(Josh here, writing from Bari's account as she already uploaded the pictures. By the way, for those of you who have seen it, did you notice The Book of Mormon reference in the title to this post?)
We went to Africa for a day trip. Seriously.
We realized, from our indispensable Rick Steves guidebook, that it would be possible to visit Tangier, Morocco from Sevilla. As is abundantly clear by now, we are gluttons for adventure, so we figured, "why not?" This included some logistical hurdles: I rented a car at about 10:55 the night before (just before the car rental place closed), and we woke up at 5 am to drive the two and half hours to Tarifa, a port on the southern tip of Spain. We then took a 35-minute ferry into Tangier, Morocco. Although it is only 14 miles and 35 minutes away, we entered a totally different world. There was a lot of Arabic everywhere, many people were dressed differently from Westerners (for example, a lot of women wear head scarves, although it is no longer a religious requirement), and we heard the bells of the Muslim call for prayer several times throughout the day. Upon our arrival we met up with Sarhan, a guide we hired for the day. We began with a driving tour of Tangier and the surrounding countryside. We visited Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea. We saw donkeys on the side of the road...
...but the highlight was riding a camel! Caitlyn loved it, except when the camel leaned forward a ton to sit down at the end.
Baby camels
We then did a walking tour of the city of Tangier, which included a stop for lunch at a traditional Moroccan restaurant (tangine clay pot chicken and couscous). We encountered so many different and interesting things that we have never seen before. Below are some pictures that try to capture the day:
Various spices and grains for sale
This bread was delicious. We bought some a few times during the day.
In the town, one highlight was walking through the various markets. It was fascinating to see every part of an animal--and I mean every part--for sale. For some reason, I guess Bari chose not to post the picture of the whole cow's head!
We also walked through the Kasbah neighborhood, with its beautiful views, distinctive white and blue facades, keyhole shaped building entrances, and unique arches.
Toward the end of the day we ditched the tour guide and explored on our own. We found an area where men were making blankets and rugs on looms. One shop owner, Mohammed, was extremely friendly, and after chatting for awhile we bought a camel hair blanket, a scarf for Bari, and some dish towels (all very inexpensive). He and his sons had handmade each item. We ended up talking to him and his sons for awhile, mostly through his broken English and hand gestures. He insisted on giving Caitlyn the pink hat below as a gift.
About 9 hours after landing in Africa, we boarded the boat back to Spain. As a final emphasis that we were in a totally different country, the Moroccan security guard checking our passports said to us, somewhat in passing, that "Hitler wasn't that bad. All of the stuff people said he did--that was just politics." (We were carrying a painting that was wrapped in a newspaper that had an image of someone who looked like Hitler. We didn't notice it until the guard pointed it out.) Wow.
After arriving back in Tarifa, Spain, we rushed back to the rental car company in Sevilla so we would arrive by 11:00 pm that night--so we would only have to pay for one day. We made it with about 15 minutes to spare! (Then, after a very long day, we had a hard time reaching our hotel because of the parade Bari talks about below, and we stayed up until around 2 am watching it from our balcony! Luckily Caitlyn slept through the noise.)
Going to Morocco was a fascinating experience--one of the most unique things we did during this entire adventure this semester. I'm so grateful for the opportunity.
