MOROCCO day one.

Occurred: February 25-27

MOROCCO. ...where to even begin! let me just start off my saying that this trip was AMAZING! We only went for a short amount of time...but wow, they packed a lot of things in to this weekend. When our school organization, CEA, canceled our trip to Morocco, my first thought was--wow, I am so sad--- and the second thought was---I need to go anyway. Me and Allison knew that this was one thing that we REALLLY wanted to do while we are so close! We immediately found a company that does the same trip to Morocco every year and a few times each year. Anddd after some long talks with my dad he finally said- book it, and if it is too dangerous to go when the time comes, just don't go. So that's what we did. The week before we left we did a lot of back and forth about going and not going. I even called the United States Embassy to see what their opinion was. Obviously my final decision was to go. And I am so happy that I did. I never once felt unsafe and it was a trip that I will (hopefully) never forget. 

So our bus left from Seville a larger town about 3 hours from Granada on Friday, so in the morning, Allison, Lindsay, and I got on a bus to Seville. We got their a little bit earlier than we planned- despite the fact that our bus to Seville happened to be 5 hours long- so we just sat in a park for a few hours. Once on the bus we headed down to Tarifa, the southernmost tip of Spain. I never got off the bus, unfortunately, but it was really pretty and GREEN! Tarifa is so close that you can actually see Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar! 

After we got to Tarifa, it was time to board the ferry. We all got off the bus, and waited in the waiting room until it was time to go! The ferry ride took about an hour and forty-five minutes. And then: we were in Africa- Tangier, Morocco! It was pretty dark when we got there and once there, we exchanged money. Euro for Dirham. It was kind of equivalent to how the dollar is to the peso. 10 euro=100 dirham. Just move the decimal over and you're good. Actually when we were shopping and we paid in dirham, we would sometimes get euro back as change!

my ferry ticket to go to another continent!

allison, me, lindsay. first picture in morocco!

first building in morocco i see...comforting.

dirham moneyssss

After everyone had gotten their money exchanged, we piled back on the bus for about two hours to get to our hotel. Hotel Kabila. Right when we got there they had guys out in front of our hotel welcoming us with a bongos! 

When we walked inside, they had little cups of tea for us too! And they led us straight to the dining room for dinner. First thing I see at the table:

Obviously...I was in heaven. These were by far the best olives I have ever eaten. They did have a pit, but they were marinated in some wonderfully delicious seasoning and olive oil? Probably.. I don't know really but I plan on recreating something like these when I get home. Also, those little square pieces were pickles I'm pretty sure in the same seasoning. Also, Allison and Lindsay don't like olives. It was a sign from God. 

I would have been totally fine with having that for dinner.. but then we had this:

Couscous, the food so nice they named it twice. This was so amazing, the best meal that I have had in the months that I've been here. On the top there are some nuts and then under that is a heaping pile of grilled onions. Then under that is zucchini and cabbage and the orange is pumpkin and squash and UNDER THAT is chicken and under that and all around is couscous. YUM. 

After the couscous, we has some delicious ice cream...vanilla, strawberry, orange, and chocolate. 

After our feast we went and got our room keys and went to bed. We didn't do very much that first night but it was nice and relaxing for a change.