Location: Casablanca, Morocco!

Greeted by dust, heat, and humidity we stepped off the gangway in Casablanca, Morocco! 12 short hours since departing Spain, there was no time to recharge or reflect-just onto the next adventure. Such, it seems, is the life of a Semester at Sea student. And so we had made it to port number 2! First stop on our Moroccan agenda- Mosque Hassan II, Casablanca’s main attraction and one of the largest mosques in Morocco (and maybe the world? I’m so uninformed). It was incredible to say the least. Immense in size and ornately decorated with tiles in bright colors and geometric patterns, it was truly a sight to behold. Its backside was actually a pier, bordering the ocean- the waves crashed on red rocks while gaggles of men and children (boys only of course) swam and sunbathed. They showed their courage with daring leaps off the pier’s edge into the murky waters below. We were soon befriended by a group of local boys- they couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11 years old but there they were attempting to start up conversations with a group of American students who didn’t speak Arabic or French. Eventually, through a series of improvised sign language conversations, we exchanged names. They laughed at our attempts at French, told me I had shiny teeth, and asked us to take their pictures on our huge cameras hanging awkwardly around our necks in that certain way that just screams ‘unfortunate tourist.’ Soon it was time for us to leave- what had started as a group of 4 boys had quickly turned into a mod of 25 swarming around us, asking for food or money, and giving us their phone numbers. We decided it was probably smartest for us to move into the mosque courtyard and away from the chaos filled pier. One of the original boys, whose name I can’t remember but who wore a yellow polo shirt and a red baseball cap, hugged me tight and asked me to take him back to America with me. A little heartbroken, we moved onto the mosque where even it’s grand scale and beauty couldn’t push the thoughts of the young boys from my mind. How different a place we had landed in- from the streets of Sevilla to this mysterious mosque in Morocco. Where kids spend their days in garbage filled water and play along the edges of cliffs. Where women peer at these strange American girls through veils and where we are told not to make eye contact with people we pass on the streets. Certainly a bit of a culture shock and certainly slightly scary but tomorrow I’m onto Marrakech and a whole new adventure ☺