Morocco 3

The second day, we went to Tetouan, which is in the North of Morocco near the Rif mountains. It once was or still may be (idk) a Spanish territory so there is a lot of Spanish influence. We saw one of the King’s palaces (Mohammed the sixth) that used to be a Spanish government building. Of course, there are about a million people named Mohammed, after the prophet, and the female equivalent= Fatima. I wonder why we don’t name everyone Jesus? We walked through more crowded and windy streets full of vendors and shops. However, Chef Chaouen was a much nicer area. Tetouan was really shocking. The people were so incredibly poor and dirty and everything was so unsanitary. We saw vendors with breads and sweet cakes COVERED in flies and bugs and people were eating them! There were raw fish sitting out with flies all over them that smelled so terrible and stray cats sneaking up to steal pieces of fish that fell onto the ground. There were people picking things out of the dirty gutters with their hands. There were chickens in a room, waiting to be slaughtered, and more chickens hanging by their feet above the shop counters.Every store had the most random assortment of items to buy and we saw one area with just mounds and mounds of recycled clothes that people were “shopping” through. It was really disturbing to see how poor these people are and how they actually live like that every day.

Along our tour, we were taken to an herbalist’s shop in town. He spoke English and let us sample a bunch of things after telling us about the products. He had spices, paint, beauty creams, mint tea, medicinal remedies, incense, perfume, make up, and more. Apparently saffron is good for circulation of the blood, black menthol cures sinus problems, bronchitis, snoring,etc. He had massage oils for arthritis pain, a cream that cured acne, cold sores, skin rashes, and kept mosquitos away all in one, memory enhancer oil, anti stress oil that cured headaches and hangovers too. I’m not sure about the effectiveness of all these products but it was fun to try some of them out.

herbalist shop with bottles of remedies on the walls

Next, we went to a big store with lots of trinkets and basically a bunch of stuff you don’t need. The guy kept telling us over and over that there were carpets upstairs and then when we went up to look at them they were like..what kind of carpet are you looking for? And we said.. we don’t want carpets, so they said.. the exit is over there or you can look for more stuff downstairs. Haha

Awesome table but how is anyone going to get it out of there and take it home?

Moroccan rugs floor to ceiling

We ate in another really nice restaurant in the city and then left to go RIDE CAMELS! There was a little baby one which we all got a picture with, but it kept making all these weird noises and I was a afraid of standing beside it. The guy holding its leash was kissing it on the lips…..gross! I can’t even stand dog slobber! Anyway, then we got on the big camels four at a time and they were all tied together. We just basically went around in a big circle and came back. I felt bad for the camels because the guys were hitting them with sticks so they would go and they were pulling them by their heads since the ropes to tie them together where around their heads and faces. Then when we were done they yell at them and make them sit down, which doesn’t seem that easy for a camel, and then someone else gets on and they make them get up immediately. Those poor camels..up down, up down..all day long.

After that, we went to the beach, which was at the point where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea converge.. My first time in a new ocean! (kind of..haha) And then we went for a tour of the caves of Hercules, where you could jump off into the water!

steps down to the beachMediterranean Sea/Atlantic Ocean, facing America... hi mom! :)

Natalie and I in the cave
water in the cave

It was a long, long day… and we got back to Spain at around 12am and then had to take a three hour bus ride home, with an hour stop for dinner. Who eats dinner at 4am?