Early morning view of Fes from the terrace on the roof of our hostel. Most places here have roof terraces, which make for fantastic views, and a way of getting out of the hustle and bustle of the streets below
Friday, March 27, 2009
Bou Inania Medersa
This is one of the most impressive buildings I've been in; the detail in the arches and the walls is just incredible.
Volubilis
Roman ruins outside of Volubilis. It was lovely walking around here, the ruins are quite extensive.
Fes Weekend
I had my first trip away last weekend, where I went to Fes, approx. 3 hours by train from Rabat. I went with a group of volunteers, seven of us all together, which was heaps of fun. We stayed at the most beautiful hostel ever, which was about $25 AUS a night. The only drawback was the bathrooms, which were, in the fahion of Fes itself, a little medieval.
I am completely in love with Fes, it really fulfilled all my expectations of Morocco; thousands of tiny alley ways, beautiful architecture, thousands of little shops, donkeys, yummy food and drinks - especially the coffee and the fresh orange juice. No cars are allowed in the medina, but you can still get run down by donkeys or the occasional hand-pulled cart if you don't pay attention to the cries of "Balak! Balak!" - get out of the way. It's something straight out of medieval times, with very few modern add-ons - aside from the ubiquitous satellite dishes. I especially love that it has all these riads hidden behind plain doors, so that it can look like you're in a really dingy alleyway outside but when you go inside there's a stunning courtyard surrounded by beautiful balconies.
We had a guide take us around for the day, because it's just impossible to find your own way around the first time - and probably the second or third time too! We visited the tanneries, which didn't smell as bad as I thought; I managed to get out of there only having bought one handbag, but i may have to go back for an ottaman when Damien gets up here. And maybe get myself another handbag too... The cutest thing I think I've seen so far was a litter of very young kittens nesting in amongst all the bags - major 'awwww' factor. Cats are everywhere here, and seem to be looked after by everyone.
We also went to the jewellers, where I completely blew my budget, the tapestry weavers, and then to the carpet sellers. It was an incredible carpet shop, but we were all very intimidated by the hard sell tactics of the salesmen - especially when the cheapest was approximately $400 AUS, and that was something about the size of a bathmat. But it was nice sitting there drinking mint tea as they brought out all these beautiful carpets for us to look at - seriously a big tease.
The next day we went to a nearby town called Meknes. At least they called it a town, but it seemed to be about the size of Adelaide to me - and probably had a lot more people in it! We took a trip out to see some Roman ruins, which was lovely because we got to see something of the countryside. It was really lush and green, with lots of olive groves and goats and donkeys and stuff. I loved getting out of the cities for an afternoon, 'cause I can really feel the pollution here settling into my chest - I feel like I've smoked half a pack of cigarettes most days.
It was quite hard settling back to the routine in Rabat on Monday, I don't think my feet came back to earth until at least Tuesday. I'm going back to Fes this weekend for a day, as another volunteer wants to go back and get a bag she loved, and also I think I will take any chance to see more of it. We're not going to have a guide this time, so hopefully we don't get lost for too many hours; as long as we can make it out by night I'll be happy!
I am completely in love with Fes, it really fulfilled all my expectations of Morocco; thousands of tiny alley ways, beautiful architecture, thousands of little shops, donkeys, yummy food and drinks - especially the coffee and the fresh orange juice. No cars are allowed in the medina, but you can still get run down by donkeys or the occasional hand-pulled cart if you don't pay attention to the cries of "Balak! Balak!" - get out of the way. It's something straight out of medieval times, with very few modern add-ons - aside from the ubiquitous satellite dishes. I especially love that it has all these riads hidden behind plain doors, so that it can look like you're in a really dingy alleyway outside but when you go inside there's a stunning courtyard surrounded by beautiful balconies.
We had a guide take us around for the day, because it's just impossible to find your own way around the first time - and probably the second or third time too! We visited the tanneries, which didn't smell as bad as I thought; I managed to get out of there only having bought one handbag, but i may have to go back for an ottaman when Damien gets up here. And maybe get myself another handbag too... The cutest thing I think I've seen so far was a litter of very young kittens nesting in amongst all the bags - major 'awwww' factor. Cats are everywhere here, and seem to be looked after by everyone.
We also went to the jewellers, where I completely blew my budget, the tapestry weavers, and then to the carpet sellers. It was an incredible carpet shop, but we were all very intimidated by the hard sell tactics of the salesmen - especially when the cheapest was approximately $400 AUS, and that was something about the size of a bathmat. But it was nice sitting there drinking mint tea as they brought out all these beautiful carpets for us to look at - seriously a big tease.
The next day we went to a nearby town called Meknes. At least they called it a town, but it seemed to be about the size of Adelaide to me - and probably had a lot more people in it! We took a trip out to see some Roman ruins, which was lovely because we got to see something of the countryside. It was really lush and green, with lots of olive groves and goats and donkeys and stuff. I loved getting out of the cities for an afternoon, 'cause I can really feel the pollution here settling into my chest - I feel like I've smoked half a pack of cigarettes most days.
It was quite hard settling back to the routine in Rabat on Monday, I don't think my feet came back to earth until at least Tuesday. I'm going back to Fes this weekend for a day, as another volunteer wants to go back and get a bag she loved, and also I think I will take any chance to see more of it. We're not going to have a guide this time, so hopefully we don't get lost for too many hours; as long as we can make it out by night I'll be happy!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Orphanage
Okay, my most scariest experience in Morocco to date; the orphanage. Seriously, what was i thinking when i put my hand up for that? I mean, I know that kids scare me, so i then go and volunteer to work in an orphanage???
So anyway, i arrive there, and I'm asked first where i would like to work, the infants or the toddlers. I say the infants, because i figure they're pretty cute until they learn how to walk and talk, so they say great, then take me straight to the toddler's section. Huh?
Unfortunately the nurses in the toddlers section don't speak any english, and they're not terribly friendly either - i guess that if they've met one volunteer they've met them all. When I first arrived I was led to a small nursery with two rooms and 12 toddlers in it. Whilst I do think that the nurses were somewhat amused by the look of sheer panic on my face as I was surrounded by crying, sniveling toddlers all calling out 'mama', mama', and trying to all be picked up at once, they (the nurses) were soon yelling at me and waving their arms frantically, which i interpreted to mean that they wanted me to do something but i never did work out what exactly. Eventually I took a couple of the toddlers out to the garden, and tried to entertain them for 4 hours. Thank god there were other volunteers there, playing with their own toddlers, so i just tried to do what they did. I kind of thought that this would help me become more comfortable with kids, but I actually think that the opposite is happening. All of the kids seem to be a big puddle of drool and other less nice fluids for most of the time - i knew i should have been more suspicious when i was given a smock to protect my clothes when i got there!
It's actually pretty sad seeing all these kids here, they're just so desperate for love and the slightest bit of attention. The bedrooms are scary, all these tiny cots lined up like domino's. And the kids have the oldest eyes that just stare at you. I had to drag one little boy kicking and screaming back to the nursery when i left, and it was just heartbreaking 'cause i knew he wouldn't get out again for the rest of the day, just be stuck in this tiny little room with the others. Some of the older little girls - say about 6-9 - are beautiful, so incrededibly polite and quiet; if i was going to adopt any i'd adopt one of them. Somewhere in Darwin Damien just got a chill up his spine and doesn't know why ;)
So anyway, i arrive there, and I'm asked first where i would like to work, the infants or the toddlers. I say the infants, because i figure they're pretty cute until they learn how to walk and talk, so they say great, then take me straight to the toddler's section. Huh?
Unfortunately the nurses in the toddlers section don't speak any english, and they're not terribly friendly either - i guess that if they've met one volunteer they've met them all. When I first arrived I was led to a small nursery with two rooms and 12 toddlers in it. Whilst I do think that the nurses were somewhat amused by the look of sheer panic on my face as I was surrounded by crying, sniveling toddlers all calling out 'mama', mama', and trying to all be picked up at once, they (the nurses) were soon yelling at me and waving their arms frantically, which i interpreted to mean that they wanted me to do something but i never did work out what exactly. Eventually I took a couple of the toddlers out to the garden, and tried to entertain them for 4 hours. Thank god there were other volunteers there, playing with their own toddlers, so i just tried to do what they did. I kind of thought that this would help me become more comfortable with kids, but I actually think that the opposite is happening. All of the kids seem to be a big puddle of drool and other less nice fluids for most of the time - i knew i should have been more suspicious when i was given a smock to protect my clothes when i got there!
It's actually pretty sad seeing all these kids here, they're just so desperate for love and the slightest bit of attention. The bedrooms are scary, all these tiny cots lined up like domino's. And the kids have the oldest eyes that just stare at you. I had to drag one little boy kicking and screaming back to the nursery when i left, and it was just heartbreaking 'cause i knew he wouldn't get out again for the rest of the day, just be stuck in this tiny little room with the others. Some of the older little girls - say about 6-9 - are beautiful, so incrededibly polite and quiet; if i was going to adopt any i'd adopt one of them. Somewhere in Darwin Damien just got a chill up his spine and doesn't know why ;)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Hassan Tower
Bev, you would surely recognise this! For others, this is the Hassan Tower, which was intended to be the minaret for the biggest mosqe in the world. Unfortunately it was never finished, so the tower is only half built and you can see the remaining pillars of what was to be the inside of the mosque.
The tower is so tall that instead of having a ladder or stairs for people to use to get to the top - i.e. when the prayer is called from the top - it has a ramp for a horse to go up. It's such a shame that it was never completed, but it's still impressive.
The tower is so tall that instead of having a ladder or stairs for people to use to get to the top - i.e. when the prayer is called from the top - it has a ramp for a horse to go up. It's such a shame that it was never completed, but it's still impressive.
Rabat's souk
This is from one of the markets - souks - in Rabat, located in the old medina. Every big city in Rabat consists of a medina - the original town - and a Ville Nouvelle, which is the part of the city built outside the medina by the French colonists. The medina is surrounded by huge red walls and towers, and is full of crazy winding alleys, and is also where the souk is. In this case the souk is really long - it took about half an hour solid non-stop walking to get from one end to the other, and it has lots of little alleys off it that we didn't get to. It's a little hard to get photos because you don't want to be pointing your camera at people's faces, and plus our guide keeps warning us of pickpockets and watching our valuables. Although we were impressed, we've been told that Rabat's souk has nothing compared to Fes or Marrakech.
Kasbah
This is taken from inside the Kasbah still, and shows the outer walls and one of the towers. The outer walls are all made of this lovely red brick.
Kasbah
A Kasbah in Morocco is a big house, or in this case a small village, with big walls and towers around it. This is from one of the Kasbah's in Rabat, which had heaps of winding alleys and little cafe's.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
In Rabat
Okay I've made it to Rabat and my home base just fine - actually i'm pretty impressed with my navigational skills when no-one seems to speak a word of English! There's a lot of nodding and gesturing wildly, but i get there in the end.
I love my home base - it's a beautiful big house, with about 25 fellow volunteers and 5 very patient staff. I share a room with 3 other women, and although there is a snoring issue it's nothing a pair of headphones and an iPod can't cope with. There's a huge range in the age of the volunteers, from 18 to mid sixties. One of the older women is one of my room mates, and she's a huge fount of information having volunteered all over the world. I occasionally feel like I'm living in Big Brother or something, except that everyone gets along - or seem to so far.
The food is fantastic - three big meals a day, plus tea and pastries every day at 5:00pm. I had resigned myself to getting comfortably large, but then one of the other volunteers took me to a nearby park where we can go for a walk, or jog, or whatever. I went for a jog yesterday, which seemed to create a lot of interest/amusement amongst the locals.
I had my first session teaching English today, which was quite an experience. I have 3 women and 1 men in my 'class', which i have for about 1 and a half hours every morning Mon - Thurs. It's actually quite challenging coming up with a lesson plan for this time - they are really interested in grammar in particular, which is really stretching my memory back to school days. Luckily i can follow the example of many other teachers and just google some exercises and lessons each night to work on the following day. I'm a little nervous about Fridays, which is when i'll be working at the orphanage, which has roughly 120 infants, 200 toddlers, and about 350 other kids up to the age of six. Maybe nervous is an understatement...
I haven't seen a lot yet; we had a tour of Rabat this arvo, which included a walk through the souk - will definitely be going back there once I feel like i've got a grip on bargaining in French. Or maybe I'll just take a notepad and write down offers. I will try and post some photo's on flickr asap.
Going to Fes this weekend, will give an update soon :)
I love my home base - it's a beautiful big house, with about 25 fellow volunteers and 5 very patient staff. I share a room with 3 other women, and although there is a snoring issue it's nothing a pair of headphones and an iPod can't cope with. There's a huge range in the age of the volunteers, from 18 to mid sixties. One of the older women is one of my room mates, and she's a huge fount of information having volunteered all over the world. I occasionally feel like I'm living in Big Brother or something, except that everyone gets along - or seem to so far.
The food is fantastic - three big meals a day, plus tea and pastries every day at 5:00pm. I had resigned myself to getting comfortably large, but then one of the other volunteers took me to a nearby park where we can go for a walk, or jog, or whatever. I went for a jog yesterday, which seemed to create a lot of interest/amusement amongst the locals.
I had my first session teaching English today, which was quite an experience. I have 3 women and 1 men in my 'class', which i have for about 1 and a half hours every morning Mon - Thurs. It's actually quite challenging coming up with a lesson plan for this time - they are really interested in grammar in particular, which is really stretching my memory back to school days. Luckily i can follow the example of many other teachers and just google some exercises and lessons each night to work on the following day. I'm a little nervous about Fridays, which is when i'll be working at the orphanage, which has roughly 120 infants, 200 toddlers, and about 350 other kids up to the age of six. Maybe nervous is an understatement...
I haven't seen a lot yet; we had a tour of Rabat this arvo, which included a walk through the souk - will definitely be going back there once I feel like i've got a grip on bargaining in French. Or maybe I'll just take a notepad and write down offers. I will try and post some photo's on flickr asap.
Going to Fes this weekend, will give an update soon :)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Here at last :)
Yay finally here - thirty hours later. Actually had really good flights, window seats all the way, so can;t complain. I am totally in love with Singapore airport, could quite happily go for a holiday there :/
I should say first that i;m using a different sort of keyboard from what we;re used to. It took me forever to find the @ symbol, and clearly I still haven;t discovered most of the punctuation keys.
I;m staying at a pretty cute little old hostel in the old medina of Casablanca. As I type this the call for prayer is going out - at first i was a little startled at all the noise, but then i realized what it was and it;s really quite lovely - it sounds like it;s someone actually making the call, not just a recording being played, which is the only call to prayer I:d heard before. the hostel I;m staying at is in a little square full of young people - mostly guys - sitting having coffee, playing cards, chatting etc. I feel like i stick out like a sore thumb a little bit, but guess i will get used to that :) - hey just found the key for brackets :)
Tomorrow i;m catching a train to Rabat where I;ll be staying most of the time, will get to meet the other volunteers. I;m really looking forward to it, finally getting started i spose. Will post again soon when i have more stories to tell and when I;ve sampled some of the local cuisine - so far i;ve just eaten a lot of plane food, and no-one really wants to hear about that !
I should say first that i;m using a different sort of keyboard from what we;re used to. It took me forever to find the @ symbol, and clearly I still haven;t discovered most of the punctuation keys.
I;m staying at a pretty cute little old hostel in the old medina of Casablanca. As I type this the call for prayer is going out - at first i was a little startled at all the noise, but then i realized what it was and it;s really quite lovely - it sounds like it;s someone actually making the call, not just a recording being played, which is the only call to prayer I:d heard before. the hostel I;m staying at is in a little square full of young people - mostly guys - sitting having coffee, playing cards, chatting etc. I feel like i stick out like a sore thumb a little bit, but guess i will get used to that :) - hey just found the key for brackets :)
Tomorrow i;m catching a train to Rabat where I;ll be staying most of the time, will get to meet the other volunteers. I;m really looking forward to it, finally getting started i spose. Will post again soon when i have more stories to tell and when I;ve sampled some of the local cuisine - so far i;ve just eaten a lot of plane food, and no-one really wants to hear about that !
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