March 15

We woke up early because we only had a morning to explore Chefchaouen. We woke up and had a good breakfast. We had to wait for our friends to come downstairs, only to split up with them moments later. We read in a guidebook that the souk was on Thursday, so we thought that we would go to that. We went to the main square and had no idea where the souk was. I wanted to go to the kasba anyway, so we took a quick pit stop there. A lot of fragrant flowers and a tower with a GREAT PANORAMIC VIEW (each word is a different picture, so look at them all!!). We stopped at a nice little co-op that employed blind people to thread beautiful blankets etc. It was amazing to see them work and create such beautiful things without being able to see what they were doing. They had it down to a science, and were very charismatic. After that shop we decided to ask someone where the souk was. We asked a lady and she was very nice and brought us to the souk, which was kind of disappointing. It was definitely a SOUK for the people of Chefchaouen, and not necessarily for tourists. We walked around and looked, but EVERYTHING was SO RANDOM. It was weird. Kind of like a yard sale (Ellen u might have liked it? No, you wouldn’t have- it was very weird). It was also incredibly hot. I was sweating and uncomfortable. It was far from our hotel, so we just walked around for a little and then tried to find our way back. My sense of direction was good today, and I was able to bring us back.

We got back to the hotel and checked out. Then we went back to the restaurant from the night before and ate a very boring lunch- couscous with no meat and a lame fruit cup. Actually the first course salad was good. It was cut up cucumbers, onions and tomatoes- very fresh. After lunch we had some more free time, and I passed a shop that I had passed a few times before. They had a scarf that was “Claire colors” according to my friend Sydney. Light pink, white, and light purple stripes. I wanted it, but after my shopping spree in the spice shop, I was REALLY trying to hold back. I was not willing to waste energy bargaining, but somehow I ended up getting it for only 40 dirham (5 bucks!). The shop keeper followed me when I walked away for good, and he was like “okay okay- 40”. (I’ve worn it for two days since- very good purchase). Then we went to the bus to go to Fnideq. The bus ride was very windy (windey? not WINDy... a lot of curves and turns) and kind of nauseating. We also saw a truck accident AND a little brush fire.. spooky. We stopped at a rest stop with a lot of raw meat hanging around. I had to lead Sara to the bathroom because she couldn't look at the meat- I wanted to BBQ it.

We made it to Fnediq, and got to our hotel. It was a very weird city (probably only because I was expecting it to be). It was kind of beachy, and our hotel reminded me of the Driftwood in Montauk (without being on the beautiful ocean & it was less nice), basically- the smell & beachy air reminded me of Montauk. It was Chantal’s 21’s birthday, so we went on a hunt for a bar or someplace that we could all hang out. The receptionist said that there were no bars in Fnediq, but we were skeptical. Party Planner Sara got on the internet and started to look for some. We found a Ibis hotel and assumed there would be a bar inside. We walked there without really knowing where we were going. We walked on THE SHORE. It was very beautiful, and I thought (I was right) that we could see Ceuta from where we were. There was a very beautiful MOSQUE that was on the water. I finally looked up why mosques (this one & Hassan II in Casablanca) are on the water, and the quote in the Qur'an is “the throne of Allah was built on water”. Anyway… back to the haram “forbidden” bar hunt. We walked- we never gave up, but probably could have because it was far. We finally got there, and it was empty! Terrible, but funny. Dragonball Z was on the TV and there was one man working. We got beverages and toasted Chantal’s bday. We were there for a while, and then it was time for dinner. I was looking forward to dinner. On the last night of the last excursion we had an amazing 5-course meal. This was the last night of this excursion, so I had high hopes.

We left the bar and walked back the non-scenic route. I had NO idea where we were going, but the others lead the way. We made it back to the hotel (a liiiiiiiiittle late) and everyone was still there. Dinner was TERRIBLE!!!!!! I was SO disappointed, almost to the point of tears. First- it was a bad shrimp soup. Bad because the shrimp(s) were small. I was very weirded out by the small shrimp (similar to small/deformed carrots in Harris, Ali…). I didn’t eat the soup. Everyone gave their soup to Josh and he ate it. Similar to Uncle Eric. No wasted food here! Second dish was COLD chicken and potatoes. It definitely had potential, but it was nooo bueno. The chicken was in a mushroom/alfraedo(sp?) sauce, and the potatoes were au gratin, but everything was COLD. I was so tempted to ask where the microwave was, but I sometimes feel that I am a little bratty/forceful on this trip, so I refrained and ate the cold meal. Keeping with the trend, dessert was bad bad bad too. It was a very questionable custard-like thing with canned fruit & the fruit juice on top… SO Bad. I picked out the fruit to eat and made plans with everyone to get a snickers bar on the way back. Dinner was disappointing, but funny in retrospect I guess. The snickers bar was the best I have ever had. Literally. So delicious- I tried to savor every bite, and it was good till the veryyy last one. We just hung out in the hotel and had some Internet time. Sara gave me permission to sleep nakey in my cocoon (sorry if that’s too much information, but it was fab). Early morning tomorrow to go to SPAIN! Yippee.