I went to Morocco last weekend!!! It was my favorite weekend yet.

I went with an organized tour group called Citylife Madrid, which consisted of over a hundred tourists. We left Thursday night at 11pm, rode a bus to southern Spain, took a ferry across to Morocco, and then rode another bus to our hotel in Tangier, Morocco. It was a very long trip – about 14 hours total! We had a bit of time to rest when we got to the hotel, and then we went to see the city!

Our first activity was riding camels on the beach. It was SO fun. I got to ride a camel at the same time as five of my roommates, and we had a great time. The beach was so beautiful, and the water was so clear. We also went to the Cave of Hercules, which was very close to the beach, right as the sun was setting. It was incredible!

I think my favorite part of going to Morocco was spending time with six of my seven roommates that went on the trip too! I’m feeling so blessed to have randomly gotten such incredible roommates.

After the beach, we walked through a local market. We heard a presentation about different cooking spices, natural beauty products, and oils, which were all made and grown in Morocco. We also stopped at a textile shop, saw a blanket being made, and got to buy scarves or blankets.

To end our busy day, we went to a traditional Moroccan dinner. We had a three-course meal that consisted of a pasta soup, meat kabobs, and chicken couscous. We tried traditional Moroccan mint tea at the end of dinner. We also had a Moroccan band playing for us while we eat.

On Saturday, we got on yet another bus and had a two-hour trip to Chefchaoen, which is sometimes called the Blue City. We got a tour of the city by a local man. We learned that the color blue was painted to keep bugs away from the buildings. Additionally, if the road is painted blue, it means that it is a dead-end.

We went to a local restaurant and had more chicken couscous for lunch. The afternoon was full of shopping, taking pictures, and exploring until we took another bus back to Tangier.

For dinner, we went to a local gelato shop in Tangier. We enjoyed the burgers, pizza, gelato, and crepes after two days of traditional Moroccan food.

Sunday morning, Maggie, and Karin (one of my roommates), and I went down to the beach. It was incredible! Hundreds of Moroccan men were on the beach, playing pick up games of soccer! We stood out quite a bit, as I am pretty sure we were the only women on the entire beach. Karin joined one of their games, which was pretty fun to watch! We couldn’t talk to them, as they knew Arabic and French, and we knew English and Spanish, but we still enjoyed it.

We then had another long trip back and arrived in Madrid at 2am. Class the next morning was not fun!

Last night, I enjoyed Skyping my dear friends and roommates from last year, Abby and Emily! After a bit of technical difficulty trying to three-way Skype (let’s be real, it was user error), Abby FaceTimed Emily, held her phone up to the computer, and Skyped me on the computer.

After lots of traveling and fast-paced weekends, I am spending this weekend on a retreat in Loyola – the birthplace of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Northern Spain. The area looks absolutely beautiful. Check it out! http://www.santuariodeloyola.org/en/basilica#the-basilica

Finally, if you haven’t heard enough from me yet, check this out! A story of mine was published on the UST website: http://www.alumni.stthomas.edu/s/904/index.aspx?sid=904&gid=1&pgid=2794&cid=5649&ecid=5649&crid=0&calpgid=2728&calcid=5533

Thanks for reading, and I’ll keep you all in my prayers this weekend!

Love,

Katie