Rabat Pictures

Here are the Rabat pictures. There are two links from facebook (two albums) and these, in my opinion are better than the Fes pictures. Enjoy

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?page=1&aid=2181713&id=1619654

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2181716&id=1619654&ref=mf

" I Dont Stop for the Police. What are they Gonna Do?"

I have made it into February, and things are definitely settling into a routine in Ifrane, Morocco. I got a job last week with the Language Center on campus. I will be the "facilitator" of a ECG (english conversation group) that is designed for Moroccans to improve their English skills in a small, controlled environment. I am excited, especially because I will be getting paid.

Also, I went to Rabat this weekend and I had the most amazing time. We went to the grande taxi station, because we wanted a taxi to Meknes, where there is a train to Rabat. Well, it is the Moroccan primary, junior high, and high school break, so the taxi stand was packed with people. When a taxi would pull up, people would literally JUMP on and into the taxi and battle each other for a seat. (The way grande taxis work is that they are old Mercedes and fit "6" people, plus the driver, in the available seats. Soo people just cram in these things with people they dont know and its perfectly fine. We have been travelling with 5 or 6 so we basically automatically get a grande taxi. We bargained with a guy and instead of taking us to Meknes, he took us directly to Rabat. We were probably overcharged about 10 to 20 Dhs, but this is literally not only 3 dollars and the man didnt have to drive us all the way there, so we were very grateful.

On the way out, we were stopped by a cop, who demanded the driver get out and show identification. When he was not satisfied, we proceeded to wait on the side of the road at the city limits for the drivers friend to come with the papers. In the meantime, a group of 5 guys swarmed the taxi and tried to get in but we kept them away and the cop finally let us go. Interesting start to the trip.

We stayed in the medina (old part of the city) again and it worked out perfectly. We each paid 60 Dhs per night (~$7) and stayed there two nights. We ate from the vendors in the medina for 2 reasons (1) it is cheap --around 1 dollar for a full meal (2) you can actually watch them cook it, and I trusted my eyes more than some restaurants pictures of their food. The food was absolutely amazing and so was the medina.

Saturday, we walked around almost the half the city, and hit all the major landmarks. It was absolutely stunning. I can not describe some of the sites with words, so I will be posting the pictures on Facebook and here. We even saw Roman ruins! Pretty sweet Walking so much was pretty exhausting but we actually met up with two of our Moroccan friends and we went to one of their houses, which was massive and utterly beautiful. It was in one of the best neighborhoods in the suburbs. We were served mint tea and little cookies, and it was absolutely great. We went out to dinner in the medina for cheap (actually a little restaurant and the vendor food was much better) and than hung out for the night at the Moroccan house before going back to the hotel.

We witnessed our second police flag down of the trip, in which cops were monitoring speeders, but we they caught someone, they were not in their car, but actually dashed in the middle of a major two lane road and flagged the offender down with their hands. It was absolutely crazy. Even crazier, the Moroccans said that the guy got off with nothing if he gave the cop 50dhs. Thats how it works here. The quote is from my Moroccan friend whose house we went to, and the said this when he saw the cops pull someone over. Since their not in their cars, I see what he meant, but that represents the mindset of many Moroccans. Their is corruption and just try to run as fast as you can away from it.

We had to stand for two hours coming back here on the train, but we got back, and I went to church again, which was good. Until next time.