Today was nice. I slept in, and then I got lunch with Staci and Deb. Deb left after we finished eating, but Staci and I stayed and talked for two and a half hours. It was so great. We seriously talked about everything...life, school, the future, passions, politics, the world, etc. It is so nice to have someone who is so similar to me, yet someone I can look up to so much. Staci works as the Director of Conduct (or something along those lines) at San Jose State University. She's not even 30, and she's a director! So cool! We were talking about how badly I want to move out west to California. She told me I should come out to San Jose, and she would take me around to visit potential grad schools in California! I'm so excited! I am definitely going to take her up on that offer. Also, she is a GREAT contact to have because she is high up in the world of higher education. She knows a lot of very important people at a lot of different schools! I think she will be an excellent resource to use when it comes time for me to apply! I had the greatest time talking to Staci today. I wish we would have connected earlier in the voyage.
Later in the afternoon, Samantha, Alison, and I went into Casablanca for dinner. We walked around and ended up at a small restaurant. It was completely empty because it is Ramadan, and everyone is fasting until sunset. We were the only people in the place. Samantha and I shared some paella, and it was very good (not as good as in Spain though!). The city of Casablanca itself is pretty gross actually. There is a lot of pollution and it smells terrible. Some of the roads aren't even paved, they're dirt. Morocco has without a doubt been the most culture-shocking country of the voyage. It is so different from anything I'm used to or any of the other countries we have experienced on SAS. It is wild to think how close Morocco is in proximity to Spain, yet how unbelievably different the two are. I was leading the way after dinner, and I purposely let us get lost. I was thrilled about it, but I don't think my friends were too happy. We were walking through the winding dirt roads with all of the street vendors selling various food and produce, and it was shocking. There is no other word to describe it. I have never felt further away from home than I did walking through this neighborhood, watching the children play in the dirt, seeing the old women covered up sitting on their stoops, passing the men wearing full length robes, not understanding a word of the Arabic written and spoken around me. It was phenomenal. This life is not something we can fathom as Americans. It is so far removed from our realm of thought. It is devastatingly beautiful.
As we winded our way around, attempting to take everything around us in, we managed to come across Rick's Cafe, which had been our original plan, but we weren't sure where it was! It was complete fate! Rick's Cafe is the real restaurant filmed in the movie Casablanca. It was absolutely adorable. We went for dessert, and all of us ordered brownies with ice cream. Delicious! The decor of the restaurant was lovely. They, of course, had Casablanca playing on the TV. I had a really good time at Rick's.
Tomorrow Samantha, Alison, maybe Adam, and I are going to try to go to Marrakech for the day tomorrow. Marrakech will be a much more enjoyable city than Casablanca. Even our interport student from Morocco told us Casablanca was not great. My goals are to go to the bazaar, the Medina (the old city), and to do a camel ride. Hopefully it all works out. We're still trying to figure out our plans.
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