Spotlight on Sevilla!: Morocco!

I can now say that I have been on the continent of AFRICA!! Morocco was such an amazing trip. We went with a travel group called WeLoveSpain that focuses on excursions for study abroad students. Since Morocco can be considered a dangerous country to visit, I'm glad we went with this agency that kept us safe. I definitely stuck out with my blonde hair and blue eyes. One guy even came up to me and started speaking to me in his broken English... "what beautiful eyes are those your natural color? Oh my God, so pretty, so pretty"....and I walked faster

This is on the outskirts of Tangier. That is the Mediterranean Sea and an Arabic lighthouse from 1865 in the background.

Name of our first hotel...in ARABIC! Our guide, who knows five languages, was telling us that all of the children learn Arabic and French and then later pick up English, Spanish, and sometimes German. I think the US has a lot to learn from them.

I rode a camel!!! The camel ride was the selling point of the excursion for me and I'm pretty sure I talked about riding the camels for at least two weeks before...sorry Brandon :). Buuuttt it was definitely the highlight of the trip!

I thought the streets of Sevilla were small, but the streets of Tangier and Tetuan were even smaller. Street vendors would chase us down bartering as we tried to walk around. I made the mistake of making eye contact and the man continued to follow the group for at least 10 minutes trying to sell me a camel skin wallet. These type of street vendors were everywhere and even young boys would come up to you trying to sell gum or little souvenirs.

Cute old couple watching the ocean! In strict Arab countries, women are not allowed to leave the house without a male by her side and must keep their heads covered at all times. Morocco, while an Arab country, is actually quite progressive. There were many women, such as the one above, who could be seen wearing the traditional head dress but there were also many who did not wear them. In this male dominated society the men would go out at night to bars or wherever, but never did we see a woman out after dark. It was interesting to see this difference in culture.

This culture is definitely a barter/haggle society. In shops like this there are no set prices. Instead, they say an outrageous price or ask what you want to pay. It was pretty intimidating but fun to try out my skills. I must say, I got a few good deals.