Alright- So I will finish up my last reports on Morocco. We left late afternoon on Sept.14th, and yesterday was our first day back to classes. Today is my glorious day off which basically equates to me doing homework and being in meetings all day.

 

So, last day or so of Morocco was awesome. I met a Police guard named Yousseff (which is a very popular name here), and he is practically in love with me. He asked me out on like 3 dates, and as much as I'd feel "safe" with a Moroccan cop... we are in Morocco, and I opted NOT to go on a date with him. Hahaha, but besides that- My friend Amelia and I were walking back from a day in the Souks- and Yousseff (who fell in love with me early that morning) sprinted out from the guard booth to talk. The problem was- we were trying to catch the shuttle so we didn't have to walk 25 minutes through the crazy port with 18 wheelers driving off-road into SASer's. Just as Yousseff was talking, the shuttle passed, along with 4 big tour buses which were full of the students from the Camel Treks, and the big overnight trips... which was honestly about half of our boat. Then- 3 petit taxis full of SAS students passed. This means that Amelia and I would have to stand at the end of the line, and wait for about 2/3 hours for them to check everyone on the boat (no joke- because they go through EVERYTHING in your bags). So I stated to Yousseff that if he loved me- he would give us a ride to the ship. Lo and behold, he walkie-talkied some guards, and a Van showed up in seconds. There were 2 guards in here- and man were they nice! They even let me talk over the walkie talkie (but didn't think I'd actually do it...Ha!) and they gave us a ride practically up to the ship! It was awesome- nothing like Moroccan escorts eh?

 

So roomie aka Rachel- had such a crazy trip in Essouria. There were- I shit you not... GOAT TREES!

 

Farmers literally put their goats on high tree branches, and nestle them in trees so tourists will stop. It's hilarious, and there is a video of it. Bahaha! I still cannot stop laughing. My friends Anjuli and Lindsey went to a Berber village and that basically equated to really roughing it- by using steam showers with spickets for water- and by using the ground as a restroom...which everyone did.

 

Please imagine about 30 or so students, faculty, and lifelong learners lining up to go to the bathroom on the ground. Hahaha. Oh man.

 

Okay- so the last day here I was on a mission to find the painting I was in love with- as well as the Kaftan (pullover dress-ish thing) that I was in love with and spotted the first day in Casablanca. I was with my friend Alys, and we got escorted around by this lovely old man who I affectionately call Manny (because I could not understand what he said his name was). SAS usually discourages walking around with strangers- especially because they will make you pay them- but not Manny, he assured us he didn't want money. He walked us all over the Medina in search of my Kaftan, and even made several people open their shops- just so I could look! It was too sweet, and then finally we found it! I got a great deal. It was 510 dirhams- and I got it for 200dirham and 10 Euro...essentially 300 dirham. (Roughly 30 something dollars).

 

I gave Manny a tip anyways because he literally spent 45 minutes or so out of his time to help me find this. Then I headed back to the ship and enjoyed being on board before On ship time. (On ship time is the ABSOLUTE latest you can be on board- we also have Byron time- which is 2 hours before On ship time). Typically our on ship time is 1800, I was on by 1300 :]

 

This way I can avoid lines and getting dock time. 

 

Ghana is our next stop and I am super excited. We have Nee on board with us- he is our interport student from Ghana- he's pretty laid back, and a super nice guy. He has step-relatives in NY, and is very... Americanized? Yes I will say that. Hahaha, but he speaks English well, unlike Marta our interport student from Spain.

 

All in all Morocco was such an amazing country- and I will definitely come back!

 

Everyone has amazing stories from here, and it was ridiculous, crazy, and so much fun!