Morocco!

Morocco day:
I woke up at 8 am to see a giant rock outside of my window. After our long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean we are docked to refuel at Gibraltar. So I suppose I can at least say that I’ve “seen” the country of Gibraltar J . Global studies was (surprisingly) really interesting this morning. An Islamic professor gave a lecture about gender relations in the Islamic world. She’s teaching a class on the ship called Women and Islam. I wish I had taken that class!! After global studies I went back to my cabin and took a nap. I wanted to sleep until dinner, but I was required to watch a film about the underground hip hop scene in Morocco for my music class. I’ll be meeting one of the musicians featured in the documentary on our last day in Morocco. I managed to get a little homework done after dinner. It’s hard to believe we still have homework and required reading while we are traveling in countries from sun up to sun down.

We have only one day before we reach Morocco which is why today is called “Morocco Day.“ We have both the cultural pre-port and the logistical pre-port meeting tonight. I am exhausted! Although I am very excited for Morocco, I wish we could have another day to unwind from Spain. However, We GAIN two hours tonight! Yay!!

First Day in Casablanca, Morocco.
Ali and I woke up at 6:30 to get ready to pull dock in Casablanca, Morocco. For the first day I planned to do a city orientation which included a visit to the famous Hassan II mosque. It is the words 3rd largest mosque and was completed by the pervious king of Morocco in 1993. We were originally scheduled to leave at 1 o clock in the afternoon, but during the month of Ramadan the mosque is only open in the morning. So our trip ended being the first to leave when the ship cleared Moroccan customs at 9 o clock.

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting. During this month, Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink anything from sun up till sun down. They can only eat and drink after the sun sets. For this reason, many of the restaurants are closed (except in very touristy areas.)

The tour was supposed to contain a bus tour and a walking tour, but we didn’t get to do much walking because it was raining today. I’m amazed by the modern and traditional contrast of the city. In one block you can see people dressed in jeans and shirts eating a McDonalds. The next block over you can see people fully dressed in traditional clothes and pulling carts.

Visiting the Hassan II mosque was by far my favorite part of the tour. I have seen many grand European Cathedrals in both Spain and France. Although they are all gorgeous, it was nice to see a place of worship with such a different cultural design. During every pre-port meeting females were advised to dress modestly while in Morocco. Nothing that shows your shoulders or anything above the knee. We were also told yesterday that females were not allowed to enter the mosque unless they had their head fully covered. Turns out, we only had to make sure that our shoulders were covered. Most of us covered our head out of respect anyway.

Our last stop on the city orientation tour was to a local craft shop. Everything was very pretty but I didn’t buy anything. Most of the items were fragile pottery and I wouldn’t have a good way to get it home. It seemed like a fairly touristy shop so I’m sure the bus driver and our tour guide got a cut of the profits.

I have always been interested in how women are treated in other countries. Although women are still not quite treated as equals, Morocco is making great strides. The wife of the current king, King Mohammad VI, is the first royal female to have a full education. She is a computer engineer and even maintains a position in the government. Also, In 2003 women were granted the right to initiate a divorce. I was honestly surprised by how many women wore modern jeans and shirts instead of the traditional clothing.

After the city orientation I went back to my cabin and packed for next trip. I will spend 3 days and 2 nights in Marrakech. I leave at 8 in the morning and it’s about a 3-4 hour drive to Marrakech. Upon arrival we will eat lunch in a typical Moroccan restaurant and then depart to ride camels! I’m not able to take my computer with me so this blog will not be updated until I return on Saturday afternoon.

Interesting history fact about Morocco: It was the first country to recognize the U.S. as an independent nation in 1777.