Meknes and Marrakech

It's the final stretch! I am back on campus after our last field trips/site visits last week, and now there are only 4 days, 2 finals, 1 night in Paris, and one transatlantic flight standing between me and HOME. But before I write any more about that, here's a quick summary of the past week's travels:

On Wednesday, we took a day trip to Meknes, which is about an hour away from the university. I think this may be my favorite city. It reminded me a lot of Fez, but it wasn't quite as overwhelming -- or as touristy. It has an interesting history, too: it used to be the imperial (capital) city of Morocco. We got to visit the palace complex and royal neighborhoods, which take up more space than the rest of the city combined. We also had some free time to wander through the medina on our own. I bought an entire kilo of dates, in addition to a bottle of locally grown olive oil (Meknes is known for its olives). I may or may not be allowed to bring these back through customs...I should probably look into that!

On Friday morning, we left for our last weekend trip, this time to Marrakech. I still can't decide exactly how I feel about the city. It was certainly the most cosmopolitan (read: Europeanized) of the places we've visted, and in some ways that was a much-needed break. We stayed in a nice hotel with a beautiful swimming pool, and we ate dinner at a fancy restaurant, complete with belly-dancers as entertainment. However -- and maybe this makes me a snob -- I wasn't as thrilled with the experience as a lot of my friends because somehow it didn't feel authentic to me. I guess it was similar to my reaction to the camels in Tafilalt. It felt like we were being catered to as Westerners, that the Morocco we encountered was a slightly skewed interpretation based on what the tourism industry thinks people want to see and experience.

That's not to say that I didn't have a great time. It was definitely the most "fun" and relaxing trip, sort of like a mini vacation. I enjoyed the places that we visited on Saturday: the Sa'adian tombs, a beautiful madrasa, and the ruins of the Badi'a palace. We had lots of time for shopping in the medina that afternoon, although I can't say I'm a fan of the snake charmers in Jama' al-Fna, the main square. On Saturday evening, we went to a Moroccan folk music festival that was held in the ruins we had visited earlier in the day, and the concert was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. So all in all, I had a great time, but I guess it just didn't feel like the "real" Morocco (insofar as I am qualified to judge what that means) to me.

So now I am back on campus, trying very hard to stay focused for just a few more days until I make it through my exams. Tomorrow is my last day of class, which means that I have all day Thursday to study and pack. Friday I have my exams in the morning and the afternoon to say goodbye, before I leave for the airport in Fez on Saturday morning!

I should probably get back to that studying I keep talking about, but just in case you were wondering: I am planning to make two or three more posts before I officially conclude this travel blog. One to wrap up Morocco, (the long-awaited) one about Paris and my SAE (Study Abroad Experience) overall, and possibly one on my "reentry" into "normal" life at home.