Au Revoir Morocco!

We weren’t sure what to expect from Africa. We have traveled extensively through Asia over the last 20 years but we had never been to the African continent. Morocco is undoubtedly very different than the rest of Africa. As we leave Morocco headed to Tanzania, here are the things we take away from our 3 weeks:

 

1) FUSION. Morocco is a fusion of many different perspectives and beliefs. The combination creates a unique atmosphere that is hard to describe. It is a mix of Arab and African. East and West. Progressive and traditional. Friendly and intimidating. Religious and secular. Elegant and harsh. All of this makes for an enchanting and exotic culture that seems poetic and overwhelming at the same time.

2) LANGUAGE SKILLS. We know as a whole, we Americans are pretty lame when it comes to learning foreign languages. Travel to Morocco and speak to anyone and you will be humbled by their language abilities. Everyone for the most part knows Arabic, Berber and French as these are the languages spoken by their fellow countrymen. Hang out with the Moroccans who work with tourists and they know 3 or 4 additional languages! We were blown away by those individuals who seamlessly switched from French to Arabic to Chinese!

 

 

3) COLOR! As soon as you get off the plane in Morocco and weave through traffic to your first destination, you can not help notice the colors of Morocco! Earth tones, vibrant hues and patterns… it is gorgeous. Mom and I kept taking pictures of tiles because the patterns and colors were so beautiful we thought they might inspire a future quilt! Driving to the Sahara region, the colors reminded me of Moab, Utah and the desert southwest in the USA.

4) NEED TO BE ZEN. The day we arrived in Marrakech, I asked Siham, our house manager “What do we absolutely HAVE to do while we are in Morocco?” Her answer was genius! …”you don’t need a schedule, you shouldn’t put together an agenda. Whatever you want from Morocco, it will come to you. If you want art, it will find you. If you want history, it will find you. Just walk around and get lost and you will find what you are looking for.” I didn’t really understand how right she was until the last few days of our stay but I did think “what a cool attitude!….and it is easy for us to get lost so we will be good at this!” 😉 Now, in retrospect, I think this is a good attitude for every destination, not just Morocco.

 

5) JUST SAY “NO” TO CAMERAS. Simply said, Moroccans do NOT like to have their picture taken! You can be pointing your camera at the sky to take a picture of the clouds and they will approach you with disapproval and talk to you about taking pictures. Perhaps it is the countless years of individuals pointing zoom lenses in their direction without permission that have them on high alert now. Regardless, the right way to experience Morocco is without a camera. People are friendlier and more approachable. Cliff and I ditched our cameras and have very few pictures as a result which you know for us was hard to do, but it was definitely the right decision. 😉

 

We are off to Tanzania! Happy holidays to all!!!