Well the school month came to an end last Friday...very sadly I might add. All the students who had scholarships and only had a four week session at the school have gone home or continued on in their travels.
^The "Cool" People
We held a graduation ceremony for our comrades celebrating our advancement and receiving certificates. That night we celebrated watching the England versus Sweden in the Europe Cup Football Championship (England won) and then retired to the boys' apartment for final goodbyes and cuddle time into the wee hours of the morning. We dragged the mattresses into the middle of the living room like in the Sahara and spent our last hours, giggling, snoring, watching ridiculous videos and cuddling up.
The first two to depart were Aubrey (American) and Asif (British) leaving at 3am and gently waking us awake for kisses and hugs goodbye before catching a cab to the airport.
The next one to bid farewell was Kuba our awesome Polish friend. Four more of us woke up to catch the train down to Marrakesh. I gave Kuba a fond farewell, with the promise to hopefully visit Krakow during my last month in Germany. We also bid farewell to Josi from Holland as she would catch her plane after we left.
As I was sort of sleepy and grumpy, but ready to go, we ended up missing our first train and went back for another hour of sleep. Then we endured a 5 hour train ride without air conditioning and not being able to open the windows :( BUT
when we made it there...Philipp, Maggie and Michael and I relished the "Red City."
The next one to bid farewell was Kuba our awesome Polish friend. Four more of us woke up to catch the train down to Marrakesh. I gave Kuba a fond farewell, with the promise to hopefully visit Krakow during my last month in Germany. We also bid farewell to Josi from Holland as she would catch her plane after we left.
As I was sort of sleepy and grumpy, but ready to go, we ended up missing our first train and went back for another hour of sleep. Then we endured a 5 hour train ride without air conditioning and not being able to open the windows :( BUT
when we made it there...Philipp, Maggie and Michael and I relished the "Red City."
We found a wonderfully cheap riad (old Moroccan house) to stay in close to the souks. We were welcomed with tea and shelter from the sun beating down on us. Then we ventured out for lunch....
We tried the Marrakesh specialty of a Tagina which is like tagine but cooked in a different pot and cooked longer. Then we visited the souks...and Marrakesh souks are like none other in ALL of Morocco....this is the place to find anything and everything. The first woodworker we encountered even gave us a demonstration with his "Moroccan Black and Decker" tools. He reminded me of my dad without the wood-lathe, especially with the cockeyed glasses.
We ventured to TONS of sights including the Kotubia mosque, gardens, the Djema-El-Fna. My traveling companions needed a quick nap to recover after not sleeping much the night before.
At night we visited the massive square in Marrakesh and fun was just beginning....we grabbed some orange juice and saw the set up of the night-air restaurant before watching the sunset and the town come to life.
Jotting down a few notes, we watched the sun dip below the horizon of buildings and enjoyed a tea and the noise of the city below us.
We finished our tea and prepared ourselves to join the hustle and bustle of a night in the square. We picked out the best restaurant in the square because we constantly saw flames arising from the grill.
Then Michael, Maggie and I still felt adventurous enough to try the prairie snails that Marrakesh is so famous for.
Then we topped it all off with our second round of the "aphrodisiac" tea made from ginger and ginseng before retiring to our riad and chatting until midnight.
The next morning we were up in decent time to lazily enjoy our breakfast on the terrace before working our energy to enjoy the rest of the day in Marrakesh before splitting up and saying goodbye to Philipp.
The next morning we were up in decent time to lazily enjoy our breakfast on the terrace before working our energy to enjoy the rest of the day in Marrakesh before splitting up and saying goodbye to Philipp.
We visited the Saadin tombs that were hidden until the first world war, then two palaces, breaking for lunch at a schwarma place where we impressed the locals with our Arabic and the local girls went gag over our good looking men.
Our last step was the Jardin Marjorelle that was owned by the famous painter before Yves St. Laurent bought it and restored to its glory.
Our last step was the Jardin Marjorelle that was owned by the famous painter before Yves St. Laurent bought it and restored to its glory.
We finished the day with ice cream before Philipp and I jumped the train home to Rabat. Philipp said his fond goodbye to Michael (who had been his roommate for the past month) and to Maggie (our other awesome Aussie). I left Maggie and Michael with the promise to see them this coming weekend before we say our goodbyes.
Upon returning to Rabat, I said my sad farewell to Philipp. It was sad to bid "Abu Hadith" (Philipp's nickname) bon voyage as he was the creator of many good analogies and jokes. Luckily he shoved me in a taxi before I had time to cry over the breakup of our glorious group, but I will be hopefully lucky enough to see him soon when I visit Erlangen again during my month in Germany. The fun isn't hopefully over for forever, but just taking a rest before our group can reconvene again.
Upon returning to Rabat, I said my sad farewell to Philipp. It was sad to bid "Abu Hadith" (Philipp's nickname) bon voyage as he was the creator of many good analogies and jokes. Luckily he shoved me in a taxi before I had time to cry over the breakup of our glorious group, but I will be hopefully lucky enough to see him soon when I visit Erlangen again during my month in Germany. The fun isn't hopefully over for forever, but just taking a rest before our group can reconvene again.
Upshot of it all....I still got my girl Zoe with me for the next month. Things will be alright....inshallah!