Morocco

We finally got into Casablanca on Monday night and were able to get off the boat on Tuesday morning. We "rolled"really bad when we were coming into port. People were flipping out of chairs and papers were thrown all over my room. It was really intense but was worse when we left. 5 people got hurt and one professor has to get surgery. There are people walking around with braces on their hands and legs. Some people's TVs flew out of the shelf that they are on and broke. A couple people also had their mirrors shatter in their room. The book store and clothing store were torn apart! A bunch of glass was shattered and the clothes were everywhere! 

Kelsea, Megan and I decided to walk around Casablanca when we first got there. It was so sketchy and scary! Luckily some guy from SAS was walking around so we ended up staying with him. We went to the only Mosque that non-Muslims are allowed in and it was very pretty. When the girls went in I stayed out by the beach and got harassed! After the Mosque we walked around and tried to find a place to eat but since we were all girls and not married we were not allowed into any of the Cafes. When walking around we couldn't go more than 5 feet without guys yelling at us. We think they were just yelling the only English words that they actually knew. "very nice,""sexy ladies,""sex pots,"and while walking around the markets in Marrakesh a guy tried to sell one of us for 5,000 camels. 

The women in Morocco, and all Muslim countries at that, are treated like they are nothing. Not one woman is respected and especially not women from foreign countries. I had never felt so degraded and so disgusting the whole time in Casablanca. 

We randomly decided to book a hotel, catch and train and go to Marrakesh. We decided to stay at a nice hotel since were so sketched out in Casablanca. We met some cool people on the train from SAS and hung out with them for a little while. We ate at our hotel and went to bed the first night, we were exhausted and probably walked 5 miles that day. The markets were really cool and had tons of pretty things. Bargaining was actually pretty easy and fun to do. They will do anything to get money out of you. The shopping and food were pretty cheap too. I didn't want to try the Moroccan food because I didn't wanna in the bathroom the whole time! I got a coke and fries at lunch and it was less than 2 USD. 

We ran into Jess in the markets and decided to meet up later and go to a bar or club. We went to her hotel and decided to walk around and find some place to go. We got followed by 4 guys in a car and one got out and tried to grab Kelsea. Luckily there was a cop up ahead so i yelled help and they took off. We did see them following us for about 30 minutes after that. We went back to my hotel and talked to the workers there and they walked us to the nearest bar. The bar was awesome! They had belly dancers, the women here are seen as more beautiful if they are bigger. It is also a sign of wealth. I got some pictures that I will put up later, not very cute. Mom would be disgusted if she saw them. 

Our boat left Thursday around 8 and had to be back at the boat at 6. Our train home left at 11 am. When the train stops they don't announce where we are. We got off at the wrong stop and didn't see any other SAS people get off so we ran back on. We have had quite the experience but we all agreed that we feel like we can do anything now. There is no way anyone will come back the same as when they left for SAS. 

On semesteratsea.org they have a new slide show of our embarkation. I have a really awful pic, but I am at least represntin' the Cats!