They're taking me to Marrakesh- All aboard that train

Oh where do I begin?! The trip started off on a really bad note, with Mikey not able to go because of those Florida tornados and our train from Casablanca to Marrakesh cancelled for 2.5 hours BUT the trip was so incredible, Alex and I are looking into going back again later this semester. We realized on our way home that we hit all 3 "goals" we made waiting in the airport:

1. Drink some orange juice (check- twice once with our breakfast, and once mixed in a fru fru drink with vanilla ice cream)
   
2. Hang out on the rooftops (check- hostel pm and am plus the terrace cafes overlooking Djemaa el-Fna)
   
3. Meet cool people (check- plane friend, train friends, and of course our peace corps boys)

So, while waiting in Casablanca for our train, Alex and I decided to go up to the American we noticed on the first train to see if he knew anything about the delay. (Meet Joe)--- we're really glad we did. Turns out Joe is in the peace corps volunteering in the mountains just outside of Marrakesh and was heading into the city to meet his friends (Brian and Blake). Aside from speaking the local dialect, giving us Harira recipes, and being personal wikipedias, they were awesome to hang out with and really made the trip.

Alex and I had booked a hostel in advance, but instead of trying to find it in the dark, down narrow back alleys, we decided to skip out and book at our new friends' hostel, Sindi Sud, once we found out it was cheaper, had a terrace, and it easy to remember (Cindy Sue). We were all starving, so we went to the tents in the main square that were still cooking away at midnight. We ate with Brian's tajine-guy and had the best first Moroccan meal anyone could ask for- harira, tagine, tanjia, and pastilla. (I bought some tagine spices the next day at the market- and now everything in my backpack smells wonderfully of Morocco- yum). Then, the view of Marrakesh from our hostel terrace was the perfect end to a very hectic day.

Saturday, the guys were only planning on having breakfast with us, because they were going to the beach with friends, but some plans changed and they were able to hang out with us all day. For breakfast, I got some of the famous mint tea- and it was great minus the 8.5 cups of sugar they put in. Then we walked through the market, which I swear was the same one alley that we paced for 2 hours, but then the alley dumped into a small square with hanging dead animals everywhere, Rahban Qedima, which a guidebook aptly described as Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. I was set on seeing some gardens, so we went to the Koutoubia mosque, and walked through and saw local woman picking oranges. For lunch, we tried another Moroccan essential, Chwarma, aka gyro, followed by some black market ice cream since it was "out of season". We toured the Bahia Palace, and then sat on a terrace above the square.

The boys left us to go to Agadir- we were seriously thinking about blowing our flight and going to the beach with them. (Im regretting not thinking even harder about that now- Moroccan beach sounds too good right now). So Alex and I were on our own for the first time, and we went around and did some more in-depth shopping-- I got some almonds (unlike the ice cream, they're in season) and some Fatima hand earrings. Thank you China for the haggling skillz. Then we got attacked my some children after I tried to take a picture of a 3 year old peeing into the garden fountain- Alex and I are pretty sure that's when she got the 2 napkins in her back pocket pickpocketed. suckers. We were in love with the terrace overlooking the square, so we went to another to watch Djemaa el-Fna at night.

Sunday morning we planned to catch the train back to Casablanca at 7am to make our flight and account for any more unnanounced 3 hour train delays. I woke up to check the time and it was 6:47 am. I still don't know how we packed up the room and paid for the hostel, but at 6:53 we were running through the alley, dodging small children, and stumbled into the taxi men's morning tea at the mouth of the square. We sprinted alongside the driver to get to his cab, and he whisked us to the train station. We were running into the station at 7am and got on just as the train pulled away. (Im still amazed Alex and I are not stuck in Marrakesh crying right now). The ride back was smooth and we got to see all of the beautiful countryside we missed coming in on the late night train. We also met 2 of the most hospitable and sweetest Moroccan girls.

This recap does not do our short but jam-packed Moroccan adventure justice and Im not completely satisfied:

What is the feeling when you're driving away from people, and they recede on the plain til you see their speacks dispersing?- it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy adventure beneath the skies. -Jack Kerouac via Alexandra Koys