Keep Calm and Travel On: “Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.” ― Shannon L. Alder

This past weekend in Rabat was full of sunburns and laughter. I was able to get to know a great group of people and see more of Morocco.

At three o'clock on Friday eight of the exchange students met to take a taxi to Meknes to board the train to Rabat. The grand taxi ride was cramped and hot. Here, the "grand" taxis are sedan Mercedes, and somehow, they are expected to fit seven people total. Needless to say, the each group got pretty comfortable with each other for the hour long ride. We drove past vast expanses of sandy hills and fruit farms before reaching the crowded train station. For 65 dirhams, you could get a second class ticket, so we went with it. Little did we know, second class would be like a scene out of Slumdog Millionaire. We had to push our way onto the train as soon as the doors opened, and when we got onboard, there were no cabins open in our car, so we had split up and cross over makeshift bridges from one car to another to find seats. The cabins looked similar to the ones shown in Harry Potter. After getting situated, we all started to read our homework for the weekend. After about two hours, the four guys in the car with us three girls asked us if we wanted to be "Whatsapp friends", to which Kiki--the only person who knew more French than the simple "hello" and "how are you"--replied, "Americans don't make friends on trains". We arrived at the station soon after, and began our journey to the apartment we were renting. Traveling in large groups makes things very stressful when trying to find enough petit taxis. Each petit taxi holds three guests, so we had to get four cars, and since someone brought his surfboards, the taxi also had to accommodate the large piece of luggage. Fortunately, we were able to find taxis to take us to the apartment. Unfortunately, once they dropped us off, we realized we were lost. After enlisting the help of a couple shop owners, we were able to track down the number of the owners and find the place. For a while, I thought that we were not going to find our apartment and we would be homeless for the evening. Thank goodness that was not the case! The apartment was amazing, it was full of lavish Moroccan-themed decor, but also had a lot of Japanese artworks, which I thought was interesting. We were given tea and some pastries before heading to sleep. Thankfully, the apartment was large enough to accommodate the eleven people who ended up coming.

The next day, we were invited to go to the beach with the owners of the apartment. They had a daughter, who was 15, and two sons, ages 14 and 6. I was so happy to play with the six-year old at the beach so that brightened my day up as we all got into taxis. The beach was so cool. It was right near the Old Medina of Rabat, and was very clean. The surf shop where the 14-year old boy goes was able to store our bags in their office and invited us to jet ski and kayak with them. After playing in the sand, and swimming in the ocean, we found some cliffs and decided to cliff jump! It was crazy and I had pretty much two anxiety attacks before finally taking the plunge off the 30-foot cliff. Then, it was time to take the kayaks and jet skis out! That was so amazing, and the workers at the surf shop were so wonderful. We ran into a man snorkeling and trying to find octopi, and we ended up holding them! That was something I never thought I would do. After a while out in the ocean, we were starving and the family showed us the Old Medina and we got some lunch. Being a vegetarian can be difficult here, so I usually go for cheese pizza when traveling around. It's usually pretty good, and I do not have to be picky with my order.

After showering and putting lotion all over our ridiculous sunburns (even after putting on copious amounts of sunscreen at the beach), we got ready to go to dinner in the New Medina. We split up into groups of three for the taxis, and my group ended up getting dropped off at the wrong Dar Naji. After waiting for a while, we finally realized that we were in the wrong restaurant and tried to wave down a taxi. Finally we got to the right place. It is really important here to know basic French or Arabic. I am really trying to pick up the languages quickly! Dinner was delicious, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was great. We went to a bar afterwards and then played some card games in the apartment.

Sunday was the day of our departure. After a first class train ride home, the weekend came to a close. I am so thankful for getting to spend time with such great people this weekend and make memories that will last me forever!

Last week in class, a major theme was "Orientalism". I think it is important to say that Morocco is not some exotic and faraway place, full of veiled woman and controlling men. "Exotic" is just a mindset; it is vital to realize that aside from some cultural differences, people everywhere are not that different from yourself. Though I have been traveling with other exchange students, the people we have met in each city have been overwhelmingly nice and welcoming. Families here are usually close, and both the mothers and fathers are active participants in the child's upbringing. Women here have rights and freedom, and most men here are respectful. Being here is opening my eyes to the destructive stereotypes towards the Middle East stemming from colonialism from the West. If I strip off my "tourist goggles" and see Morocco for what it truly is, I am able to connect with the people and adapt to the lifestyle here. Judging other cultures by your own perpetuates stereotypes and if I did that, I would never be able to feel comfortable anywhere but in the house I grew up in.