Too difficult to explain it all...

This will be  extremely short because I'm about to leave for the Tangier train station to ride an overnight train to Marrakech. Here are some updates on the past couple weeks:

June 30-July 1: Trip to Chefchaouen, a beautiful town in the Atlas Mountains famous for its blue and white walls. It was a gorgeous town, although my favorite part was our four-hour hike up a nearby mountain. We met a guide from a nearby village Saturday evening while we exploring around the area, and we were very hesitant at first to accept his offer, but after talking with him a while in Arabic, we realized that he really meant what he said. Not to mention that his name is Abd Es-Salaam, which means "servant of peace" in Arabic. It fit him perfectly.

So we met him the next morning at 9am, and true to his word, he took us up the mountain. It was an absolutely incredible experience - it's difficult to even explain, but even if the views from the mountain hadn't been as spectacular, it was amazing to just be talking with Abd Es-Salaam. His father is the Imam in his village's mosque, and Abd Es-Salaam went to a Qur'anic school growing up so he spoke Modern Standard Arabic with us, which was fantastic because we could communicate easily. 

I've added some of my favorite photos from the trip:

Meredith and me in a small square

A great example of the beautiful medina

From the rooftop of the restaurant where we ate dinner

Abd Es-Salaam, Sunday morning at 9am showing us some yoga

Near the top of the mountain

Passing a herd of goats heading up the mountain to graze. We walked through the village in the background on the way down.

This past weekend, the entire CLS program went to Asilah, a very small coastal town a short train ride away from Tangier.  Then I went to Rabat via train on Saturday night, toured all day Saturday with Meredith, AJ, and James, and came back Sunday night to Tangier. We walked all over the city - the old medina, the more modern/European parts, archeology museum, Chellah (ancient Roman ruins), the beach, mausoleum. 

Sorry for the laundry list, but I'm leaving AST in about 5 minutes! The trip was great, though, and I feel like I saw most of Rabat in one (albeit tiring) day. Here are some quick pictures.

A beautiful mural in Asilah - there was an arts festival going on when we visited.

The really crowded beach in Asilah. The other side of the Atlantic!

Bab El-Had in Rabat - one of the many entrances to the old medina built during the Almoravid (I think?) reign

Looking down on Rabat's crowded beach from the Qasba (fort) at the edge of the old medina.

A beautiful Andalucian garden in the Qasba.

The remains of what used to be a giant mosque. The minaret is the only part still standing.

Stork nests at the Chellah site south of Rabat's city center. Morocco is apparently famous for birdwatching, so we got a little taste

More of Chellah

Off to Marrakech!!