Smiling Again
I finally feel like I’m in the Arab world again – it took a lot longer than necessary to actually get here…story later…but I’m so happy to be back! So far, Morocco has been much different than Egypt, especially Cairo, but it brings back a lot of memories for sure.

Synopsis of the airport fiasco, and when I say “fiasco,” I mean أزمة (“azma,” a crisis): I’ll keep it short, but I’ll just start with saying that this was the WORST travel experience I’ve had. Our group of ~30 flew out of Dulles on Thursday afternoon, but our plane took off and landed late in Paris, at Charles de Gaulle (CDG). And the landing was probably the most frightening landing I’ve ever had, as well. We ran through CDG and were told that they would hold the plane for us, but when we arrived at the gate, no one was there and it was closed, even though the plane was still there. So frustrating.

Our camp-out site in CDG baggage claim...everyone was laying on the ground by the end

So our new task was arranging a way for 30 people to get to Casablanca. Extremely complicated. After many conversations, two food vouchers, running back and forth with passports, and befriending the security guards, we ended up splitting into three groups, departing at three different times. My group ended up waiting in CDG for 10 hours, working through a giant disaster to locate/gather baggage from off-site storage facilities. Then we took a two-hour shuttle ride to the other airport in Paris (Orly), re-checked our bags, and finally boarded ~9:30pm. So yes, our “layover” in Paris was over 14 hours, and so by the time we arrived in Casablanca, I had barely slept in the past 30 hours. However, I’m thankful that I have my bag because a lot of luggage was lost in the process.

We slept overnight in Casablanca, and took a 4 hours bus ride to Tangier. After a good night sleep, though, things have been much better. But aside from that, here are some reasons for being happy:

Meredith and me in one of the museum's courtyards

1.     Seeing Meredith (or “Mezdez,” according to the Arab pronunciation), who was one of my best friends from my year in Egypt. We haven’t seen each other since our rushed goodbye in Dulles two years ago on our way back from Egypt, but she is here this summer doing a research project on a grant from Stanford. Needless to say, we haven’t wasted much time by spending most of today together…first Matsumoto tour of the summer :) 

2.     Exploring Tangier and getting lost: We went into the old medina (city), which is separated from the rest of Tangier by walls, and accessible through several different “gates.” Tangier is actually quite hilly, so we trekked up to the Kasbah, which is central structure, and wandered around until we found the Kasbah Museum. The museum was actually a palace built by Moulay Ismail (ruler of Morocco, 1672-1727) that is now filled with artifacts from around Morocco, from the Paleolithic ages until the Portuguese occupation (~16^th century), so there was quite a variety. The building itself was also beautiful, with painted wood ceilings and colorful tile. One of my favorite parts, however, was a gallery of colored photos of Morocco from 1935 because they gave insight into what Moroccan life was like.

Neat doorways in the medina

We wandered back down tiny alleyways in a residential area of the medina,. We hit some dead ends along the way, but the buildings were painted in bright colors and some of the doorways were exquisite, so getting slightly lost was definitely worth it. On our way back down, I heard loud cheering from a TV in a shop and saw Egyptian flags waving. I stopped in and found out that Mohammed Mursi, the candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood, had just been announced the new president of Egypt! The Egyptian people were on the streets celebrating, and the shopkeepers were obviously pleased. We had a short conversation with them, and then continued on our way.  

TV announcing the election results

And to continue:

3.     Drinking a giant glass of mango juice (although not as delicious as Egypt)

Mango juice!

4.     Buying dates…the giant piles in the souk were irresistible

5.     Finding out that there’s a pool where we’re living (at the American School in Tangier)!

6.     Arabic classes starting tomorrow!

So after those many hours of travel, I can finally smile again!