Friday night, after our arrival, was a frustrating whirlwind. We rented an apartment from Airbnb that was given away to another group before we arrived, so we were involved in the scramble of the renters to find us a new apartment - the whole ordeal took around 3 hours, and the fact that we were exhausted and hungry made things a little worse. But we did end up with an apartment thankfully, and we were able to grab some food to make for dinner (pasta!) and breakfast the next morning from a shop nearby. Due to that night’s events I don’t think we slept until 3 AM!
Saturday morning we all tried to sleep in a little, and the rest did us some good (as well as the wonderful breakfast of eggs, yogurt, and fruit). We headed out to the beach - just a five-minute walk away - around mid-day to find it filled with people. We were able to rent an umbrella and spent a few hours under the sun, enjoying the view across the water to Spain and eating some cheap fried bread/“donuts”. After a while we tried to find a suitable restaurant for lunch and found one that was mediocre at best. Then some took naps while others (myself included) went to the market to get food for that night’s dinner and breakfast the next day. Before preparation for dinner started, I showered and walked around the city with Carrie - we found a great view of the ocean and Spain beyond!
Dinner consisted of tagine (Moroccan stovetop oven) ratatouille and homemade pasta with tomato sauce, with a tagine peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream for dessert! (We had to get creative due to the lack of in-home ovens in Morocco.) Our group had some really talented chefs and everything was delicious - I was happy for the fruits and vegetables since it has been constant carbs at home! Afterwards, around midnight, we headed to the nearby nightclub scene on the shore. We all (even the boys) ended up getting free admission to one smoky club that consisted of a bad DJ and a lot of Moroccan guys dancing with one another, but we got to dance a little without said guys bothering us so it was somewhat successful!
Sunday we all got up around 8:30 AM to share a breakfast of pancakes, fig spread with cheese and crackers, fruit and yogurt. After packing and cleaning, we went to the old city’s main square to a rooftop restaurant to enjoy some drinks of the alcoholic sort - I got a Long Island Iced Tea and rushed to down it before our afternoon train. The ride back was relaxing, just talking and reading and sleeping. Spending time with the group made me wish I could stay for the year now and get to know everyone better, but I’m glad that we got to share my last trip here together. This weekend I plan on staying in Meknes to get some work/studying done and spend some time with my host family before the summer group leaves town on Friday night - can’t believe we’re almost at the end of our time here!