Saturday, October 13, 2012

Chefchaouen: The Blue City


                So we started our biggest excursion of the semester yesterday. Stop one: Chefchaouen. I have enjoyed Morocco as a whole, but Chefchaouen is by far, one of the nicest/prettiest places we have been, for a few reasons. Reason 1: we’re in the mountains, two: It actually gets cool enough, that I need to wear a sweater (kind of forgot what that was like), three: the city is painted blue, and four: Spanish is spoken here, I was actually able to communicate. Oh, also, it’s a nice, quiet break from the chaos of Rabat. (Actually, unless there’s a soccer game. The hotel is FAR from quiet as Morocco plays Mozambique) No but seriously, these people are obsessed with soccer.  Anyways, we were only here for a day, but I really enjoyed it. Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s also soooo much quieter/different then Marrakesh.
                Chefchaouen is known for Sufism (which is commonly associated with smoking a lot of weed.) I can say, that we were offered weed, many times by a wide range of people/age groups. Anywhere from a thirteen year old, to a seventy year old could be seen trying to sell to the large variety of tourists (a good number of which come from Europe to here for this reason.) 
                We stayed up in the main square for the majority of the day and socialized. We met a shop owner that gave us an Arabic lesson, and as a result of our clear effort to learn Arabic, gave us a fair price on the jewelry we were buying, no bargaining needed. We went to a café, and met a kid that actually studies at UCLA for two years, and just got back three months ago. I got some more henna done with my friend, and the people gave us a very good price and enjoyed talking to us, in Spanish.
                Now, after a day of eating (per usual) and getting lost in the medina, I am sitting in the hotel, listening to the impassioned cheers for the Moroccan soccer team, watching my friends play chess and relaxing before we leave tomorrow for Tangier.
                Now, it’s time for all the pictures.  Photo bombs! Bus seriously, this place is beautiful, enjoy the photos J


































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