as much as i wanted to get in bed and sleep...it
was daylight. gotta take advantage.
the guy at the front desk when i was checking in
gave me a cute little map of casablanca and used a pink highlighter to show the
main attractions, the mosque, train station, bus station, ricks cafe from the
movie casablanca, etc. everything appeared very close.
off to the mosque. after walking for about 30
minutes in what seemed to be the right direction (I could see the mosque the
whole time) it was like an oasis. So close, yet so far... i didnt see one
tourist in the near hour of walking there. i was beginning to
wonder. ummm... "HAYLO! WELCOME! WELCOME TO MOROCCO" "سلام" (Salam:
HI in Arabic) Lots of french and lots of arabic. both of which i known practically
none. I lit up when a seldom few spoke spanish to me. a familiar
language!
((which made me realize how much i hate visiting
places and not knowing the language... guess i better learn every language,
because it definitely wont keep me from traveling.))
then the moment i got to the mosque i finally saw
some tourists around. relief. there was an older gentleman wearing reef flip
flops, plaid shorts, and a FILA tank top... He musssst speak english. i
awkwardly stalked him for quite some time while we took in the beauty of the
mosque (Together, even though he didnt know it) I lost him a couple times
weaving in and out of the mosque then finally, my moment.
"Where ya from?"
Australia! you?
California!
We chatted for a bit... Morgans on the tail end of
a year away. He started in central america then went on to south america,
europe, etc. He's just about ready to go home, but not before north korea, and
a few other stops.
Nice to meet you Morgan!
we went our separate ways this time for good...
I read there wasnt much to see in casablanca but
the mosque so if you were traveling through you should take the time so i had
all day and i thought id seen all of the mosque i was going to see. i thought i
would just lay on the steps like the flood of women, men and children who were
all through the mosque. as i was laying there i looked up to see a girl about
my age and same skin color walk by, we smiled at each other. it was refreshing.
the moroccan kids were riding bikes, playing a dodgeball type game, and soccer
right there in the middle of this beautiful landmark. i was taking it all in
and snapping some photos when i noticed a few asian very obvious tourists
walking down some stairs into the mosque.... i was intrigued. i was told the
last tour was at 2pm and i didnt arrive at the hotel until 3. i stood up and
followed the guys down the stairs of the mosque when i start hearing HEY!!! and
some clapping... for a moment i thought, dont turn around. act like you know
where youre going. confidence is key.... right? well i turn around to a man
speaking arabic... i give him a blank stare, then he starts speaking french,
nope. blank stare. (Ignorant american: here) right then a girl covered from
head to toe in a traditional black muslim sahree grabs my arm, giggles, and
says come on! she spoke great english. Zuni told me that was the stairs for
men. oooooo. woops. she takes me around to another entrance where a woman stops
us, points at me, and says no. Zuni starts explaining to me that its time for
"Pryer" ((prayer)) and only muslims may enter. she takes me down
another staircase on the side down to this room where there are women bathing
themselves... she tells me we need to pray and bathe... umm okay!? lets do
this. she gets me a stool and a bucket near one of the spouts of water and
tells me we need to wash hands 3 times for "pryer", mouth 3 times,
face 3 times, hair 3 times, arms 3 times, and feet 3 times. we shared this
moment of bathing and prayer while cleansing ourselves. then she tried one more
time to get me in for prayer. she tells the woman at this door that i am
albanian. (thats all I understood)... she told the women she wanted to show me
how prayer works. she wasnt buying it. muslim only! Zuni walked me out of the
mosque, asked for my Facebook, hugged me, kissed both cheeks, and went back in
for prayer.
wow.
Hassan II Mosque was beautiful to see and take
pictures of.... but THAT was awesome.
my brother and i always joke that we will do
anything if a good story might come of it.
gotta be a go getter. even if it means trying to go
in the mosque in the mens door. i gotta thank the asian tourists that were
taking selfies in front of the mosque for inspiring me to get up and get on in
there! I would have never met Zuni.
i had met my satisfaction of seeing the mosque. i
was ready to head back to the hotel, but was also getting hungry... i started
heading back in what i thought was the same direction i came to get to the
mosque and found myself right in the middle of medina... old market. it was wild.
there was a table of huge fresh fish... like... reaaaalll fresh. eww. and
tables upon tables of fresh veggies, all through these narrow alleys, once
again. not another tourist in sight. i need to learn to blend in better :) my
camera never helps me blend! one of the joys of being a photographer means you
constantly look like a nerdy tourist.
After turning around and getting back to the last
familiar spot I remembered I took a different turn this time and ended up back
in some medina alleyways again but a different scene this time. Camera across
my body, but I didn’t take one photo. I was in such awe, I couldn’t even cover
my eyes with a camera.
I was standing on the corner now realizing I was no
where near my hotel when a girl about 16 years old in a purple satin dress said
“are you lost?” I guess I stood out about as much as I felt like I did. I
showed her the map from the hotel and she pointed me in the right direction. On
my way back, I fell upon ricks café. It was one of the tourist traps I heard I
needed to see while in Casablanca. Apparently its from the movie, Casablanca? I
couldn’t confirm or deny this, since I’m fairly certain ive never seen it :-/
oops. But I stopped anyway. It was 6:24 and they were opening back up for
dinner at 6:30. I waited on the stoop. 6:30 on the dot, they opened the door
and said madam? And laughed at me... table
for 1 please. When they opened the door and then a curtain into the restaurant
I realized this wasn’t exactly a “café”… I was a bit underdressed and overly
sweaty from traipsing all through Casablanca on foot all day, but they
graciously sat me at a table upstairs. I ordered a mojito and signed into their
wifi and thought I would keep me to myself and let everyone know I was safe and
having a great time when they sat a girl at the table right next to me. Table
for 1. It was the girl I saw at the mosque that exchanged a smile with me. We
were instant friends. Hannah is also from Australia. She’s moving to Istanbul
in a week for a study abroad program. We chatted for hours at the irony of our
situation, seeing eachother at the mosque and sitting together at dinner. We laughed
a lot and got to know each other. We shared travel stories and gave each other
advice on other places we’ve been. What a nice way to end the day. As we got up
to leave at the same time, we realized we were both staying at Hotel Central so
we walked back to the hotel together and were both so glad to have a friend to
walk back with since it was now dark leaving the restaurant.
Casablanca was a success.
Next stop Marrakech.
