We woke up at 5am to the call to prayer. It was actually quite beautiful even though we couldn't understand any of it. I imagine once we adjust to the time and it wakes us up from a dead sleep, we won't find it nearly as beautiful as we did this morning. Since we were up already, we decided to just get up and make ourselves some tea.
For breakfast we had baguette, cheese, jam, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and bananas. We also had hot spiced milk- my personal favorite! Although I later found out that it isn't typical that the milk is spiced- it's usually the coffee that they spice. It was a lovely mistake and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
At 9am Mohamed led us through orientation. Such a nice man. He's really great at grabbing everyone's attention.
We headed to Casablanca at 12:30 pm by train. Stating the time makes me think of something else. Why are we one of the only countries that doesn't use a 24 hour clock (military time?) It seems like it makes way more sense! Anyway, the train ride took about 1 hour. It was a pretty nice train and there was plenty of room. We walked from the train station to the mosque- which is the 3rd largest in the world. Beautiful! It's mind blowing for many reasons, but one of the things I noticed right away was the fact that it cost 500 million dollars to build, and if you walk 3 blocks from it, you find extreme poverty. I know the solution isn't as simple as saying "don't build the mosque, give the poor the money instead," although I wish it was! As far as I'm concerned, the only thing interesting in Casablanca was the mosque. I was only temporarily entertained when we got lost within the tiny, twisting and turning back streets. I'm thankful I wasn't alone.
Although, I have to say that this was the first time I have traveled to a such a place with a man, and it is a much different experience. Normally I'm traveling alone. We tested the waters today in Casablanca. Aaron and Kevin walked behind me quite a ways and all of a sudden my world changed. Men were whistling and cat calling at me. It was quite unnerving.
By the time we walked back to the train station ( after eating at a little fast food Moroccan place) we were exhausted! It was a long day of walking and we knew we'd still have to deal with our luggage issue once we got home...I was excited at the thought of a hot shower and changing out of the clothes I had on for over 3 days.
Good news!? We got our luggage! Oh clean undergarments how I love you so!
For breakfast we had baguette, cheese, jam, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and bananas. We also had hot spiced milk- my personal favorite! Although I later found out that it isn't typical that the milk is spiced- it's usually the coffee that they spice. It was a lovely mistake and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
At 9am Mohamed led us through orientation. Such a nice man. He's really great at grabbing everyone's attention.
We headed to Casablanca at 12:30 pm by train. Stating the time makes me think of something else. Why are we one of the only countries that doesn't use a 24 hour clock (military time?) It seems like it makes way more sense! Anyway, the train ride took about 1 hour. It was a pretty nice train and there was plenty of room. We walked from the train station to the mosque- which is the 3rd largest in the world. Beautiful! It's mind blowing for many reasons, but one of the things I noticed right away was the fact that it cost 500 million dollars to build, and if you walk 3 blocks from it, you find extreme poverty. I know the solution isn't as simple as saying "don't build the mosque, give the poor the money instead," although I wish it was! As far as I'm concerned, the only thing interesting in Casablanca was the mosque. I was only temporarily entertained when we got lost within the tiny, twisting and turning back streets. I'm thankful I wasn't alone.
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| If you look at the people, you'll get a better idea of the actual size. AMAZING. |
Although, I have to say that this was the first time I have traveled to a such a place with a man, and it is a much different experience. Normally I'm traveling alone. We tested the waters today in Casablanca. Aaron and Kevin walked behind me quite a ways and all of a sudden my world changed. Men were whistling and cat calling at me. It was quite unnerving.
By the time we walked back to the train station ( after eating at a little fast food Moroccan place) we were exhausted! It was a long day of walking and we knew we'd still have to deal with our luggage issue once we got home...I was excited at the thought of a hot shower and changing out of the clothes I had on for over 3 days.
Good news!? We got our luggage! Oh clean undergarments how I love you so!
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