Morocco Reflections

People always ask me what my favorite place was during my travels. It is hard to pin down to one place but I will say that Morocco is definitely one of my Top 3! When I look back at the memories, most of my favorites happened while I was in Morocco!

As a woman, I was a little nervous about wandering through Morocco. However, just like any other place in the world, you have to go off of your natural instincts, obviously be smart about your surroundings, and don’t make stupid choices.

Aladdin was always one of my favorite movies. I always wanted to visit a place like “a whole new world” so visiting Morocco was very special for me. I am obsessed with architecture, colors/ patterns, and exploring the beauty of local handmade goods.

Getting lost on purpose and wandering through the Medina was one of my favorite things to do while in Morocco!

But, the icing on the cake was our trip to the Sahara Desert! We rode camels into sunset, had a dinner party with local Berbers that included dancing and drum playing, and then camped over night in the middle of the desert! This experience was one of my favorite all time experiences of my life (minus freezing at night)! Never did I ever think I would have the chance to go to the Sahara Desert!! Oh, and it was more epic to have done it with an amazing group of people!

I also had my fair share of Rooftop Sunsets while in Morocco, which was absolutely magical. The sky was blue and orange. It looked as if it was a painting almost every night.

Another memory that I unquestionably enjoyed was making my own pair of Moroccan leather slippers (this picture is featured above)! I am obsessed with shoes so to see the shoe making process with the locals first hand was a heart felt experience. Check out my blog post on Ella Vita's store site to see the process (https://www.ellavita.co/blogs/ella-vita/morocco-learn-the-leather-shoe-making-process ).

There are a bunch of cities to explore near Marrakech/Marrakesh (locals say it one way an Americans say it another) but I think I loved it so much here because of the experiences that I had with my Remote Year group and the people that I met while here!

Things that you absolutely should do while in Morocco: Eat all the tagine, have a local Hammam spa day, wander through the Medina (be aware of snake charmers and monkeys and people named Rodolfo trying to scare you lol), book a night or two in a Rihad, visit the Sahara Desert, hike in the mountains, wander to Fez (obviously wear a fez hat) and or Chefchaouen, watch the sunset on a rooftop, drink all the tea, and visit a botanical garden.

Remember that one time…and yes, all of these actually happened!!

When I threw a Random Rihad party, we had an impromptu photo shoot, we hopped over a rooftop wall to meet our Polish neighbors, we smoked hookah, we sang Bohemian Rhapsody, and we played code names??

We ate Tagine, all the tagine, and yet more tagine!! If you get the drift, tagine was an absolute local favorite!!

When we took a journey to get to the Sahara Desert? We stopped into old towns, explored rug shops, and almost got attacked by wild dogs. But we finally made it to the Sahara! We naturally rode camels into sunset and then had an epic tagine dinner that led into dancing and playing drums with locals. Then of course we hiked up a dune and just stared into the eyes of the glistening sky! It was a full moon so the whole dessert was lit up. We then slid down the dune with some locals and smoked some hookah. Lastly, we rode camels at sunrise and watched as the sky turned from orange to dark to purple to grayish light blue (at one point most of these colors were combined). One of the most epic experiences of my life that I will forever cherish!

When we hiked through the mountains to a waterfall, then hiked to a local town while riding mules halfway, and then ate lunch at a local's house on the roof in the middle of nowhere.

When I convinced a local to import me a Christmas tree and deliver it to my apartment! Let me remind you this is a Moroccan country where they don’t celebrate Christmas or have any type of holiday cheer for you to buy! A few of us drew ornaments on Tara’s school construction paper and cut them out to put on our tree! I was able to find some tinsel to throw onto the tree as well. So naturally, I had to throw a party to invite the group over to also enjoy this holiday cheer!

When we celebrated Christmas in a Rihad all while spending quality time with friends who have already turned into family?! We shared holiday traditions such as making buckeyes, dancing to Ricky Martin, wearing holiday socks, and wearing holiday sweaters! We had a grand old feast for Breakfast as well as for dinner. We sunbathed on a rooftop and had a fun little secret Santa exchange from items that we found in the Medina! We all enjoyed our time together. For most of us, this was our first Christmas away from family in a country where they don’t celebrate Christmas. It was a lovely one to remember with some amazing people!

When Charles and Amber held poker nights where the ladies took all the fella’s money! Kayla won and I came in 2nd! Oh it was nice to have the ladies dominate and watch Charles and Andy's faces as we took their money away!

We had random pool lounge days in the middle of December. That was nice!

We held yoga sessions for charity led by Kayla!

We went to get lost exploring through the Medina.

We went on tours with Omar from Marrakesh Bike Tours

We visited our friends such as Moose Moose at the local herbal store in the Medina, drank tea, had some laughs, and got educated about local fantastic products that are actually good for us! (I am no obsessed with Moroccan Argon Oil and the Everything spices)!