Feb 16, 2010 - Fes

Today started with a train ride to Fes. It was only forty minutes and we were checking into the hotel by 10.30. It is quite a beautiful hotel – the nicest one so far – but it was too early to go to the rooms so the bags were put into store and we set off straight away for the days sight-seeing. Fes is a World Heritage Site, the oldest of the four imperial cities and it quite amazing. It actually rained for most of the day, but we just kept going, returning to the hotel only as it was going dark at about 6.15pm. The old city was built in the...

Oct 23, 2009 - A busy week!

Salam!!! Its been a while since I last updated! I know that you must be curious all the details of the wedding right? Unfortunately, the morning of the wedding I awoke very early with the unmistakable grumbling deep in the stomach that can only mean one thing when you are living in a developing country... You will be spending the next 24 hours or so as close to a bathroom as you can possibly keep yourself. Unfortunately I was pretty sick all day and all evening and did not get to go to the wedding after-all. It was a huge disappointment and...

Oct 16, 2009 - Couscous Friday!

Salam! Its been another busy week of classes here in Fes! Yesterday we had a fascinating lecture on the complicated linguistic situation in Morocco! There is Classical Arabic which is from the Qu'ran and only used in the Qu'ran so it is a frozen language that no one actually speaks in normal life and that you cannot change because it is sacred. Then there is standard modern Arabic which is a standardized modern version of Arabic that all Arabic speaking countries agree on and use for business. Then there is colloquial Moroccan Arabic...

Oct 4, 2009 - Msa L Kheer

Msa L Kheer! Good Afternoon! Yesterday our group went on a mini excursion to see Volubilis and the Medina of Meknes. The Medina was pretty amazing! We saw the largest gate in Africa which goes to the memorial tombs of some Moroccan Kings. (Fun side note, did you know that Morocco still has kings? Yup they are one of the few countries left in the world that has kept an intake dynasty into modernity! The current King is Mohammad VI. The King has real power in Morocco, which is to say that he has complete control over the government, unlike...

Oct 1, 2009 - Fes

The imam was early this morning- about 4.30am and shortly after we heard many male voiuces singing a repetitive haunting melody- believe it or not a soothing way to wake up and then drift off again. After a breakfast of bread jam coffee or very sweet mint tea we walked back down the hill to the bus station and eventually left Chefchouen on a packed bus for Fes. I really enjoyed Chefchouen and can see why it attracts so many people. We met an Australian girl who runs a shop in the medina- she married a Moroccan. The land seems very fertile-...

Oct 1, 2009 - Balik Balik!

Salaam w Allekum! I'm in Fes!!! I'm also using a Moroccan computer which has a completely different keyboard so forgive my typos! Let me first tell you a little bit about my host family! They are amazing! I have four siblings! Yahseen is 6 and very fun! Suhair is 19 and speaks excellent English! Our older sister whose name is really hard and I haven't figured out yet, is 22 and is getting married on the 17 of October and WE'RE INVITED TO THE WEDDING!!!!!!!!! I am so excited to get to see a real Moroccan wedding!!! They are supposed to be...

Sep 27, 2009 - Souriez, Vous Etes a Casablanca

Bonjour! I am in Fez, Morocco! We left for the airport at 7 am on Friday and after a long day of flights (from Istanbul to Madrid and Madrid to Casablanca) I found myself on the continent of Africa! We had to wait in line at passport security for two hours. This is where the title of this entry came from. There was a sign at passport control that said "Souriez, Vous etes a Casablanca" which is French for "Smile, You're in Casablanca"! I thought it was really cute! When we finally got through Passport Security and got our bags and found our...

Aug 16, 2009 - Fes, Morocco

Our introduction to the medina in Tangier did not prepare us for Fes. The medina in Fes is, according to the guidebook, the oldest living medieval medina in existence. It is an unfathomable maze of unsigned lanes that go on and on, often without leading you where you think you should be. The first morning was an exercise in frustration. Despite looking for a couple of hours, we couldn't find the tourist info centre, but had an endless stream of "faux guides" who offered to help us find what we wanted if we would only pay them a small fee....

Aug 13, 2009 - The great train adventure

Our first journey on a Moroccan train has cured Jerri of her "romance with riding the rails". In keeping with our typical thrifty approach to transport, we booked second class tickets, without giving it a thought. It turned out to be quite different from our train experiences in the UK and Spain. And therein lies the tale: There was no assigned seating, more people than seats and no air conditioning - in Morroco, in August! When first offered seats sharing a very hot 6-person compartment with a large family, we opted to look for seats in...

Jul 23, 2008 - Fes

July 23 2008 This morning we have our first breakfast in Fes. Our chef from the night before has made Moroccan crepes with honey, fresh squeezed OJ, store bought pasteries, jam, butter, coffee, and Moroccan tea. It is a very filling breakfast. As we are bruching our teeth, our guide Hamead arrives to take us on our tour. We walk through the Blue Gate and through the quite streets to our car. Hamead drives us around the outskirts of Fes. He points out the different sectors and gives us there dates of construction. The cemetery is huge and...

Jul 1, 2008 - Meknes - Fes

In the morning we visited Meknes most impressive site, the Granaries. We had a walk around the Imperial palace adn then explored the colourful Medina. For lunch we bought our salad vegetables from the markets and camel meat from the butchers and then had someone make us camel burgers for lunch .. delicious. After lunch we got our private bus which took us to the Roman ruins at Volubilis. These are the oldest remaining Roman ruins in Morocco. From here we continued to Fes.

Jun 18, 2008 - Moroccan medinas and mountains

By Elizabeth “The earth belongs to anyone who stops for a moment, gazes and goes on his way.” - Collette I have always wanted to visit Morocco and I have not been disappointed. This country may be the most beautiful we have visited – there are beaches, there are mountains and there are deserts. And it is so full of culture - quaint Berber villages, big cosmopolitan cities and ancient Islamic quarters. The Muslim call to prayer resonates 5 times a day, 7 days a week without fail (we have been experiencing this since the end of May when we...