day five, march 5th: tangier, morocco

what an exotic and amazing place this was! it was a fabulous experience and i am so happy that it all worked out! we weren't sure it would all work out as earlier in the week, everyone but me decided that they didn't want to go on the bus tour and that the only way they wanted to go was if it was by personal guide. our concierge was setting it up, but had a rather laid back attitude about the whole thing. luckily it all worked out!

early in the morning we drove to the port city of tarifa where we were supposed to meet our guide who was also guiding a tour bus that day. i have no idea how one person can do all of that in one day and together, but somehow he had figured it out. in any case, the bus arrived after us and we were all very concerned that he wouldn't find him as the ferry was to leave at 9am which was in a few minutes. much to our relief, we found our "blond hair, blue eyed" guide with a few minutes to spare. seriously, that's how our concierge said we'd know him. you will know pedro because he has blond hair and blue eyes. ummm, ok. but, again, luckily it all worked out and we boarded the ferry. pedro was all very unconcerned about time - apparently he has lots of 'friends' who take care of him. like the police captain who let us park in police parking for the day! and the boat 'capitain' (this is how pedro pronounced it) who held the ferry a few extra minutes for us. and even the customs people on the morrocan side!

the ferry from tarifa to tangiers took about 45 minutes and once we arrived, we were met by our second guide, mohammed, and our driver. pedro went between the bus and us all day, but spent all morning until lunch with us exclusively. for the first part of the tour, we saw the international part of the city which was very vibrant in the 50s and 60s. depending on your nationality, that's where you most likely lived. there were french, british, american, moroccan, saudi, etc. there are some huge estates where some extremely weathly saudi and middle easterners have homes that they use like once a year. some have airport runways for their private planes!

we then stopped and saw the point where the mediterranean meets the atlantic. of course there really is no actual division, but it was a beautiful view from a pretty high hill. their beaches look fabulous.


the five of us: not sure of the order but in the pic are me, mom, dad, and their friends sid and susan

the next part of our tour was the camel ride! except they really aren't camels.. they are dramaderies since they have only one hump and not two. but camel is way easier to say and write and so for these purposes, i'll continue to use the word camel. because i'm lazy. so me, my mom, and sid got on the camels first and went on a short ride. the camel steerer took us basically in a big circle, but we had incredible views of the ocean. our camel steerer was so funny at the point where he stopped so we could snap photos, he kept saying 'no hands! no hands!'. we were all supposed to raise our hands -- really dumb, but pretty funny since his accent was so thick. then it was dad and susan's turn. only the guide made me stay on and i rode with susan. my mom's camel wouldn't let her off and so she went on round number two too. it was so much fun!


after the camels, we made a quick trip to see the hercules caves. it is a small cave but the opening looks strangely like africa! it's kinda crazy.

the picture is sideway, but rotate your head and you'll see it

then we went for a walk through the kasbah which was my favorite part of the day. we wandered through the streets and saw local life. since we were with mohammed, we were able to meander through there with no problem. mohammed is part time professor at the university of tangiers and spoke very good english as well as spanish and french too, i think. and of course his native arabic. he answered all of our questions - what do people think of the election - are people even interested - what languages do you learn in school - and on and on... i can't even remember everything we asked him. but as for the election, he says that the educated and higher class absolutely follows the election and definitely cares. he said they don't like bush, but that they don't hold it against the american people as it is not their fault. he says he'd like to see obama win. as for school, he says they are taught in arabic, but they also learn a second language usually french. the french occupied tangiers/morocco for a long time so a lot of things are in arabic and french. mohammed taught himself english and spanish. in any case, the kasbah was so interesting! we came upon these little kids who were playing with cardboard guns and machetes. we all decided it was very cute now, not so cute later when they were playing with the real version! and then we saw the community bread ovens and the various street vendors. mohammed showed us how to read arabic. it's so foreign to me - they read backwards from right to left. and even their letters are backwards. so not only are they reading backwards, but all the letters are backwards too. so like the word backwards in arabic would be: sdrawkcab (obviously though in arabic letters). gosh, that must be a hard language to learn!

sorry for the sideways, but turn your head!


after the kasbah, we went to lunch. lunch was fantastic! we had lots of lamb and meats and cooscoos (sp?!) and meat pie. yummmm... sounds so good right now as i write this! they had a little group of musicians playing music for us and we all shared a bottle of wine with our lunch. and then, after lunch we went to a shop where my dad surprised us all and bought 3 carpets - runners. 2 for their lake house and 1 for me! ok, if you know my dad, you know we tease him for being so cheap! and here he was negotiating with the carpet guy and all of a sudden instead of buying one, he bought three! he did get a great deal and was able to get 3 for almost the price of 1.5. and i'm happy cause i now have a gorgeous runner in my hallway! and then, i swear the carpet guy kept asking if i was single and my mom was all yes, and then i swear she was about to sell me to the carpet guy for the rugs. he was all i can come to chicago and you run the carpet store and i'll run the restaurant - what?!?!?! gee, thanks mom! he then gave me a necklace for free which i was happy about - it's really pretty! unfortunately, we then had to rush to make the ferry b/c pedro said it was going to be the last one of the day since the waves had gotten very bad. uh oh. not good for my sea sick prone mom, but not wanting to miss the ferry and have to spend the night, we rushed to the ferry and luckily made it (b/c pedro knows the boat capitain!). it was really rough on the boat and even i felt quesy. i was so happy to get back on ground!


the guy my mom was going to sell me to for a rug!


pedro smoothing the way for us!

i highly recommend tangiers and morocco. i would love to go back another time and see more of the country! it was fascinating!! and now i can say i've been to africa!