Morocco

I survived my week in Morocco!

Things I learned on this trip:

• I am not a natural surfer, but I can manage to be in the ocean.  With a wet suit.  And no sharks.
• I really enjoy Moroccan food and I love the mint tea served after meals.
• The pictures online are not true to where I went, I would like to go to those places instead; the Morocco I visited was a little dirtier and had more garbage on the beaches.
• 5am prayer calls are interesting, but are just late enough that if they wake you up it is hard to fall back asleep before the day starts.

Overall, I had a good trip and it was an experience.  It started a little rough (it took over an hour and a half to get through customs and people do not form queues well, they just fill in space and make it take even longer), but the people I met were really nice and the room we stayed in was pretty incredible.  The surf camp has a hostel right on the ocean, as in you walk out the front door, there is a two foot wide walkway, and then ocean; all the rooms has little balconies and tables to enjoy the view and there is a big eating area on the roof.  

We went surfing the second day and I actually had a fun time in the water, which is huge for me, but I was exhausted after lunch and had a really hard time just paddling to get out to catch any waves.  The second day disaster struck: a majority of the camp got sick (most thought it was from drinking too much the night before, but then people that didn't drink at all got sick and we knew it was something else).  Somehow I managed to get by without getting sick, but there was not a lot of surfing to be done.  The third day was spent relaxing and getting everyone feeling better and eating again.  The fourth day we went to Paradise Valley and jumped off cliffs.  We went back to the beach the next day where I rode a camel and my adorable freshman roommate bought many items from the men walking the beach selling... things.  The last day we went into Agadir and spent a couple hours at the market before having lunch on the beach and then quickly returning to our room as it started to rain.  

While I enjoyed my time, I don't know that I will be returning to Morocco anytime soon, so I made sure I took a lot of photos and had as many "authentic" experiences as I could.

Our private patio

A view of Taghazout from our patio

Camels were everywhere we went

Mike doing a cannonball off the cliff... Not as good as either of my Uncles have done, but a solid effort

My roommate Kittsie... she didn't buy them all but her "friend", Fatima, wanted to show her all he had to sell

Yup.  Me.  On a camel.  And not a comfortable ride at all...

Apparently this one bites

A sight we saw everyday at the beach

When it is clear, it really is beautiful and so, so blue