Sunday, September 30, 2012

Casablanca :)


This will be a shorter blog about our day trip to Casablanca! It’s only about an hour train ride (for 35DH each way, so a little more than 7 U.S dollars roundtrip).  The day before we went, we watched the movie Casablanca, (which is totally different than the way Casablanca really is) but it was still great.
So for anyone that has seen the movie (if not, you should), we went to Rick’s Café for lunch. Although it was about twelve when we ate, that is early for lunch in Morocco, so there were only a handful of couples (all tourists) in the restaurant. The food, was a really great break from eating potatoes and beans and random meats. (Better watch out, my friend had brain the other day. No but seriously, she did.) The restaurant was really nice and a good atmosphere. Of course they were playing the movie upstairs in the lounge.
Me and Leah




 Mmmm, Salmon and Alfredo :)

On the menu this was called: The Obama Family Chili  (Obviously it's served on couscous though...)

 After we were sufficiently stuffed with delicious food, we got to keep our menus and bought a couple tacky gift things, we headed on our way to the Hassan II mosque.  It has the world’s tallest minaret, and during Ramadan had 250,000 people come to pray. The women pray separately from the men, and there are elevators for them to use to get up to the second floor. They also cleanse in separate rooms. Everything is segregated. There is a Turkish and Moroccan hammam (yes there is a difference) in the lower part of the mosque, neither of which have ever been used since the mosque opened. The mosque was huge and impressive with its intricate art work and carvings. It was difficult for me to get pictures of the inside due to lighting, but rest assured, the inside is just as beautiful as the outside. So after trekking through the rain to get to the mosque, we paid a pretty penny to get a guided tour. Which, I feel, was worth it, since I believe it is the only mosque in Morocco that is open for non-Muslims to enter.


























We then ventured towards the beach and found an abundance of fancy beach clubs with pools and tennis clubs and all sorts of good things. (Good thing yesterday was the first full day of rain we’ve had since I got here a month ago and it was actually almost cold. By that I mean it was like 65 degrees with wind and rain.) With crepes and coffee we over looked a rather angry Atlantic Ocean and amused our “garson” (that’s waiter in Moroccan Arabic) with our severely limited speaking abilities in Arabic. But he put up with us and even helped us, so he got a nice tip. (Fun fact, tipping isn’t mandatory in Morocco.)



We then hunted down a cab, which were actually more difficult to snag than I was expecting, and headed back to the train station. Dinner was decided on, and it was going to be Chinese food. Chinese food in Morocco? Actually, it’s pretty good. A bit on the pricey side, but a good ending to the day.
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 5, 2012 at 4:49 PM

    Hi Kiley
    Silver Lake here once again.
    Isaac asks if you would walk us through a day in the life of a Moroccan teenager to the best of your knowledge.
    Jacob wants to know what would happen if a non-Moslem went into a mosque that is not open to the public?
    Paige asks if there are any restaraunts in America that compare to the food there? She asks because, "after I went to Peru all my favorite foods weren't the same! I can never eat a mango and love it as much as I did in Peru!" In addition, Mrs. Pratt asks if you could give a description of typical Moroccan food.
    Thanks for your time. We look forward to your answers.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 7, 2012 at 3:10 PM

      Long responses!Sorry, has to go in two comments. Hopefully their clear.
      Isaac: The school system here isn’t very good, so a lot of students drop out or their parents withdraw them from school. In villages, it is very common that a girl will only receive education until maybe fifth grade at most. So, Monday through Friday, kids that are still in school, go to school. They get to come home for about two hours in the middle of the day for lunch, and then go back to school. The teens that aren’t still in school are working either at their parents stores, or trying to find any job they can. The employment rate here, is also, very bad. After school either homework is done, or kids can go to café’s to hang out. Girls are usually expected to be home, unless escorted by a male, by about 8:30 or 9:00pm. Boys can stay out longer and they tend to sit on the terraces of cafes or hang out in the streets of the medina watching soccer. The more intricate details, I can’t really tell you since I haven’t spent much time with a teenager, both my host siblings are younger than that. Hope that helps though!

      Jacob: Well, by a rule, a women (Muslim or not) has to have their hair covered to enter the mosque. So this is something that would have to be done or it would be considered very disrespectful and you could get in trouble. Not all Muslim countries have their mosques closed to non-Muslims, so it’s something specific to Morocco, not Islam. I think, it would depend if you went during prayer or just during the day. If you were respectful, took your shoes off, and entered just to look around, not much would be done. (As far as I know, it’s not as if police are sitting in the Mosques) but if it was clear you were loitering or if you were being disrespectful, you could get arrested. It is a law in Morocco, but I’m just thinking if you didn’t call much attention to yourself, you might be ok. There are a couple mosques in Morocco open to the public, and they are the most extravagant, so if you were curious and wanted to see what a mosque looked like, those are the places you would go. But in the end, I wouldn’t test it since I’m sure the different leaders of each mosque could react differently.


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    2. UnknownOctober 7, 2012 at 3:13 PM

      Paige: Actually, there is some American food readily available here. McDonalds is kind of a big deal and is actually really expensive. It’s high end food here. There is also a TGI Friday’s in Agdal, which is the more modern part of Rabat. Pizza is also popular. However, going out to eat isn’t very common for the average Moroccan family. The food doesn’t really compare from there. You eat Tajine a lot, and couscous every Friday. Tajine is meat, potatoes, and vegetables. You eat it with your right hand and bread. (Eating utensils aren’t very common) Same goes for couscous, once you get really skilled, you make little couscous balls and pop it in your mouth. (I am yet to master this skill…I still just make a mess) There are a lot of French restaurants since it was colonized by the French and there’s still a fair amount of European influence in the wealthier parts of town. The food is fresher here. This weekend I was at a friends’ apartment so we were able to cook our own food. You buy everything from local farm stands and butchers. I definitely know what you mean in regards to the mango. After I returned from Ecuador, I just couldn’t enjoy fruit as much as I did in Ecuador because it was so much fresher there. I’m sure I’ll feel the same way when I get back to the U.S about the food.

      Ms. Pratt: I answered your question partly above! But, we eat bread (called Hobz) with every meal.Breakfast, lunch and dinner, it’s what you use instead of silverware. There’s always meat, potatoes or something like chickpeas. Some vegetables are served (usually too spicey for me and my stomachs liking) They also are huge fans of this weird cheese (but it’s not real cheese, it’s actually kind of hard to describe.) Olive oil is served with everything. Mint tea is a HUGE deal. Tea time is an important part of Moroccan food. Also, their coffee, which is a cup of hot milk served with a splash of coffee and of course, sugar. Sugar is a big deal here too. Diabetes is a serious problem in this country. I’ve been served cake and cookies for breakfast. Another common breakfast food is these fried pancake things, which are delicious, but fried and covered in butter. Their desserts tend to be very French inspired. Lots of pastries, sooooooo many pastries. It’s ridiculous how much the people here love sugar. I have a sweet tooth, but it’s a bit much for me.

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