Chefchaouen

Sorry for the delay in getting a new post up! Things have really started to pick up here in Morocco. Between traveling on the weekends and a sudden increase in Arabic homework, it seems that I have rather neglected my readers. Well, I guess this just means that I have an extra lot to tell you in this post!

Last weekend, I took my first big trip outside Rabat, to Chefchaouen, a small city nestled in the Rif, or the mountainous region of Northern Morocco. I went with five other girls from AMIDEAST. One of the wonderful things about studying abroad in Morocco is that, in Rabat, I am only a couple of hours away from great cities, mountain getaways, and the desert. Chefchaouen is considered one of the most beautiful places in Morocco, and it has a growing reputation as a great tourist destination, so I was eager to check it out.

My companions and I began our journey with a five hour long bus ride on Friday afternoon. Given that this is Morocco, we were happy when our bus only showed up half an hour late, and two thirds full. The ride up to Chefchaouen was rather uneventful, but I had a great time just looking out the window and catching glimpses of life outside of Rabat. Once we cleared the city limits it was not unusual to see herds of cows or men minding sheep right next to the highways that we were traveling on! The scenery gradually changed from grassy plains and scattered trees to hilly farmland, and finally rough mountainous terrain. In the farming areas, we passed by tiny little stone houses surrounded by fields and hours away from any decently sized town. It was a little strange thinking about what life must be like for the people who live in those little houses, isolated, so it seems, from the rest of the world.

We arrived in Chefchaoen at around 8 PM. It was dark by that time and the drive up to the city was gorgeous. Once we cleared the last bend in the road, Chefchaouen, which looked like a brilliant cluster of lights nestled into the mountainside was spread out in front of us, with the moon and stars shining on from above. I know that this sounds really cheesy, but you have to understand that right from the start Chefchaouen looked like the post-card perfect picture of Morocco, and this continued to hold true for the rest of the weekend. Anyways, we arrived at the bus station, just outside the city proper, and were immediately thrust into our first adventure: finding a cab in a section of the city that clearly goes to sleep after the sun sets. We walked out to the main street and began to wait. We knew that we were in the right place, as some men sitting across the street in the cafe informed us that taxis could be found, after laughing at our strange mix of French and Arabic. Being laughed at when I talk is beginning to define my life here. After ten minutes with no taxis, we called the hotel we were staying at and asked them to send us a cab. They did indeed send us one, but it was a "petit taxi" or a small car that only seats three passengers...not so good when you have six people! Luckily another cab came by, and our driver was nice enough to give us his number in case we needed anything.

The section of Chefchaouen that our hotel was located in is the main square area, around the old kasbah. It is full of touristy restaurants and shops selling the trademark Chefchaouen woolen blankets, shoes, and djellabas. Everything was so pretty! The architecture was charming, the square was delightful, and everything was painted a lovely shade of blue. Our hotel was on a narrow street right near the souq, and was just about the cutest place ever. It was three stories, and had a terrace on the roof. All of the stairways and hallways were narrow and the doorways were barely high enough for me to pass though. I felt like I was in a hobbit house! My room had a bathroom, with hot water, which was amazing, a double bed, and windows that looked out on the street below. There was also a little seating area with couches right outside the room. It was one of the most picturesque hotel rooms I've ever stayed in, mostly because everything from the headboard, to the light fixtures, to the sink and shower stall had some cool detail in the carving, metal, or tile work.

We only spent one full day in Chefchaouen, due to the fact that the only bus headed back to Rabat leaves Sundays at 7:00 AM. As such, we needed to make good use of our Saturday. The day started with a walk up to the ruins of an old mosque in the mountains near the city. We weren't sure how to get up there by ourselves, but one of the men who worked at the desk of the hotel volunteered to take us up. Apparently booking a hotel room in Morocco also means booking yourself your own personal travel guide, taxi caller, and general go to guy. Our companion was named Muhammad and was an incredibly nice guy. He put up with our terrible Arabic, stupid jokes, and constant questions about what something is called in Darija. Muhammad even kept his cool after telling us the word for "goat" no less than three separate times!

For our first stop, Muhammed took us to a spring, which produces the water that the women use to wash their clothes. We saw all of the local ladies standing at their washing stations on the banks of the stream washing their clothes by hand. Some women were washing out wool that will at some point be turned into the yarn that is used to make the blankets that Chefchaouen is famous for. After seeing the washing women, we continued on up the mountain. We walked along a rough path, stopping about every five seconds to take pictures of the gorgeous views of Chefchaouen and the surrounding mountains. After passing awkwardly by some people's houses (we totally spent five minute photographing their well), we climbed across this kind of sketchy bridge and were at the mosque! It is a lovely little building, although ruin is a very good description of its physical condition. There were a group of men doing construction on it, and we spent a few minutes hanging out and taking even more pictures. We ran into another group of Americans just as we were leaving, which was fun. In Morocco, it's always a little shocking to hear people speaking English, especially in Rabat, which is not a touristy town. In Chefchaouen it was a little refreshing to be able to understand snippets of conversation from some of the other groups we passed by on the street or sat near in a restaurant. I love hearing and speaking Arabic, but sometimes it's nice to hear one's mother tongue being spoken in a strange land.

Upon arriving back in Chefchaouen, we took a break for lunch. We chose a restaurant where we were served by a slightly creepy waiter and ended up befriending a stray cat which we named Jnoon (or mischievous spirit) and fed our left over chicken to. The afternoon was a little rainy, so we spent it in the markets darting from shop to shop. I purchased a lovely woolen blanket that I know I did not pay too much for, as I asked my host mom for acceptable prices before I left. She was definitely happier with me upon my return from this trip! Chefchaouen also had some cool jewelry stores and I purchased a few new additions to the rather meager collection of earrings and necklaces that I brought with me. Almost everyone in Chefchaouen was incredibly friendly. The store owners were chatty and highly amused by our attempts at speaking Arabic and Darija. After living in Morocco for six weeks, my bartering skills have definitely improved and I was able to put them to good use. The one exception to the welcoming Chefchaoueans was the complete jerk who owns a jewelry store near our hotel. I was trying to argue down the price of a necklace, and he first said that we needed to conduct our business "democratically" which meant that I should pay like 30 dirhams more than my top price. After I got him down he then proceeded to mock me for not looking happy enough. He also said that my Arabic accent was "interesting" (with a decidedly snooty smirk) after I tried to have a brief conversation about the weather while one of the other girls bought something. I have to say that he is one of the first unfriendly Moroccans I've met! Everyone else was beyond excellent.

Dinner was couscous at a nice restaurant, and I toddled off to bed after taking a lovely, hot shower. Sunday morning found us up at 5 so we could catch our 7 AM bus. I mostly passed the bus ride back to Rabat asleep under my new blanket or staring out the window.

My trip to Chefchaouen was incredible. I think that the city is one of the most beautiful places I've been in my life and I'm looking forward to going back again during my time here. It was also a lot of fun to just be a tourist. Now that I've been here for over a month, Rabat is starting to feel like home. I know my area really well and I'm more comfortable with daily activities like getting cabs or buying fruit in the local hanut, or store. Going to Chefchaouen was a great way to rediscover a little the magical feeling, almost like wonder, that I first had upon arriving in Morocco. It was also nice to have a real feeling of coming back home when I arrived at my host family's apartment.

This post is sort of epic in length, so I'll have to hold off on some other stories until my next post. Be looking forward to tales of Fez (my trip for this weekend) and my first attempt at teaching English to a class of Moroccan teenagers!