyams a nomad tent. No pics yet of the tent, but this looks like an interesting oasis stop.

May 6, 2016 Friday

The day began with a sunrise camel ride.

After this they had classes and lunch and then visited a Gnaoua village. The tradition on marriage is for Berber men to give their bride In Berber a metal jewelry box. This box comes apart and is also a bracelet for the woman to wear.

From here they returned to Merzouga, the jumping off place for the camel trip. Catherine was delighted to report that her hotel room came with its very own bug spray. Lucky girl!

Morocco--Sheep!

May 4, 2016 Wednesday

Catherine is somewhere out in the desert. She got to stay at an organic farm where she got to hold a baby goat AND a baby sheep. Doesn't get better than that!

Also, she got to see this fortress which is used in lots of movies-anyone recognize it?

But of utmost importance. Catherine learned to tie a turban.  Good thing she doesn't look AT ALL like a terrorist.

Morocco and other wonderful places!!

Okay, the poor travel envelope is going to be a bit confused for awhile. Catherine is on another study abroad. This time to Morocco and Spain. Dave leaves for Thailand on Sunday. I am staying put. No fair!! But I intend, as always, to live wholeheartedly through my loved ones.

Morocco is a bit of a problem. T-Mobile doesn't go there. That means Catherine can only communicate when there is free wi-fi and that isn't often. Still, between the messages I do get, her itinerary and the internet I can do some pretty intensive virtual travel.

So, for the next little while, Some posts will be about Morocco, others from Thailand, but they will all work out eventually and go to their own links on the right. So! On to Morocco!
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Sunday, April 24, 2015

Catherine flew first to Paris. She had a long layover, and hoped to be able to go into the city, but customs took longer than expected.

Still, she found a real wonder in the airport. TWO seats together with no armrest! I have never seen such a sight! Especially at the Atlanta airport when she was deathly sick and we had a 12 hour layover.

Even better, his comfy seat.

And then, best of all--lunch, This really makes me want to go to France.

Eventually, she got back on a plane and flew to Rabat. No problems, and she had booked herself a decent hotel since Rabat sounds a little scary and she was on her own for the night.

April 25th 2016 Monday

She found her friend, Erica, who is also on this study program, and wandered around the souks in a jet-lagged stupor and found a rolling pin and a head scarf. And she found the ocean.

She also bravely ate some mystery fish from a street stall. Verdict: it was very good with some kind of fantastic pepper.

April 26, 2016 Tuesday

She met up with the study abroad group and got to meet her host family. Alas, we didn't realize her suitcase had a broken handle until it was too late. She got to drag this over cobblestone streets. Must have been fun. Anyway, it sounds as though her host family is just a lady in an apartment. Catherine is there with three other girls. She says there is classy tile and stone work all over the apartment, and sent us this picture.

To compliment the decor, this is where she is sleeping.

I Love the table wear!

April 27, 2016 Wednesday

"The buildings here are all so tall, 4 stories with really high ceilings., but the streets are so narrow they feel even taller. Cars can't even get through most streets and the outsides look like stone, but I don't they are because I swear it amplifies sound and doesn't muffle it. Either that, or all Moroccan cats are related to tigger. So loud. Also motorbikes. Also drunk people. Also illegal motorbikes. Also call to prayer."

The group toured Hassan. The main tower was supposed to be the world's largest minaret, but construction stopped in 1199 when the Sultan died. Why his son's didn't finish the mosque, I don't know, but it's still beautiful. 

Not sure if this courtyard belongs here. But so pretty! The pigeon, I'm sure does belong. Pigeons belong everywhere. 

Then, she got to "Rock the Kasbah," meaning visit Kasbah des Oudayas, an old fortress built in the 1200's.

Inside the Kasbah are many tiny streets with brightly colored buildings. 

Tip: As you make your way up to Bab Oudaïas, you may be accosted by young women armed with syringes. These are the city's henna ladies, and their syringes are filled with harmless green henna. They have a very irritating sales pitch, initiated by surreptitiously squirting henna on your hand without your consent... be aware that the henna can stain your clothes, so be wary when they approach you.

Gotta ask Catherine about that! (I did. She DID see the henna ladies, and they were indeed obnoxious. She said she got rid of them finally by speaking German at them). 

A pretty seaside pic. I imagine this view was fairly common. 

She got this delicous looking dinner. I don't know if her host mom cooked it, or if it was a restaurant, but WOW.

April 28, 2016 Thursday

Morning was devoted to class, (A collage class and a studio art class) then in the afternoon they got to visit the ceramic market. The pottery is cheap, but the shipping is not. 



The teachers joined Catherine's group for dinner. Another Wow. This lady must slave away all day cooking.

April 29, 2016 Friday

Casablanca was disappointing. Mostly, it sounds like because most of the day was spent lost on a bus. But she liked the Casablanca mosque.

And I like the combo of those pants with that fountain!

Hopefully, she got to have lunch at Rick's cafe, at least. She did manage to see the first 20 minutes of the movie on the plane.


Yes she did! Although the café is looking much too modern for my taste.

Last stop, assuming the bus driver could find it, was the Loft Galery.

April 30, 2016 Saturday

They left for Marrakech. Marrakech is crazy. There are street performers, but she didn't see any magicians, much to my disappointment. But, some performers throw snakes on you then offer to let you give them money for a picture. But, paper money only! None of this loose change stuff!

I'm pretty sure this is the market square where Jimmy Stewart ran into trouble.

She saw the Majorelle Gardens--smallish, lots of cactus, Palm trees are everywhere.

a mosque and a palace. I asked how the palace compared to European palaces? Completly different. The idea in Islam is that you're supposed to be humble. So the palace is hidden behind plain walls. Once you're inside the palace, it's full of twisty hallways  so you can't see how large the palace really is. There is a lot of tile work and painted plaster. The Muslims never painted figures until the French came in around the 1600's, so that's why there are so many geometric designs. 

They also went to the Amazigh museum. 

There was a mix up with the hotels. And for a while it looked as though Catherine was going to spend the night in a trundle bed in a five star hotel. They got it worked out, which is a little disappointing (to me, not to her)--it would have made a great story. 

Dinner was at place Jemaa El Fna

May 1, 2016 Sunday

Since the only LDS branch in the whole country is in Rabat, they had a small devotional on their own. After church there was lunch and then a guided tour of the Medina of Marrakech's museums. 

Most importantly, was a nice long skype with us. She told us about a Berber pharmacy that they visited--they sold a lot of natural oils, and she bought some.

They also went to a Berber rug shop, but since even the tiniest rug was $200 she had to pass.

Apparently "Berber" is no longer politically correct. I cant remember what the correct term is, but it's much harder to say than Berber. 

She bought some spices---something she was really wanting. Cumin--which is different there and supposedly good for the stomach, Harissa which is dynamite, a mix of spices for veggies and another for seafood, some Moroccan mint teac, and some saffron. Also, some cold sore stuff helpfully labeled HERPES, and some Kohl. Interesting fact about Kohl and why the Eyptians wore so much of it. It's a mosquito repellent, it also helps with hay fever.  

Also, there are a lot of cats.

No idea where these pictures are, but she's wearing a skirt, so I assume it was Sunday. Maybe their devotional was more interesting than she let on. 

May 2, 2016 Monday

Classes in the morning. For the studio art class, Catherine is going to do a series of Moroccan doors.

There was lunch, then go to Tafza to visit the Clay artisans. She bought some cute bowls. Also a leather bag (another thing on her wish list) and some pants. 

Her favorite thing today was a ruined  palace---don't know which one, where she could climb around on the ruins. 

May 3, 2016 Tuesday

Today they leave for Ourzazate (famous because Mrs. Pollifax, one of my all-time favorite fictional heroines went there).  They will visit another Kasbah, the Ben Haddou Kasbah this time, then visit the Safran and Smok Art area. I suppose it makes sense that there is more than one Kasbah, if it means fortress. 

An interesting looking cemetery. Again, no idea where. 

The afternoon will be devoted to classes, then they will go to the Ouled Merzoug village.

Finish off the night at the Midaoui Kasbah.