Life Abroad: Week Eleven
Stop and smell the roses (and everything in between)
So this is technically not going to be about actual week eleven, but if I summed that up it would go something like this:
Case and I got back from Budapest on Sunday and spent Monday and Tuesday recovering from travel. Wednesday, we thought we had revived and decided to go out with Karina, Tish, and Aryan. We ended up finishing a bottle of tequila, took on-fire shots at Espit Chupitos (as a request of the boys), and went to a club with free entry + an hour of open bar. God knows what happened because after two glasses of free red wine, we somehow made it home and I woke up the next day having slept through my first class with the guilty feeling of a terrible hangover. Unfortunate timing because my brother had just arrived in Madrid. Lol.
Long story short, Jon was visiting me so we spent time walking around the city and eating delicious food. Friday night we went out for dinner with Casey and then bar hopped until 2am, meeting up with Aryan and his dad for a very hilarious night. Sadly, I was feeling extremely fatigued and overall unwell which led me going to urgent care on Sunday. I found out I had the flu, which was honestly more digestible than the other options I had conjured in my head with the help of panic-Googling (mono, COVID pt. 2). Honestly, I hadn’t really recovered from being sick in Greece which was a month ago, so this was a good forceful relaxation measure. As such, most of week eleven was spent in bed finally finishing Hometown Cha Cha Cha and ordering a lot of UberEats. But that wouldn’t make for an entertaining post, would it?
So let’s start this over again: by the end of week eleven, I was rejuvenated by sleep and food which was perfect timing because Jon and I went to Morocco. We left on Friday morning, arriving at the airport early which was needed because RyanAir’s check in process is hysterically frustrating. Arriving in Tangier, we took a 2 hour taxi to Chefchaouen, the blue city. We spent two days in Chefchaouen, two days in Fes, and one night in the Sahara desert. Right away it was apparent that English was not a common language spoken here. Arabic and French are the two most spoken languages. This was the first city I’ve traveled to since abroad where English wasn’t a common second language, the secondary text on the signs and labels. But this is also my first city outside of Europe, so it makes sense.
Chefchaouen takeaways:
Apparently known as the hash capital of the world, many people were enjoying their hashish on the streets
Partly because of this fact ^, every time Jon and I walked anywhere someone would call out “India?!” and proceed to spit out anything about India they knew. Some examples: “Shah Rukh Khan, Amithabh Bachan” / “Namaste” / “Dhoom Machale”. It was funny at first, but it got to be pretty annoying by the 100th time we were stopped by one of these remarks
There’s many versions of why the city is blue: to ward of mosquitos, to represent the Mediterranean Sea, or bc the color of Morocco is blue
People are very hospitable even if they appear pushy. They will try to sell you things because you are a tourist but they will not be overly rude about it
Fes takeaways:
You need a guide to get through the medina because it’s so confusing and maps is not super helpful
Also, if someone tries to help you navigate somewhere, you will have to tip them so either accept that or just ignore when they try to help you
Stay at Dar Mokhri: this Airbnb we had was in a room of an old palace
Leather, argan oil, spices, and rugs are what Morocco/Fes is known for. Makes for good gifts.
Sahara takeaways:
Riding a camel is way more uncomfortable than it looks. I was sore for like 2 days afterwards
It was so windy when we went and sand got everywhere
The sand is fun to play in and the patterns look cool from far away
This is probably one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had. I actually ended up shedding some tears when sitting on the sand dunes because I felt so lucky to have this experience. For sure, a once in a lifetime moment
Overall Morocco takeaways:
Moroccan mint tea is drank like 8 times a day (not an exaggeration). With sugar it’s too sweet IMO but without it’s very refreshing
The food is so delicious. If you come, you should try tajin, couscous, berber eggs. And I discovered a new favorite soup of mine, called Harrira
We got there the day before Ramadan started, so it was interesting to see the change in tone of the city once the fast began. Our Chefchaouen airbnb host told us “I don’t like it, but I have to do it” in terms of fasting
Not many females walking around by themselves so if I was visiting, I would need to be with a guy or a tour group
So many cute cats everywhere it’s so awesome
Always barter because they will try to make you pay way too much for anything
So many awesome spots for pictures, I have so many to share
I didn’t have data on my phone since I was out of Europe and barely had wifi besides at our Airbnbs. So I was pretty off the grid for the 5 days which was easier than I thought
We realized that coming to Morocco as just the two of us is a similar experience to what people would feel like if they went to India as a tourist. When we travel to India, our parents speak the language, they know their way around the city. Also, we look Indian so no one notices any different. All we have to do is follow our parents’ lead and they tell us what to do/not to do. Honestly, it’s really nice to feel invisible in an unfamiliar city; no one bothers you so you can spend time actually taking in the sights and sounds. In Morocco, I was always on alert and warding off people trying to sell us things or help us find our way around the medina in exchange for dirhams. I felt bad for my brother because he had to do most of the communication- similar to India but probably more intense here because of culture, the females usually stay quiet. I noticed that people typically only looked at Jon when speaking to us which was not my favorite thing.
On the bus to Fes from Chefchaouen I listened to a podcast about perfume. When people ask which of the five senses you would give up, most everyone will say smell. While it’s true, our other senses have a more crucial impact on our daily life, smell is something we lack the vocabularly to describe our findings. Sniffing a perfume is akin to tasting the notes in wine: I don’t taste the undertones of citrus, the light body, the complex earthy flavor profile because I don’t know what to look for. It’s a gateway to a whole world of emotions. Because so few people are experts in scents, it turns out that only a few key companies control all the scents in our world- not just perfume, but cleaning products and shampoo and deodarant. When they first came out, perfumes were supposed to make females smell “funky” and animalic, using ingredients like musk and tobacco. As the idea of femininity evolved, so did the perfume scent trends. In the 50s it was powdery and floral, in the 70s it was patchouli and mossy, the 80s were rich and plummy until finally the “clean” trend began in the 1990s and has stuck ever since. As most things have a smell, whether it be good or bad, the industry trend now masks these smells with a masking agent/chemical/odor. The agent ends up being less clean than the original, as the scent is not natural to the product.
I actually bought a perfume (Dossier’s Fruity Almond, which is just a dupe for Carolina Herrera’s Good Girl) for the purpose of abroad because I wanted to associate a certain smell with my time in Madrid/Europe; I’ve been wearing it most days for the past 3 months. After listening to this podcast, I was inspired to be hyperaware of the scents around me for the rest of the trip. My closet will smell of leather and linen, the dinner table of charred garlic and lemon peel and rosemary; these are given just based on my lifestyle habits. But to be someone that intentionally places and appreciates scent in areas of life: I’ll light candles with lavender after sundown, rub eucalyptus balm onto my pulse points to release tension. One of the best feelings is returning back to somewhere or someone that smells familiar: the rush of nostalgia is hedonic. I want my children to know me by the scent of jasmine and sandalwood, my grandchildren by vanilla bean and roses. This way, when I die my loved ones will be surprised to be reminded of me in sporadic corners of their life without intentionally seeking me out. It’s not a crime to want to be remembered :) Rather, a scavenger hunt for the noses.
I also got to spend so much time with my brother which was pretty awesome. It was so nice to have a piece of home here for a couple weeks. Since we’re 4 years apart and he’s a big boy working in NYC now, I only see him on holidays in Grand Rapids. I realized how alike we actually are and how different he is from so many boys in my life. For one thing, when in Madrid we went to coffee shops, bookstores, and thrift shops together. Which is not something most guys I am friends with would gravitate towards doing. Also, he took care of me when I had the flu and we watched Ponyo together on the couch (you should watch this it’s so cute). He is calm and curious and so kind and I am grateful that we could spend so much time together. It’s way easier to see the nuances we share, but I also think I just understand who he is more now than I did when I was younger. Him meeting Casey and Aryan and Tish reminded of me everlasting gratitude for the community I have in my life because I seriously don’t know how I have such awesome people surrounding me. I’ve been thinking so much about my community recently and how I plan to create and develop mine even more my last year of college. It’s who you’re with, that makes all these places feel like home.
Thanks for reading and happy living.
With love,
Rachel
